April 2007
Hello,
My Passat has a Sony CDX-4108R stereo with the removable front.
It is faulty so I want to remove it.
The manual mentions some sort of key, but I daon't have a key and there is nowhere to insert one wanyway.
Has anyone got any idea how to remove it?
Thanks for your help.
- Stephen. Read more
Oh venerable backroom, grant me the knowledge of thine collective wisdom as I am going in flaming circles trying to work out what to get as a replacement for my wife's M Reg Fiesta!
Cash spend budget up to £3,000, plus trade in of said Fiesta, most local small traders have said they'd offer around £500 for it in p/x, so ticket price of new car to be up to £3,500. Needs to be economical, cheap to maintain & repair, low insurance group and have enough poke for motorway and duel carriageways.... so no 1.0 engines, methinks... :-) Would prefer it to be something at least as new as a 2000 reg if poss...
OK, so she mainly does school runs with about a weekly 60 mile motorway round trip to folks thrown in. All of the family is tall (I'm 6'5", she's 5'8", daughter #1 is 6'1" (at 13!) and daughter 2 is 5'2" (but she's only 9...) ) so a bit of room is needed in the back. They manage ok in the back of the current Fiesta, but they don't have much room.
As my wife complains about lack of bootspace and the girls aren't getting any smaller, I am at a loss as to why she wants another Fiesta and I started looking at 206's, Fabias and Clios before realising that they are (apart from perhaps the Fabia) equally as small as the Fiesta, so I'm now thinking of Focus or 306?
Is the Fabia notably bigger that the Fiesta? I've seen reviews saying it's way better than the Fiesta and also reviews saying it's cramped... depends on who's in it, I suppose...?
Any recommendations you can chuck in please? Read more
Yeah, I saw an Alera the other day and thought it was worth considering. Then I lloked at What Car's verdict... "First, the downsides. It?s cramped by the class standards and rear room is particularly poor, although the boot is a decent size." and thought again!
My son has accepted a job and will have access to a cheap lease car so his (I paid for it) 52 reg 1.0 Corsa is to sell in a month or so.
It has around 17k miles on it and has been used to get him initially to sixth form after we moved and to work in summer holidays from University and very occasional use in between. Most of the runs have been 10-15 miles. It still has the original tyres (two only half worn - were switched front/back about 18 months ago) and the spare is unused. Everything works as it should.
It has been garaged since we got it (early 2004) and Vauxhall services up to end of warranty. I have serviced it since (Halfords semi synthetic yearly). It came with a Cassette player which he replaced with a Vauxhall CD player (we still have the cassette player)
It has a car park ding in one rear wing and an area of about 1sq inch on the bonnet where there is chip damage. Other than that paint is very good - Red car that has not faded - and he kept it clean and polished when he was at home. Wheel trims are scuffed.
Was surprised yesterday when I looked at 1.0 Corsa prices in Auto express and Fleabay so what is worth doing to this before we sell?
I had originally thought nothing expecting it to be 1-1.5k but at the prices that are being asked would it be worth:
1. getting ding fixed
2. getting bonnet damage sorted.
3. change radio back to standard and sell CD unit on E-bay
4. Re-paint the wheel trims (or replace if this does not work)
5. Establishing exactly what model it is - I think it is a Club (remote central locking, steel wheels, elec f windows, CD player, RWW, not much else).
And where is the best place to advertise (South Staffs).
Am sorely tempted to take the replacement car off the wife's insurance and keep it in the garage as a spare!
Read more
Wheel trims tend to be cheaper on eBay:
These are good rip-offs for £25 tinyurl.com/2cnmvz
Or for £40 you can get the real thing: tinyurl.com/3dafcn
I never believe in reminding a buyer how cheap a car is to fix. Whenever I see that in an eBay ad, I assume the seller is lying. If it's so cheap and easy, he'll do it himself.
I'd be inclined to leave the CD player in the car; your target market for a Group 1 1.0 Corsa is under 20 and will not want the original cassette player under any circumstances. The old cassette might still make £15 or £20 on eBay though.
Other than that, a thorough valet will lead lots of buyers to overlook minor scratches. It's up to you whether you do it professionally but a good clean, vacuum and polish will pay dividends, especially if you sell via the local paper.
Please excuse me if this has been brought up recently - I admit to not having frequented the backroom much recently.
I find this interesting and thought some of you would, too.
