March 2007
ww w.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1522207.ece
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Safer cars are more dangerous for other drivers in accidents
Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent
Modern cars are much safer in collisions for their occupants than older models, but their extra weight and height mean that they are more likely to kill people in other cars.
A study has found that drivers hit by a car registered from 2000-03 are 46 per cent more likely to die than if hit by a car registered from 1988-91.
The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), which conducted the study for the Department for Transport, said that the greater risk to other drivers posed by modern cars helped to explain why car occupant deaths had failed to fall significantly in the past eight years.
In 1998, 1,696 car occupants were killed, compared with 1,675 in 2005, a fall of only 1.2 per cent. Over the same period, the annual total for all road deaths fell by 6.4 per cent.
Modern cars have much better safety features, such as multiple air bags, side-impact protection and stronger frames. But these have added weight, the study says, so that the average new car is 20 per cent heavier than one built a decade ago.
Manufacturers have also increased the size of models to satisfy consumer demand for roomier cars with higher performance. Greater acceleration and higher top speed require larger, heavier engines.
For example, the new VW Beetle weighs 1.6 tonnes, double the weight of the rear-engined versions. The modern VW Golf is half a tonne heavier than the 1976 original, 2ft longer and 5in taller. It has a top speed of 146mph compared with 113mph for the Mark 1.
The increase in cars? average height means that they are more likely to override the stronger parts of another car?s shell in a side impact, increasingly the likelihood of killing occupants.
The study concludes: ?Improvements have come at a price: a more modern car tends to be more aggressive than an older car when in collision with another car.?
The average new car scores much higher in crash tests now than in 1998, but the tests measure only how well a car protects its own occupants or pedestrians, not how much damage it can inflict on another car.
Road safety groups called on the car industry yesterday to add an extra crash test to measure the risk that cars pose to occupants of other cars. The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety said: ?There is a good case for an extra test which will show prospective buyers how much damage a car will do to other cars.?
Andrew Howard, head of road safety at the AA, said that the growing disparity in the size of vehicles was also increasing the severity of crashes because there was now a greater risk of a small car colliding with a larger one.
People carriers and 4x4s, the two largest categories, accounted for only 5.6 per cent of new car sales in 1996 but 12.5 per cent in 2005. Over the same period, small cars also increased their market share, from 27.9 per cent to 31.1 per cent.
The TRL study found that drivers of the smallest cars, such as Ford Fiestas or Rover Metros, are four times as likely to be killed in collisions with other cars as drivers of the largest cars, such as a Ford Galaxy or Mitsubishi Shogun.
Drivers hit by the largest cars are twice as likely to die as those hit by the smallest.
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And what do the insurers force 17 year olds to drive? Although perhaps a good driver is more likely to avoid a crash whilst driving a nimble fiesta than a lumbering obesemobile. I'm never certain if I despise obesemobiles because the beggars don't get out of my way, or is it because most of the drivers of obesemobiles are overweight, slovenly mouth-breathers? Read more
Hi all,
Long shot just I'm just preparing myself should my N reg Golf Diesel Estate flop at its MOT next week. What would 2-3k in my pocket buy me if I was wanting to do 500 miles per week, mainly on motorways ?? It would need to be able to house our 2 dogs for travelling as well....open to any suggestions just make them sensible !!
Thanks in advance
Richard Read more
Don't be afraid of diesel, the guys who do huge mileages...i.e taxis all over the country...mostly seem to use diesel. There are some good Passats around in diesel or petrol if you prefer for £2-3k
just looking for some info here my brothers mondeo is really lacking in power struggles to get 80mph, ive checked the timing got the injectors tested checked all the turbo hoses and everthing looks fine, the car is running perfect but just seems far too slow im going to look at it this weekend so if any one has any info or has seen this problem before id be glad to get any information on where to start. can the turbo stop working and allow the car to run so well with out it? cheers Read more
i run the car with the air flow meter plug disconnected and it made no difference, ive been driving the car this past few days and noticed it is terribly sore on diesel im chatting just over 250 miles to a full tank any one any ideas as to why its so slow and hard to run
One of my colleagues had her car "tagged" (I believe this is the term for grafiti) outside her house in Sandhurst last weekend. Tonight I take SWMBO to M&S for a bit of retail therapy and some nasty scrote has painted a rude word on the boot lid of a beautiful blue 07 BMW 325d Coupe. I did report it but as I did not witness anything I suppose there is nothing to be done.
