February 2007
Audi A3 is the old shape- 52 plate quattro and all the toys or the 53 plate mk4 tdi 150bhp ( a spot on one this time!)
Priced at more or less the same price- both low mileage (35k). Never bought low mileage as I never quite trust them as much as a 60000miles car thats lived on the motorway.
Appreciate your help. Read more
Hi all,
If a part is replaced under a genuine BMW warranty, what is the warranty on the replacement part?
Is it 2 years, as per BMW genuine parts you pay for to be fitted yourself, or does the warranty of the specific part expire with the expiration of the main warranty?
If so, does this really mean that if a dealer replaces something a week before the end of the warranty and it dies again 3 weeks later (hypothetically) it isnt covered? Read more
AFAIK if the part is replaced under warranty then the it is covered until the warranty expires. So, for example, if you have a major transmission blow-up close to the end of warranty they won't fit a new transmission and give you another 2-3 years warranty! They may fits parts that are rebuild/reconditioned. Parts which you purchase are covered for 1 or 2 years (depending on the part). The part ONLY is covered, not the diagnostics, labour or consequential damage (although you may be able to make a case for the latter I suspect, depending on the circumstances). Obviously if BMW don't fit the part then you have to be able to convince them that it was correctly fitted. Electrical parts (e.g. coil packs) are a bit of a grey area, in the past the BMW parts man has told me that they are not warranted unless BMW fit them - but I can't see that being the case.
Although I've used Ebay quite a bit for smaller items, this is the first time I've been brave enough to buy a car that way. I hadn't bothered to browse it for cars before either (not being in the market) and I was pleasantly surprised by the choice in my sort of price bracket. As discussed elsewhere, medium-to-large Japanese saloons like the Nissan QX, Toyota Camry and my particular favourite, the Mazda Xedos, are seriously undervalued, as are most vehicles with much more than 120k miles. Garages are no longer very interested in anything over 8-10 years old, as they have to provide a warranty, yet engines and bodywork last longer than ever, if looked after, and the world seems to be filling up with cars that are nowhere near the end of their useful lives, but that nobody really wants.
Suits me, of course, and I can only be thankful for an economic system that has enabled me to buy a well-used but well-preserved Xedos for under £700. Everything works as it should, including the air-con, the engine runs like silk and the leather upholstery has years of life left in it. So has the rest of the car, I suspect, but I've probably tempted fate enough for one day... Read more
Yeah, I know, but that won't be there for quite so long. Anyway, I don't imagine too many scroats would know a Xedos if it ran over them...
It seems an awful lot of car for the money, but the same amount would also have bought a 3-litre Camry estate, which I could probably have lived in, at a push!
The Daily Mail of 9th Feb.2007 reports on a development of the driving test where the learners knowledge of ?green issues? is tested.
The Driving Standards Agency (Who are they ?) spokesperson said, ?This should lead to a group of drivers who from Day One drive in an environmentally-friendly way.?
Learners, among other things, will need to show that they understand :
1. how motoring affects the environmwent,
2. what speeds are best for driving and braking ??
3. route planning to minimise fuel consumption.
They will be penalised for
4. excessive use of the accelerator when starting the engine
5. consistently failing to use engine braking.
It looks as though the self appointed experts are going to change their instructions again. My son reprimanded me for going down through the gears as I was approaching red traffic lights so that I wouldn?t need to stop. ?Brakes to Stop?, he said, ?Gears to Go?.
Will they bring back ?Imagine that an eggshell is between your foot and the throttle? Read more
">>due to modern engines having such light cranks,
Tell me, what does the weight of the crank have to do with engine braking?"
In the 1950s motorcycle enthusiasts were reputed to lighten the pistons and conn rods by drilling holes. The lighter the moving parts the less inertia and the faster the response, but I can't see that it would have a marked effect on braking. That would be down to the compressions, and the number of them per unit time. I notice that when I change to manual on going downhill, in 4th and 3rd there is not much effect. 2nd is better, but 1st is the only one to have any real effect on a proper hill..
Had a look at one today and quite impressed. Doesn't seem to be quite the same quality as a F Focus or VW Eos and of course has only 2 tiny rear seats but has a good spec and a bmw designed 120bhp engine and 'only' costs £14795. Plus there offering free insurance,fairly cheap finance,and an amazing £750 for my Merc 190 with dent(if you recall).Like to know anyones views on this car or have experience with the 207 hatchback or the 206 cc? Thanks.
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The 207 seems to be a pretty good car,different league to the horrible 206 and the build/fit/finish/drive in the 207cc really does make the 206cc look very cheap/nasty/harsh and from an entirely different manufacturer.
