October 2007
I'm interested in buying one. Whatcar? gives the JLX+ model at £10,500 whereas the Suzuki website has it at £9,000.
1) Why are they discounting them? (I thought they were selling well). Is a new model about to be released?
2) Can you still get a discount on an offer? Read more
Indeed, as Roman historian Pliny the Elder said way back in 1st Century: ?Ex Africa simper aliquid novi? (?Always something new out of Africa?). ...
In a bizarre case of overloading, two policemen in northern KwaZulu-Natal impounded a blue Fiat Uno on Thursday that was being used to transport two cows and two goats.
Police spokesperson Captain Jabulani Mdletshe said two off-duty policemen were informed by residents of the Phelindaba area near Emanguzi that they had seen a man loading a cow into the small vehicle.
By the time the two officers arrived, the driver had loaded his vehicle and attempted to speed away. Realising that he was not losing the police, he stopped his car and fled into the bushes.
The police officers discovered that the Fiat Uno had not one unwilling passenger, but four -- two cows and two goats.
The animals were later handed over to the Hluhluwe stock-theft unit.
Police were investigating. -- Sapa
Read more
Toss up between the Silly Thread and Locking, only out of total respect to the OP that it isn't being consigned to the silly thread. He started a genuine thread and it degenerated through no fault of his own. Locked.
Specifically, a wagtail - Motacilla capensis
Ther little bleeder must have a nest somewhere in the garden, and has taken to attacking his potential rival (ie himself!!!) in the side mirrors of my car.
In his excited state, he also poos everywhere, so the sides of the car and mirror housings are covered in putrid yellow muck, and the mirrors themselves and side wndows have a blurred appearance where he beats himself against the glass.
All this, along with his warcry of chee-chee-chee at 5:30 in the morning!
I now have to carry paper bags in the car, to put over the mirrors at night when i get home!
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Magpie
Must be common thing in bird circles.
BP fined $373m in US - How much is that per ltr?
For "indescretions in the US" BP have been fined £373m.
Of course BP Profits might not really pay that as you and I will eventually pay for it through the pumps & our pockets! Read more
Most of the fine appears to be for propane price fixing. Refinery lawsuits to come I believe.
madf
I can't decide between the Astra Twintop 1.9 CDTi and the Megane dCi 150. The difference in the cost to change is less than £30 at the moment, so I'd welcome some feedback on owner and driver experience with the two cars.
As I see it:
Twintop: better looking, slightly larger boot with top down, clever boot access with top down, slightly less road and wind noise and a bit more headroom in driver's seat. I've had Vauxhalls for ages and very happy with the local dealer.
Megane CC: better quoted fuel economy and CO2 emissions, £60 less to insure, better spec (cruise, parrot bluetooth) but no remote top closure, no reall access to boot with top down and really naff chrome front pillars. Slightly wider inside, but seems to have a slightly higher rear sill so visibility not quite as good as the Twintop. I used to have Renaults a long time ago and remember spongy gearboxes, prone to electric faults and expensive servicing.
It's really too close to call and SWMBO is being no help at all!
Any suggestions?
Thanks
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Yep, the VX dealer offered to fit cruise control at no extra cost so that swung the order his way. As far as fuel economy goes, I've found the Vectra delivers pretty close to the stated combined cycle mpg and over the 60k or so miles I've had it, the CO2 figure has averaged almost bang on the stated 159 g/km.
on my Jan '05 2 litre diesel dsg (37 K) occasionally get no power initially when ascending in reverse my rather steep driveway. Returned to car last night after a week away (damp Stansted long stay) and it happened again, for first time in a forward gear - in first on take off. Feels like engine has died, but still running and power soon comes back. Car goes wonderfully otherwise. It's still under Audi warranty, but before I take the official route, any BR thoughts, pse?
many thanks
EH
PS not sure if this should be under Tech Matters or here {Kicked across - DD} Read more
update at last, and a happy result:
Audi had car for 3 weeks, technician "lived with it" at my request and concluded the dsg 'box control unit electronics were not talking to each other properly, although no "fault" was signalled. Replaced unit (at who knows what cost) and all well now. Excellent service and new loan car provided throughout.
Thanks for all interest and suggestions.
When my BMW 325tds is cold it starts really well but when it's warm it takes several turns and up to 8-10 seconds of turning it over to start up. The warmer it is the worse it is at starting basically, so if I let it cool down for a couple of hours it starts alright again. What could be causing this? I'm thinking some thing's getting hot that shouldn't be. Many thanks for your help cause this one's turning me mad. Read more
I managed to get a motor factors to deliver a piece of pipe to me at work and fitted it and drove home happily ever after.
DT today
Firms to be liable for company car safety
Firms which fail to ensure staff drive safely in company cars could be prosecuted as part of a police campaign to reduce the number of fatal accidents.
In the last year there were more than 1,000 crashes resulting in deaths which involved work vehicles and companies have been found to ignore employee's welfare on the road.
