April 2007
I have a 51 plate version - 35,000 miles, generally good for year, but 1st gear becoming difficult to engage when wheels are turning and 5th gear crunches when engaging. Clutch is good. Anyone know if I have a big problem looming? Read more
A lot of the car supermarkets or trade centres, I can think of one giant one (!) inNW London for instance, charge extra for a warranty.
Does anyone know what ones position is if one buys without paying extra for a warranty, and a problem arises with the car after purchase.
I thought under current/recent consumer legislation there was some kind of "implied" warranty - does anyone know what that actually is ?
In a lot of these places you don't actually get to test drive the car before purchase, or one I ahve ben to you get a veryshort (5mins) and a few 100yds round the industrial estate, which only allows limited testing of the car, as you can't really get beyond 20mph.
Supposing for example 2 weeks later the headgasket blows, or you discover when driving home that actually the brakes aren't very good, the clutch clipping, the handbrake doesn't hold, or the auto gearbox starts jerking/hunting after 20mins driving.
Do you actually have any "comeback" ?
"Goods not of merchantable quality " ??
Does anyone have experience of having bought without warranty and had a problem, and what actually happened ? Read more
A lot of three year warranties in the UK have their third year provided via the dealer so if the car is imported, only 2 years apply. I bought an extended warranty when I bought a Ford Galaxy from Motorpoint a few years ago. It cost around £400 but it gave me superb peace of mind when the car started to go wrong, just as the Ford warranty had expired. I did eventually get Ford to repair the car themselves as a goodwill gesture and lend me a replacement whilst the work was carried out. I would also contact Warranty Direct to see how they compare with the Supermarket quote.
Can one of the resident geniuses help me out here?
My car seems to respond rather well a dose of this (6 litres in just over half a tank). Smoke seems to be down, and a cold start was much less 'fragrant' :^D
I don't want to do it often without paying the tax (It's more due to the fact I like mucking about with this sort of thing than trying to extort ££££'s from Gordorn Brown).
So I'd like to pay the tax so that I can safely keep dabbling and seeing what happens.
Is this allowed, and what is the status now regarding 'biofuel'? I remember it has to have below a certain level of sulphur and above a certain level of esters, but I'm no chemist. I just think shoving foodstuff in a car's diesel tank and having an improvement is quite something!
I'd be treating it as more of an additive than a fuel as such.
Please no "THERE'S NO DIFFERENCE" posts. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind here. If you don't believe it, that's fine. Click the back button. Read more
Ashok's right straight vegetable oil doesn't qualify for the rebated level
of duty. Can't remember the criteria though.
The situation on all this seems to change monthly.
Apparently pure rapeseed oil usually meets the criteria in the DIN-51605 standard - (must have at least 96.5% esters and less than 50ppm sulphur). So it sounds like you can use this and pay the lower 28.35p/l duty, would be best to confirm this with HMRC first though if you request an EX103 form.
My daughter and her husband bought a 53 plate Citroen Picasso from a very large car supermarket, which has a dodgy reputation. By the completion of the deal she wanted to punch the finance man who took over from the salesman. Unfortunately, while I was in another part of the place looking after the kids for them, they agreed to buy the car, a 1.6 petrol Citroen Picasso on a 53 plate, with 30k miles. Theydeal was not to be cancelled, especially after s-i-l handed over a building soc cheque. I pressed them to get it checked by someone of good reputation, which they did on Thursday. This mechanic, a very well thought of local man, (soon to leave Raunds to live in Spain) discovered that the front brakes were worn down so that there was hardly any pad material left and the disks had been damaged. He says that the brakes should not be worn in 30,000 miles, and they are checking the mileage with the previous owner. They bought the car 3 weeks ago and haven't done many miles.
My question is this : how much recourse do they have against the supplying dealer ? He tried very hard to sell them an expensive warranty, the usual hard sell, which I persuaded them to resist. It would not cover brakes I would imagine. I pointed out to the seller, the finance man referred to by daughter as the slimy pink fluffy dice, that he could not deny buyers their rights under Sale Of Goods Acts, and he became rather evasive. That was when they bought it., though without extra hundreds of pounds worth of warranty, finance, finance protection, MOT insurance etc.
I complained about this hard selling, and pretending to young buyers that they had no protection according to law, to the local Trading Standards, but as yet they have not replied. Maybe they only deal in large numbers of complaints. We shall see.
The firm are not easy to deal with, and I suggested if they get nowhere by being polite and asking for some contribution towards the new disks and pads, they might try the very helpful consumer programme on Radio Northampton.
I would be glad of any thought BRers might offer.
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Brakes down? Who wrote that? A touch of the sun I fear.
