July 2007
I have been lurking in the Sat Nav aisles for several month waiting for a European map equipped system to come into the sub £150 price bracket. Passing through Costco yesterday I saw that, for the first time, they had the Navman N40 in this branch for £140. So I threw one in the trolley and spent last night configuring it and installing maps for the European cities I need to visit over the course of the next few months.
I tested it out today in my local town. Verdict ? Fun but a useless piece of junk that's as likely to get into trouble as it is to lead you out of it. It would have had me detouring through municipal car parks, short cutting via roads closed to all traffic except buses and meandering home in the most circuitous route imaginable. Granted it can't be expected to compete with local knowledge. But it's added value seems to occur only when measured against zero route knowledge and there are very few circumstances where that applies in my itinerary.
The other thing I wonder is just how safe is all that fiddling with tiny buttons on the move? As happened with mobile phones, I expect the government may legislate against the use of them by the driver. But not of course until the market has reached saturation point and maximum revenue has been extracted from the consumer.
Mine is going back to Costco this afternoon - one of the benefits of membership. Read more
Anyone have any tips/experiences on driving from Zurich to Berne/Biel..?
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I'd guess this is a hire car from Zürich Airport and will have a vignette already.
The Swiss are generally quite arrogant, impolite and downright aggressive drivers, but that's just a different hazard than CLOGs etc on UK roads.
I am about to take delivery of a new diesel Ford Transit with the 140 PS engine and this vehicle like my previous Transits has an aluminiumised exhaust system fitted.
I have had my earlier unturbocharged diesel Transit for 6 years from new and the exhaust has lasted well, with only the front pipe requiring to be changed (last year). There is little rust and the aluminium coating is mostly in place.
Looking under more modern turbocharged Transits the exhaust pipes are much rustier than mine and I wonder why this should be, is it due to greater heat, or poorer materials?
What I would like to know is, are there any materials, such as aluminium tape that I could wrap around the new exhaust so as to prolong its life? Any ideas?
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Some years ago I saw adverts for a heat insulating tape that could be wound around the exhaust pipe. The idea behind the tape was that it reduced heat loss from the system and thus kept the exhaust gases moving more quickly and this in turn made for better extraction & more power.
Does anyone have personal experience of this product, does (did?) it work and does it reduce corrosion?
hi everyone,
new to the forum...it looks great
am in a bit of a dilemma......want to buy a new car but not sure what exactly to get.
am looking for a car that will last me at least 5 years and my main concerns are that it will be reliable and not be too expensive to maintain. i do about 12-15k miles a year and hence am looking at a diesel. would this be about the right mileage to look at diesels?
the cars i'm thinking of are the new accord (perhaps 2-3 years old) 2.2cdti exec, 3 series(old shape perhaps 3-4 years) sport/se spec and the a4 2.0 tdi with a SE spec.
am not sure which of these choices seems the best option. presume that the bmw and audi are deemed to be more "upmarket" but are they better cars for the money. i guess that i would get a newer car with higher spec for the same money.
any help would be gratefully appreciated
thanks
slight tweak to subject line - PU Read more
Sounds to me a personal grudge with Honda or the intent that I'm going to hate Honda it doesn't matter what!
My next door neighbour has got a 2002 CR-V and the family loves it!
I'm not saying that Honda can't make a bad car but more often than not their cars are spot on and the JD Survey proves that!
Car parked, girl drove by smashed wing mirror and her own
Got licence plate number, but don't want to involve police, is there a way to trace owner ?
thanks
Being the school teacher type, I've improved on the grammar a bit. - PU Read more
Well yes Milky in a mere 27 posts later it all goes around full circle. See he was right.
I have wondered looking at a lot of cars which have passenger airbags concealed under a smooth dashboard surface that is continuous (rather than looking like they are in a separate box/cassette with a "door" or flap that opens) does it mean that if it goes off the entire dashboard has to be replaced?
Or have they engineered it so that a new "skin surface" can be attached over the dashboard structure?
I'd imagine otherwise even fairly low speed shunts could end up with a massive bill just to reinstate the airbags and dashboard. Read more
Any impact hard enough to depoly the airbags will often, but not always, be enough to write the car off on it's own. If you trawl through salvage websites there are lots of written off vehicles there that *haven't* had the bags deploy.
I always take the view that if I'm going to crash that badly I want to see more "bangs for my buck" so the more airbags the better :-)
Blue
Hi
I am looking a 2 different cars
One is a 2.5gx Subaru Legacy and the other is a Mitsubishi FTO
Can anyone advise me which it the better car as i aint drove any of them before.
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IMO they are both good reliable cars. A good example of either will not disappoint you. It all depends on whether you want a saloon-type car or a sports car. The FTO is actually a 2+2 and will seat two children (or small adults) in the back.
2003 Ford Maverick 3 Litre V6 - all the toys but how much is it worth?
2003/53, 28,000 mls - 1 owner - FSH @ supplying main dealer
So few about it is difficult to know what it is worth. Read more
Excellent condition:
£5940
Average condition:
£5360
Below average condition:
£4610
According to Glass' on the Vauxhall site.
(Some guesswork involved)
Been on this site for a while and have come to the conclusion that it is a motoring site for those who want to pick at the trade rather than be helped by it. Especially having seen the bit by HJ about trade rip offs. If he feels that is helpful then its below words!
Had enough of the people who all feel that the motor trade is against them!
I prefer sites where people want help and listen to it so I am off!
Probably not missed by many (not concerned anyway) and probably cheered away by others (also not concerned).
But I just cannot justify my time for such attitudes. You get what you give is so true in all aspects of life; no wonder the world is against so many people!
Duplicated posts deleted - PU Read more
Locking this now - all debate in the other thread. May have lost a few posts in the move, but hey you know the risks ! - PU
click below to go there if you want to add anything.
Thanks.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=54...7
Following on from HJ's post 'Big drop in used 4 x 4 values' I am shortly off to the States for several weeks backpacking, and have sold my '95 Defender to a friend who collects it a few days before I fly. When I return in October I shall scour the auctions/small ads for a replacement Subaru (will be my 4th) within my budget of £5k and hopefully a lot less!
A pal of mine starts a new job and is being provided with a company car, so has to sell his 04 Forester 2.0X, 42k miles c/w All Weather Pack.He has told me that he will dispose of it through the auctions...no hassle with private buyers etc etc and I/we wondered what he could expect to receive for it. The Vauxhall website lists Glasses 'trade in part ex' values, but what relevance have these figures to what he can expect to receive in payment at auction.
If it is within my budget I may be interested, although we both agree that it is underpowered (maybe I could chip it?) and the mpg of the XT puts me off the turbo model. My preference is still an older Legacy estate...good value 2nd hand thanks to the intro of the new Sports Tourer.
Many thanks for any advice
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get your mate to put a high reserve on it (higher than you want to pay) and if it goes he's quids in. If it doesn't then you can buy it off him at the highest unsuccessful bid at the auction. Not sure that an auctioneer would be happy putting on a high reserve but it might eb worth a go.
Browse
p.s. I would have tried it on mine but the battery is flat and I've mislaid the charger. But basically, instead of leaving the starting point as the default 'home' you need the one to the right of that (I think it's called 'Advanced Planning') and from there you can put in your starting point. It probably has the port itself in the 'points of interest' section although you may need to run it through with just Cherbourg first and then do a second run.