This is in the car park at The Meadows Tesco and Marks and Spencer near Camberley/Sandhurst, Surrey - BE WARNED and BE CAREFUL Read more
>>In the incident in question, in the absence of CCTV and witnesses, what can the Police do?
>>>>>>>>How about doing what they are paid to do, police and serve the community !
>>>>>>>>As written on the side of our local Panda cars.
I mean SPECIFICALLY what can the Police do in this situation? House-to-house inquiries? I have every sympathy with those wronged but equally without witnesses or any evidence, I fail to see what the Police can be reasonably expected to do.
I have been having a lot of trouble trying to sell a 2003, 03 plate, BMW 318CI (not the facelift version). It has 81k on clock, Full BMW SH. Manual. Jet Black with black interior. Very smart car. No faults. I have been constantly advertising since late December, absolutely no luck.
BTW, it was on eBay (thrice), Autotrader (thrice) and god knows how long on Piston heads. The prices reached on eBay are plain silly. People offer £6/7k.
The last Autotrader advert was at £8750. Just two telephone calls. No one came to see the car. I was quite willing to listen to offers. Mine was by far the cheapest for a 03 plate car - do you think potential buyers are backing off thinking that my car is way too cheap, and therefore something wrong?
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The miles look a bit wrong on that. You will have to pitch the price a fair bit lower than others on the same plate but with a lower mileage.
If I was trying to sell it in Autotrader I would put something like, 'slightly higher than average miles for year, but with FBMWSH' - you get the idea...
96 - N Rover 414Si insured as TPFT was in for a service when it gets side swiped along one side of the car by an delivery van. My mechanic was great, he made sure he got details of the van, insurance and even who they were delivering to. Anyway he says the damage is bad and the insurers would definately write it off, so my questions are:
1. Can I deal with the van insurers direct or do I have to inform my insurers so they can deal on my behalf
2. Whats the likelyhood of their insurance company getting to pay for a courtesy car for a reasonable period while I look for a new car?
Any advice on what to do would be gratefully recieved , not entirely sure whats the best way of handling this
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I paid for legal cover on my insurance was only when
the policy document arrived that it only covers over 25s .........
Car insurance must be one of the few things where the under 25s don't scorn the over 25s!
--
L\'escargot.
This should I suppose really be in the Speed Camera Threads but it is a new approach to drawing the drivers attention to the speed limits applying to that particular section of the road. Link is to The Register and the link to Bikini Bandits is on the article in question
Not posted the link as would gobble up HJs bandiwidth. Its quite a sizeable video clip (all in the best of taste)
www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/28/bikini_bandits/
Enjoy Phil I Read more
Posted here on HJ on Nov 23rd 2006:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=46...4
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External hard drives (those with motors and spinning things) should NEVER be powered by just 1 usb port. USB 2 or not. Your external drive certainly draws more than 500ma on start and heavy seek.
USB external drives should be a: powered externaly or b: connected and powered by TWO usb ports.
you are screwing your drive and possibly burning out your USB ports.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
I am thinking of buying an 06 registered Mondeo from my local ford dealer. It is a 1.8LX and around £9700. Seems to have a/c and heated screen as standard.
What should I look for and what sort of mpg should I expect .
Appreciate if anyone has any comments. Read more
"I am thinking of buying an 06 registered Mondeo from my local ford dealer. It is a 1.8LX and around £9700. Seems to have a/c and heated screen as standard.
