August 2007
Hi
I've been looking around at some new Civics, to replace my wife's ageing 2001 Civic and a local-ish dealer is selling a 2006 Honda Civic 1.8 EX with low-ish mileage for £13995. I'm tempted to go up there this sunday when it's hot, and hopefully empty, and offering him £13000 cash (or equivalent). I'm not to good at haggling, and this is the sort of money I want to spend, do you think he would drop down so far?
I'm sure he'd do me on the part-ex, so I'm prepared to sell the old Civic in the paper and get some more than he would offer me, I'm just hoping that August would be slow with people on hols, and the impending new reg coming out to make him do me a deal. He's also got multiples of the same model, same year, in a range of colours.
What I'm really asking, is can I get away with haggling a £1000 off these cars at these prices, or is that too much? I know I can wait until Sunday and I'll find out myself (duh), but a little knowledge of how realistic I should be would help set the tone!
cheers
valmiki
Read more
"Posh trim is more to do with vanity than real quality, a bit of niceness you?d like to surround yourself with. And it?s so easy to fall for. The only real test of build quality is time."
This is part of an interesting article in Car on trying to differentiate between the so called perceived quality that you touch versus the real quality of car that stands the test of time in terms of reliability and durability.
It may come as no surprise but the follow on comments do get into the Jap V German debate that we sometimes have on here. It does focus on the old v new mercs as well and the fact that they never used to try and provide the wow factor but concentrated more on making cars that work for ever (slight exaggeration) without wearing out ala W124's etc.
I do think that the public get sucked into thinking a car is of good quality because of what they can touch inside - which when you think about it is a blinding con trick the manufacturers can actually play on people.
So what car makers and era were cars manufactured that really stood the test of time ?
Sorry forgot to post that I'd changed the subject line - PU Read more
>>Yes, although specifications for components vary widely between companies,<<
I have seen this specs for Toyota and Honda cars but not any other manufacturers - I suppose the reason is that when benchmarking, most people see these 2 companies as having the best manufacturing systems and some of the highest quality products in the world.
What they do is list the criteria for making a car from the customers perspective (quality being nothing more than a manifestation of customer and regulatory requirements). They then score/record the best in class for each criteria and list everyting they need to do to exceed best in class for each criteria. It's all done using QFD basically.
Then they modify the design to make sure it will stand the test of time in terms of reliability and will sacrifice something accordingly - for example, Toyota know how to produce an Avensis that will handle better than a mondeo but if it means replacing rear sub frames after 3 years or so then they will sacrifice the handling for durability.
And yes JB definitely said it LOOKED fake - not that it was.
My 96 Mondy has a flashing airbag light and always has done since I got it.
I understand this means it is either faulty or has been deployed.
Is the fact that the light is flashing an MOT fail? The MOT isn't due til next May but if it needs sorting I'd like to know so I can start saving now! Read more
Just to confirm it for you - the car will not fail because the airbag light is flashing. If it was the abs system warning light then that would cause a problem at the mot.
My wife's Polo has developed a really strange problem in last few weeks. When turning left even slightly car makes a noise as if two things are grinding together. I was advised to change the brake pads which I did then my local garage suggested to change the wheel bearing on the passenger side which we did but the noise is still there. They said to me they could try replacing the hub on the passenger side.....we did all this to front passenger side.
What else could we look into? Many Thanks
Although for what seemed like an eternity asking members to include the car details into the subject header - you no longer need to do this as the new drop down "Make / Model" boxes are now included as part of the subject header - DD Read more
Do any HJ members have any experience with Heathrow Engine Centre. They claim to be specialists in exchange/rebuilt BMW engines. Any tips offs good or bad? A replacement engine is required for a 2002-3 BMW 330i. Read more
I too have heard negative reports about Heathrow Engine Centre and my advice would be to steer well clear of them. On a brighter note though I have just browsed through FAB's website and although I have never heard of them before they come across as very professional on their website.
{Thread now 'read only' - DD}
need to do a front wheel bearing on my polo..at home with average tool kit
i know how to do it and whats req etc...excpet ive struggled in the past to get the inner race from the hub part
any suggestions on how to diy it...dont mind maybe purchasing a cheap puller if it will sort it Read more
There's an easy way to remove the inner race. Get a few ice cubes from the freezer and defrost them. Heat up the hub with a blowlamp and then carefully drizzle the ice cold water over the inner race. It will virtually fall out. I've done this lots of times and it works every time. Saves spending a lot of time bashing it out with a punch.
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These are the views of Robin the Technician with 35 years in the trade. I fix, therefore I am...
