January 2007
hi there, it says on the tin "for high mileage engines" how is it better than ordinary oil? is it worth spending £16.00 for 5 ltrs or should i stick to £2.99 20/50? Read more
The alarm on my 1999 9-5 estate keeps going off. However, it does not trigger the indicator lights as you would normally expect. Furthermore, I cannot disable the sound, and have to let it run its course - often I choose to disconnect the battery for a while - which I do in the hope of re-booting things.
The local (good) dealer looked at the alarm diagnostics, and saw no trend of any one sensor triggering the alarm frequently -thus concluding that the sensors were not the problem.
Does anyone have an idea of what may be at the root of this? Is there an easy remedy? Read more
Try posting at www.saabscene.com where you will find a whole army of Saab fans waiting to help - I'm sure someone will be able to help.
I have a 56 plate astra when i need it's first service vx want £156.00 to change the oil & filter and check the brakes etc, (no other parts fitted)!!!
my question is : can i service the car myself and sign the service book using vx parts and keep all receipts? will the 3yr warranties still stand? i am a time served mechanic so no probs here but just no longer working in the motor vehicle industry to get it stamped.
i know i can use an independent garage but there not much cheaper and all they will do is the same or will i just have to bite the bullet and cough up my brass??
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Unfortunately with new cars I think you have to pay for that stamp for the first couple of years at least. I have a '54 reg Focus ST170 and it is in its final year of its warranty. I could easily have serviced it myself each year but it is that all important stamp in your service book that stops you from doing so. Thus I have let Ford service it after the first year and after the second year, so I have an up to date service book with regards to any warranty issues. It will not be serviced by Ford any longer, by the time it needs servicing again it will be out of warranty and I can do as I please.
Had to take the Prelude to get a fault code read this morning, ABS light as been on for quite a while and I was pretty sure that it was the pump. Took it to Alan Day at Winchester and they did the test while I waited then came back and told me what I thought. Quote for parts was £2600 + Fitting, now on a 13 year old car with 182k on the clock obviously we wont be buying them. But what did impress me was the fact the guy did not charge for the diagnostic, maybe he knew he has just written a car off, but fair play, I was expecting to pay £40 and all he ended up charging me for was £4 for some touch up paint for my Accord.
Good service in my opinion. ;o) Read more
>> Just out of interest, how many people have actually had
ABS
>> kick-in?
>>
>> 4 years in the Forester and never needed to rely
on
>> it...
I wouldn't be without ABS following an incident with my Calibra some years ago.
An HGV in the left hand lane of a dual carriageway turned right across an intersection without any warning. The fool must have seen me in his mirrors and panicked. Instead of moving on he stopped blocking the whole of the carriageway. I braked but would have been unable to stop in time. Fortunately, there was a cycle track alongside so I was able to swerve on to the track and managed to avoid a lamp standard and a road sign. I came to a halt, some yards past the waggon, very shaken. had it not been for ABS I would probalby not have been here today. The Calibra handled admirably with my foot firmly on the brake pedal.
I was wondering how luxury cars will develop if very stringent measures are imposed in say ten years time.
Since the direction seems to be towards smaller cars, I was wondering what sort of cars these would be.
I imagine to get any real feeling of space you would need a car as big as a family hatch but perhaps more space efficient then we have today with new technologies.
I was also wondering what sort of economy and weight losses could be had by building a small luxury car from carbonfibre for instance and reducing weight would both improve economy and performance which would mean you could use less powerful engines for the same effect as a large one.
If you were charging £30k for the car you could surely afford to use many more exotic materials to make the vehicle meet emissions and size targets which I think may be on the way with increasing traffic.
If you could make cars weigh much less than the heavyweights they have now become, the need for large engines to get decent performance would be reduced, thus you can have economy and performance.
Im not sure that today we would accept a car of small size but large pricetag, but in the future this may change - eachtime style changes its a shock at first but then we adapt.
Just really interested in what ideas the BR has about ow the market will change at the top end? Read more
I look to the F1 cars which I think are far
safer than your average production car looking at the speeds they
have accidents at and wonder why it takes so long for
the technology that makes a carbon fibre bathtub safe, to filter
down to production cars.
However a minor bump and an F1 car disintegrates.
I have a spare 2-button fob for a Vectra which I got through my local scrapyard. I've been to Vauxhall and they want to charge me £20 for the Car Pass card (which I don't have as I bought the car second-hand), £93+VAT for a new fob (they don't like reporgamming old ones) and an unspcified amount for the actual reprogramming.
Anyone know a cheaper way to repgram it as I have the original fob which is a bit past it's sell-by-date and needs replacing?
All help greatfully received. Read more
As expected - here's the response from Vauxhall :-
Thank you for your email dated 22 January 2007, regarding the costs of replacement keys.
As this operation is carried out by our Vauxhall Dealerships, who are responsible for organising replacement keys, I am unfortunately unable to comment on the costs involved. The amounts the dealers charge are not set by Vauxhall; therefore I would advise you to discuss this issue with the Dealership's Management.
Regarding your request for an owner's manual, I am also afraid that Vauxhall do not store manuals for a vehicle the age of yours. Your local retailer might also be able to help with this matter.
Thank you for your email, should you have any further problems please do not hesitate to contact us on 0845 090 2044.
I am in shape ..... round is a shape!
8-)
For those who may be interested.
www.autobild.de/aktuell/meldungen/artikel.php?arti...4 Read more
I would want evidence that the reliabilty problems are history before my cheque book comes out. Some cars just look 'right' - this is one of them IMO.
This problem has only just occured on my scenic, it's great starting when cold ie early morning late evening. When you try and start it during the day it won't start, I have been told it's a faulty sensor but which one????? if anybody has any Idea's and can point me to where the sensor is located it would be much appriciated
Thanks Read more
Shaun
The cost of the sensors [and other parts] that you'd have to sequentially change, to stand a reasonable shot of fixing this, would exceed the value of the car.
Guesswork is a pretty expensive way of diagnosing the fault. However; if you're intent on trying: start with the crank [TDC] sensor - that's a 15% chance.
Was working fine until yesterday. Today I turn ignition and warning lights come on as normal. Clock ticks, headlghts shine brightly. Then turn key to start, there is a loud click from underbonnet and all lights on dash (and car) go out. Clock stops.
Take ignition key out, get out of car - wait/curse etc - try again and the same thing happens.
Is there a problem in the starter solenoid or motor or somewhere else and how do I tell? All advice welcome
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Someone posted this elsewhere. The 4x4 is not always the answer. Drivers don't help.
www.nwcn.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer...4
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Exactly! All cars have 4 wheel braking so the 4x4 has no advantage unless its tyres are grippier.
Another problem I had along similar lines was driving my car on settling snow on top of frost that was just getting thick enough to lose grip and I had to slow down to about 20 mph to avoid slithering about. An artic driver behind was tailgating very angrily because he didn't realise his heavier vehicle with hotter tyres was biting through the slippery layer and gripping properly. Half an hour later, when the snow was thicker, he'd have been losing groip too and crawling along even slower --- or jacknifed!
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cheers il keep that in mind