May 2007
As above really. Car is a silver 2002 SEAT Toledo. Read more
Intrigued by the recent threads about rusty Mondeo 3s, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for modern motors with rust. Two examples I've seen in the last few days :
00W Merc E class with rust on sills, front wing and headlamp surround. Yes, I know Mercedes' decline in build has been well documented but this was still surprising. Car was otherwise a straight, genuine looking example ie not accident repaired.
02 02 Volvo V40 with rusty rear arches exactly the same as used to afflict the old 400 series from the ex DAF factory in the Netherlands.
Anybody else got any starters for 10? Read more
You can hardly base your judgement of Ford bodywork on a 9 year-old car. In
any case I've no doubt that a lot of things have changed in the last
9 years!
Even if a new Ford were immune from corrosion problems with a 9yo car suggest the co was late getting to grips with rust issues. Our 91/H BX went to the scrappy in March 2005 pretty much rust free (it was the steering rack that did for it). The 89/F 205 I ran for a while in the late nineties was equally good, and even the 78/S 104 I had from 82 to 86 was structurally OK and looked no worse when it happened to pass me in Fetter Lane c1990.
My C-Max went in for its first service yesterday, at the main dealer where I originally bought the car.
A nice aspect of the service was the fact they collected the car and dropped it off for me, which saved loads of hassle, but considering it's basically a glorified oil and filter change, the cost was a somewhat high £140.
I'd deliberately refilled the window washer beforehand, knowing that they tend to charge a fortune for doing this. When I got the car back I found they'd charged me £1.75 for a bottle of window washer concentrate, which they'd thoughtfully given to me because I had no need for it to be put in the car. I queried this on the phone that it was a standard service item and that I would have had to pay for the labour for filling the car if it had needed it, but as it was already full they just gave me the bottle instead. Yes, I'm still confused.
I'd also asked for some minor warranty items to be looked at, but there was no info on the paperwork to show that they'd checked any of it. I had to ring them up to find out, and apparently they couldn't find any of the faults. One of the problems was a squeaky rattle from the rear that only occurs when three or more people are in the car. They said their driver didn't hear it, but of course, he was the only person in the car!
So not terribly impressed, both with the communication, and the amount of effort put in to address my concerns.
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Doesn't your Ford main dealer displace the prices of servicing, I know ours do.
They charge a fixed rate for 2 typres of service, interim and full.
It's worth asking for a quote before having a car serviced. You'll find your next C-Max service will need the break fluid changing (every 2 years, cost £30) but that's classified as an extra item and is not included in the displayed prices, hence it's worth checking the total cost beforehand.
£140 sounds about par for the course, typical cost at our Ford dealer is around £159 for a similar service although they throw in a car wash and leather as well.
If you go to collect your serviced car early you could probably get a free coffee or tea out of them, kind of helps with the feel good factor, and/or annoy a car salesman by reading the new car colour mag. My local sales manager beat his previous record (inside 30 secs) by asking me if I'd like any help as soon as I had picked up a mag, quick as a flash I responded - oh yeah sure how about a free complementary holiday, a fruit basket and free chocolate for life, and just when he was about to start negotiating regarding the fruit basket he got distracted by another customer, oh well maybe next time !
I bought a new 12-month tax-disc on-line on Wednesday 25-Apr-07 (very late at night) using a credit-card.
The transaction appeared to go smoothly with confirmations that all the stages had worked. It was a straightforward renewal (no changes of address or anything) and my credit-card account is always properly maintained.
It's now Thursday 03-May-07 and I haven't received the tax-disc.
Should I be worried?
I'm still driving the car, complete with a tax-disc that expired on 30-Apr-07.
Am I committing a criminal offence?
If Plod stopped me (or spotted me parked up at the shops) could I just explain the situation and no further action would be taken (presumably my payment would be registered on the tax-disc copmputer)?
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Just thought I'd add my own experience of online tax disc renewal - applied for it on the website on June 19th, waited... waited some more... phoned up the DVLA yesterday, man at DVLA offered to send out another one by Special Delivery to arrive today.
