March 2007
Did a booze run yesterday, and Auchan Calais have their own 5w-40 100% synthetic oil on a special offer of 5 litres plus 2 free extra litres for ?24 or £16.90p.
This works out at ?17.14c for a 5 litre can or £12.07p. Amazing. The offer is not on the shelf but in a display at the front of the shop. Elf synthetic is also on '7 litre offer' as is diesel syntheic.
Given that Tescos is bigger, why can't they do it? Why is their synthetic £9 for 2 litres? Read more
Hi
Is it possible to fit a roof rack on to my Accord 5 door hatchback and if so could anyone give me advice on the best brands/models of roof rack or roof bars I should fit?
Theunisse Read more
Many thanks - I think similar roof bars may be available on eBay also.
My car insurance renewal reminder came today, it's £91 more than last year (700 compared to 609) yet I have made no claims, had no accidents etc etc
So I called them and asked them why the big increase and it turns out it's because the area I live in has become more dangerous...
No chance of any discount.
Bit annoyed really. Read more
Bell insurance, £560.
Anyon had any experience with them?
They're part of the Admiral group. I've given them quite a bit of money over the last few years (on behalf of my daughters) which they seem good at taking, but thankfully not needed to make a claim other than a windscreen within a few days of taking out the first policy with them. Which they didn't moan about.
Whenever we've had insurance quotes from Admiral group companies (Diamond, Elephant etc) Admiral themselves are always a little cheaper.
Admiral own Confused.com - run your details through that, but last time I did this (few wks ago) it gave Diamond as the cheapest. I then ran the quote through Admirals quote system and they were cheaper.
I'm guessing 1983 is your birth year? Admiral are generally cheaper if you add an older named driver (as long as their licence is clean). So check the price if you out your Mum or Dad on the policy.
Whilst I admire THE INGENUITY occasionally some are going too far in spacing abuse.Does any body know to whom you report abuse
Examples recently
J9NY T
Travel agent???
FLY 2 1T
These are just the last 2 I have sen.
I know DVLA make money on selling but it appears lack of traffic police means they can get away with murder.
ALSO really dirty rear plates (presumably to avoid speed cameras identification).
Is this a police matter
THANKS
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I went to Stansted mid-stay car park yesterday, pressed the buttong and got my ticket. When I looked at in an idle moment in the interminable security queue I noticed that the correct number plate of my car had been printed on the ticket. This seems as though it might be a useful security check ie wouldn't let a car out unless the number on the ticket matched that read by the camera at the exit? APNR also now used by T*sc* to enforce the 3 hour limit at shop car parks.
The rear windscreen on my car has loads of scratches on the outside. It is as if the previous owner has cleaned it with the rough side of a Brillo pad, every week (I really have no idea how it can be so scratched). Any solutions other than the obvious one of replacement?
(apologies if this should be in the Technical area)
thanks Read more
@glowplug: Sorry to confuse. No I don't mean on the inside, I mean the outside. I must admit I wasn't really sure if the element was on the inside or outside (and the aerial too)...
Driving to work this morning, I was let out of a side road by a glorious 05-reg Rolls Royce Phantom. He was then behind me in the traffic. On closer inspection I noticed he had the lime green discs in the front (and later rear) windows that indicate he is a Private Hire licensed by TFL in London.
As cabbies are now driving Phantoms, I think I'll give up the day job and do likewise!
On a serious note, I wonder how many purchasers of used Phantoms think to ask if it's been used as a cab?? And what must the insurance be like !?!? Read more
"Michael O'Leary apparently has his car registered as a taxi in Ireland for the same reason and if you flag him down he ought to stop for you."
Not quite - the Mercedes in question was registered as a hackney. Which was perfectly legitimate, as the situation went something like this: O'Leary Hackney Cabs buy a car and licence it. Ryanair PLC hire O'Leary Cabs to carry employees and parcels for them, and as a hackney the car is allowed use the bus lanes on the infamously congested M50 between Dublin Airport and Dublin city centre.
When the carriage office looked into it, there were umpteen other plumbers, painters, florists etc had done the same thing! And either Mr O'Leary or Pat the Plumber would be in breach of their hackney licence were they to stop for you if you flag them down...
Don't know if this episode was shown nationally last night, it featured the accident on the M3 that tragically a 23 year old woman was killed due to a lorry driver being on his phone and running into the back of her.
This has certainly opened my eyes to using mobiles at the wheel, I will confess it is something I have done in the past but when you see the stark reality of what can be the outcome then it really opens your eyes at to whether that call is important.
Secondly, it also opened my eyes as to why motorways sometimes need to be closed off for accident investigation. If you are waiting in the resultant traffic it can be very frustrating but compare that to the death of the driver and it pales into insignificance. Without the prompt response of the accident investigation unit then critical evidence could have been lost as a result and the convicted driver could have went on to do the same again on the road.
Lastly, I have full admiration for the family liaison officer who has to go to the deceased's house and break the news to her loved ones, not knowing what he is going to face.
All in all, a real eye opener.
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"That sounds so much like something that Douglas Adams could have written in the first draft of HG2TG !"
I wonder if the similarity comes from the fact that I was listening to Episode 12 of the radio series on the train to London this very morning? Even after listening to it a dozen times, I was still laughing out loud on the train - guaranteed to raise an odd look on a commuter train full of dozy regulars.
V
Recently I bought a 2000 model Ford Explorer converted to run on LPG (dual-fuel - Romano system; no idea whether it's fully sequential or not)
When running on LPG, it runs lovely and smooth, but when I switch to petrol (it needs to start up on petrol, then switches over) it runs with the most appalling misfire.
It's currently back in the Garage where, they reckon, it needs new plugs/HT leads. I don't quite understand this because it works fine on LPG, which uses the exact-same igniton system. Of course, if it comes out of the garage working fine, then that's ok, but any ideas may be appreciated in case this becomes a recurring problem.
Oh yes, once this misfire started, there were a lot of problems trying to get it to switch over to LPG. Read more
As I have said before,if you see Scotchloks and jubilee clips on a conversion,walk away.
I had one of these in a 1.6 Astra as a hire car in Germany. Rather than clutter up this forum with a load of comment I will say that the it worked quite well but the auto changes did not seem well matched to the charteristics of the 1.6 petrol engine and, while it could be used in a 'manual' mode it would have been easier to have had a manual box! It also seemed to take a lot of power from an already not very powerful engine! Please e mail me for fuller comments if you are interested. It was OK to try for a day but I don't think I'd buy one as an extra, using my own money!
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Not having ever driven a motorcycle I'm curious as to why so many motorcyclists keep blipping the throttle when they're stationary.
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L\'escargot. Read more
By "filtered past" do you mean "weaved through"?>>
By 'weaved', do you mean 'woven'? ;-)
Browse
Just out of interest, I use Auchan own-brand 5-40 synthetic in my lawnmower - it gets a hard life and it doesn't burn a drop. I've never been afraid either to use it for the (very rare and tiny) top-ups the Prelude needs.