February 2007
I've just got this e-mail & thought the programe might be of interest to some. Hope its ok to just copy it in....
Advanced-Driving.co.uk's resident Expert, Hugh Noblett of Cadence Driver Development is all set for his 30 minutes' worth of fame when he appears on the BBC1 current affairs programme "Real Story with Fiona Bruce" this Wednesday February 21 at 7.30pm.
The BBC once again came to Hugh as their choice of Driving Expert, relying upon his unrivalled reputation as the country's leading high performance coach. His calm yet authoritative approach and his passion for encouraging people in the art of safe, enjoyable driving would be the perfect contrast with the subjects of the programme.
During the filming, three recently qualified drivers came under Hugh's watchful eye, gaining vital skills, which many critics feel are lacking in our current practical driving test. Recent reports have identified that many new drivers consider they are being let down by the focus of the test. Rather than performing basic manoeuvring techniques, they want to see a far more stretching test of their ability to safely deal with real-world situations on the road.
Hugh assisted them in developing their concentration and on-road risk management strategies; country road and night driving (where so many inexperienced drivers have crashes); and finally motorway procedures, where they were encouraged to use acceleration sense and the need to create space and time in which to deal with an increasingly hostile environment.
What the final format of the programme will be is uncertain. Hugh spent many hours with the three drivers in a variety of driving situations, including a session at Millbrook Proving Ground where they experienced skidding - and crashing into cones - at speed! Hugh's half expecting a variety of shots demonstrating how windy it was and how uncontrollable the remains of his hair can be without a cap!
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My wife has a 2002 Passat Estate Sport 2.0 owned from new, full service history from supplying dealer, 22,000miles.
I recently discovered the carpets on the driver's side were saturated, the heating system worked ineffectively and the engine temperature gauge fluctuated wildly from normal to the red zone. (The coolant level was normal & the fan working). Further rainfall caused there to be 1cm of water in the F&R footwells. The VW dealer immediately said the problem was likely to be due to a blocked pollen filter which caused rainwater to be diverted straight into the car. I dropped the car off at the garage & received a call saying I needed a new water pump, cam belt, thermostat, set of carpets plus a check of various electrical control units beneath the carpets. Total cost, a staggering £2014 (£1200 of which relates to the carpets)
This sounded like a design fault.. VW customer services were initially quite helpful saying they were aware of the problem and had written to dealers confirming they would meet the cost of rectification work. Subsequently this has become an offer to pay only 42% of my bill "because the car is out of warranty and they are not obliged to pay anything". I find it irritating that VW were aware of the problem yet did nothing to mitigate the risk. At the same time it wrote to dealers a letter to its customers would have been in order to flag the problem, the consequences of which were avoidable with a bit of preventative maintenance.
Has anyone had a similiar experience or greater sucess with VW picking up their bill? If that is their final word then I am appalled at their lack of customer care and will not buy another VW.
Many thanks
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Is it true that VAG cars turn the A/C compressor temporarily off when you put your foot all the way down? Read more
It happens on most cars which have ECU control of the engine-before that you just had reduced performance.
Has anyone had any dealings with Carcraft or know anything about them/
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Their cars are all in the order of 2K over other
supermarket prices. Last year they valued a Silver 2001 Mk3 Ford
Mondeo 2.5 V6 Ghia X with 58k miles on at £3,500
part-ex when they had a blue one on the lot, with
49K on, for £7,999. Slightly less miles but less desirable colour
and same condition. They do let you have as many test
drives as you like though, some supermarkets don't. TBH you're better
of going to the dealers.
Forgot to mention above, the top Parkers book price for the car was £5,999
I'd like to raise a point here in the hope that someone with good knowledge of parking law can provide some answers. From time to time one of those nasty little vans with "Safety Partnership" or some similar twaddle written on its side takes up its position on a road at the entrance of a town near to where I live. Yes, I admit it got me, but that was nearly a year ago, and I no longer harbour any particular grudge. However, this van always parks with two wheels on the pavement, and the offside wheels on the road in an area which is marked with diagonal white stripes bordered with a dotted line, the purpose of which is to advise drivers that two lanes are about to merge into one, so they should move over. My questions:
1. is it legal for anyone to park with wheels on the pavement? I seem to remember that it is not, in terms of the 1947 Act.