What should I look for and what sort of mpg should I expect .
Appreciate if anyone has any comments."
It's too much to pay for an LX even though it is nearly new. You may as well get a slightly older Zetec at least. One of my mates bought a 2.5 V6 Y reg Mondeo Ghia X (new shape) for 3k. Yes its done 75,000 miles but its in excellent condition and loaded with gadgets. Obviously you want a newer model but this just shows what bargains you can get if you look around
after having lurked on the boards for the last few months, and reading posts practically everyday, I have now registered, so first of all, a big hello to everyone!
unfortunately (as is usually the case) I'm posting for some advice regarding my local Honda dealer and would like some suggestions on what to do next. It's a bit long, but I hope you can stay with it! and I'm trying not to 'name' the dealer in question.
I bought my wife a Honda Civic 1.6 Executive 2001 two years ago from my local Honda dealer. Previously she had been driving a MINI One, and when she became too pregnant to drive it, we sold it and bought this one as a 'sensible' family car to do her for now.
About three weeks ago, I booked the car in for it's 6th annual service (it has only done about 47k miles, but it goes off the years as well). I asked to have it serviced according to the schedule, and she advised it was a major service, with a brake fluid change. Cost was about £280, so I booked it in.
They pick the car up from my house last friday, while my wife and son stay at home. I get a call from the garage mid-morning, the rear pads are at 70% would you like them changed, cost at £105 fitted. I phone around for some more prices, phone them back and haggle them down to £95. I ask them about the Honda fixed price servicing scheme, and they advise that that price is £95 so I go OK, go ahead do the pads.
Later on in the afternoon, I go in to the dealers, and pay up, total cost is £364 so the brake pads had been done for £85, which is the official Honda fixed-price servicing price, so I'm happy. They advise that the car will be delivered later on that evening, and I go home.
A driver turns up about 4.30pm, drops keys/documents off and leaves. I look over the documents, and immediately notice that instead of having done the 6th annual service, they have done the 4th one instead which as it happens is also a major service but not including a fuel filter change. So I call the dealers and speak to the same girl who originally booked the car in and tell her what's happened. Unbelievably she gets a little stroppy with me, and says 'Well Sir, we did the major service and brake fluid change as you requested', and with a real attitude! When I query the schedule sheet, she decideds to put me through to the servicing manager.
He first says, 'Oh well, if the technicians have done it once previously, then we'd save you the money and not do it.' He takes the registration number off me 'looks it up' and first says 'aah yes, it was done on the service two years ago'. I say, 'Hang on a sec, this would be the first time that a fuel filter change is mentioned on the service schedule so why has it been changed already?' He goes quiet, and says 'oh my error, I was looking at a different car schedule, let's book it in and change the filter' we agree that if I pay the filter, then they will waive the the labour. Unbelievably considering that I have just payed £364 for a service, they haven't even cleaned the car, so I advise him of this as well, and he says 'we were short of drivers, so nobody had the time to do it, but I'll make sure it gets cleaned this time'. Fine I'm happy.
My wife drops the car in monday afternoon of this week, with toddler in tow. They are advised it'll take about half and hour, so she meets up with some of her mumsy friends outside and they go for a walk and a tea in some (probably) overpriced coffee shop and she returns to pick the car up one and a half hours later.
I'm in work and I get a phone call from the servicing manager. 'Hello, we've had some problems with the car. It's actually a primary fuel filter that we've changed that sits inside the fuel pump that's in the tank. We've changed it but now the car isn't starting. I've been on to Honda Technical Uk, and they've advised me that the fuel filter on this car should never be changed it's a lifetime filter, and the servicing schedule sheet you have is wrong. I'm very sorry, etc.' they sort my wife out with a courtesy car and send her and my son home.
