August 2007
Been on my annual 3 week tour of France. Yet again looked at the shelves for this mythical cheap PD engine oil. In around 6 large supermarkets/hypermarkets.
No luck - even the best spec diesel oil seems to meet a very old pre PD VW spec.
Talking Chevron, Elf and Shell plus supermarket own brands.
Glad I took a litre of Millers from home for top up purposes. Used 1/3 litre over a couple of thousand miles.
At least the supermarket diesel at 1.06 euros was cheap.
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I have found out something this week that might be interesting even to the DVLA.
The reason that there are alot of cars that have no road tax, is because the owners are insuring the cars in thier own country, and with that they think that is okay to drive over here with no tax or Mot. Until there is an accident.
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The German insurance company I use insures my two German plated cars and my UK plated car without any problem.German insurance is in three parts Third part,Part,Fully Comp,and you get free unlimited green card for all EU countries and a policy printed in English so I can tax the UK based car,I must admit that I do have both a German and UK address.
But Smarttrams is correct in saying that the UK enforcement of traffic violations is the joke of Europe,having said that most of the polish I deal with their cars are properly taxed and insured as one said to me you have no chance of getting caught in the UK but crossing Germany with an unisured car is risk not worth taking and when they return to Poland any unpaid bills and fines will be waiting for them the Polish and Czech police are pretty tough and thorough by UK standards.
I recently got the sad news that my GE Money Everyday card that gives 3% cashback on fuel is being discontinued so have been hunting around for something to replace it.
Most of you may have already noticed this, but if you buy fuel at Asda and pay with an Asda credit card, you get 2p per litre off.
This isn't a huge saving for me although worth having as I often fill up there, but I thought this may be of interest to some of the higher milers on the forum, after all, wherever you are, you won't be far from an Asda!
Blue Read more
>>Thanks again Blue!
No problems, pleased to have helped at least a couple of fellow BRer's, sounds as though you've found a better replacement than I have, although from the sounds of things I wouldn't be able to get the Platinum as I have an existing Barclaycard that I never use, doubt they would see me as a Platinum customer! :-) Besides, my income is at the lower end of what is acceptable for most platinum cards so that would also work against me!
I found that I did really well from the GE card when I bought my MG, I bought it from a small garage that had a petrol forecourt and paid the £650 balance on the GE card, yep, I got 3% cashback on the whole amount! I also paid for my car insurance with it (£1200) and due to an error with how the card was setup, got 3% on that too! :-)
Blue
As we know the old Fiesta will need some welding before it would pass its imminent MoT test, we had more or less decided to scrap it. Friends have, however, suggested that we ought to try selling it on e-bay. I'm not sure if it would be worth the trouble, but I wonder if anyone here could advise on the likely cost of using e-bay to sell a low value car?
A failure to sell the car within the next 10 days or so will result in the expiry of its tax, MoT and insurance. After that, would it still be legally OK to tow it to the nearest scrap yard? [although I know that the safest way would be to drive it there!]
Thanks Waino
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Thanks to all who suggested eBay as a viable route to take - this proved
to be the case.>>
Apologies, chaps, I've just re-read the post. Thanks, of course, to EVERYONE who expressed an opinion on this thread.
Thought I'd post this as a separate thread rather than hijack the Wild Deer one.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6VS6qsLJeY
Excellent choice of background music as well, IMHO.
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The bloke coming towards the camera almost got a hoof to the head as well...
I like the new report in AutoExpress about the new C200K Elegance. I actually took a very thorough test drive in the 200 Elegance with auto gearbox a little while ago, I was very impressed.
I see they actually very much recommend the SE version with so as to trim the cost.
It may look a dull colour to some, but after looking around in various showrooms, I think the very dark blue with the darker interior actually suits this car. mercedes is best described as a car with understated elegance. Read more
Pendlebury. I will soon be going along to various dealers.
Even though it is very popular, the 5 series BMW still has probably too many complications with I-Drive.
Do I need to lubricate anything to make the electric windows go up and down easier? They are sluggish at certain spots, and the n/s/f creaks when partly wound down. I'd rather not take the doors apart if at all possible! I notice that pulling up on the windows by hand when closing them helps them a bit! If they need something, what, & where to get it? Read more
Whip the door panel off, it's pretty straigh forward, just a few screws and some poppers.
The mechanism on the cavalier is a scissor action, with sliders in runners on the bottom edge of the glass and a second runner on the inside of the door cavity. grease these up, but also re-align the second runner.
Get the window to the top, slaken off the two 10mm nuts holding the runner (it's towards the back of the door) you will see the runner move slightly, pull the glass bacwards so it is tight into the rear up/down channel and then re-tighten the two 10mm nuts.
Tucked away on BBC4 over the next three nights from tonight (9pm) is a three-parter, The Secret Life of the Motorway.
Judging by a preview I've been reading, it should prove interesting viewing, starting with the opening of the M6 Preston bypass and the joy with which motorists took to driving on it without speed restrictions. Unfortunately some of the cars couldn't cope with the demands on them...:-)
One of the comments is that "via contemporary footage and interviews with everyone from the architects to the labourers, the programme details something we have come to take for granted, as well as remind us of the scale of labour and breadth of ingenuity that enabled the motorways' existence."
The point is also made that the building of the trans-Pennine section of the M62 was one of the great engineering feats of its day.
The preview states that our relationship with motorways is so emotional that the three parts are titled appropriately: Falling in Love, The Honeymoon Period and The End of the Affair.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by Read more
But we have the Heathrow Express and the Gatwick Express running from said airports into
central London - or doesn't that count?
No - it doesent count. They dont link Hethrow and Gatwick Directly. The only link between those two is buses and taxis all using the m25. The m25 should have had a circular rail service all the way round, with an interchange west (heathrow) south (gatwick) north west (northwest main line) and eastish (east coast main line)
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< Ex RF, Ex TVM >
I am shortly selling my car privately, without guarantee. When I write the receipt, what details should the receipt contain so that I legally cover my position without making any commitments? Read more
forum search on the right ...
also brings up this later thread:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=44231&...f
(and shows that even some moderators find difficult to use the search! )
I am close to buying a nearly new Mondeo at a car supermarket. The car carries the balance of the Ford Warranty but the supermarket provides no warranty or guarantee. What rights do I have as a buyer? Read more
Sale of Goods Act. Look on the OFT website for more info or google it.
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Local GSF is in dodgy downtown Sheffield which I rarely venture into. I'd rather go to my local Millers dealer for the PD oil and ogle the immaculate Lister Jaguar. Driven by the late Gerry Marshall in the European historic GT championship (allegedly).