Hi All,

I'm just wondering whether to buy a used Ford Mondeo now, or wait for the new model to come out later this month? My thinking is that when the new model comes on the market, fleets and private owners will trade in for the new model, which has had god reviews and therefore pushing the used prices down.

Does anyone think this effect will happen, and if it does will the price drop be enough to put off buying for a month or so?

Thanks for any ansers or opinions

Cheers

TSD Read more

Oil is leaking out of my engine; leaving it overnight leaves a pool 3 to 6 inches across on the floor, and I can't work out where its coming from. The car's worth less than a mechanic's fees and I only need it to last 5 or 6 more months before I scrap it or (if I can) sell it.

Its a 1996 Corsa 1.4 8v (Hi-Torq), engine code is X14SZ. 150k miles. {Added to subject header so as to catch the eye of possible Vauxhall experts - DD}

Its definitely not the oil filter or the oil draining plug. I initially thought it was the "seam" that runs around the bottom of the sump, as this is very wet. There is not much wetness above this line however. I was informed by a mechanic friend (who lives too far away to look at it) that it is probably coming from above this seam, and pooling above it before running down and dripping off. He suggested I check the oil pressure warning light switch, but I can't work out where this is and the pic in the Haynes manual is no help whatsoever.

Does anyone know where this switch is, and are there any other common places for it to leak from?

Thanks! Read more

Air conditioning in cars.

How come air conditioning is often so troublesome in cars?
Contrasted that is, with the household fridge which seems so similar.
we have two fridges past down from owner to owner with the house and are running fine at 25 yrs old, running 24/7.

Build quality or design? is there an argument, that air conditioning in cars is often not fit for purpose, due to the basic principle having proved so robust, but the actual application in a car often so fragile and troublesome?

As an aside,
I can remember as a lad in the 1960`s a big cold room being set up and an ancient compressor unit being brought in. Its memorable because I remember the engineer instructing us all to run if it ever leaked because it used something similar to first world war mustard gas.
He had all the doors and windows open and was notably nervous in filling the system up.

I was amused to call back 20 years later and it was still running.

So the principle and application is really reliable, but what happened with cars?
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