June 2007
Hi,
Thinking of attending the BCA auction this Tuesday at Measham with the goal of snaring a decent car :)
If I manage to find and buy something, how do I go about getting it home - my guess is that it won't be taxed so it won't be allowed to leave.
Will BCA keep it at site until I can bring the correct docs?
Also, can I pay using debit-card?
Any advice on the process of getting the car back home much appreciated.
Lou Read more
I need to fit a new alarm siren unit to my factory fitted W-reg Astra SRi. Is there any particular set-up / connection procedures I need to be aware of please?
If I don't fit a new siren unit and the old one is left permanently disconnected, will the rest of the alarm and immobiliser system still function correctly.
Any advice please, Thanks, Vinnie.
Subject line altered to clarify - PU Read more
The powersounder on my estate Astra was under the bonnet, by the leafcatcher grill, not in the wheelarch.
My dad's broken his heel and won't be able to drive for some time. Since we breed horses this puts a bit of a crimp in plans for taking my sister to events and delivering and collecting horses, for example. I'm 21 and have been driving for over 4 years now, which I assume means I can take the test to get up to 7.5 tonne entitlement on my license.
Does anyone know roughly how much work is required in order to pass? Is a prolonged course of lessons needed and is the test very strict, or will I be OK after spending several hours driving around with my dad giving instruction, bearing in mind that cost is likely to be an issue. Can the test be taken in our lorry or will we need to hire one from a training school? I should say here that I'm more than capable of driving large and heavy vehicles on farms, but the biggest thing I've taken on main roads is a long wheelbase Transit...
Cheers,
David. Read more
If you're going to take an LGV test, why not go for the class C, which will enable you to drive any rigid (non-articulated) vehicle up to a 32 ton 8-wheeler. It might be more expensive and the course/test might be longer - I don't know, but it's worth a thought. Then you will have a higher qualification under your belt that might be useful one day.
I bought a 2001 VW Polo 1.4 Match for my MIL. Great wee car but the car has difficulty selecting third gear on a gentle change -fine if you 'gun it'. The car has approx 60k miles and is otherwise fine. Any ideas? Thanks Read more
if it is only happening on third then it must be internal gearbox.
If more than one gear, then take the cover ofF the gearstick inside the car and make sure any selector rods(they hold everything together, you will see them when you stick your trotter in, if they have undone) at the sides havent undone.
Hi all,
I have recently purchased a new car and now want to buy a Clifford alarm. Me being me, a big kid, wants the all singing all dancing version, i.e. remote start :) as a novelty but mainly for the security. I have seen the Matrix 50.5x. It claims to have all these channels and anti - grind stinger stuff and i'm confused as to what it all does. Can anyone make sense of this for me please?
Jon Read more
One of my mates had a Clifford with remote start in the mid 90's
There was a neutral switch on the gear stick under the centre consol - Put it in gear and the car cuts out.
He also had the talking option
'This Ve-hicle is alarmed. Please step away' in an American accent
Similar to Max's 'Get back ya pink fluffy dice or I'll break ya legs' in Phoenix Nights.
It was reliable as I remeber but needed alot of tweaking.
Hi
I've got a Mk2 Nissan Primera 2.0 (a 1997 on a P plate) has done 76K.
Does this engine have a cambelt? I know some Nissan engines don't.....
If it does, how often does it need to be changed?
Thanks in advance, Chris. Read more
Just changed the cam belt on a 2001 primera diesel.
Anyone know where I can get spindle carriers for a Ford Escort?
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It's not Ford-speak but.yes,if it's a Ford part-then your local dealer.
my parents have a 2002 02 plate new shape fiesta 5 door flame model colour is jewel green. 1 previous owner. 1.3 engine
only 20k miles and no toys at all. wind up windows etc.
are these cars sort after or just an orphan nobody wants.
they have a good deal on a new car but they won't take a trade-in so they need to know whats it's worth.
