I've been checking out quite a few auctions lately and there are a few commonly recurring turns of phrase that immediately make me lose interest in a car.

1. "Here we have a..." - have they been hanging round auctions too long? Sounds far too spivvy.

2. Referring to the vehicle as "she" - Probably have far too much emotional investment in car for an even vaguely realistic reserve to have been set.

3. "You won't find a better example (of this soon-to-be-classic)"... especially when the seller has already admitted that the electric windows don't work, it's got paint chips and there's rust on the wheelarches.

What acts as a red flag for other people, I wonder? Read more

hello there i have a mk2 1.3 91' Golf and its misfiring after 5 seconds of starting i've replaced the following; coil, plugs, HT Leads,Dizzy Cap, rotor arm exhaust manifold gasket, but to no avail apart from a good spark, she's misfiring for some reason i havent come across before and i need some advice/ideas/experiance pronto if you could spare some time, pretty please
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Hi all

I have a Pug 2056 and when I drive it after a while the engine revs up of its own accord. Sometimes when I stop at traffic lights the engine just cuts out.
Is this an accelerator or timing problem?
Any help would be most appreciated.


Thanks Read more

Would anyone know whether the 2.5 chain cam engine in the Nissan Navara is sourced from Nissan or Renault ?

Have already checked out car x car details, which neither mentions whether this is a Nissan engine or the potential reliablility of this vehicle. After reading about numerous turbo problems experienced with the Nissan X-Trail, any info would be much appreciated.

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I'm in the market for a new car. An existing Audi customer for fifteen years, I wanted to drive an Audi, Mercedes and BMW before deciding. I arranged through the Audi web site to drive one of their cars. They made the arrangements with me during a long and tedious telephone conversation in which I had the opportunity to affirm such pressing matters as my age, budget (yes, I know the price of the car, thank you) and present model. In yet another call they confirmed that the model of my choice would respectfully await the honour of my driving on Saturday morning at 10am. Luckily I managed to sleep in spite of the excitement and I set off freshly shaved and fragranced to make the 30 minute journey to the dealership.

I arrived at a huge, sprawling car park described as an "auto complex" and initially found myself in the wrong area. One dedicated to sales of used thingies. Tacky motor cars used by other johnnies before being cast aside. They directed me smartly to another, more expensive area. All swooping roof, simulated tar road (and traffic jam) and aluminium by the continent. There's a feeling you get when you realise it's all going horribly wrong and it's time to stop digging. I got it. Then I ignored it. Another life mistake. When at last Audi's official representative appeared I had another chance to throw away the spade. Oh, he thought it was tomorrow. No that was right, it was today after all. I concurred and kept quiet. I know my days. He would just go and get the car for me sir.

But he wouldn't. Not as such. He did return. Not with a four wheeled automobile but more with a little problem. He did indeed claim to have lawful ownership of such a vehicle. It's just that, y'see sir, someone has taken the keys off the peg board sir and the car's not available to be driven. I saw the difficulty straight away. He could take my mobile sir and I could use up another couple of hours of my time trying again. I thought I would just leave it.

But after leaving the Audi dealership I thought I might as well try Mercedes while I had some time to kill. There I, who knows next to nothing about cars in practice, learned from the gnarled old sales boy that the E270CDI is a four cylinder car. It didn't sound right, even to me, 675cc per cylinder. I remembered something from schoolboy physics about engine balance becoming tricky after about 500cc per cylinder. That is actually a four banger, I'm only asking. I pointed at it and said four banger. Four cylinders sir, you wouldn't like it. The replacement 280CDi was more like it though. A full, unabbreviated five cylinders. None to get dirty in the road system, of course.

A perfect dupe I set off back home, 280 it is then. I was struck by the contrast between the brands' sales people. The Audi boys were all hatchet faced and clad in aggressive black, F1 style blousons. Mercedes more your brillcream and liver spots. It still didn't sound right, though, so I looked it up. And of course he is one cylinder short of a block in each case.

Half a day wasted on incompetent dealers supposedly flogging among the most expensive metal money can buy. An experience certainly not to be repeated. The one positive I take out of it is that there is no reason I should feel one iota of guilt when I eventually buy it from HJ advertiser for several thousand pounds less than the dealer price. Of course, I'll miss out on the personal service... Read more