April 2007
what is the blue coating on the caliper anchor bolts? is it some type of indicator to use locktite or similar product on re-assembly, im just asking to be on the cautious side,thanks Read more
Hi Guys
I bought a second hand Rav4 from a small independent garage in Essex on the 10th of February. I paid 8k for the car, and gave him my old Rav4 for 2k in part ex.
Two days after buying the car the engine management light came on, so I called the RAC, who said it was a problem with the sensors on the catalytic converter. I then called the garage, who agreed to bring the car back, letting me have my old car back as a courtesy car, whilst they sorted it out.
Unfortunately, they broke the sensor removing it, so it then had to go to a toyota main dealer to have the work done, which meant that I was without the car for a week.
When I got the car back, I drove it again for two days, before the ems light came on again. The dealer once more took it back, and took it to toyota, who diagnosed a new catalytic converter was required. The dealer paid for this and got the work done, which took another week, again lending me my old car back. Throughout this time he was reasonable and helpful.
I have now had the car back and up and running since the beginning of March. However, this evening the automatic gearbox appears to have given up - it wont go into first gear, and jumps straight into second, no accelleration, and the ems light is on again. Ive looked at the 3 month warranty I bought with the car, and it only covers me for up to 500.00 of work. Im really worried.
All my savings went on the car, and I dont have more money to spend on it.
Im waiting for a call back from the warranty people, but dont know whether I will be able to get it looked at because of the Easter holiday.
I am disabled and need to have transport as I cant get to work without the car - the public transport where I live is sparse, and finishes at 6pm in the evening! I also was meant to be going on holiday on Thursday - with the car.
Do you think I can get my car and money back ??? My old car is still on his website. Can I get claim under the sale of goods act - is this car of merchantable quality ?
The dealer has said that becuase I have the three month warranty it is no longer his problem, even if it costs more than 500.00 to fix
Opinions please!!! Im desperate !!! Read more
>> Would'nt £500 cover the cost of the solenoid anyway?
>>
no
it will be in the box
trader will have to sort this at the end of the
day/sooner or later
I think if I were the trader, I would be claiming what I could from warranty and contributing the rest as goodwill. This was an 8 grand car, not an 800 quidder after all.
To avoid the aggression and bad-tempers that often occur when two lanes become one at roadworks, surely the fairest way for traffic to join would be to make zip-merging the norm. Approach so that both lanes have the same amount of traffic then, at the constriction, they should proceed alternately from left and right approach lanes. This technique is often requested by temporary signs but just as often ignored. Read more
It wouldn't make much difference what the standard method of merging two lanes of traffic into one was, so long as there was a standard method. The same volume of traffic has to squeeze past the same obstruction, after all.
The advantage of merging in turn is the tailback doesn't stretch as far; the advantage of keeping left is the traffic keeps moving, albeit slowly. Either way, the advantage of agreeing a standard method is that - IMHO - we'd all know what to expect (hopefully!) approaching the aforementioned obstruction. If nothing else, we'd have concensus on which motorists deserved our our righteous indignation :-)
is the engine in my galaxy 05 reg the same as the vw that has all the problems with the camshaft. Help please, its driving me mad and costing a fortune so far. Read more
young man, (I think), thank you so very much for all your advice over the last 24 hours. I now have an independant mechanic who has looked at the galaxy,(ford serviced every 10k), discovered exactly as explained by you lovely chaps, is following your advice(s) the the letter, and my galaxy will finally be fixed.
You might like to know that this follows on three weeks of ford and vw computer analysis, which have resulted in everything from turbo changes to cat changes at a cost in excess so far of 800 pounds.
My other galaxys will be inspected by the said mechanic during the next few days. I will try to find out exactly which oil the main dealer used on his services, although I doubt any recompense will be forthcoming.
I take my bonnet off to each and every one of you and thank you again so much for helping this old lady during what had become a nightmare.
I am running a couple of 05 reg galaxys, big problems with one, intermittentl ack of power, thick plumes of smoke, juddering on steering at 50mph. Just passing 120K miles. (taxis).Have had new turbo, timing belt kit, ems, etc., etc., noticed the thing about cam shafts on golfs, is this engine the same. Its obvously VW. Whats this special oil they are talking about. Help please.
Read more
These engines have 4 separate unit injectors for each cylinder that are driven directly by the camshaft. This puts the shaft under a great deal more load and hence they need a special oil to compensate and the cambelt intervals are quite short.
