May 2007
Hi all. I have a 2003 ford Ka, that has only covered a careful 14,000miles by the two previous elderly sisters. I have owned it for about a month now. I have noticed a few drops of water inside the car at the rear tailgate, more or less in the centre of the car, where the jack sits. Will it be the tailgate rubber seal do you think ? I have tried adjusting the tail gate lock so that i get a tighter fitting tailgate, but there does not appear to be a way of adjusting it at all. Any help and advice please, Thanks all. Graham.
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My OH is buying a car and has been offered GAP insurance (you can drive into a wall in two and a half years and claim the money back that the insurance doesn't give you) and a premium valet (we'll strip it right back to the basic paintwork and you won't need to polish it for three years) - not that he does anyway! Now both these would cost £600 in total- we're spending an extra £1000 plus part ex for the car. We've said no. Is it only another way to make money or are we missing out on some unbelievable deal? I don't believe we are but am I too cynical. Read more
Surprise surprise ! I had to deal with both of these topics when I recently bought my new A4 Avant. Firstly, as someone else said, GAP insurance might be handy if you have most of the car on finance, but otherwise it is a very expensive extra that I have done without for many years and dont need it now. Anyway most insurance policies will replace a new car with new, in the first year anyway. Audi wanted £450 for this ! Then they asked me how much I thought I would be willing to pay, and the answer was not much, ie £50 ?? as I just couldn't see the benefit to me.
Secondly, the expensive paint sealing etc etc. It is know to me from first hand experience that this is not worthwhile, as most of the products used for this eg Diamondbrite are available on EBAY. I have used Diamondbrite, and I'm not saying it is bad, but the claims of 6 year protection etc etc are way over exagerated. In reality why pay £350 for something you can do yourself easily for about £20.
Dealers are always thinking of new ways to augment their margins/cashflow, I think their time would be better spent looking at why their overheadds are crushing them.
Hello
Iam looking to trade my trusty Ford Mondeo in soon.
I have a budget of £20,000
I have looked at the new style Mondeo Diesel in the press and wonder whether an audi would be better.
Iam looking to retire in the next year or so, After retirement it will be used to tow a mid sized caravan to the I.O.W about 6-8 times a year.
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(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters Read more
Good choice Martin, i think the new Mondeo will be a cracking car - on pre-tests they have said it is easily a better car than the more prestige brands with a nice quote saying, drivers of prestige brands will never know how much better the ford is because they care about the badge so much they would never test or buy one.
That shows how much car you will get for your money.
just a quick note with regards to the recent posts about not remembering mot's
Formula 1 autocentres website have a free mot, tax, insurance and servicing reminder online
ive just signed up thought it was a good idea. Only needs car reg, make and e mail
However, if they end up spamming me they will get blocked but there is a box to tick to NOT receive emails so it should be ok
www.f1autocentres.co.uk/reminder.asp
{Link added by DD}
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Prompted by the hilarious comment about it being normal to replace Ford locks every two years.
What's the worst / most implausible / most outrageous nonsense you've been fed by a manufacturer, dealer or mechanic?
Mine has to be when I ran out of fuel in a 2001 406 2.0 HDi. The computer was still showing a range of 20 miles, and when I added a gallon of diesel, the thing went haywire, went into a sulk in ECO mode and then died completely. It ended up having to be recovered to the local Peugeot dealer.
They called me the next day, and I quote
"We've been working on it all day, and managed to get around it for you this time, but if you run it out of fuel again, it'll definitely need a new ECU"
Eh?
Cheers
DP
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An Astra I once had had an intermittent starting problem, a click but the engine didn't spin. On the 4th visit to a local Vauxhall dealer I insisted they sort it out once and for all. They got "Brains" on the job and concluded the problem was due to someone incorrectly wiring the immobiliser to the starter motor circuiting which was causing just enough of a power drain when trying to start the car. Upon asking "When was the work done ?" About 6 months ago. "And how long have you had this problem ?" For about 6 months, counting the 2 months you've been trying to fix it. "And who did the immobiliser installation work ?" You did. "Gulp, oh, the man who did that job no longer works for us." Well at least they traced the problem and sorted it out eventually.
just been reading a link that someone posted on here the other week
heres the link
www.homeapproved.co.uk/comprehensive-car-insurance...m
it specifically says any car worth over £5000 has to be insured as fully comp by law
first ive heard of this
none of mine are, if i bend em im gonna mend em,am i an illegal then?
is this right, or a ripping yarn? Read more
Click on the "Senior Citizens" sub-heading of "Drivers" and it says "Senior Car Insurance ....................... Senior car insurance is a legal requirement in the UK ..." What is that supposed to mean?