It's the Tesla Motors new sports car. A straight electric with regenerative braking and a 250hp motor, I think it heralds the way of the near future because of its simplicity compared to hybrids. I think new rechargeable battery development encouraged by the needs of laptop computers is the key.
How about 0 - 60 in 4 sec, top speed of around 130 mph, 200 mile plus range and Lotus handling for $100,000?
The first year's production has been sold out and they are taking orders for 2008. "Downmarket" models are on the drawing boards.
www.teslamotors.com/
Meanwhile, an economy 4 seater from China - the Javlon - has just been announced. Scheduled delivery date is late 2008 at USD$30,000. Lower performance, of course.
Read more
"fusion power and a superconductor national grid"
Some way off yet, I fear. Just hope it happens before we are all submerged...
White lie, actually. It's a Dodge Magnum and I've got it on extended hire at the moment here in Pittsburgh but, same horse, different race.
The central locking is annoying the hell out of me. Basically, when I press the unlock button only the driver's door unlocks. In order to unlock the other doors I have to press the unlock key 3 times in quick succession otherwise it doesn't work. There must be some simple way of reprogramming it to unlock all the doors on one press of the button as this is how the last 300C I had worked. Any Chrysler 300 owners out there got any ideas? Read more
Snap. We hired a Pacifica in Nov last year - and very nice it was as well (in a NOT a HEMI 300C type way !).
AS regards build quality. UK 300C's are built at Graz in Austrai, and they either use bigger hammers, or the Austrians are stronger, because my car is very well banged together.
Enjoy Pittsburgh.
MTC
My high mileage Astra 1.7dti (2000W) seems to have started making a high pitched whine when the engine is just idling. I think it is coming from the fuel pump. It disappears as soon as I start driving. Is this anything to worry about?
Thanks for any advice Read more
according to your avator you dont exist--------weird ;-o
anyway-
yes worry
i was speaking to someone today about these fantastic vehicles and he was quoted £650 for the exact same symptoms but worser
My car broke down on motorway couple of days ago. The temperature guage shooted to red and when I stopped the car and opened up the bonnet, water had leaked from the water pump. So I've got the water pump (and the cam belt) changed (not from Volvo). Car is driving perfectly now, there isn't any coolant leakage or anything but the temperature needle is still in the red zone. When I switch off the car the needle drops down to bottom but as soon I switch it on it shoots up to the red zone. Could it be a fault sensor? Read more
If its a head gasket problem then shouldn't the temp gauge be at bottom when I start up the car in the morning and work its way up to the top?
Is it worth me changing the temp sensors? According to Volvos there're 2 censors for this particular problem!!!
Hi,
The temp gauge on my 100k Mondeo now shoots up to the top end of normal after only traveling a couple of miles.
Have checked coolant levels and pipes and all are ok.
Took it for a four mile drive and when I got back had a look and the cooling fan on the rad wasn't going round which you'd expect surely?
How do I check if it's the fan, or the coolant sensors, etc?
Help and advice much appreciated. Read more
i would recommend the pump, some of the zetec engines have a coolant pump that has a plastic impellor which are prone to disconnecting from the metal shaft, therefore it doesnt work. when i used to work for ford we started to use no genuine pumps on none warranty jobs as theses had metal impellors which we never had a prob with. hope that helps mate
Just got my 9/3 convertible serviced (the 18000 miler) I was expecting to shell out, but it still doesn't soften the blow of forking out £328. Good thing is, the next one is due probably after it has gone to someone else.
Maybe I can rent it out in the summer months as a smoking carriage to recoup. Read more
">SaaB is a company run by professors in sprts jackets with leather elbow patches, and this has to change"<"
I wish I had known that before GM arrived at Saab, I might have bought one. The early Saab turbos were and still are head turners, and who can forget the Saab "Scandinavian flick" rally cars? GM are an odd company, they create mogodon motoring par excellence with Astra/Vectra etc, yet the same company offer that tail sliding Holden thing and the Corvette. I am of the age when sports jackets with leather elbow patches are approaching. Will I look like Steve McQueen in Bullitt?
Because of a medical reason I need a automatic.
I only have £1000 to spend.
Anything up to a 1.8,
estate or a hatchback.
If you was to buy one with that sort of money what would you go for? What auto's are better/more reliable for a grand?
Cheers for the help. Read more
I don't use both feet when I drive. Although I agree it is probably better to do so if you can, I have the coordination that would put a sloath to shame, so - no, I don't think I will tr a second time.
Browse
Thanks for your advice.
It worked perfecty.
No need to buy prongs, just used a bit of stiff wire.