July 2007
For several years I had been with Eagle star for my insurance, then a few years back they were taken over - my cover expired on saturday, so i rang to renew. Now normally I speak to several companies, then through shere laziness, get them to price match, saves the hassle of changing companies.
However, I had been ultra busy and hadn't had the time so I just rang to renew at 562.15, and make up a figure generally 20% less for them to try and match, I mentioned I now do more miles, to which the young lady asked what I did.
Now I've been self employed for 16 years as an agent, visiting potential clients etc and been insured under business used, fully comp with protected ncd.
I was informed that they now classed me as Commercial , which they no longer did, unless through their commercial department- I searched the FORUM and found the commercial van specialists, as recommended by fellow BR'S, who, whilst they couldn't help, passed me on to "Core??", very helpful and got several companies to quote ranging from 697 - 471, but on a whim I phoned Virgin, who I have several accounts and with extra discount I managed to obtain cover for £463, via UKI ??, and I could have spread the payments without extra costs - I hope they turn out to be as good as it sounds-
moral don't be lazy shop around Read more
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Thread originally titled "Top Gear lash it up again"
Well done lads, nice work
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6281512.stm
Does anyone watching this learn anything from seeing a car driving across salt flats - no
Does it look nice on screen - almost certainly, yes
Is that alone worth the expense - no
Way past its sell by date.
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Let's hope the TG cars were undersealed! Anyway, enough about the salt pans as per HJ's request.
went to the coast today
got caught in the queues and the rain on the A64
broken down cars? rover
came back via sledmere house down the big hill ,what car failed to make it up?............. why a rover
nothing more to say really
Not sure whether you want to open a discussion on this, but the subject line has been changed to give an idea to people ! - PU Read more
>>Rovers are now so cheap that they're throw away, use them, abuse them and scrap them
Pretty much correct but not just Rovers,plenty of cars ie bmw`s Merc`s seem to be the regular breakdowns and not just old ones i have seen several newish Mercs lately broken down,owners nowhere to be seen(probably embarrased) just recovery trucks removing them from the road....
My girlfriend's 1988 Golf GTI 8valve has a tendency to develop what I would describe in motorcycling parlance as a 'tankslapper' when you hit the right (or wrong) bump whereby a fairly impressive steering shimmy sets up necessitating either braking or accelerating to make the wobbling stop. It seems to be the offside front wheel which is sensitive to setting this chain of events in motion.
I have jacked each of the wheels up in turn and can detect no play in the suspension or steering, and am wondering what else could cause this behaviour?
Two of the (alloy) wheel rims have been flattened by contact with something kerblike which leads me to consider a bent wheel as a possible candidate, but I'm basing this suspicion on supposition rather than any experience or knowledge in this area...
Cheers,
Jonathan.
PS, I have suspected for some time that the car could do with the tracking done, as the steering has that lightness when turning into a bent that suggests excess toe-out, but surely I am right in thinking that a geometry problem could not cause a shimmy? Read more
Agree with shock absorbers, but just check each coil spring carefully for breakage.
I had my BMW 330 coupe Sport stolen from my home Friday 6th am. The pink fluffy dice got in my home and nicked the key. Its black with cream leather, last few digits of chassis JU65133. Most probably either in bits, cloned or in europe. So, if your looking to purchase a black BMW, this one's registered on HPI as stolen. Last seen in Berkshire. The most annoying this was I spent £300 on new rear tyres and MOT the day before as I had just sold it.
I'll go back to a Mondeo, no-one nicks them!! Read more
A bloke near me had a good burglar deterrent, a rather mean looking Alsation in residence and a sticker on his front door depicting said animal with ''come on in, make my day'' written on it.
i have a n reg 405 and need to replace the bottom balljoints.
do i need a special tool or is there a way round this any suggestions please!!
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i thought this might be the case ,as they suggest a " special" tool in
the haynes manual but thats it i will see if i can buy the tool when i pick up the ball joints today , many thanks for the info.