Police will carry out checks to make sure firm have carried out basic procedures such as ensuring staff are properly insured, have an MoT test for their vehicles and have a valid driving license.
They will also check that managers are not making excessive demands on employees by forcing them to drive when tired.
The new laws will come into force from April next year as part of the Corporate Manslaughter Act which means firms could end up in court by causing death by negligence.
The move comes as recent research by the Health and Safety Executive shows that 20 people are killed and 250 are seriously injured in crashes involving people who were driving for work duties.
More than half of companies fail to check that employees using their own cars for work have insured them for business use, according to a survey by Arval, a fleet management company.
The report stated: "Just over a quarter ask staff to produce an MoT certificate while 17 per cent check to make sure that cars used for work-related purposes have been maintained regularly. "
The Metropolitan Police is one of several forces who are seriously investigating the safety of driving in company cars.
Superintendent Mark Bird, from the Metropolitan Police's Traffic Unit said: "More and more we carry out follow-up investigations with companies after collision to ensure that work-related road safety is embedded within company policy.
"In the event of a collision or injury, police take seriously all the reasons that have led to it happening including the condition of the vehicle and why the driver was on the road, including if they were travelling for business reasons.
"Just as employees would make sure that employees are safe in the workplace, so they should while they are on the road.
"Businesses must face up top the fact that they are responsible for employees' welfare when on the road for business purposes, whether they are driving a company car or not."
Companies that required staff to drive during long working days could be held liable if they were involved in accidents, according to a report issued last week by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport.
The report stated: " Moving management culture away from an alarming emphasis on quickness and towards an understanding of the car journey as work is a fundamental step in improving road safety for workers."
Up to 300 people are killed each year as a result of drivers falling asleep at the wheel, according to figures from the Department of Transport.
Almost 40 per cent of crashes related to tiredness involve somebody driving for work and up to one third of company vehicles are involved in some sort of collision each year.
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This will surely have quite a big impact for both road warriors and the odd trip on company business.
Quite an admin nightmare tracking non company cars! Read more
I work for a large insurer and fortunately they take these things (and any other H&S issues) seriously.
Using your own car on company business is not encouraged and hire cars are recommended. We sign (online) a declaration to confirm that our own cars are roadworthy etc. and we are covered under the Company's own insurance whilst on company business.
I think any employee who felt they were being asked to drive for too many hours would get a sympethic hearing and our union would be very supportive if any 'action' were taken against the employee.
Does anyone know how to get at this, and what bulb it uses?
I've just noticed it's not illuminated, althought the adjacent HRW switch is. I'm in OCD mode, and want to get it working.
The handbook throws no illumination (sorry!) on the subject, and the only Haynes I can find is an Aussie one which I've had on order since Feb.
I thought I'd ask before I attack the dashboard and break something. Read more
Thanks Rob E.
But I wouldn't listen, would I? I had to waste a couple of hours of my life finding out the illumination is part of the switch, which is (was?) a Kia part, and not a seperate bulb that can be replaced.
For the archive:
Remove the five self-tapping screws holding the instrument binnacle (three under the top, two under the bottom). Remove the five screws under the steering column shroud (note the far back LH one is not a self tapper, but a machine screw into a thread cut into the steering wheel lock). Seperate the two halves of the steering wheel shroud and remove, this will allow the binnacle to be pulled far enough forward to access the switch. The electrical connector pulls off after pressing down on a tab. The switch can be removed after pressing tabs above and below the switch (a pink fluffy dice pig to do). Do not be tempted to dismantle the switch!!! It can be re-assembled after about another hour of fiddling about. In best Haynes tradition - replacement is a reverse of dismantling.
Anyone else find the Citroen website unusable? It seems to take an age to load up, or move about different parts. I have tried at different times or days and used different computers. Downright infuriating! Read more
Thanks, Tyro. There has always been a problem with web designers trying to glamourise content to impress their clients (and to help justify their fees) while ignoring the people who will actually be using it!
I noticed this especially when I was helping my son (remotely) with his car shopping a few years ago, and was following Autotrader links to garages in an attempt to view their lists of s/h vehicles. Invariably, the sites had glossy, usually animated, home pages that took forever to load and often gave no clue how to call up a list of vehicles for sale (when they had one at all). Very few had a simple up-to-date list with prices or made this easy to find, despite the fact that it would have been the the first requirement of the majority of visitors!
I could only assume that they all wanted to create the impression that they only really wanted customers who were buying new, despite the fact that nearly all of them would have a used car to dispose of. In fact, on the day we went out together, the local Honda garage were incredibly snooty when we announced that we were only interested in their used vehicles, and never learned that we were buying for cash with no trade-in.
Browse
They are indeed concentrating on putting four wheel drive into family models I think, with cars like the SX4. I also drove an 05 Ignis 4Grip 5dr which certainly feels like a worthy countryside car as few Jimnys ever do any real offroading.