I often read about overtakers saying they return to the inside lane leaving the overtaken car with a one second gap because they will be back to two seconds almost immediately, or the overtaken car just has to ease off the throttle momentarily to regain their 2 second gap. So here are a couple of examples:
feet per second = 1.467 x mph
1. Assume you are travelling at 70mph and the car you have overtaken is doing 60mph.
(a) If you want to leave a ONE second gap you can only pull back in 6 seconds after your back bumper passes his front bumper.
(b) Now, if the overtaken car doesn't adjust his speed it will take a further 6 seconds before he is back to a TWO second gap.
(c) If the overtaken car brakes so he is doing 50mph it will take a further 2.5 seconds before he is back to a TWO second gap.
2. Assume you are travelling at 80mph and the car you have overtaken is doing 75mph.
(a) If you want to leave a ONE second gap you can only pull back in 15 seconds after your back bumper passes his front bumper.
(b) Now, if the overtaken car doesn't adjust his speed it will take a further 15 seconds before he is back to a TWO second gap.
(c) If the overtaken car brakes so he is doing 60mph it will take a further 3 seconds before he is back to a TWO second gap.
Food for thought, no?
My conclusions are that (a) if someone cuts in on you then you need to brake quite hard, and (b) if you want to overtake you really need to be going significantly faster than the car you want to overtake. Read more
No you dont you are going faster than him. That why you overtake. It really
is that simple
You were going faster than him, but now you have forced him to tailgate, to try by every means to get past you again, so to that if and when he does he can slow down to his original mimse.
It really is that complicated.
Hi All,
I need some advice in trying to value my Audi A4 Avant 2.5TDi 2002 SE 155bhp. (51 plate). I recently bought it but made the school boy error of buying it without SWMBO test driving it. This has now come back to haunt me as SWMBO doesn't like the driving position or the clutch - too heavy for her and hurts her calf.
The problem is this. I bought the car for what I believe was a very good price and there is nothing wrong with it (I love it) but I am resigned to selling it in order for a quiet existence on the domestic front. It is a fairly rare car and I am struggling to come up with a fair private sale price - I'm loathe to put it on ebay at the moment. There are only a few examples on autotrader. It has FASH (every 10k) which I verified with Audi, HPI clear, I am second owner (first was a fleet owner), 110k, has the usual SE spec plus rear parking sensor, 6CD multichanger and the upgraded Bose speakers. It is in good condition for its age with one scuff on the bottom of the front passenger wing and the usual stone chips and the odd scratch.
Can anyone with more experience of cars than me give me a rough estimation of value, please? Any help would be much appreciated. Many thanks. Read more
Go to vauxhall.co.uk and select owners/value my car. Did I get the right one: These are the partex prices, so I'd guess you add 10% for private sale (see what others think!).
Audi A4 Avant SE
2.5TD Diesel 5-door Estate
6 Speed Manual Front Wheel Drive
Year: 2002 51
Mileage: 110,000
Part-exchange Price:
Excellent condition: £6120
Average condition: £5490
Below average condition: £4850
I'm a bit puzzled by the tyre pressure label on my Accord... it looks like this:
~160kph: 33/30 (front/rear)
160~kph: 38/35
I'm guessing that you're supposed to use the higher pressures when travelling above 100mph, but why? And if I do a lot of motorway driving at about 70mph, can I try running them at the higher pressure to get better fuel economy?
Cheers,
David. Read more
Why question the manufacturer's recommendations? The are the best authority.
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L\'escargot.
I bought one these recently - Model VS 0061 - my daughter's E reg. Polo was loosing a bit of water.
The device consists of a conical rubber part which is held firmly on top of the expansion tank - making sure the engine is up to temperature - on top of that is a clear plastic chamber, above that is another chamber within which is poured a blue liquid (which turns yellow if there is exhaust gas present) and a rubber bulb is fitted on top.
The instructions say to wait until steam enters the bottom chamber, at which point to squeeze and release the bulb which draws the steam through the blue liquid in the upper chamber.
The trouble is steam never enters the bottom chamber! Sealey's sent a replacement but thats the same. I wonder if anyone has one of these testers and had any luck with it. Read more
yep there very good, run it up hot then put it over header hole, good idea to get someone to rev car very hard a couple of times then sqeeze bulb, if it isn't cahnging colour its good news.
Dont forgat how dangerous the hot water can be & how it can shoot out when it reaches boiling point. Dont worry about the steam, if there are gasses in the water it will find them
Doc
Browse
my thoughts exactly!
who pays sticker price on cars nowadays?