Postman appeared this morning with, you guessed it, TWO tax discs!
Is £45 plus VAT a good price for an aircon service or is it likely to be just a quick visual check and top-up typre thing. It's my local back street garage by the way and they're always really busy. Read more
When I had mines done, it was £75 and they sucked out the fluid and pulled a vacuum on it for 30 mins or so with some sort of compressor, so remove any moisture, then refilled with oil and refrigerant. Ant tested it while shining a UV light around to check for leaks (the new fluid contained fluorescent dye)
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6620461.stm
It says "The decommissioned aircraft was being driven through the city " unlikley surely, but if it's true where do I buy one? What a way to wind up Ken!! Hee Hee!
JH Read more
I don't suppose India is quite the same, but certainly in large areas of Africa the passers-by can take a very stern view of any form of eccentric behaviour with motor vehicles. Cases of people being lynched after accidents or crashes involving no other vehicles and no serious property damage (except to the victim's own car) are not unknown.
In Northern Tanzania some 25 years ago I took a bus journery which had to be broken at midpoint, as the dirt road crossed a small river on a Bailey bridge which had been wrecked. The bus would stop at one end of the bridge and the passengers had to climb over the wreckage to the other end, where another bus was waiting. For the rich and heavily burdened, a canoe was available to help with the luggage.
The bridge had been wrecked by a bulldozer driver who had ignored advice that his dozer was too heavy for the bridge because the alternative route was 30 miles longer. Following the collapse of the bridge, the driver had been beaten half to death by locals whose lives had been made instantly more difficult thereby.
So the driver of the aircraft transporter may have been doing the sensible thing when he scarpered.
Its a very, very long story but the upshot of it all is that I have a Mondeo 2 litre petrol with a knackered head gasket. I have changed a couple of head gaskets on my old crossflow kit car but how much more complex is the Mondeo (its a 1997) I appreciate it is DOHC and the timing will need setting up before dismantling but is this a nightmare job or a not too bad one?
Thanks in anticipation! Read more
Thanks again Jonny. Looks like a Haynes manual is on my shopping list for this weekend! Makes sense about the pullys. Tips like that can make the world of difference.
I'll likely tackle it next weekend.
Regards
Stuart
firstly thanks to Dave N for the last lot of info
Im just trying to realistically price up the cost of parts for repairing the aircon parts behind the dash ie. evaporator, thermal valve etc
I just need to know exactly what is needed because i think peugeots price for a pressure release valve (thermal expansion valve) and evaporator was £502 but other aircon specialists is around £200
I dont know what lies behind the dash so i could do with a break down of parts needed. Plus any parts that might need to be replaced such as receiver drier and heater matric etc.
Im planning on keeping the car but need to work out a realistic figure as the mechanic i use is very reasonable on labour (eg replaced rear pads, discs, cat converter and all the aircon diagnostics-gassing etc for £80)
thanks Read more
AUDI A4 SE 2001 Multitronic 41Kmiles, has Oil level low indicator (Orange oil can symbol) ( not Oil pressure = RED oil can) displayed when dip stick says full?
All ideas with regards to the oil level sensor operation (how it works) and its location would be gratefully received.
Thanks
Brian
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Thanks, guys
The sensor only indicates low when the oil has warmed up, thus I suspect the sensor has failed and will need replacing. In the meantime I will keep a close watch on the dipstick.
Will look to replace at next oil change.
Regards
WBD
Hi
I have a Sept 2001 Citroen Xsara 2.0 Hdi. Is this model OBD or EOBD compliant. I have ordered a code reader, only £25, but am now wondering if I've done the right thing. I can only find mention of petrol models before 2004 and mine being a deisel not sure now.
Anyone help?
Norman Read more
norman
Pretty unlikely on that year. As you've bought it, give it a try and tell us the result.
What's your actual problem? Is it just the MIL light is on? Go carefully with these complex systems; they can bite.
OK thanks Dox, leave it with me I'll try and find out