Morning,

I posted recently on discussion about the tyre on my Mondeo. They were Conti Sport contact 2 that needed replacing sooner than I had hoped.

The tyres had worn unevenly- both the front tyres had worn on the inner edges far more than the outer and so I asked the garage to check the tracking. They came back and said the tracking seemed fine.

When driving the car seems quite 'jittery' when going over bumps, manhole covers etc, and I am sure there is a problem somewhere. It doesn't drive like other Mondeos I have driven before, and I find myself trying to avoid bumps etc that I can't feel in our other car.

Would it be worth getting another garage (maybe a Ford Dealer) to do a tracking check, wheel alignment as well?

Would there be anything else that could make the tyre wear incorrectly other than tyre pressure?

Cheers All.
Read more

I notice that the 3 points on my licence are laboriously handwritten by someone in the Traffic Office that awarded them. I suppose that there is some central record in Swansea and that if one's licence is renewed on age gounds (due for me shortly) the points will appear on the new paper counterpart, on the basis that central records are held on the Swansea database? Put another way - to get points removed from your licence do they see them on the licence that you send in to get them removed from and compare this with their records or is the only record of your points on the licence that you send in for amendement? DVLA Site does not explain SFAIK
Read more

Whilst undertaking the usual pre-season service and check on the P4 on Friday I was taken aback to find the tread separating from the casing on the front tyres. As I bought these S/H a couple of years ago from a 'friend' who was emigrating all I can do is to bite the bullet and buy some new ones.

My rear tyres are Avon Super and these still good after many years service, and these are available for £94, however the same supplier has Camac tyres for half this price. As this is a brand I have not heard of before, wondered if anyone has ever had these fitted and what sort of quality they are. Obviously I don't want to skimp on safety, however I don't push mileage or performance envelopes in this car, and a £100 saving would be useful -;)
----------------------------------------------

One mans junk is another mans treasure Read more

I've agreed to buy a secondhand car from a private seller and have given him a cheque for £500 deposit. I'll run an HPI check on the car, but he told me he has £21k outstanding finance on it. This is the first time I've bought when there is o/s finance, and would welcome advice on how to proceed.

I'm not at all keen simply to pay him the balance - what guarantee do I have that he will use it to pay off the finance instead of vanishing with my money? Presumably, the car remains the property of the finance company until the loan is settled.

Could I pay the finance company directly? This way, I know there would be no outstanding finance, but I would be loathe to do this without getting the keys to the car at the same time - how do I know the seller isn't going to vanish with the car?

I'm sure there is a smooth and safe process for situations like this, but I can't visualise it.


Read more

As a treat as a second car, as readers may know, I bought a Nissan 200SX turbo, S14 touring 3 weeks ago.

this is why I loved it:

great looks, stealthy, and in dark perlescant blue, a real head turner (yes I know this is subjective)
gorgeous leather interior
well kitted out, CD Changer, AIRCON, electric sunroof (after market fit),
Good value, I found an immaculate example with 80K miles on it, R Reg, for under £4K..
lovely responsive automatic
Smooth power delivery
Fast cruiser as opposed to hard core sports appeal
Exclusive, you simply do not see many around - I like that. Friends were stopping and asking me what it was.
In original (un modded form) avoids boy racer image

But, i wrote it off after 2 weeks, first road accident in 18 years of driving. Spun off the rood exiting a roundabout at moderate speed after hitting some slimy wet mud in the rain.

HJ says they have a tendancy to swap ends in the wet, and the users group forum is full of people who say things like 200SX, plus rain, plus hard rubber = hedge!. Something to do with RWD (yes I know what that is) and Limited Slip Differential (I don't really know what this is).

So, suggestions please for something fun, that will make me feel like I want to drive it (have a boring 7 seater for family outings), that will put a smile on my face.

Thoughts so far.

Honda Accord Coupe (last version) - similar luxury, leather, probably milder performance, (though whats the V6 like), hopefully less of a handful to handle. But many have cream leather which I don't like

Alfa 147. Yeah I know different as chalk and cheese, but near coupe looks (even 5 door) and a 1.6 Lusso quite appeals, the interior is gorgeous, the exterior is stylish, but at at the end of the day it is still a hatchback not a coupe.

Volkswager Bora - completely off topic, but you can get a 2.3 V5 of 2.84Motion for far less than Golf equivalent, and i had one (a Tdi) a few years back as a company car and it was really rather good.

Honda Prelude - should be fun, and has good safetly features to accompany it s performance, but the interior is SO low grade - looks worse than a Honda Civic from same period.

MG ZS - could be tempted, but what are the risks in buying an MG / Rover, and were late ones subject to any dodgy cost cutting at manufacturer, I know that late Rover 75s were awful (I had one as a hire car and it felt stripped of all the quality that made the earlier ones appealing. Also not sure about by racer image on that car.

Ford Cougar - looks nice on outside, but nothing special inside (early Mondeo style dash), and Autobox not a great feature on it.


Obviously 4 - 5 k doesn't give me too much to play with, but still... suggestions welcome.

Golf - not interested... sorry, but I would like something a little more exclusive
another 200SX... hmmmmm .,.. not unless my wife and I both go on a track day and learn about avoiding drifting, how to handle it when the rear looses grip - life is too short.


\thanks in advance

Guy Read more