August 2007
Hello, most embarrassed but will seek help.
Friday I bought a number plate for dad, for his birthday next month.
Got talking last night when I went ver to see him.
Well, I never knew this as he admired people registration. He would never have a private plate on his car as he felt he could be easily remembered by an irate motorist.
I've yet to receive the paperwork and I'm first named and father is the nominee, will DVLA accept my reasoning and cancel sale?
Thanks again :(
Btw, I don't want the plate as it will not suit my car as my car is not worth a lot. Read more
friday.. went to have a tooth out (surgical procedure) at the hospital , was advised to bring a driver ( to get us home) in case of fainting or such , just would like to know if any one had a similar experience , say a broken arm or worse and drove home? Read more
The usual reason though for not driving after injury is that the painkillers can make you drowsy
Many moons ago had an idiot dive into me from the side of a swimming pool.His head hit into my left side - he just said " Sorry Mate" and disappeared .
I thought I was winded and just about managed to climb out of the pool and sit by the side trying to recover my breath and the pain was excruciating but I just thought it go away .
Luckily I had helicopter jr ( only about 9 at the time) with me and he helped me dress. I drove my manual company Cavalier home by putting it in second and keeping it there whilst holding my side and feeling every bump in the road.
SWMBO took one look at me , by this time in agony and drove me , again feeling every bump to hospital where an X Ray revealed three broken ribs. I was signed off for 6 weeks as a result.
It looks as if the candidate to replace the B-class will be one of:
VW Golf estate 2.0 TDI
Skoda Octavia estate 2.0 TDI
Toyota Verso SR D4D
This may well end up the order, with the Golf the winner.
I realise that if I get a Verso, TVM will never speak to me again - in its defence it's a lot better to drive than other MPVs. We don't need the seven seats, but there is a flat floor with all rear seats down. Good to drive with minimal turbo lag; just a touch wallowy round corners, probably inevitable given the height of the car. Poor rear visibility, and I'd have to cut off part of the radio aerial to get it into the garage. Excellent local dealer - Octagon of Bracknell.
VW and Skoda, unsurprisingly, similar to drive, and both good fun in terms of acceleration, ride and handling. No obvious quirks to infuriate, and both felt 'right' from the start. The Golf estate has come in cheaper than I expected: the estate is available in SE trim unlike the hatch, where you have to have GT Sport to get the 140 TDI engine. If you add parking sensors it's just on £18,000, the same as the Octavia Elegance estate, and £1,000 cheaper than the Golf GT Sport hatch.
I think, given that the Golf should hold its value better then the Octavia, that I'll get a better PCP deal on the Golf. I'll keep you posted.
Eliminated -
BMW 320d Touring - much more expensive than the above (even the standard ES with minimum equipment), and although I tried two examples I still couldn't get on with the gearchange (notchy) and the driving position (to depress the clutch fully I have to sit too near the wheel). And the seat height adjuster and the indicators are irritations although they wouldn't have been deal-breakers.
Volvo V50 2.0D - I couldn't see what that could do at £21,000 that a VW or Skoda couldn't do for £18,000.
Audi A3 2.0 TDI - same comment as the Volvo and too small for out needs. (A4 is too expensive, and not discounted as much as a BMW which might have put it within reach .)
SEAT Altea XL 2.0 TDI - similar to VW and Skoda but rear seats don't fold flat and you can't see much out of the back.
Saab 9-3 1.9 TiD estate - very good ride and comfortable; reasonable performance and handling, but far too much turbo lag and some annoying quirks inside. I didn't much fancy doing 20,000 miles a year behind that cliff-face of a dashboard either - which had a chrome surround that reflected as a bright oblique line in the windscreen.
Ford C-Max 2.0 TDCI - nice to drive apart from having nowhere to put your left foot. Seat folding not brilliant and it won't hold its value very well.
Nissan Qashqai - no opportunity to try one as the Reading dealer is changing hands and has cleared its stock. I wasn't attracted enough by looks or specification to go looking further afield.
Glad to receive comments / opinions - even if not, I hope this may help others looking in the same area.
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According to the First Drive report in Car, the Estate will remain a MKV:
see ->carmagazine.co.uk/first_drive.php?sid=704&page=2
Hi i cant disconnect the choke cable from the carburettor on a weber tldm , the throttle cable was a piece of pink fluffy dice (actually it broke off) but the choke cable doesn't seem to want to separate any advice much appreciated
{Carb make added to header - DD} Read more
thanks mfarrow il give it a go
I run a 2002 Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec 5 door hatch with 86000 miles covered. Recently the speedo has started to "flicker "occasionally between 50 - 70 mph. Is the speed sensor on its last legs, or is it something else? Comments gratefully accepted. Thanks....
