February 2007
I've been asked to check over a 10-year old Polo 1.4. It's been owned by the same person for the past 9 years, and been driven a mile down the road every weekday morning, and back again at night. Under the oil filler (camshaft cover) was about half a yoghourt pots worth of the thickest, creamiest mayonnaise I've ever seen. The oil had an opaque, muddy water appearance. It's been regularly (main dealer) serviced. When I drove it, the temperature gauge wouldn't go above 70C, so presumably the 'stat's keeping the engine cool. It's done about 50k miles (heaven knows how).
What, if any long term damage would this be likely to have caused?
The back tyres (presumably original) have a fair amount of tread, but there's a continuous crack all round the side wall just below the tread. MOT fail?
Unfortunately I know both seller and potential buyer.
Read more
Over the past year or so, I've noticed a tremendous increase in the number of noisy mopeds being ridden by young maniacs. They're often in groups of 2 or 3 and the riders wear minimal safety gear. Invariably they're ridden with very little care and attention and are fitted with illegal sounding expansion pipes. The resultant noise is made even worse by the habit of blipping the throttle like an on/off switch.
I'm an ex-biker and like to think that I rode fairly responsibly most of the time. Am I just getting old & grumpy .......? Read more
Thanks MD
Not only do they have no perception of speed, they also seem to lack any form of manners, any degree of consideration, any ability or intent to wash the car or for that matter, their own hair.
Glad its not just me who notices these things..
Rgds.
Since I retired and went back to work I have been parking in the shopping precinct car park near to the office. The attendants told me that quite a few of the people belonging to my employer were doing the same. The cost was £2.00 per day. Sounds strange, but there you are. The attendants warned me during the Xmas period that the shopekeepers were making representations to the landlord that their businesses were suffering because prospective customers were finding it hard to find a space. In the last couple of years the council has put a lot of restrictions on street parking, and the streets look nice and exclusive.
Now the landlord has revised the pricing system and all day parking will now be £15.00.
Oh, well, it was good while it lasted. Back to reality now. Read more
I think this fits in with some advice (as distinct from Legal Advice, I should point out) from my solicitor-wife. It concerned a new housing development near us, which has no through route for road traffic and so makes the walk from home to school more pleasant by avoiding some of the main roads. At each end are are prominent 'No thoroughfare' notices, but Mrs W tells me these could be enforced only by a householder there who could 'prove a loss'. We keep to the paths, don't drop rubbish and make as little noise as two under-sixes can manage, so there's nothing to challenge and no-one has tried - quite the contrary, in fact. Might be rather different if we started parking on their drives, though!
Generally, I'd far rather park once to do everything than adopt the American practice of driving tiny distances from shop to shop. Our town-centre Sainsbury's has adopted a two-hour maximum policy, presumably because some people were parking there and going to work. I've not tested it but the yellow-jacketed enforcers seem to have no problem with me doing my Saturday shop there and then strolling up the hill into town for a visit to the market, the dry cleaners and the butchers. I don't know what sanction they could apply if I did exceed two hours.
Have been wondering about buying a Legacy or Outback, and doing a bit of research seems the engines have a reputation for head-gasket failure , certainly the 2.5L engines at least.
I know how to check for this, (mayo, oil in coolant and vice-versa) etc. and that you need tochange oil & coolant regularly to reduce chances of failure.
Can anyone tell me the reason why they are so prone - clearly it must be a design/manufacturing problem ?
are the bores machined too close together, there is premature corrosion between gasket/head/block, or is the machining of head and block not to highenough tolerances for instance ?
I would be glad of anyones knowledge on these cars
Thanks ! Read more
Our Forester II , 2.0x March 2003 had to have a
new head gasket at its 2nd year service as the dealer
found oil down the back of the block.
I was surprised at this early failure - the car had
done less than 9,000 miles.
That's a completely different kind of failure - sounds like the outer edge of the gasket was missing or damaged (during assembly maybe?) allowing oil to leak out from the gallery.
diesel is spraying from the top of one of the injectors on 1999 ford focus 1.8 diesel. i have noticed that the orange 'o' ring on this injector appears to be missing. it is visible on the other three. i have tried tightening the injector.
does anyone know if i can just buy just the 'o' ring and is it difficult to change? any advice appreciated.
Read more
yes just be carefull you don't break the return all should go well. good luck
It is interesting to hear roomers quote costs for this and that for repairs and servicing. What do you expect to pay out every year for these items. We run an '06 VW which costs me £15 a month to cover all servicing costs and a W merc C class which gets a major service at a local non franchise garage every year and the odd oil change. This is about £500 and anything else that goes wrong is extra, this seems to be another £500 to £800 a year. {tyres, pads, exhausts etc. } I am quite happy with this but wonder what other folks consider reasonable for their yearly motoring costs. Read more
Did someone mention depreciation! :(
For some reason, all the cars I like are the ones
that depreciate the most!!!!!!!! (Another four and a half grand over
the last two years about to go down the swanny... (oh
dear, I didn't really want to remind myself of that)
>>
And how much did you pay for servicing etc during those two years? Couple of hundred? You don't feel the cost of depreciation until you come sell, then it usually kicks in the teeth!
I have got max no claims discount on my car,the policy has me as main driver+my wife as named driver.I am thinking of getting a second car as a run around,how does the insurance work? Can i use my max no claim or do i need to start from scratch with my second car thanks Andrew. Read more
Wantone would be basically right.
The only two comments to add is that its not always neccessary to use the same insurer to obtain that discount, and to remember that whilst some insurers offer a discount for multiple cars that doesn't neccessarily make them cheaper than insuring each car in the best place.
hi, is there anyhting i can use to remove the black dirt off my alloys? some of the muck comes off but there seems to be some which just won't come off with scrubbing!
anyone help?
thanks
Read more
On the basis that prevention is better than cure, I carefully wax my alloys with some of the very long lasting wax products.. (not near garage so cannot recall names). Then I just wash the dirt off carefully with a brush or sponge for the next 12 months.
Note waxing BMW cross spoke alloys as fitted to my E30 320I was not fun but it worked.
Wheel cleaners are the spawn of the devil for the environment/long term lacquer life.. imo.. and do my hands no good if I am splashed.. so I do not use them...
Wax is cheaper as well...
madf
Hello.
A neighbour of mine had her car repaired last april.
She had a sill replaced.
It has now bubbled with rust again.
How long do you normally get with bodywork repairs in terms of warranty.
--
(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters Read more
And what guarantee do they put on their workmanship is a good question to ask ?
Mrs H just backed the C8 into the yard this afternoon while I was chatting to a passer-by. As she stopped next to me I heard the unmistakable grind of metal from the left rear wheel. Sure enough the left outboard pad is down to the metal. The other 3 pads have about 1cm left. The car has warranty until October this year. I'm reticent about taking the car to the dealer with a warranty claim because traditionally brakes are consumable items and they'll sting me for pads and discs while the car is in the garage. But for one pad to wear while the others have meat on them? What do I do, take it on the chin or stamp my foot and say the uneven wear must be caused by a fault?
TIA
Hawkeye
-----------------------------
Stranger in a strange land Read more
Same thing happened to me with axantia i had and i left it too late and had to have calipers and discs replaced. Next time you take the wheel off take a photo of the problem and if you don't get satisfaction tell them youll report them to Citroen UK. Dont leave it unto its too late and your forced into a corner go see them imediately. a pair of brake pads ok cali[pers discs and time very expensive
Browse
I advised the prospective buyer not to buy the car!