My fiesta has a really strange problem: I can only get a warm(ish) breeze through the driver's side vents on blower setting 1 and just cold air on settings 2-4. The passenger side blows hot on all settings so I'm sure fluids, matrix and thermostat are OK.

Any help or advice would be deeply appreciated.

SLT Read more

Looking for a bike rack that will fit on the back of a 2002 Mondeo saloon. I'm aiming for an economy rack that won't gouge lumps out of the boot. TIA. Read more

I have recently had a rental Gran Punto 5 door for 3 weeks. I did 1300 miles in it and found it OK but not compelling. My first impressions were good. The styling is smart and the grille is reminiscent of better Italian cars of bygone years. The boot proved surprisingly large and was able to swallow two 60cm suitcases standing up with room left for a couple of smaller bags. Inside the seats were comfortable and seemed better than average for a budget car. It had lots of little storage areas however they weren't a very useful size. I ended up having to put my sunglasses in the door pocket because there wasn't a suitable dash space. Same when I wanted to put a bit of small change handy for bridge tolls. The interior looked smart but didn't seem as practical as my Mazda 323.

The engine was a 1.2 with a 5 speed manual. Much to my surprise it managed reasonable performance in town provided you revved it hard and used the gears. On the motorways and A roads it could keep up with the traffic and cruised ok at 70mph and even 80 in places however there was no power left for overtaking. It could do with a bigger engine. It was also a bit noisy at speed but that has to be expected from such a light little car. I didn't keep fuel consumption figures however I was pleasantly surprised by how little petrol it used. Another pleasant surprise was that the rear visibility was quite good.

Dislikes - it didn't come with a users manual and I had trouble figuring out how somethings worked. Unlocking the fuel cap in a crowded service station on the A1 proved embarrassing. Eventually I got the hang of it but I still think it unnecessary and complicated. If someone wants to steal your fuel and the cap is locked he will just put his tin under your fuel tank and bash a hole with a screw driver. Lockable caps are a waste of time. Same problem with the radio. I could get it to switch on but not to switch off. I spent 3 weeks with the volume at zero! Either it was broken or it was over complicated. Then the seal on the drivers door fell off and the grille became loose.

Conclusion - I wouldn't buy one. Poor assembly and lack of quality control. The woman at the Hertz desk said the same and she has seen dozens of them. Read more

My son's 1.6L 'L'plate occasionally doesn't allow him in - just can't unlock it occasionally! Is this a known problem? [the other night he left it unlocked and the low-life stole....a rear door! ]
Is there any way of turning it off and just turning the key in the lock? Read more

Changed the engine on my pug 306 4/5 months mainly thanks to my mate. I particularly remember what a pig the aux/fan belt was to get back on.
In the last few weeks i have been getting a whirring noise coming when idle. Yesterday this sounded worse, also a clicking could be heard when turning over engine. I was concerned that a bearing could be going on the diesel pump or a/c pump ( sounded like noise was coming from there). Had a quick look last night in dark and sprayed a bit of pen oil on the pulley bearings where accessible.
Started car this morning noisey again at first, went 100 yards and aux/belt went.

Does it sound like bearing has caused the problem, caused by overtighted belt or do i just need a new belt.
My air con leaks anyway so dont want to get a new pump if i can help it.

Any help would be great. Many thanks Read more