July 2007
We're thinking of trading in the Passat now that it's approaching 160k miles and we've had it over four years - time for a change!
An alternative I hadn't really considered till now is the Saab 9-5. They have a reputation for being very comfortable, and according to the CBCB, chassis issues (understeer) seem to have been sorted out from 2001 on, ditto the steering rack mount issue. However it seems there may be cause for concern with the EGR valve sticking closed, as well as intermittent build quality issues. Saab do well in JD Power but poorly in Warranty Direct. Having said that, nearly every car review I read seems to throw up a long list of potential problems and I'm starting to think that I'll just have to take a bit of a risk with my hard-earned.
So - does anyone have experience of this car with this engine (120 bhp 2.2 TiD)? How easy is it to rectify/monitor EGR valve problems? I assume it's a common-rail (meaning I'll probably have to limit use of biodiesel to a percentage), but how much of a difference would I notice from my Passat TDi 110, considering that VAG engines tend to be a bit more powerful than the badge says? I'd like a bit more performance than I currently have, but can't afford a truly quick car (wonder how easy/costly this engine is to remap). I see from Autotrader that there's one at a dealer near me for £4995 with 82k miles on the clock. Probably £4k with trade-in. Worth considering, or avoid like the plague?
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ... Read more
Have seen disabled parking bay outside a private residence.
1. Am i right in saying that the person has to be severly disabled in order to have a marked disabled parking bay outside his home?
2. Is that bay only for that household or can someone else who has a blue badge (disabled badge) park there?
3. should you always display a blue badge when parked there Read more
A disabled bay has been put in partially blocking my drive to the point I have to go forward an back 3-4 times to get on and off the council will not move it back 3 foot as its done now and there not moving it. Who can I complain to above the council?
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I have a strange problem one of our fleet cars. It's an Astra 1.7 DTI estate on an '03' plate and has 101k miles on it. A couple of weeks ago i started it up first thing in the morning and the battery warning light was on and as i moved away i noticed there was no power steering either, so i thought the drive belt had snapped, and drove it like this about 5 miles to our depot. When i got there i opened the bonnet, only to find the drive belt was fine and the alternator was spinning fine. I left it there for the day with the intention of looking at it later in the day, but when i went back to it the next morning i started it up and all was fine again, no battery light and power steering back as normal. It was fine until this morning when it done the same again, but when i stopped it and started it again it was fine!
To me this is a weird problem that i can't get my head round. Am i right in thinking these cars do not have a belt driven power steering pump?
Anyone that knows of a similar problem with an Astra or other Vauxhall of the same sort of age, or anyone that can let me know the likely cause, i'd love to hear from you!!!
Thanks, Jonathan Read more
bell boy - steering rack problems won't put the "battery" light on
fairy snuff ,im still practising at being perfect but obviously still got a bit to go ;-o
Very tempted by the Renault Megane 1.5dCi 106 on drive the deal at £5091 off mrrp = £10,459...
Are the later Megane's any good, or should I avoid? If so, anyone got any other suggestions for a nice new diesel car circa £10k?
Thanks Read more
I suppose it depends on each individual's priorities. The thing with road tests is that they only test the car for maybe a few hundred miles. I get to drive many Focuses/Focii whatever and yes they are great cars. But after 30000 miles in the Megane I place a higher value on its far better comfort and refinement. The Focus shines in a few areas, as does the Megane but in everday driving you will experience the qualities of the Megane more than the Focus.
Hi,
My partner is wanting to buy a newer car,we have seen a couple listed on Auto Trader that say that the car is ex demo. She is concerned about what the car has been put through?
Any help very much appreciated. Read more
No worries Whoop Whoop, I would have been skeptical too. :-)
Blue
Hiya, i don't know whether anyone can help, but i have a corsa C 1.2 club (52 reg) with only 31000 miles, and it has a very intermittent starting problem....... basically you press the key fob to open the car and the dashboard lights should come on, if they do come on then the car will start fine, however more often than not, the lights do not illuminate and when that happens the car will not start it sort of starts and then immediately stalls (like the immobiliser is kicking in) however i don't believe it is the immobiliser because i have tried starting the car with the immobiliser in the key fob taken out and it does a similar sort of thing, (i.e starts and then stalls) but the immmobiliser light on dashboard will then come on. The worst thing is, occasionally if the car does start, then whilst driving along the car dashboard will sometimes fail and then the speedo, rev counter and fuel guage will not work, also indicators etc fail, although the car will still drive, it will usually come back into life after 10 minutes of driving?? .... you will probably say go and get a diagnostic test done, well i did exactly that at Vauxhall, but they said that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle and even test drove it and said the same thing and then charged me £50 for priviledge. So now i'm stuck with this intermittent problem (i think it is getting worse) but very reluctant to go back to Vauxhall to get it diagnostic check again in case they find nothing wrong again and charge another £50?? has anyone had a similar problem and knows what it could be, or any suggestions as what the problem is i would be very gratfeul. Regards Natalie Read more
That's a really helpful post - thank you very much. There are many of us who wouldn't have thought of that.