Tweaked subject line to include model year and symptom - PU Read more
If you look in Honest John's car by car breakdown on this site it says about the Focus - " A faulty VSS may affect other instruments and warning lights. Traction control light may come on together with engine management light. Fuel economy might drop. Acceleration may be affected"
The wife's 306 1.9d is poorly, spewing oil and water out of the expansion bottle. My first thoughts were that the head and or gasket was pooped, or even the block cracked, but we had the oil cooler changed and it was fine for a week or so but is now back to spewing oil and water everywhere. It would seem that there is no one in York who wants to look at it. (The oil cooler was done by a friend who is terminally ill so I don't feel like mithering him with it again)
Now what I would like to know is he costs involved in the following:
Fitting another engine
Having the head taken off, pressure tested and refitting.
Many Thanks
Drew
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The price of EU imports eflects their value/worth.
check www.tradingpost.com.au tos ee what vehciles change hands for.
I chose to buy this 306 XtDt because no one wanted it and it represented a challenge.
Its value or worth is debatable given our Diesel pump price has hit $1.80 per litre but I chose to take on the project as I enjoy a challenge and dont just hand cars over to a garage to repair.
By comparison to EU vehicles JAP Crap drops in price rapidly as does Korean.
The notion of a 306 XtDt which is a pretty rare model here attracted me due to its log legs and good fuel economy and the huge distances we drive here compared with the village hopping you guys do.
North from where I live the nearest service station is 140 km away and closest cheap gas to the North West is up near Adelaide at 400 km plus so a long legged rocket seemed like a good project.
Only time will tell if my brain matches my results.
The quotes I am getting for simple items like corner lights ($70 each) Fog Lights $160 per corner are ludicrous.
Could not even source a fuel stop solenoid here and am buying one in from UK.
The windscreen guy arrives tomorrow to fit a new screen so I am broke until next payday.
But at least I own a PUG and it cost me half the price of buying one off the shelf.
hello, i have a 95 Mondeo 2.5 v6 that has failed its mot on emissions being to high, my problem is i don't want to spend loads of money on changing cat converters as it has three of them, is there any way to test them??? also i don't know how to test the lambda sensors as there's two of them???... then there's the engine electrics could it be them??? i was told the lambdas were at 0.9 and the emissions were at 10% so they were sky high. but i cannot be sure of this as i had no print out.. is there anyway of testing???? thanks for any help you can give
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Snipquote
It's not quite like that (Screwloose). Over here we have to use dedicated, fully computerised, Mot centres with typically 3 to 4 lanes, which can handle a couple of cars on each lane, plus a lane for HGVs etc.
You apply for a test date/time, which currently for me is a 5 week waiting time, and then drive to the centre at that time to get tested. First thing you see when you arrive, is a notice saying to have your vehicle at normal operating temperature. Vehicles are then emission tested at the test lane entrance.
Do the Government run Mot centres on the mainland not run the same way?
My car is fitted with Pirelli 195/45-16 tyres on std. production alloys;the spare is steel-fitted with 165/60-14 Continental-difference in rolling radius is about 5%.but there is no restriction on usage shown on wheel or in handbook. Read more
jc2
This is car specific. My last few alloy-wheeled Vauxhalls have used the same bolts for the steel spare wheels as the alloys. I'm told it's a big problem with some MB models though. If the car needs different nuts/bolts for the spare they will be supplied and probably located in the spare wheel well.
JS
Following from the design faults thread, there must be a similar list of design innovations that have eliminated many causes of misery.
As a starter for ten I would suggest plastic fuel tanks and those spring loaded radiator hose clips. Read more
As per my post in another thread today the Montego of all things had great wipers, they parked right off the glass area under the rear edge of the bonnet, great when cleaning the screen, then moved onto the glass when swithched on, stayed on the glass even between intermitent wipe strokes and only parked again when switched off.
Apparently 2 million drivers are uninsured. It is cheaper to pay the fine after being caught than the insurance premium for many. That's 1 in 15 cars you see every day without cover! what would you do to redress this?
Subject line tweaked to reflect discussion point - PU Read more
A couple of thoughts: I agree that the fines for this offence are pathetic when the cost savings are taken into account. However, the punishment needs to be considered carefully. Is someone who's already in the habit of driving illegally going to care too much about a ban that just gives an extra reason for it to be illegal?
Insurance premiums on fuel? Is it fair that owners of petrol lawn mowers, and makers of Molotv cocktails, should pay it?
Browse
DVLA disclosing personal data
Do a search on the forum ---------------------------------------------------->
There was a debate on this a few weeks ago and the answer lies there