April 2007
Coming North up M5 yesterday between Tewksbury & Worcester, saw quite a few large raptors circling lazily above. Any amateur (or professional) ornithologists any idea what they are?
Don't think they're vultures: I know the road can be unpleasant, but didn't see any RTA's yesterday.
Whilst I'm on, I was travelling South on Sunday, and the TMC (FM integrated traffic info) on the Garmin indicated problems at junction 29 of the M1 southbound subsequent to two accidents. This was about 15:00. Anyone get stuck in that?
I asked the device to route me round it, which it did, but I wonder how bad it was, and whether the re-route actually saved any time...
Tim{P} Read more
The luxury 'Lexus-type' division of Nissan only seems to have overseas websites - the UK equivalent is a computer company, which could make a lot of dough!!
Anyway, has anyone driven an Infiniti yet? Apparently they're coming here next year. One looks akin to a TT. Read more
...- the UK
equivalent is a computer company which could make a lot of dough!!
It's also a brand of recordable CD and DVD, which I'm sure has no connection with its namesakes.
After 30 odd years of driving SWMBO has solved the problem. Let her drive! Read more
Fuel economy is much worse when my wife drives, mainly because she does short trips where the engine (a diesel) doesn't really get a chance to warm up.
She also overrevs the engine, and doesn't tend to switch gears at the correct time. despite having powerful diesel cars for a couple of years now she still treats them like petrol cars.
I tend to get around quicker than her if I drive on the same journeys, but my fuel economy is better too.
Our Mondeo is booked in for a clutch change on Friday. Does anyone know
if this model is fitted with a dual mass flywheel? Read more
It was fitted with the DMF, and yes, it was totally shot. So £211+vat, plus new clutch & hydraulic slave cylinder later, our 135,000 mile Mondeo is now driving
along nicely. The car (estate) model has been used as a towcar and parts delivery van for the last 3 1/2 years and has been completely fault free (apart
from a new fanbelt tensioner & idler), I would recommend one to anyone.
I have been offered an N reg micra fro £650. It has a years MOT, 2 months tax and a brand new clutch. Is this reasonable? It's a trade sale but no warranty.
Thanks for any advice! I need it for my daughter. Funnily enough I can't get her covered on my own new MX-5! Read more
It's Diamond. Best for my son at the same age on a similar car was
£1100 with LV=
thanks googled and found, will recommend this to any ladies i see then.
Just bought a 53 plate Volvo S80 2.5 litre Turbo for £7k.
I'm 24, had my licence for 3 years, and also 3 years' NCB.
Whacked the number plate into one of the comparison sites. Best price after fiddling with the voluntary excess: £700 for fully comp via a broker. Not too bad, so I submit it (this was on the 14th).
Documents got delayed due to insufficient postage from the insurance company.
When they eventually turned up, it said:
Volvo S80 T SE
2435 CC
Er, no, mine is a 2521cc.
So I called them up, and said 'there's an error on the certificate, can you change it'.
So they said they'd do it.
They just called me back 'sorry, the insurers won't insure an under-25 on that car, and I've tried 30 other insurers, and the best price with a high excess is £1700'
Me: 'WHAAAAT, it's only 76cc more, and 220bhp vs 210bhp, it can't make any difference.'
So I've cancelled the insurance.
I've looked on ABI, and it appear that the S80 2.4 T (2435cc) is group 15 out of 20, and group 31 out of 50 on the new rating. The group is the same for both S and SE trims
The S80 2.5 T (2521cc), which I have is also group 15/31, except the SE trim, which I have, is group 16/33.
So it looks like what's happened is that many insurers will take me in the Group 15, but not the Group 16 car, as a young driver, and if I'd got the S trim, I'd still be in the same insurance group as the 2.4l, but my leather seats and 8-speaker sound system would cost me an extra £1000/year in insurance.
I tried online and the best price is £1088 with £500 excess.
Anyway, as it happens my birthday is in 2 weeks time, and I will be driving it a maximum of 4 times before then. If I start the insurance after then the best quote drops to £650.
