February 2007
Wife has a R reg VW Polo automatic, once in a while when driving slowly or coming to a stop the engine would cut out. For the last two days it has been happening quite regulary, even when driving 5mph in traffic. It was serviced a month ago. Could it be the automatic gears or is it a battery fault. Read more
I renewed the RFL on-line last Thursday £190 for 12 months ending Feb 2008.
The following day the Bank Acct showed £190 reserved for the payment.
By Monday of this week the £190 reserved had been made available again and I thought that there was an error in the transaction.
Monday Lunchtime the new RFL duly arrives in the post (only 3 working days - excellent service)
A week after renewing the RFL
I have the disc and the money has not been taken.
Will this have gone through or will I get a letter fining me for not Road tax or SORNING the car? Read more
Why oh why did I ever buy this car??? My limp-home mode cut in again a few miles from work this morning - it had been fine on a 200 mile drive at the weekend, but the roads were dry. Today the roads were damp, but only enough for intermmitent wipers on the M40. Still, must be something damp somewhere. Can't see anything obviously damp...
But the real worry and thank god I'd got off the M42, as I came onto the business park, approaching a roundabout I went for the brakes. The pedal didn't move at all and no braking what so-ever. Thankfully there was no-one coming onto the roundabout and I went round on 3 wheels (Didn't fancy trying the foot operated parking brake option...). As I limped the last couple of hundred yards to the office the ABS/ASR light came on. Any suggestions? Is this going to cost me a 2nd mortgage?
This car costs me so much more than a similar age and mileage Xantia did )o;
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Since the ABS/ASR light came on then I would suggest it is not a problem with the servo hose - this would not put the light on. More likely a fault with the ABS system....
heater fan is on full speed and cannot be altered.citroen tell me it is either the control panel or fan unit itself. how difficult is it to swap either item or is there a trick to fix it.citroen have offered to test each part to see which is at fault.the bad news is i have air con fitted to the car which citroen have said will make it complicated.thought citroens were complicated anyway.does mean that it will be very expensive to fix.thanks in advance for any help or advice. Read more
Are you sure you can't keep this away from Citroen and DIY repair as far as possible... then use a Citroen or aircon specialist if that fails?
It seems Citroen are going to be charging a minimum of £320!
It must be worth a days work at the weekend to take a chance on swapping the module with a £13 GSF replacement. Then if the aircon still doesn't work get it to an air-con specialist for a re-gass and check at £70 or so.
David
I'll might start annoying some of you on this board but I'm just curious and expanding my choice of cars. I'm taking my time to buy one for myself because I want a car that I'll keep for sometime so I'm not in any rush. Last night while talking to a mechanic friend he suggested me to check out Volvo S40 diesels. I've checked the prices on autotrader and I'll be able to get R/S reg within my budget. I've got no idea of how good Volvos are and how good their diesels are. I would like the opinions of you experts. I really would like to know how reliable are they and are they economical. I read on Parkers that these cars have got Renault Diesel engines, any thoughts on that? Read more
Thanks!
sorry mate, I meant to say T-Cut!!! :)
I have a 2006 honda crv diesel (now 5000 miles) which suffered electrical power loss while doing 70mph on the motoway. Fortunately I was in the inside lane. The dashboard went black, the immobiliser light flashed and the engine stopped. I turned the key off and back on again and the engine started. Two honda dealers could not fault it and treated it as a one off. It did it again a month later. After a couple of dealer visits, Honda got involved and the ignition unit was replaced - in their view the only likely cause of a total electrical power loss that would not show on the computer. The dealer also said all the wiring had been checked. All well and good I thought unitl today when it did it again whilst travelling in traffic at 30mph. I coasted ot some traffic lights, turned the key off and the engine restarted. Similar symptoms, motor cut out dashboard went black, as if ignition turned off (side lights stayed on though). I will be on to my dealer tomorrow but has anyone got any other ideas - a 2nd faulty ignition unit perhaps?
I've lost all confidence in the car particularly as a mode of transport for my young family, I need it to be properly sorted or I need a repalcement vehicle. Its only a matter of time before it occurs at just the wrong time in traffic Read more
Exactly same problem and history on MkII Auto- can anyone post a solution?
