July 2007
I am currentlydriving a Nissan X trail diesel and my wife has a old pug106 for work,the Nissan is parked up most of time and mainly used for towing with.I am thinking of selling Nissan it is worth around £9k and buying a Mini One around 2002 for my wife to use and a cheap diesel estate for towing.Anyway i don't know alot about the bmw Minis,what should i be looking for and what sort of fuel economy should i expect?Are the early mini much cop?
ta Andrew. Read more
Hi All,
I need to pick people's brains please. I have recently written off my poor little Seat Ibiza and need to replace it. I need an estate and am going to opt for diesel. My budget will be around 7-8k. I am considering the VW Passat and Skoda Octavia 130 diesel, Avensis (114bhp) and the Honda Accord 140 diesel. I guess with my budget mileage will be around 100k on a 03 plate (o4 for Honda). I will probably do no more than 15k a year and will keep the car for a minimum of three years. My partner has a Mondeo 130 Tdci and she is more than happy with it so I know of its capabilities.
Is a 100 -120k on the clock for these cars a problem as I will then be adding another 45k approximately?
Any suggestions on which is the better car would be greatly appreciated. I have not been able to drive the Passat, Octavia or Avensis as there are no nearby garages.
Thanks in advance.
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My Honda is an 04 now on 104k (diesel), none of the exitement Glaikit Wee Scunner has had with his Passat!
Seriously considering buying it in March (company car) and opting out of the scheme!
Hi, my check engine emission control light has just started to flash on my 1999 420 turbo diesel. Car runs as normal but slightly concerned that a breakdown might be coming. Can anyone offer advice please!
Cheers, Ian Read more
I thought I had done my homework on what is available online, but somehow I missed this
www.citroendata.co.uk/
I hope it is of use to others!
--
pmh (was peter)
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So where's the CX section, then? :-)
It is Ins time again - renewal request through the door.
I have tried the comparison sites in the past but their guide prices can differ from the actual premium when you log on to the Ins Co Site - so I tried a few Ins Co sites directly.
Prices as you would expect varied from £150 - £220 for Comp - On the Zurich site they gave a premium of just under £150 (Competitive Premium and a £200 excess) - for interest I clicked the TPF&T button so see what I could save:
SURPRISE - TPF&T £175 - £26 more for less cover. Read more
I usually go for fully comp until the value of the car drops to such a level that I could afford to replace it myself without insurance. At that point it doesn't seem worthwhile to insure comp. Going to 3rd party only usually results in a very large drop in the premium. Mind you I am in Australia and things are no doubt different in the UK.
I would like to replace the timing belt on my wife's Mazda - BJ
Series, November 1999, 1.3LXi, SOHC. Now done about 60000miles.
I can't find a guide or manual anywhere - they all seem to stop with the previous model. I have searched owners club sites in UK and USA, but haven't found anything useful. Can you point me to a site or source of information which would help me?
And do I need to replace the water pump and/or any tensioners or at the same time? Are there any particular problems to watch for - eg, do I have to remove the crankshaft pulley to release the belt or is there sufficient slack when other items are removed?
I would be most grateful for any help you could offer.
Thanks
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I have a 1999 Honda Civic Aerodeck 1.5LS Estate. On pulling hard left (reversing or turning corners) I get a knocking which resonates through my steering wheel. I also seem to get a vibrating when braking from high speeds ( I initially thought this was just the ABS).
I recently had the car serviced and when they were doing the test drive the mechanic commented that he thought my drive shaft was in need of repair. I've since spoken to another mechanic and he says it might be a few things like a loose coil or the cv boot as opposed to the drive shaft.
I have had a tendency of paying through the nose in the past, and I want to ensure that I know what the issue is so I don't get fleeced. Does my description sound like the drive shaft or something else? If its the drive shaft, can anyone kindly give me a ball park price for part and fitting, again so I don't get fleeced.
Thanks for your help!
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sounds like the boot has split and let go all the grease around the cv joint , and with all the rubbish weather recently it has ingressed the joint and caused premature failure
Hi all, newbie first post so hope you can help.
Got a 1999 1.25 Ford Fiesta Zetec with 75K on the clock that the wife runs around in that up to now has been relatively trouble free, the car that is not the wife.