In the mean time, I phone another Honda dealer, about 25 miles away, and I ask him about this 'lifetime' fuel filter on the Civic. He looks up the reg and says yes, we can do it, changed every 6 years, do it all the time. Filter costs about £30, and to change it £80-ish fitted, all according to schedule. This is confirmed by a phonecall to Honda UK, where the woman checks with technical and gets back to me with the same answer.
I'm phoned by the servicing manager next morning (tuesday, yesterday), who again throws out the Honda UK advice not to change the fuel filter line. When I mention that I have had it confirmed by the other Honda dealer, and Honda UK I don't get much response, and I ask him that I would like to know who he has spoken to with his information. He promises to get back to me with that, and also waves the charge for the fuel filter. That afternoon, he drops the car off at my wife's work and picks up the courtesy car.
I get home yesterday, and my wife says the cd player is no longer working, so I go and take a look. There is a stain on the cd dash trim and the cd inside is stuck. Right above it is an empty air freshener with a glass bottle, that has obviously been the source of the liquid. I examine the air freshener, it is the right way up, the glass bottle is intact. There is no way that this could have leaked in the position it's in. Either it's been done maliciously or more probably the air freshener was taken off to clean the dash, or was knocked off, and then replaced upside down, leaked, someone noticed and put it back the right way up.
I drive the car in to the dealers this morning, and I spot the servicing manager in the car park, and I ask him to take a look. He says immediately 'Oh I was pointed this out by the car cleaner before he even began to clean it, he came in and showed it to me and said, xxx this was here before I start'. I said, look, I'm not being funny but the leak had not prior to us dropping the car off to you guys. I am being honest and straightforward, this has happened on your watch. There is no way for that air freshener to leak unless it's turned upside down and however it happened, that is what must have happened. Glass bottles don't leak and then reseal themselves. He says he's baffled, and will have to speak to the General Manager. I ask him to give me a call back this afternoon.
Having not had a phone call back today, I phone Honda UK Car Customer Relations team and speak to Sam, who is very sympathetic, and she says she'll give the dealers a call on my behalf and escalate it, and try and get someone to call me back right away.
About 4.30 she phones back herself and says she's spoken to the general manager, who is extremely busy at the moment as it is at month's end (!), and will only be able to call me back on friday (two days time). I ask Sam what she can do and says to be honest there's not much she can do, as it will be a dispute between me and the dealers but she has recorded it as a complaint against the dealer.
So, this is where I stand now, sorry it's been a long read! I have no idea what's going to happen on friday, or even if I get a call back.
I feel really let down by the dealers who are obviously so busy with Honda's recent success they can't be bothered with good old customer service.
My main gripe is that I was actually putting more work their way, and they couldn't even be bothered to service the car according to it's schedule. My wife drives the car with my son it all the time, and my priority is to pay the Honda dealer for servicing, in the hope that it will be properly serviced each time, which is a source of comfort for me. At least I can feel some reassurance when she's out and about in it.
Well, no longer. I feel that this particular dealer doesn't really care, can't be bothered (unless it's a new sale) and doesn't want my money. So much for great customer service at the Honda dealer, ho hum.
apologies again for the large post, but I had to get it off my chest and, hello again! I'm sure I'll be in a better mood next time I post.
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I've never had bad service at any Ford dealer I've been to-quite the reverse but then I've never owned a Honda car-m/cycle yes.
Marlot-please tell us of your experiences!!
Browse
I very much doubt if there would be much difference. I very much doubt that the improvement in safety with modern cars is worth the extra bulk. Cars have been getting fatter (and usually uglier) in recent years because of 'safety' lobbying by ignorant 'car buyers' (NB not motorists) and politicians and media sucking up to them and egging them on. It's a load of carp but since motorists are outnumbered a hundred to one by these people who might just as well be buying a washing machine or TV, and drive their cars like someone operating one of those devices, there's nothing that can be done on a large scale.
Motorists of course can try to find an old car or buy a Caterham 7 or something. If they can be bothered and have the time or money.