2. is it legal to park in this striped area of the carriageway?
3. if the answer to either of the above is No, then what can I, as a public-spirited (hem hem) citizen, do about it?
4. if the van is illegally parked, are the tickets it is responsible for valid? Read more
Photograph it in situ - Found out they don't like this. Quite a jolly little sport around here is for locals to park up in the laybys that these vans use thus making it difficult for them to find a good spot. The situation you mention insn't necessairily illegal but could be deemd dangerous (as in causing an obstruction or parking in a dangerous position).
There was all the controversy some time back when we learned that a man called Chris Bangle had designed some slightly odd looking BMWs. However, although the designs may not have been pleasing on the eye it wasn't Bangle who decided to put them into production - it was top management.
On the other hand I like the look of the current crop of Mercs, with reservations about the 4x4s and R series. I think the CLS looks marvellous but who designs these cars? Perhaps it is a committee rather than an individual although I think the results are excellent.
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Personally although I dont think the 5 series looks as good as the previous model but they do look alright. Also Z4's look alright. Its some of the lines around the flanks and rear lights of the 3 series that I think look too fussy.
IMO that Merc CLS looks plain weird from the rear. The sloping back end "four door coupe" vaguely reminds me of some yank saloons but I cant remember any examples at the mo...
Hi All,
Does anyone know how to reset the "Check Tyre Pressure" indicator on a Merc E320 (2006)? No manual with the car so we're stumped!
Thanks,
DB Read more
Genius - thank you!
You're probably aware of my frequent ramblings on here about the appalling drivers in Leeds, in particular with regards to traffic lights, where it's considered perfectly acceptable to run the light 5 seconds after it's gone red.
However, a new technique is now being practised at pedestrian crossings, where if the light's red and there's no one on the crossing, you just drive across. Watched a whole stream of cars doing so in Headingley, and got beeped myself for stopping and waiting until it turned green.
Is there ANYWHERE with worse drivers than Leeds? Read more
Running red lights in Liverpool is an accepted part of the local culture...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
How many variants of the Focus 1.6 TDCi engine are there?
I?ve seen them referred to as 90PS, 110PS, Euro III and Euro IV?. Can anybody enlighten me, please?!
Cheers.
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I'd say the 1.6 108 is more refined than the 1.8
115, and in terms of performance there is little between them
on the road. >>
There is little in it in refinement though the 1.8 is noticably more torquey at low revs which fits with the figures, 240 and 280 nm IIRC.
I have owned the above, UK dealer supplied, car since new and it very recently, suddenly developed an intermittent misfire that eventually prompted the catalytic converter warning lamp to turn on. The misfire often occurred when pulling out of corners or bottoming out of hills.
The dealer claims to have cured things, after conducting a full electrical test, by "upgrading the software to current UK specification". I wait to see if he has.
I am however a little concerned, because I am coming to the end of the warranty period and would have thought that inappropriate software would have caused a long-running problem, from day 1, rather than prompt a sudden misfire, after c.25,000 miles?
Sadly, I used to be able to restore/fix/understand just about anything automotive, but since cars have gone electronic........!
Can anyone with greater technical knowledge than I, please explain whether the dealer's proposal is a sound one? Read more
Browse
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My brother in law had it with his 2001 Passat and a few days afterwards the alarm started going off at random. Water had got in to the alarm ECU and fried it.
VW would not contribute a penny to the repair costs. In the end, he had the work done at a local indie (VAG specialist) who reckon they see at least one a week with the same problem. They reckon it seems to be 50/50 as to whether you get away without damage to the alarm ECU or not. He didn't.
It's a beautifully finished car this Passat, but his experiences have been enough to put me off buying one. It's cost him over £2,000 in unscheduled repairs and faults in the two years he's had it (this problem + clutch + DMF + front suspension rebuild + central locking fault), and the car hasn't yet done 70,000 miles. I have a Mondeo which looks like it cost half as much to put together, but soldiers on at 130k and costs me next to nothing to keep running.
Cheers
DP