Can't think of a better title, sorry mods.
I'm so tempted to sell the Toledo and by myself a nice pre-72 classic. I bought the SEAT when I was commuting to Guildford every day.
I cycle to work most days now, and it's lunacy having a a car that is taxed, insured and MoT'd sat there still losing money for most days.
However I can't guarentee that I'll never need to commute that sort of distance again (Not mega miles I know, but 35 miles round trip was enough for me...have a friend that does 80 a day...madness!)
I have a hankering for a nice RWD V8 but I don't know how realistic this is!
So:
- Can a classic car still be reliable/comfy commuting tool these days? (Provided sensible driving taking into accounts its age is adopted)
- Can anyone recommend any cars from the ramblings above?
- Is classic insurance cheaper for someone my age (22) or still about the same?
- It is pre-72 that is tax exempt, right?
- Is the gummint likely to abolish this any time soon do you think?
Used to be very much into classics when I was 11/12...then lost interest...looks like it's making an appearance again!
Feel free to post up any other comments, its an 'anything goes' post really...
(slight edit to subject line - PU) Read more
Pete M - the rebuild was to an extremely high standard, carried out by a leading restoration company. It had PAS and perhaps too much electrics because most problems were electrical and the car didn't like spending time in towns often overheating. Open road, speed, fantastic. We moved to Devon, put the MKII in store, used the fully loaded cheap as chips Scorpio as day to day transport and the field mice destroyed the leather so decided that I could never happily run the Jag - if you can't use it, what's the point? Met a bloke on holiday on a beach who used to race BMWs and had a fledgling dealership business, talked about cars quite a lot, told him about mine and he bought it to stick in his showroom for customer flow. Big, big financial loss, lesson learned.
Lots of car for the money and I know a few people who swear by them. Just seen an 01 plate 2.9 diesel on autotrader with 41K on the clock for around £4000. How good are these cars really? Build quality, reliabilty, parts costs etc? I know they are a bit tankish to drive but nevertheless seem great value........... Read more
Pre 2006 Sedonas have a diabolical turning circle. Possibly as bad as the Queen Mary.
Virtually every one i've dealt with has scrapes to the front bumper corners because of this, so check carefully for botched repair jobs.
Hi honest john members,
I am looking for honest advice since I have just recently had a new dashboard computer fitted in my fiat punto but the counter now has zero miles on the clock. i asked the mechanic why he did not programme the counter with the correct mileage and was told that this is illegal. This seems odd to me and I would like to know if this is correct as I am annoyed that now people will think that i have clocked my car since as it does not tie with my last MOT and has effectively advertised my car as a lemon.
i would really appreciate your honest opinon on this because i would prefer to have the correct mileage on the clock.
Thanks in advance for you help,
David Read more
Cannot remember which car it was, possibly a Nisssan, but there was a section in the service book where details could be filled in regarding a speedo change.
Hi
My wifes car has developed a problem with the front wheel arch. Please accept my aplogies if this is a basic problem but I am not too conversant with cars.
The plastic trim in the front drivers side wheel arch has come loose and appears to be missing a number of screws. In addition, the plastic appears to have been cut and is flapping around which is further wearing the plastic. We purchased the car around 2 months ago and has been relatively problem free until this.
Is this likely to be expensive to replace at a local garage?
Can this be done myself?
Thanks in advance
Moved to tech and subject line changed to assist readers - PU Read more
If possible, cable tie it as a precaution - if it comes off, it's likely to get completely smashed. Given all this wet weather, they protect the some electricals from direct spray.
Browse
Thanks, but yes (and my other daughter who works in the NHS did too). However all the special policies were miles out. A bit like Endsleigh saying they're cheapest for students, but then not being.
I'm always sceptical about such offers and that was especially noticeable on the NHS 'deals' where the quotes were frequently higher than going through the normal route.