May 2007
Having just bought a Jan 03 BMW 320td, I was wondering whether it was worth spending £220 odd quid on a year with Warranty Direct after the probably not worth the paper it's written on 6 month dealer's warranty has expired.
The CBCBD says that "320d M47 150bhp models are getting a reputation for repeated turbo failure, possibly due to extended oil service intervals. After replacing turbo, ECU needs to be reprogrammed. Also instances of injector failure. BMW says that only EU3 320d engines built before October 2003 are affected by the turbo problem".
Other BM forums seems to support this. The car's done 69k miles, with full BMW SH, and seems in good condition with no funny noises.
Any thoughts? Read more
Does anybody know where to get the unlocking codes from for the above radio. I have tried eBay, however I don't fully trust the sites which are offering the software to download. I have removed the battery from my Vauxhall and I can't find the code. Read more
thanks DD
Are these the same? So does a phone charger that fits a fag socket also fit a '12V power socket'?
I ask as I have a hire car booked and want to make sure my sat nav and phone charger will fit if it only has a 12V power socket (whatever that is). Read more
Guy's, be very careful. Some modern cars like your Bipper Teepee and my 2010 Nissan Note specifically say the socket is for 12v power ONLY. It is not thermally protected and you must NOT ever try to use it with a Cigarette lighter. ie you will MELT the dashboard if you try to use a lighter.
It's the Health & Safety Nannies at work again I'm afraid. Luckily if you pop down to H******** they will sell you a free standing cigarette lighter socket thing which has a lead to plug into your 12v accessory socket. Phew I feel healthier already!
Just seen this picture and story, apparently of a flaming PT Cruiser. Amazing.
www.businesscar.co.uk/officeblog
Read more
the electrics looked fine to me - nice bright headlamps.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Do you have to have a front passenger seat fitted to a car in order for it to pass the test?
The frame on the front passenger seat of a friend's car is broken and therefore, I would guess, is an MoT fail. If he were to remove the seat altogether, would it be a failure?
At the moment, he can't locate a replacement seat from a breakers, so fixing it is not an option. Read more
Thanks for the helpfull replies - I'll pass them on.
Just taken a look a 1999 xsara estate diesel, 1.9 Turbo. Mileage 64K.
Started first time from cold, but clouds of white and black smoke from the exhaust for several seconds afterwards, then cleared.
The car has been unused for a little while.
Is this something to worry about, or is it likely to clear once the car is used regularly? Read more
This link might help understand the problems associated with different coloured smoke emitted by a diesel.
tinyurl.com/y6zl9p
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Roger
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
Hi all, a friend of mine is looking to buy a used Toyota Celica in the near future, her budget is about as low as you can go for the new model at £6K.
For this money I would prefer her to get the car inspected before purchase by a competent mechanic. As we may end up looking at a car a long way from home I thought a firm like the AA or RAC may be best as if she's sure she's found the right car, she can send them out to do the inspection without travelling hundreds of miles herself only to go and view a lemon! (this is the voice of experience talking)
Has anybody used such a service before or does anybody have any recommendations? She may also be looking at a private sale and as such is even more wary of the prospect of buying a dudd car so before she splashes out on a £150 inspection I'd like to know that they're worth the money.
I can offer some limited help to her myself but as I've recently proven to myself, even I am taken in by shiny paint when viewing cars for my own use, the last BMW Ibought had as much filer as it did bodywork but I failed to notice until long after I drove off in her, and I most certainly don't want to repeat the performance when helping a less knowledgeable friend buy one! On a more positive note, I doubt I will get rose-tinted glasses when viewing a car for somebody else, I never have before.
Blue Read more
Thanks for the comments everyone, I would prefer an independant garage but sadly most of the cars we are looking at are almost 200 miles away, so a check doesn't seem like such bad value when you take into account the considerable cost of trekking across the country only to find that the car is no good, if we travel that far we wanted to try and make one trip if possible. Maybe we should just accept we'll have to make two!
Blue
A certain garage which did my wife's MOT was listed as winning an industry award (Guess I am not allowed to name the exact one) as "best independent garage". Yet they seemed to have charged us a large amount of labours (5 hours for 3 small welds, oil change, flexible pipe change and adjustment to brake pedal - by my reckoning that is 3 - 3.5 hours just for welding).
Then becuase they had changed the oil (to get through MOT) owner wanted to charge us extra £100 for a service (Oil, filter and labour already charged), despite the fact we said e did not want one. The car was returned with the oil overfilled by 250cc (checked on level ground) and white powder (from welding) all over body work.
Looked up the award site in question and it seemed to by awarded by garages to garages, rather than by public vote. Naturally their website encouraged all garages to enter for a "Fee".
I just wonder what annual awards for garages can actually be trusted?
The main car mags just seem to award Manufacturers, are there any genuine non industry biased awards for garages? Read more
Just browsing through this week's 'latest deals' section, I noticed Seat offering:
Leon 2.0 TDI Reference Sport with styling kit: £2,500 worth of aerodynamic styling kit ready-fitted for £16,995 RRP. Highlights include aggressive-looking bumpers, 18" BBS alloy wheels and twin chrome exhaust pipes.
"Aggressive-looking bumpers" - what the hell are they? As if there's too little testosterone-fuelled aggression on the road already.... :-(
What next - 'aggressive looking' indicators? Read more
Sounds like a Ford Focus advert where they stated the car had "sporty front fog lights". If it's foggy I wouldn't want to be driving sporty and I wouldn't describe lights as sporty per se.
Hi,
I've got a 1.9D Expert that has been idle for ~3 months. Tried to start it today and got no luck, it used to start first time everytime.
The starter motor turns over but there is nothing from the engine. I tried a jumpstart and the same happened there too.
I then tried a bumpstart and that did nothing either.
Whats my next course of action? THanks in advance. Read more
Or a quick blast of Easy Start might do the trick,but don't squirt it too much.
If used regularly,diesel engines get hooked on it,and it won't start without it.
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Cheers - seems well put together so far. I think yours would have had the later, revised turbo though.