Subject line made a little clearer - PU
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i'll tell them to try 3k and see what intrerest they get. they bought it 2yrs ago for 4500 so not bad for depriciation.
But only for the last week in Menorca. Hire car was a 1.9TDi Touran, which was chosen as there were four adults and a 14 month old. Car had done just 700km when picked up.
Good points
Loads of room for four bags, four rucksacks and the buggy.
Plenty of space on the back seats for two adults and a baby - good job, see bad point below!
105PS more than enough where the speed limit is 90kmh, but more often 60kmh. It did get noisy when I pushed it to 120 kmh.
Engine noise not too intrusive when not pushed above 2500 revs
Did 44 mpg over roads where getting into 5th and 6th is a rarity
Higher driving position was a bonus as road markings could be seen earlier. Menorca has a system where you turn left into the middle of the road, then wait in a small slip road until you can pull into the right hand lane.
Very comfortable seats
No major body roll when thrown around
Bad points
6 speed box - not needed
Two seats in rear - difficult to get in and out of, when up our buggy wouldn't fit in the boot! The Aygo boot took the pushchair, one holdall, two rucksacks and a baby changing bag on the trip to the airport. The Touran wouldn't have managed it with the rear seats up.
With rear most seats down the shopping fell out of the bags and rolled all over the place - some sort of 'shopping solution' (boxes fixed to the floor) are required to put bags in.
No spare - some of the roads on Menorca aren't too well maintained and this made us nervous
Very noisy once above 2500 revs - but being a diesel not a problem as these revs aren't required.
Difficult to manouver in tight parking spots - no sense of where the front is and the rear corners are hard to see when the car is full of passengers - reversing sensors should be standard.
Despite the cockpit being like every other VW I still thought I was driving a van.
All in all for a week of transporting 5 around on a small island it did the job well, but I can't see me buying an MPV anytime soon.
Menorca is recommended, but I'd avoid Cala n Bosch, unless you like curry houses, The Britannia pub and you have an England flag for your hotel balcony railings. Thankfully we were miles away! Read more
'Fresnel lens - invented by a mate who doesn't work any more! Just lives on the income'
>>
I assume this is the plastic version we see on vehicles.
"According to Smithsonian the first Fresnel lens was used in 1822".
>>
photonotes.org/cgi-bin/view.pl?letter=f says
Fresnel lens. Pronounced ?fruh-NELL.?
They?re commonly used on high-brightness viewfinder screens, overhead projectors, etc. The lens design was invented by French physicist Augustin Fresnel (1788-1827), who used them in lighthouses.
My mobile phone contract expires end of June 2007.
Whenever this happens I go to my supplier and get an up-grade, the best I can find as long as it's free.
This time round I'm thinking of getting a Smart Phone and putting Sat Nav on it (I don't yet have Sat Nav in my car but would like it).
Does anyone have any positive or negative comments about Smart Phone Sat Nav?
Is it better to get separate Phone and Sat Nav?
I don't mind parting with a few quid on the up-grade if I really have to.
One apparent benefit of a combined Smart Phone Sat Nav is that you're always going to take it with you; so handy for finding your way round on foot. This also means you're less likely to have it stolen from your car.
On the other hand, it might make the Phone too complex and fiddly to be useful, maybe the software will crash or be too slow.
Any comments will be welcome and influence my decision.
Read more
Sat Nav on a phone is Ok-ish but its second best to a proper car
system.
Not my experience. My phone has a bigger screen than the TomTom One, four times the resolution (more detail), faster CPU for plotting routes, and I can get the satnav up quicker, because the phone OS is already running. It can also play MP3s (which I can route to my car stereo using headphone jack), and I can answer calls on it (hands-free) while it still does my satnav. And being in my car, deciding I'm going to go to a certain place, googling the post code, and then entering it into tomtom is handy.
The software is identical, except the phone software has no voice reading of street names, which is an option on the high-end tomtom standalone systems.
Browse
If people went to the auction web site they would find all the information they require as the above post instead they seem to want second hand not sure to be correct information.