February 2007
I think I've damaged my car on a pothole and am fuming. I've seen a new site called potholes.co.uk and they say you can claim, I'm going to follow their advice but has anyone else got an experience they can help
me with? Read more
Been offered a very good price on a new Volvo from an online supplier but they say:
The discounts we are able to offer you are achieved through volume sales. We achieve these discounts by first registering the car into the name of our suppliers who hold discount terms with the manufacturer. This means that you will receive a brand new car on the latest registration and with the full 3 year warranty but you will be the 2nd registered keeper.
Has anyone encountered this before? Are there problems with it? Read more
I've done this. Bought a pre-registered car (registered in Dec, bought in Feb). Drove a 24k car away for 13k and got my V5 as normal a few days later. It had 19 miles on it. Who cares if I wasn't the first owner. Didn't make any difference when I sold it 3 years later.
Some of you may recall the many and varied threads I have started over the last 6 months or so, see-sawing back and forwards in my opinions on what sort of car I wanted next, and how much I wanted to spend.
Well, I'm happy to report that I finally made a decision, and after work today will be travelling to Mangoletsi to pick up a gorgeous Alfa 156 GTA SW.
I don't actualyl have any questions to ask in this thread I'm afraid, I'm just far too excited to not mention it! Read more
Might be a good idea to consult the Indian chaps who made a Peugeot out of an old Hindustan too...
Press release at:
www.abi.org.uk/Newsreleases/viewNewsRelease.asp?nr...6
Rating classes up to 50 from 20. Good news or bad news? Should in theory mean fairer risk pricing. But I just can't help being cynical... Read more
I read a summary of this - what caught my eye was mooted the re-rating based torque output , in addition to the usual bhp,
0-60mph & top speed - the 'classical' definers of performance. Based apparently on the perceived or observed
risk of too much mid-range oomph contributing to a greater risk of accident etc.
Maybe they'll be penalising passive safety next on the basis that it makes you feel more invulnerable,
therefore 'encouraging' you to drive more recklessly!
Hi,
i have a '93 SAAB 9000 CDE auto. I wish to change the gearbox fluid and filter. I have been quote £100 + VAT for the job which seems a bit steep so i will get the spanners out! Can anyone tell me what i need to know such as location of drain plug & where the filter is etc, also anything to beware of and so on.
Any advice welcomed. Read more
Phil I think I am right about having to drain the torque converter, to change all fluid in the sytem but is £100 + VAT a lot for the job? It equates to about an hour's labour plus the fluid, roughly. If you only change the fluid in the box you will only have changed about half of the total content and that probably isn't what you want.
I'm still looking for a premium vehicle for my next car - the Merc CLK 270cdi is tempting me as I've now got a commute of 50 miles a day so comfort / economy appeal. By all accounts, Merc dealers are pretty rubbish and expensive so here's my question - if I get it serviced by an Indi specialist (and I'm likely to keep it 3 years) how much less will I have to sell it for than if it has main dealer service history? By my calculations (based on phone calls to a few garages):
(MB) A service = £325 / (Indi) A service = £160
(MB) B service = £600 / (Indi) B service = £380
So if in 3 years I need 2 x A and 1 x B then it'll cost:
MB = £1250 Indi = £700 (indi saving £550)
If it needs 1 x A and 1 x B it'll cost:
MB = £925 Indi = £540 (indi saving £385)
The question is, once a car like this is 7-8 years old, if it's in good shape generally is it so important for it to have the FMBSH?
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If only BMW made a Z4 with their 3.5l diesel engine!
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6384585.stm
The last one reminded me of something I saw on Top Gear once - someone had rebuilt a 601S with a tubular steel chassis and had put in disc brakes and a 1275cc Mini Cooper engine, enabling (thanks to the light weight) a sub-9 sec 0-60, IIRC. That sort of thing has always amused me, don't know why... Read more
stanford hall ..is that near east leake?
Has anybody good or bad experiences of these? To be given as a present to an enthusiastic 60 year old!
To embody a fun element as well as instructional! A quick google lists 282,000 sites so there must be some to be avoided.
Preferably Home counties North, but possibly willing to travel as far as Silverstone.
--
pmh (was peter)
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I treated SWMBO to a day at John Watson skid course at Silverstone in 80's - I loved it she hated it. - i did learn that once a car goes you are just a passenger holding on for grim death
I have a Saab 9-5 3.0 TiD estate, June 02 registered. Had it from new, 57K on the clock - great car. Full service history with one dealer. A few knocks and dinks on the outside and needs a good clean on the inside due to the kids, but otherwise a great car.
The day before I was due to trade it in (for a Saab 9-3) - engine failed. Took it to the dealership who investigated and advised that it had ingested water as the airintake was wet, shattering the bigends etc etc. In short - needs a new engine before they'll honour the trade-in and unless I persuade them to source a second-hand one, the car will be scrap as the cost of a brandnew engine will out-weight the trade-in value.
Now - here's the snag: I can't see how it ingested water. I drove the car solidly all weekend, the roads were clear of water, and immediately prior to the engine failing, I'd been cruising the M1 for an hour in the outside lane, and I guess I would have noticed hitting a deep pool of standing water!
The dealership and Saab UK insist that it's water ingestion and the only other thing I could think of was cambelt failure leading to a cracked head and coolant being sucked in and then out the airintake, thus making it wet - but the cambelt is intact.
They suggest I claim on my insurance (but seeing as I didn't hit water, I can't honestly do that!). Off the record they suggest it's happened a few times with the big 3.0 diesel, but I can't see what I can reasonably expect Saab to contribute even if I managed to convince the central office to contribute towards the cost on the basis that Saab engines shouldn't just fail like that at such low mileage.
Advice on how to approach this would be appreciated. I want to get the car back up and running so I can do the trade-in and not lose too much of the 6750 pounds trade-in value they offered me. I have already purchased outright the new car, so I suppose I could get the work done cheaply away from Saab using a reconditioned engine and then sell it privately, but frankly it's a lot of hassle that I'd rather avoid.
{Subject header given a more meaningful title than "Help! Advice needed" - DD}
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Hadn't been "chipped",had it??
Hello, my w reg mondeo 5dr is doing an impression of a swimming pool!
The drivers side footwell is totally soaked through (carpet and mat). Could this be a dashboard out job? I'm hoping not. Are there any common areas that the water comes in through on these cars?
I am actually really sick of this leaking car (my boot was leaking, now fixed with some bathroom sealent). But at the moment I don't have any choice and have to keep it.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks Read more
Wise words using some sillicone in my opinion.
When i replaced my pollen filter i stuck down the panel again with the ford bought foam seal and it took about three months for it to let water in.
Ripped the seal off clean the panel up and put a bead of good clear sillicone on and its been dry ever since.
Browse
'Periloue' is an old warning shouted out by pioneer motorists to warn others of potholes so that they could circumvent them,'peri'-from the Greek for around and 'loue'being a corruption of the French for water(as potholes usually contain water).