I can't find an ex-demo car to suit my specification. I have found one that ticks all the boxes except it doesn't have leather. I was wondering what would be involved in obtaining a leather interior from a written-off car and installing it. Has anyone done this sort of thing before? Read more
a mate recently bought a new Isuzu crew cab type pick up......he specified that with leather. The vehicle turns up in the UK without leather and then the local Isuzu dealer sends it off to be re-trimmed in leather.
it looks a nice job, i'd not have guessed it wasn't done at the build point
no doubt other manufacturers do the same
if you found one of the trimmers that worked to that standard you'd be laughing
Hello John
I was thinking of buying a Focus hatchback 5 door. What is the best petrol engine to get in terms of reliabilty and perfomance/economy?
Thank you
The Melting Snowman Read more
For economy, the 1.4 is as thirsty as the 1.6 (average
38mpg in mixed driving) and the 1.8 is as thirsty as
the 2.0 (34 mpg is about average).
I get 36 to 40 mpg (depending on the season) from my 03/03 2.0 Ghia. These are genuine figures, obtained by recording every drop of petrol purchased and calculating the mpg at the end of each month. I admit I don't use harsh acceleration very often but on the other hand I drive spiritedly and on urban roads I try to keep up as high a speed as I think I can get away with without risking my licence.
I recommend a 2.0. Just check that the seats suit you. I personnally much prefer the Ghia seats because I find the side bolsters of Zetec models irritate the sides of my thighs.
--
L\'escargot.
I am sufficiently impressed by the Subaru Impreza 2.0 (non-turbo) to want to buy one.
The cheapest cars I have seen are from a company called allbrandsnew.co.uk
Has anyone dealt with this company?
After making enquires it seems that these cars come from Malta. They have the full 3-year Euro-wide warranty and I would be the first owner. The saving is almost £5k over the dealer price!! The dealer was not willing to "deal".
The only snag is that for the model that I want, the side airbags are a factory option (+£300). So I have to order the car, it gets built in Japan, shipped to Malta and then shipped to the UK. Apparently the wait will be about four months. Now I don't mind waiting this length of time - but I wouldn't want to wait much longer (no longer than say 5 months).
Can anyone suggest a form of words I should attach to the fomal order so that I can back out of the deal if it takes too long. I am paying £250 deposit and balance on collection of the car. I would want the deposit back if it took longer than 5 months.
Also, can anyone suggest a form of words that the car should be to exact UK specification? I have printed off all the details from their website and can hold them to the detailed specification when the car arrives. Read more
As regards UK spec, someone above suggested listing the UK spec and this is a good idea.
As for the time clause - well, I'd be more inclined to make a careful note of what they say in the small print. If they say delivery is in 4 months, get in contact with them at 3 months and check things are still going okay. If not, then you can start writing your "time is of the essence" letters then.
DON'T FORGET TO PAY YOUR DEPOSIT WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD. That way, you can sue the card provider as well as the dealer.
There is a bit of surfice rust near a rear suspension mount in the boot of my car, its quite a large area but when I touch it it feels perfectly solid, it looks like something has spilt on it.
I am currently treating it with K-RSUT and a respray but it still looks obvious its been repaired. What will the MOT man make of this? Read more
>Use thicker paint? Repaint a much wider area, and also some other non-contentious areas so as not to draw attention >to it. Don't do it just before the MOT - give it time to weather and get covered in dirt.
yes, this is what I've done on several occasions, but also where there have been holes. Just try not to draw attention to it.
leave something else for the tester to find though, I never used to sort out ALL the problems I knew about on an older car before the MoT......
Hi,
Sorry for the long post but here goes.
I?m just looking for a bit of advice regarding a new car that we have been offered by our employer. By way of background we work in a team of four and travel about 65 miles each way to work, on a four on four off shift system. We currently share the driving between three of us, with the other them member making his own way to work. All motoring costs are down to each individual and each uses their own cars.
Our employer has offered to give us a car to be shared between all four of us .They would buy the car but we would all be jointly responsible for all other costs e.g. tax, insurance, maintenance. At this stage I do not know how long we would have to keep the car but I would think it would be about two years.
It looks like the car will be a Ford Focus 1.6 Tdci, about 12 months old. We will jointly do about 30,000 miles pa, mainly on quiet motorways.
Coming to the point, can anyone see any pitfalls re insuring it or anything else? Three of us currently drive older cars e.g. 01 reg and one has a 56 plate.
Do you think it is a financialy worth it as we are thinking of agreeing as it will save our cars wear and tear etc.
Thanks
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Hi,all.As can be seen I'm a bit of an infrequent poster but I thought I would give you all an update after all the advice I received.
Due to the rise in motoring costs my employer was looking at compensating us in some way.In the end(April 2008) they decided to give us all a pay rise of £1500 pa,fully pensionable and contractual.The overtime rate was frozen at last years rate though.
Not too bad a result though.
Browse
Go for the Golf.
Golf will be cheaper to fix when it goes wrong. I know the petrol quattro models are very thirsty due to weight, etc. Expect that this is the same on the Diesel.