Hi
Time to get a new car , I have looked around and taking into account my budget (apprx £2000 ) and my choices are narrowed to the following :
Vauxhall Vectra (01 ) plate petrol 83,000 on the clock
Volvo S40 (do they do these in Diesels? )
Saab 9-3 or 9-5 (again looking for diesel model )
Looking at Volvo and Saab for safety reputation as well which is important to me.
anyone any thoughts or experiences on any of these models?
cheers all
Cmbdon
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The Saabs are much the nicest cars on your list but not in diesel form. The 2.2 TiD engine is a really noisy, rattly old thing and does nothing for the civilized ambience of the car. I had a 1996 900 and a 1998 9-3 in 2.0 petrol form and the 9-3 in particular was a delight. By 2001 you could have it with the 150 bhp 2.0 LPT engine for a bit more oomph in the higher gears - the 130 bhp non-turbos I had were quick enough but needed revs to get them moving. Both typically gave me about 33 mpg. Get one in Cosmic Blue with the honey-coloured velour seats and no wooden dashboard inserts and I think you'll be very pleased.
The 9-5 is likeable too, especially in estate form, but I'm not sure you'd get a good one for £2,000. Or you could ask James Ruppert, who'd probably tell you to get one of the last of the old 900s instead - complete with sighing power steering. I like the 9-3, though, and those who sneer that "It's a Cavalier underneath" are missing the point in a big way - it's a far nicer thing to own and to live with, and full of touches that make you glad they took the trouble. And once you're used to a Saab, a column-mounted ignition lock in anything else just seems to get in the way!
My Son had a low speed accident and needs to remove the front bumper to fix it. The damage is minor so he does not want to take it to a repairers. In the absence of a Haynes manual, can anyone please advise how it is removed?
Many thanks
John
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Hi Everyone,
Hoping someone can advise me what I can do in this situation.
First off, due to previous financial ?indiscretions? whilst self employed, I?m restricted to what the industry appears to call ?sub-prime? lenders.
Through one of these, I was able to locate a car within budget, that they were happy to lend on.
At first viewing, I put down a deposit on the car and sat in the dealership while the finance was arranged and agreed. I signed the paperwork which was faxed back, and I arranged to come back about 6 days later to collect it.
On the day I was due to collect it, they called delaying me because the finance company were dragging their heels. They ended up cancelling and putting me off until the following day.
To cut a long story short, since then both the dealership and their finance department have strung me along for just over a week, giving me different excuses each time.
First it was that the finance company had requested a HPI check on my part-ex, which was then carried out (despite me already being billed for this) by the dealer and faxed to their finance department, and then on to the finance company
When I called the next day, they claimed to have not received it from the dealer, so more delay. Next excuse was that the HPI was for the wrong vehicle, which in the same conversation was changed to ?it wasn?t sent on the right headed paper?
In between this, the dealer has been adamant they are merely waiting for the finances to be transferred (I?ve heard this at least 3 times from both the finance department and the dealer) because with ?sub-prime? lenders, it takes longer, and the dealer needs to see the funds
So here we are, 2 and a bit weeks after handing over a deposit, for a car that is sitting on their forecourt, and still waiting to collect it. Last I spoke to them was Monday, whereupon they told me they were frustrated, but??yes, waiting for the funds to hit their account.
So basically I?m sick of being misled and messed around, they?ve each contradicted each other, and it feels like I?m being scammed, if it weren?t for the fact the dealership is a large nationwide network or somewhat reputable origins.
Does anyone know why they?d deliberately delay? Assuming they aren?t in fact utterly incompetent, which is what I think. Are they hoping I give up and forfeit the deposit? Do they like to keep the money in their account for a week?
And also, tomorrow I?m going to call and give them 24 hours to have the car ready for collection, or I will cancel the agreement.
Would this count as a non-cancellable agreement, and would I be entitled to my deposit back? (£250)
I?m quite prepared to take them to the small claims court if necessary
Thanks
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If you are party to an agreement re the purchase of a car and a delivery date is not specefied as an element of it I think you are stuck. The dealer has the car, you want it and he wants the money. You are raising money from a finanace company, of your choice(?) so your finance company is the problem.
Hi all
I need to find a cheap third car for my daily commute to work and was wondering if any of you guys could recommend anything?
I commute 40 miles per day and require something thats pretty economical (>45mpg) and cheap to insure (
Any advice/recommendations welcome!
Cheers. Read more
Thank you Jase - so far, I'm still getting my head around the fact that such things can be so undervalued.
"All the Japanese efforts at producing a big BMW/Merc rival seem to fall flat in the UK "
Indeed, but perhaps it says more about us than them. Toyota seem to have had a bit more luck with Lexuses (Lexi?) which suggests that we're far too badge-conscious. I'm sure the Xedos would have done better if Mazda had taken their own badge off, so naturally I'm rather glad they didn't!
Browse
For what it's worth they're now called HM Revenue & Customs.
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L\'escargot.