January 2007
Looking around for a new car lately, it occurred to me that, above 3 years old, hardly any cars have a full service record.
How come this happens? Is the average car owner really this negligent? I'd have thought that putting a car in for service at least at the same time as the MOT is done would be a given, yet it seems not.
What makes things even worse is that one service in three years when the car has only done a few '000 miles is considered to have "service history". What???? I'd class that as neglect of the highest order.
Do these documents simply get lost in 99% of cases or should the entire car-owning population of the UK be shot?
Forget these parking / environmental fees etc, I'd say that the environmental impact of all these neglected cars littering our roads should be looked at first. Overtax those who refuse to service vehicles!!
Anyone agree? Read more
This evening, as a special treat, I took SWMBO to the cinema - it was that one about Idi Amin - as they'd say round here ''e wuz a rum ol' boy'. The car park opposite the cinema was 98% empty so I selected a spot that left a vacant space between our car and the ones either side. I went to check if there was any parking charge, and as I returned to the car, a woman squeezed her new BMW into the space next to me. She had some difficulty in getting out of the car, as did SWMBO in getting into our car when we returned. But - why do they always do it when there loads and loads of vacant spaces. What is the psychology behind it?
Conversely, a few years ago, I remember a report that found that when men select a urinal they, wherever possible, left a spare space between themselves and the next man. Whilst the psychologists looked for a deep meaning, I concluded that it was simply to get more elbow-room. So, why can't car parkers automatically try to leave a space for door opening?
Or ..... is it a man/woman thing? Read more
Nothing to do with selecting a parking space, but I found that my first two cars which were dark green and dark blue respectively got far more damage in carparks than subsequent cars which were (intentionally) a brighter colour.
--
L\'escargot.
Who remebers these? I've have just had a ride in an immaculate 2.0 GTX (french registered) one and it brought back some fond memories. Extremely comfortable in a way only an old Renault can be and quite fast, if a bit noisy and unsophisticated. I liked the black metallic paint and half moon alloys. Not bad for 1980.
Sadly I haven't seen one in th UK for years, cars generally of this era were not well protected against rust and the Fuego was as prone as any. I am going to see if I can find one for restoration, keep me busy for a while... Read more
We had a white Fuego years ago, it was bought as an inbetween car to make do whilst we looked for something else and only cost £200, secondhand cars were more expensive then, our most recent car is an M reg Escort and cost £100.
As i remember it had a huge sunroof which folded back,had a horrible set of points, was quite nippy and economical and was the only car that we made money on when we sold it, it was part exchanged for a 2 year old Montego Estate and after much Umming the dealer said he could only offer £250.
I think it was an 1981 model which did not have the rear window wipe.
Saw yet another TV news item recently about a London Borough (Westminster?, Kensington?) which is cracking down on gas guzzling 4x4's by tripling the parking permit costs for such vehicles. The reporter was shown walking past a row of parked cars with what I presume was a council representative who explained (IIRC) that petrol fuelled cars with engines above..............................
............................. wait for it................................
1.4l .........
yes
1.4 LITRES
would all be subject to the new levy. Set me thinking about just how many 1.5l gas guzzling petrol engined 4x4's there are out there. Can anyone shed any light?
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I too am getting increasingly weary of the introduction of ever more vindictive forms of taxation, on the rather unconvincing pretext of saving the environment. This example, which as far as I can see tries to skew the figures by quoting as examples vehicles not acually available on sale in this country, is a particularly egregious one.
I don't think anyone (barring nutters, the pathologically selfish or those with vested interests of one sort or another) could reasonably argue against the fact that doing things in a way that causes less pollution, and slows the rate at which finite resources are used up (thus letting us enjoy the benefit of those resources for longer), is generally a Good Thing.
However, using this as a handy excuse for yet more governmental pickpocketing will be likely to have the following effects, which are easy to perceive unless you are blinded by £ signs:
1) People will view future, more genuine attempts (yes, I live in hope) to achieve the aforementioned Good Thing with extreme cynicism.
2) Human nature being what it is, there will be those who will go out and buy large 4x4s with poor fuel consumption just to stick two fingers up at the whole thing.
3) Any attempt at sensible discussion of the subject (you know, stuff like "Should we maybe improve public transport first and see if that does the trick?") will invariably be hijacked by the "Climate Change Is Cobblers" brigade on the one hand and the "Humans And Their Cars Are The Root Of All Evil And Everything Bad That Happens On The Planet Is Their Fault" school of thought on the other, and will degenerate into another bowel-shatteringly tedious bout of shrieking, hair-pulling and name-calling which will achieve nothing.
4) Any extra money raised will either be swallowed up in admin costs or squandered in some other way, so no good will come of it in any event.
Heigh ho...
Hello
Hope you can help me on this one.
Has the Mitsubishi Carisma (2004 Turbo Diesel) got a pollen filter?
I've had a quick look under the bonnet and cant see anywhere it could be.
Heater and airflow are not good.
Any thoughts would be appreciated before booking it in at a main dealer,
With regards.
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Hi
I am having problems trying to remove the dust caps from the tyres on my 2005 (05) Mondeo Titanium X. the caps are not your usual plastic affairs but are the standard ones which came with the car and are metal with hexagonal heads. I have tried to take them off with my fingers... no luck. I have tried to turn them with a spanner... no luck (the valve just starts to turn. I have also tried to hold the valve with my fingers or a pair of grips and the trying to turn the cap but again no luck (I had to be very careful as there is a danger that I will damage the rubber on the valve doing that.)