Have a look in the Car by Car Breakdown link on the left - plenty of info in there about Galaxy TDi's.
All the indicater and warning lights work on my saxo insrument cluster, however fuel guage (low warning light stays on) , rev counter, temp gauge and spedo do not. Mileage indicator works.
Any ideas, have the cluster out all connections seem ok.
Any help or direction would be appreciated Read more
Great thanks for your help guys, will let you know how I get on.
Rgds
You may have seen the latest Astra ad's featuring this option that will be available later this year.
I don't recall seeing anything similar so what's the backroom view of this?
The cynic in me says that after the novelty has worn off there's going to be problems with stone chips, fitting replacements, bodyflex and cracks, etc.
Still a reasonable innovation though imo but has it been thought out throughly by the engineers or just a marketing gimmick?
More reading here www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/firstdrives/20312...l Read more
HOw easy will it be to fit these things? Looks like
it might be a pig to get lined up
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Just the same as a "normal" screen, just a bit bigger.
AFAIK I'm still the only person outside of Vauxhall to fit one of these in the UK (possibly Europe)
I recently had an immobiliser fitted to my XR2i and since then I have had trouble starting it on a few occasions. In fact twice it just wouldnt start. I find it funny that this started to happen the day after having the immobiliser fitted. The car most of the time does start, key in ignition and the fuel pump (i think) whirs and then you can fire it. Now occasionally i put my key in and there's no whiring noise and it just will not start. On one occasion i managed to get it going again and its been fine for last two days then it happened again tonight. Is it the fuel pump? Or could it be dodgy wiring or just the immobiliser?
Help???????? Read more
The immobiliser is a Toad Excel Cat2 immobiliser (sonar type), i got a mobile guy to fit it. I'm going to ring him and quiz him tomorrow. Is there anything i can do in the mean time?
Should i just get another more expensive immobiliser? I need it for my insurance, at least a cat 2.
Can anyone give me some advice on what brake discs i should consider. I would like better braking from my SAAB 900 Turbo, can anyone recommend a particular disc make, or disc and pad combo. Any help would be appreciated. Read more
I'm assuming you mean a pre-GM 900. When I had one of these cars, I would say that the service brake was one of its best aspects - 11" disks front and 10" rear.
The brakes are not over-servoed and need a shove, but the all-out stopping power on my car was formidable. The disks are not ventilated, which means that they would heat up more in the case of repeated high speed stops, but in the real world of maybe one hard stop, their performance was beyond question and far better than that of many more recent cars.
GSF sell standard disks cheaply - embellishments are purely a gimmick. Choose your pads carefully though; I found Mintex to be the best, Lockheed second best and the others, not too good.
659.
This is something I have considered for a long time, I would love to sell cars as a sideline intially, but possibly look into doing it full time if things pick up.
I have done some research into the topic and by the looks of things used car dealers generally get stock from the following
1) Car auctions - the obvious place!
2) Fleet disposals - these can either be from an auction or direct from the leasing company, e.g. masterlease
3) Trade ins to main dealers - this requires you to get into the loop of the local dealers so they offer you their part exchanges.
I gather that I will also need to register as a trader and get trade plates/insurance
I know a bit about used car trading, but not much, I could however go and work in a main car dealer as a trainee, and build up knowlege and experience from them, and possibly get some contacts in the business, and then move onto my own work?
Anyone done this before?
Thanks! Read more
Thanks ryk. Basically if your starting out as a trader you can follow two paths. You can do it legitimately. This means registering for VAT and obtaining trade insurance for certain. If you are declaring yourself as trade you need to offer warranties and put a 'T' at the end of your ads.
Probably opening an account with the main auction houses, subscribing to HPI or experian, getting trade plates etc.
Possibly having to register as a trader with the local authority (not normally).
Conclusion: Hassle, potentially rewarding
The alternative is operating in the 'twilight zone'. Others will have their own terminology. Harder to find people like this but they are not uncommon.
Traders who will likely have the trade insurance but none other of the above. This means buying cars in false names, registering cars in false names, keeping your cars in the friendly landlords carpark or similar, using untraceable mobiles and multiple landlines, using false ID's, using a mileage correction outfit , buying blank service books on ebay, scanning garage stamps.. no VAT, no Tax....etc etc etc.
Conclusion: Risky, potentially highly rewarding
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i sometimes use paint as a locking medium