November 2007
Hello,
My partner is looking for a sports car but doesnt have a huge budget. We have looked at 96-99 plated MGF's which seen decent - does anyone have any other ideas for other options?
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I don't suit small cars and they don't suit me. Bluebirds, Accords, Xantias, Octavias. They're my size. I once had a 6 cylinder Cresta but my knee got so badly damaged by the corner of the windscreen it had to go.
So I need a smaller car for the usual 3 and a half miles to the bank or 40 miles to the airport sort of thing. And 3 or 4 times a year half way down England, right across France and on to the Costa Pile. Quite a long way. Fast -usually . France one day Spain the next. And then back again of course. Must be comfortable and relaxing. Must be able to get out of it after 9 hours feeling OK.
So I need a 3 cylinder 1.4 turbo diesel Superb or a 2.5 litre turbo diesel Micra.
I've always thought small cars are not built as well as big cars and have flimsier components.
I'm probably wrong about that these days.
After days spent looking at websites I am no closer to the perfect compromise between round town runabout and continental cruiser. What cars sit perfectly on the balance point between the two requirements ?
There must be some. Any ideas please? Read more
Tony, you have not told us why exactly it is that you need a smaller car.
Need to get a small car for around the £1500 mark for the other half. I know it is a buyers market at the moment as I have only just sold my Renault Scenic privately after a month of advertising at trade price and there was no queue of buyers at the door! Anyway my question to the backroomers is where is the best value for a car such as 1 - 1.2 litre petrol Clio/Punto/Clio/Swift or something along those lines. My nearest auctions, where I live (where I would probably be looking for a main dealer part exchange) are Westbury, West Oxfordshire or Blackbushe and I would have to factor in up to maybe £100 buyers fee etc. Or should I be on the lookout for private sale, although prices do seem rather high? Read more
At this price range I wouldn't worry about make, model or age. Just buy on condition, something loved but unfashionable with cheapish bits.
My nieghbour has just said that his stuck on number plates were carefully removed whilst the car was parked while he was shopping.When he reported it to the police they told him his plates had already been fitted to another vehicle which was used in a drive off without paying for petrol,all in the space of about 20 minutes. He is now waiting for the speeding fines and parking tickets to arrive. My stuck on number plates on my scenic fell off the day the car was delivered, I ended up using no nails so at least they have to be broken off.
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rustbucket (the original) Read more
"stuck on number plate"
These are plates stuck on with adhesive pads instead of screws.
My new Mazda6 came with stuck on plates and I noticed the rear one was off on one side so pushed it back on. A day later I saw someone I knew who had his plates stolen from outside the local Tesco Express where he works.... spotting my plates he said "you should get those screwed on and told me the tale"...
... so thinking someone stealing plates locally, mine half off.... maybe they tried mine too. So got them screwed on by the Mazda dealer the next day.
I think my last company car was cloned without plates being stolen so didn't want another.
You know when you see a car test on the TV and the tester is getting it all sideways and things on an airfield ? Well they all seem to adopt the "racing driver" seating position of bent arms and bent legs which allegedly improves car control. Having been a lifelong straight arm / straight leg man, I thought I'd give it a try today in the closer up to the wheel position.
Have to say, I found it more difficult to drive like that and now will have to go for a swim to unlock my back !
How does everyone else prefer to sit ?
a) Straight arm / Straight Leg
b) Bent arm / Bent leg
c) Straight arm / Bent Leg
d) Bent arm / Straight Leg
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shuffle the wheel? when you are "roof holding" its a well practised "palm pivot" required. with you r left hand to boot!
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< Ulla>
Hi,
My accord hatchback (2001) has suddenly started to get condensation on the inside of the rear window which is now freezing in the cold weather.
Where are the most likely places it's getting in from? I can't see any obvious locations.
Cheers,
Lou Read more
Look in the sides and back corners of the boot, under the carpet and behind the trim (if possible) before you decide it is bone dry.
Does anyone know how difficult it would be to replace the glow plugs in a 2.2 diesel turbo espace?
{No idea of exact year of registration (as we frequently ask people to include in the header but ignore), so picked info up from drop down menu - DD} Read more
Two completely different 2.2 diesels in that model; neither are nice to do - around an hour book time if everything goes well..... It rarely does; the DCi can break plugs in the head.
I thought I'd post a positive experience.
Had a puncture on the big seven seater, raining, really don't want to do it etc etc.
Had a pleasant surprise to find that Mitsubishi must have really thought about the changing a wheel business, because it was a doodle. The jack and bits are under the seat base of one of the rear seats, rather than at the bottom of the boot and on the passenger side. The spare wheel is lowered down by turning a bolt in the boot shut with the wheel brace, which is positioned in just the right place so you get 360 degrees rotation, rather than skinning your knuckles. The jack has a sticker with positions of the jacking points on it. Even the manual has its own compartment in the glovebox, and because the spare is a spacesaver, there's even a plastic sheet with the jack to wrap up the flat tyre so the boot doesn't get muddy.
You would have to be a complete muppet to get it wrong on this car. It's a shame that the spare's a space saver, but then that'll remind me to get it sorted.
Maybe it's like this on most cars now, but changing a wheel on the Citroen C3 we had was an ordeal, and it's nice to be able to say something good about your car. The Grandis, trim aside is a pretty good car. To me, the fact that the little details such as someone thinking "what do you do with the dirty flat tyre" makes me feel a bit better about the car as a whole. Read more
This one has got me stumped. Some time ago I managed to spill a cup of coffee onto the dashboard of my Focus ,and a small amount entered the stereo via the CD slot. A problem soon became apparent. One rear speaker would either not work at all or would just crackle , the other produced sound , but was very crackly. One front speaker became crackly also , but if the fader was set to all front , no rear the front speakers were fine.
I lived with this for a while until I managed to source a brand new stereo from Ebay for a decent price.
Having just fitted the new stereo I am equally amazed and dismayed to find that the problems are exactly as they were before.
Does anyone have any idea what I can do to cure this?
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Check each speaker in turn by fading and balancing to each one, until you find the one(s) that's dodgy. Check the connection and wiring and replace the speaker(s) as necessary.
In the meantime, just run the front speakers only if they're OK - I imagine the crackling is a form of clipping which won't do the speakers any good.
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Mike Farrow
The full story:
May 2002 - given car with faulty temperature gauge. New sender unit required, so popped down to Ford to get one. "Green, white or red sir?". "Black please" I said. Settled on his best judgement of green. Seemed to work OK and been happy with it ever since.
November 2007 - car has, for a while (maybe years?) been slow at heating up, so I purchased a new thermostat, 92 degrees, from Ford.
Now it runs about 3/4 up either on or just about the 'N' of 'NORM'. Now I can't decide if it's
Anyone care to guess which? Ford bloke this morning says try the red sender which keeps the guage in the middle more - but what was this black sender which was fitted to it in the first place? Another case of Ford fitting parts OEM which they can't find at the parts desk! Senders are £15 each.
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Mike Farrow Read more
Mike
Thanks for the update and the info; if it's staying fairly stable, then I shouldn't worry.
With all the sender compatibility issues, what the gauge is doing, rather than exactly where it's sitting, is probably more important.
Browse
If you're talking E36, I think you'd be lucky to get anything now, only the 328 and M3 offered any decent performance and they will all have likely been driven by 3rd rate drug dealers for the last 3-4 years now. If you mean E46 coupes, a decent one will be well above 10-year old MGF prices still unless you're looking at an early 323 with 190,000 miles on. MX5 has my vote for reliability & driving.