Obviously this is a silly amount of money to pay for 2 weeks of cover.
Does anyone know where I can buy two weeks' cover, possibly just third party, fire and theft, to bridge the gap until I reach 25 and the premiums drop by £400.
Incidentally, the reason for the error was the car number plate search shows up as a 2.4T SE rather than the 2.5T SE it actually is.
I'm not sure if this is a general policy that young drivers will pay far more for a group 16 vehicle vs group 15, but it might be worth bearing in mind for other drivers in my position. Read more
halifax actually won't insure me till I'm 25, so I went for Admiral. They have a £19 cancellation charge, but it's much cheaper than the £71 Norwich Union would have charged for 14 days short-term insurance, and I'll be able to get a tax disc.
spent the best part of the day finding out why the fuse blows on a fiat siecento today
ran the engine up to make sure the electric fan works -it didnt
ripped the front off the dash (dont do it unless you know how they come apart) i know now though :-(
fuse box out
all cables connectors systematically undone
found the heater motor
all undone
no joy
taking plugs off back slam in case a short here
plus lots of head scratching and fuse blowing going on
when
ding ding
i checked the ciggy lighter
wo and behold some nice little child had hid a 5 pence piece in there
this has happened 3 times in ten years ,so some things you never learn on
just think if you had to pay to have this fault found Read more
I think the Sixpence trick with the light bulb was in "Callan"
Time for a new set (215/55 ZR16), priority is as quiet as possible and good wear potential. Current fit Michelin Pilots have been very good, is there something else I should consider?
Read more
Glad I checked my facts before slapping in a Smart alec reply to the effect that Nokia started out as a paper mill - according to nokia.com, the present Nokia company was formed from a merger between the paper company and the Finnish Rubber Factory and took the name of the town they were based in. Not sure if there's any link now to the phone company but here it is in Nokian's words.
History:
Nokian Tyres plc was founded in 1988 and it was listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange in 1995. The company ?s roots go back all the way to 1898, when Suomen Gummitehdas Oy, or the Finnish Rubber Factory, was established. Passenger car tyre production began in 1932 and the company ?s best-known brand, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta tyre, was launched in 1936.
Incidentally, IBM used to make bacon slicers.
Hi All
After becoming almost "obsessed" with fuel prices after buying a petrol car,today I was amazed to see,at my local Tesco the difference between Petrol and Diesel down to 0.9p a litre. 93.9 for petrol and 94.8 for diesel.I know we are approaching hotter weather and usually has an effect on Diesel prices,but never seen it this low. WHen I sold my Passat TDi before buying my Vectra Direct,the difference was around 6p a litre.Are there any other reasons for the difference coming so low? Incidentally are there any reasons that both prices have jumped significantly in the last few months? It seems that since the Chancellor spoke about putting on the 2p tax in September,the prices have jumped so that they will "covenientally" be around the £1 a litre mark by September
Seriously considering trading in for a Diesel now !!!
Read more
Do these wide variations in the difference between petrol and diesel occur in the rest of Europe and do they have the same fluctuations in the price of the two fuels that we also see in the UK?
In the never ending search for a replacement car for the missus, I think we've narrowed it down to either a 54reg Peugeot 206 1.1s, 15000m, £3995 or a 52reg Ford Fusion 2 1.6, 20000m £3995. Both are from a trader and appear in good nick. Wife prefers the fusion and it is the practical ,but I'm a little put off by what appears to be a 'common' problem with Fiesta/Fusion steering rack leaks. (Since the problem with ours, it would appear that leaking racks are quite common)
So which model is the best value and am I being paranoid about the steering racks. Read more
Grrrrr...she's now seen a Kia Picanto and decided she likes it. Totally misses the point that we're looking for a larger car. I fancy an old shape Leon or similar, but I'm trying to get as new as possible on a limited budget.
Browse
Saw them live in the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff
In Wales? No, those would have been the Red Kites.
};---)
{lack of motoring discussion = thread locked - DD}