A 320 is still on the shortlist - expensive and less standard equipment than the competition but arguably good enough to drive to be worth it.
My instinct is towards the 320d, as I do 20,000 a year - but the 320i is almost £2,000 cheaper on list price - making a very long payback period for the diesel.
I haven't tried a petrol 320 yet and need to - but has anyone any thoughts on the merits of one v. the other? I thought this had been aired already on the forum, but can't find it.
(Incidentally what the 320d has over the VAG diesels is (a) refinement and (b) absence of turbo lag and the sudden shove, later than you need it.) Read more
I thought the 318d was to have the same 143bhp / 300nm 2.0 (I agree with the
designations being confusing) as the latest 118d
BMW has considerably messed around with all its engines over the last couple of year and it's still a work in progress. Things are just as bad with the 3L diesel being available with different badges and different states of tune. The revised engines get introduced to different models at different times. I think the X5 3L is just about to be revised.
It must be a nightmare buying used, as it's really not obvious which spec engine you're getting.
No, not because I'm fat, but because our baby was born yesterday. Unfortunately had not fitted car seat to car before then, and my Volvo S80 turns out to have seat belts that are too short (because obviously when you are buying a £26k family saloon, you wouldn't want seatbelts long enough to fit a sat).
Called dealer who told me that car seat (Mamas and Papas Primo Viaggio SIP) is not suitable and I should try Britax. So try Britax,enter details in (Volvo S80, 1998-2006 model), and get a choice of two seats, both of which show that they will not fit anywhere in my vehicle.
So I'm thinking I might as well stick with current seat and just try to extend the seat belt. Anyone done this & know a supplier?
The car does have the much vaunted Isofix fixtures but not fittings, so I'd need to make a trip to dealers to get them fitted, then find an appropriate seat (not all f them fit anyway). Read more
Here it is! One of these fitted my S60 so it ought to go in
an S80 too.
So you'd think, but not according to Britax:
S60 fitting:
www.britax.co.uk/FitFinder/GB/Results.php?TestID=3...5 offers three positions, passenger, or either rear side seat, but warns "The seat belt was only just long enough. "
S80 fitting:
www.britax.co.uk/FitFinder/GB/Results.php?TestID=2...6 says only the rear middle seat is acceptable, using an alternative fitting., which seems like a bit of a pain
Hello all,
I bought a automatic X-reg Vauxhall Astra from an independent dealer back in March which included a 3 month warranty from the garage. Unfortunately today the head gasket has gone, I know nothing about cars so don't know if this is something that I've done or could've prevented but it's too late now anyway! My question is, I've only driven approx 1000 miles in it since I've had it, I literally use it to drive to the station and back everyday so has very little use. In your opinion, is this a fault that could've been present when I bought the vehicle plus would I have any comeback with the garage that I bought it from even though it is past the 3 month warranty that they gave me? As I have very little knowledge on cars is there anything I can do to try and recoup some of the repair money?
Plus, as this has happened once what is the likelihood of it happening again - is it a recurrent problem?
Thanks in advance. Read more
Glad you got the car sorted and got over the problems.
Its often enough to make an owner hate their car (and then every lttle problem magnifies). Sounds like you have got the car you want, and there is no reason why it shouldnt give you years and 1000's of miles of happy motoring. I hope it does.
No doubt you have seen a related post on the discussion thread! 2 sides to that 1 too, most people in the real world, with ordinary money to spend appear to sit in the same camp as you!
Hi Guys,
I've just bought a new car, as my old was overheating, but now the new one is doing it... argh!
So it's a Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.25, 1999, 32000 miles, Serviced every year since new. Today i noticed the gauge going into the red, it could have been doing it before, i'm not sure, but i've only had it for a week! Opened the bonnet to here a whooshing gurgling noise coming from the pipe that goes into the expansion tank to the main heating block bit, rather than the pipe going from expansion tank to rad. I'm not sure if this is normal, but it looked like coolant was coming back to the expansion tank from the engine.
I let it cool, came back to it and the expansion tank was pretty much empty. I filled it up with antifreeze on a 60:40 ratio, went to the petrol station and filled it up. Took it round the block a few times and it went into the red again. Popped the hood again, the fan is cutting in. There doesn't appear to be any leak in the system.
I can't be 100% that the coolant was at the correct level when i bought it - so maybe i'm hoping adding this coolant will help? It's a vague hope i guess..
I'm dubious of a head gasket fault as oil looks clean and no traces of oil in expansion tank.
Other problems i'd assume would be an airlock, water pump or thermostat issue. Any thoughts?
Thanks for your help :) Read more
does the radiator fan work?
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Brake pads take about 100 miles to properly bed in, which is probably why the dealer told you they'd just been changed. This is exacerbated if the discs are scored.
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I read often, only post occasionally