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L\'escargot.
I did see it and at first I thought it was being presented by Jo Brand (John Sargeant must be her brother as they look so similar to me!). Read more
I thought it was quite a well balaced programme. It certainly is the case that the anti 4x4 brush is indescriminate since there are many smaller versions (particularly diesel) that are about as economical as a car. Howerver, it was also quite good to witness the nauseating ignorance of some of the people that drive these wretched things entirely on tarmac.
And the woman driving for four hours a day. Only road pricing will stop this nonsense.
Hi
My 1998 1.4 petrol (distributorless ignition and injection) 106's head gasket went a while ago.
Had the head skimmed and new gasket. Also replaced Lambda sensor, plugs and HT leads.
Am now experiencing an uneven tickover, seems worse when engine is hot and I sometimes think it misses a little at slow speeds around town.
Any ideas what this could be?
It recently passed its MOT so emissions seem to be ok (they are not adjustable anyway as the computer chip controls all the settings?)
Thanks for any help. Read more
Posted the other day about poor idling/slight miss on 1998 1.4 injection 106.
Took plugs out yesterday and noticed black sooty one nearest to timing belt while the rest are light tan colour?
Does this suggest a faulty injector?
Thanks.
I am having problems with my choke on cold days which causes the car to cut out while I am slowing down. The problem is that to keep the car ticking over when I am stationary I need to pull the choke out quite far. However, if the choke is pulled out that far when I start driving the engine seems to get too much petrol and starts missing.
I can't win with this because the only way round it would be to keep my foot on the accelerator when I am stationary. Unfortunately this isn't possible when I am slowing down and hence the car is bound to cut out on me.
Is this a problem with the carb that can be adjusted or is there anything simple like a blocked hose or something that could be causing it. As soon as the engine warms up it runs lovely. Read more
Thanks guys. I thought I was not misusing the choke by trying to make it idle faster in cold weather, but that shows what I know. I thought the idle speed should be set for when the car is warm and assisted by the choke at other times. I've taken all comments on board and will give my carb a seeing to.
Whole Vehicle Type Approval comes a step closer
The European Parliament has just agreed, the " Recast Framework Directive" that paves the way for the wholesale extension of whole vehicle type approval.The way is now clear for this new law to apply to all those vehicles that weren"t included before,
Van and truck bodywork, trailers, buses, coaches and motor homes will all be affected, with far reaching implications for all who make, sell or buy them
If the manufacturers of these type of vehicles dont act quickly or fail get the right approvals then they WILL go bust.
The SMMT is already working with the DfT and its agencies to help firms understand what they need to do. this law wont bite immediately,but for those people who fail to plan the future shure aint bright
ive mentioned this before but look at the niche vehicles that are made that this will affect
ambulances
hearses
stretch limos
ice cream vans
kit cars ?built up
one off commercial vehicles
etc etc
i have just been in a struggle to get the dvla to accept a conversion on a transit as not needing single type approval and all i did was change the body configuration ,so frightening times ahead i think
comments welcome
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Sex on wheels aka stretch limos indeed; during an extended 'boys only' trip to Crimea, a few years ago, a few of us rented a Lincoln stretch job that had part of the roof cut out and a dancers pole poking up through to a bracket attached to the boot- the rental came complete with a selection of 'ladies' ............the introduction of this new type approval may increase the availability of such vehicles here in Ukraine:- sounds ok to me
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Hi Bell Boy, I am going to try what you suggest with the silicone around both rear lights as a start.
I let you know how I get on. Cheers, Graham.