Has anyone got any suggestions on how to get the blighters off apart from getting the tires off to get the valves off and then get the caps off??
Thanks
Dave Read more
Hi
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread :-)
I tried the trick with the pliers and insulation tape but they still wouldnt budge. The only thing that was turning was the rubber on the valve. Eventaully I used a mini hacksaw to get them off, being very careful not to damage anything else in the progress. I now have a cheap plastic set on. They dont look as good but hey.. they come off easier :-)
Cheers
Dave
Oh yes... they were not superglued on ;-)
A first timer here, although have been reading for some time.
The mill stone has a 1994 E36 3 series with 80, 000 miles.
The windscreen wipers have been working intermittantly for some months now, but with MOT looming and all this wet weather we have been having it is time to find a fix. Sometimes they function as they should, sometimes only on fast speed but usually not at all. Have fitted a new column switch which has made no difference. Suspect a failing relay, but have been unable to locate the relay. It does not appear to be on the main fuse/relay board under the bonnet.
Does anyone know where it would be or any other ideas?
Thanks & regards,
Pete.
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Thanks Elekie. I'll take a look in the daylight.
Pete.
No, not going to start a tedious Diesel v. Petrol debate, but just relate some driving
impressions I've had the *opportunity (* got a petrol C-Class from Mobilo when my c270 broke- ongoing btw)
to accumulate & which may be of interest
The cars are - C270cdi Elegance (MY2003) with 170bhp/295flb/ft & C180 Classic (MY2006) with 143bhp/162lb/ft - both auto.
Performance:
No contest , I thought before the fact. In reality, the petrol was , surprisingly, more 'eager' in those
frequent '0-30mph situations' , moving off from traffic lights, pulling out etc you seem to spend most of
your time doing in the urban environment. The Kompressor engine had that nice low down grunt, from
it seemed, about 800-1000rpm. Once moving, say fast A-road or NSL dual carraigeway, it was no contest,
the CDI 's 'stomp' with 295ft/lbs @~2200rpm makes overtaking much safer & seemigly unaffected by passenger
number or load. The Kompressor needed much more 'planning' in similar situations, to the extent that I was nearly
'caught out' once or twice initially
Handling:
Kompressor was much nicer (both shod with 16in 205/55's btw): without that heavy (old) 5-cylinder diesel lump,
it was keener to turn-in (waited years to use that expression!) without the ponderousness I'd gotten used to in the CDI.
Roundabouts, corners & lane-changing consequently were tackled with far less body roll & the 'agility' factor made
prevously hum-drum manoeuvres almost fun in comparison with the CDI.
Refinement:
Kompressor not surprisingly, much quieter on start-up & the urban round. At NSL speeds, less evident,
but the omnipresent CDI 5-cylinder 'thrum' is obvious,( if this makes sense) when it's not there.
One adavantage was when stopping the engine: the CDI always 'shakes' when you turn the ignition off,
in the Kompressor it was absent, a small but nice change.
Economy: I'm boringly consistent in my driving patterns & seemed to achieve about 8-10mpg less
in the Kompressor, like-for-like.
Apart from the mid-range stomp lack, I liked the petrol, so much so that I'd consider
one of the meatier 6-cylinder E-class petrol Mercs. They might not be around that much longer! Read more
I found it annoying as it kept kicking down and the slightest touch of the throttle.
They don't normally do that. However they do adapt to your driving style though :-)
Overriding impression was that it was nice car that could do with considerably more power/torque
No problem, you could try the C200 then, or the C230, or the C280, or the C350, or the C55AMG.
At *list* price your Mondeo probably costs about the same as the C180K (if not more). I'm not saying the Merc is better, but lets's put it this way - I've had Mondeo's as company cars (and been happy with them) but with my own money I bought a Mercedes.
I was very dissapointed by the economy - 32.5mpg on a run from Liverpool to Newcastle.
If you drive an auto anything 'firmly', then it does hammer the fuel consumption.
Luigi Colani trucks
tinyurl.com/y7h6e7
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Is it just me or do all the REALLY mad designers come from Switzerland? eg: Rinspeed
Wonder if anybody has had this problem.
I can hear water sloshing about in the car when i accelerate or brake. It seems to come from the cabin. No water in any of the doors.
Water has considerable inertia so appears to be large volume. A body specialist advisd me to remove the drain plugs in the sills, but having looked there aren't any??
Also and unrelated to the above the 'antipollution fault' text appears on alarm screen and engine management light comes on. My service agent checked it (£45) and advised me it is possibly the coil pack (£120) The car performance isn't affected and iam just a bit worried that replacing the coil pack will not cure the intermittant fault and i'll be £120 out of pocket.
Any help would be appreciated
cheers David Read more
Thanks Lee
I got my head and my hands dirty today going along the whole ofthe sill with a bradall, pushing and probing but no joy. Absolutely solid underneath. I did however then decide to drill a hole in the middle and watched 4 pints of water trickel to the floor.
Was mentioning this to a friend today who also had a 406 and he tells me that he had exactly the same problem.
Not had it before on any of my numerous cars so i suspect the 406 must have a bit of a design problem!
David
Browse
Oldgit....may I, with respect, draw your attention to: www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=42...2