I have just bought a 51 plate Mondeo 1.8 (Duratec engine) with 71k under its wheels & I am trying to find out when the cam belt should be changed? I have heard that these Duratec engines use a timing chain that doesnt need replacing, like a cambelt does. Is this true? The owners handbook doesnt seem to mention anything about this.
Any info / help is gratefully received.
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These Duratec units are chain driven which should last the life of the engine. I would advise changing the oil half way between service intervals as older oil can cause wear issues . To be honest it depends how long you wish to keep the car?
People have discussed cars on Ebay that look suspiciously too cheap....
I'd never really looked at any ads before, but happened to catch this one when I was doing a broad-sweep search for toyota spares and it came up with the usual junk when you are doing relatively non-specific keyword searches.
an 03 Avensis that has supposedly only done 37,000 miles
tinyurl.com/2zyf62
Looking at the state of the engine bay and the dirty looking drivers seat, Iwould guess 137,000 minimum, probabaly even mre than that.
Judging by the low-bid price it has reached £3,800 with 2hrs togo, everyone else reckons it is dodgy too.
Does the seller really think people will believe this is a low-mileage car, and wouldn't you make some attempt to smarten it up, or just not show those shots of the filthy seat and engine bay, just some nice shots of an over-polished exterior.
I wonder if it is just clocked or there is something else iffy too ? Read more
it is not just ebay.
try autotrader on the left. search for "2005 BMW X5 3.0i Sport Exclusive Edition 5dr Auto Estate" and see what a bargain that is with just 15,000 miles.
i have drawn the attention of autotrader to numerous such listings but all they do is refer you to read:
www.autotrader.co.uk/CARS/buying/fraudulent_vehicl...p
www.autotrader.co.uk/CARS/buying/false_escrow_serv...p
Hi,
Have a strange misfire on my 96P 1.6 (AEE) Mk3 Golf.
Only happens at one specific throttle position and only really when under load. If i don't move the throttle when the misfire happens I loose all power and the car just looses speed like it's been turned off... If I open or close the throttle power returns, this leads to some interesting Kangaroo driving in the lower gears ;o)
Power is OK when it's not misfiring.
Fault doesn't seem to happen when the engine is cold, only after running for a few mins. It is very repeatable at the same throttle position when on the hill on my way home from work.
VAG specialist hooked it up to his diagnostics and only faults showing were intermittent throttle position sensor fault and abnormal reading from mass flow (thrust sensor)...
I've checked the throttle position sensor and there doesn't seem to be any issue there, the resistance of if changes linearly with throttle position and it all looks fine. I changed the thrust sensor (2nd hand one) and that hasn't made a difference...
Any suggestions? It's driving me nuts! Can't bear to take it to the VW main dealer and get fleeced...
Off to try a few more things now..
Regards.
Jason Read more
Sorry yes a TPS and a Manifold Absolute Pressure sensor. Regards Peter
Hi all, I am after a nice set of alloys for my ford ka to replace the 13" steel ones that are on it at the moment, with nasty trims. Can any one please advise me what size could I go to without it upseting it, i.e. I would not want it rubbing the arches. Would 14" or 15" fit o.k. Would it in anyway affect the handling at all, for better or worse.And would it mess the speedo reading up. I wish to go for alloys as the nasty steel ones really spoil the look of the car overhaul. It is a black for ka, with body coloured bumpers on a 53 plate( 2003). Any advice please, Halfords seem to have some good deals. Thank all, Graham Woods.
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Hi there, Another John H, Blimey what an informative site on tyres, Thanks very much, Graham.
Just a note to commend them. Renewed yesterday, their call centre staff answered on the second ring after navgating a single layer "press 1 etc" menu, excellent knowledgable discussion about insuring a second bike on one policy (more of which in a later thread) - and what's more understood a motorcyclist's mentality in accepting vague answers as to exactly what the hypothetical machine might be, clear cut answers about riding abroad on a whim. Policy documents arrived today (!) - really superb. Read more
Yes, I went to ebike this year - peanuts (can't remember the exact figure) to add a second bike to the policy.
Check your credit card statements for dodgy transactions if you've bought fuel in a large number of locations mentioned here.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6578595.stm
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we use fuel cards at work - they can only be used for buying fuel and oil. No CnP, just a swipe. Cant be used for anything else, so im happy all transactions are secure. Get a weekly statement as well.
As far as i know, only for companies though (although i only have 3 cards)
If unsure about wireless terminals, flip them over and check the warranty seals - if they are broken, suggest you dont use them. We have some dealings with these things and if one goes faulty, it goes back to the manufacturer.
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You say the clutch is good ? to me it sounds like typical clutch replacement time.