Car had a major service last December but about a month ago it started to run really hot so I checked the water which was ok so I then ckecked oil and there was next to none in the engine!!
This doesn't seem right to me as it had an oil change with the major service so I topped up the oil (approx 4.5 litres) but have noticed today that the dipstick is on minimum so that's approx 1.5 litres of oil gone in a month!!!
Not sure what could be causing the oil to be used up so quickly so if anyone could enlighten me it would be appreciated.
Engine looks relatively clean and I haven't noticed any blue/dark smoke from the exhaust. The car is parked in the same place every day and I can't see any sign of an oil leak on the road so it's a mystery to me.
Your help is appreciated.
Thanks.
Deleted your post in Discussion - this area has a lot of expertise, expect some questioning !
- PU Read more
Sorry for late reply but have been away for a couple of weeks.
I don't have access to the car for a couple of weeks so I wont be able to check coolant / smoke at gear change etc. Mileage is average I guess, approx 750 miles per month mostly short town journeys.
From memory the engine bay is a bit grimy/oily but only as much as I would expect for an engine thats done approx 75K
No evidence of the clutch slipping, smoke from exhaust when started, warning lights on the instrument panel or excess noise.
I'll check out coolant and smoke from gear change as soon as and let you know results.
What is the weirdest `wrong fluid` incident encountered?
I mean, despite all the warnings, petrol is still being put into common rail diesels, diesel into petrol cars.
One of my colleagues put screenwash into the antifreeze.....
Has anyone been changing their oil on the drive and poured the coffee -brought out by SWMBO- straight into the oil filler?
It just seems that *if its possible at all, even by forcing*, its going to happen, somewhere.....
Where and what?
Regards :)
NB, should it just be fluids? has anyone in the trade found a banana forced into the battery yet? as there is almost a match in orifice size...
( Written with warm intended humour)
Spelling of the word orifices corrected :-) - PU Read more
See two posts above! Lucky no-one got burnt:>)
Eh !? Where did luck come into it ? We knew what we were doing...
Five young blokes, garage mechanic, engineers and undertaker what could possibly go wrong ? :)
Hi there,
I have been in talks about buying a car which was advertised as having full dealer service history. When I originally spoke to the guy on the phone he said it was due a service soon, fine. The service interval is supposed to be 12,500 miles, the last service was at 37,200 and the mileage is now over 54k, making it over 4000 miles past its due service. Would you consider the car to have a full service history?
Thanks
Peter Read more
My answer is that a FULL history should have both. Just 1 on their own
makes it a service record.
In all honesty I probably would have accepted either, but with the big gap I think it is cheeky to advertise the car as having FSH.
Thanks
Peter
Browse
I can only echo what some have said.
My wife has a MINI ONE bought new 2003 (standard spec + Alloys/A-C/sports seats/revC/chrome pack) paid £11600. Value now if part/ex'd ?? 6K ??
Mileage now 45K
MPG dissappointing 32-ish (the car is used for a daily motorway commute 20 miles e/w - very few short runs). My wife drives economically and sticks to 70 on m/way.
The car has been very reliable, only 1 problem- replace rear wheel bearing at a cost of £190 at the dealer. The car is still on it's original pads & discs. I'm just about to replace the tyres for the second time. Insurance is cheap (Group 5) - we're paying £170 with full NCD (Gloucestershire).
It does handle very well - ours is on the "std" 15in alloys with "std" suspension. I would expect the sports suspension to be hard to the point of being VERY uncomfortable especially if you live in a speed hump area or have the 17in wheels.
Bad points - It does have some creaks and rattles, the engine is harsh & noisy to the point where the radio has to be turned right up in order to listen, and of course you cannot consider this car as practical, the rear seats are really for children only, the boot is tiny. And for a small city car the fuel economy is poor.
Our opinions are divided - my wife loves it & sees no reason to change.
I'm bored with it, I find it uncomfortable to drive for any distance, It's not practical and I'm fed up with people asking me how much their house is worth!!
If you want style with reasonable depreciation + good reliability - go for it
If you need the car to be in any way practical or want to drive long distances in a relaxing manner - don't.
Jacks