November 2007
Student (age 20) at my work place has bought an old car for his mother as a present, he already owns a car but now wants to drive the gift car to scotland from cornwall. However he keeps getting told by several insurance companies that as he is under 21 they will not give him temp cover on a second car. His only option seems to be insure the car as his own (second car) then cancel the insurance when the car is delivered....which seems rather stupid (from insurace company point of view) and not sure if insurance companies will let him do this anyway without a penalty.
Any suggestions?
thanks
S.
As it is a surprise his mother must know nothing about it...so difficult to insure under her name...
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I have a set of 17"alloys that I am planning to sell soon.
The Question is when to sell them. With Christmas so close, I'm not sure if they are likely to sell better on the run up to Christmas as presents or after Christmas when some folk may be looking to spend Christmas money?
The alloys aren't new and couldn't be mistaken for new as they are a bit marked, so I'm guessing the latter scenario might make more sense. Read more
I bought a set of 16" genuine audi alloys , bit untidy but with 2 very good and 2 OK tyres a short while ago on ebay.
£31.
Only bought to go on the car while ours get refurbed
So I second the - 'Dont expect to get much' brigade
Hi all,
Am currently having my 60k mile cambelt change on my 03 Passat PDi. I have just received a call from the garage to inform me that I need a new viscous fan pully bearing (I think that is right?). Could someone explain what this is and why I might need a new one? Or whether the guy is making things up!
Thank you in advance.
R Read more
If the pump impeller breaks up, the pump can seize solid and strip teeth from the cambelt which drives it. This then causes expensive engine damage. If the impeller does not jam but either breaks up or becomes loose on the water pump shaft, the engine will overheat.
Due to the wonderful thermal efficiency of the PD engine, not a lot will happen at low revs but the coolant thermometer will climb rapidly as the engine is loaded at higher speeds (more fuel = more heat produced). If you keep an eye on the dashboard gauges you should spot this, but there is always potential for engine damage in these cases.
I have been told (no first-hand experience) that the heater output becomes erratic when the pump impeller is loose - not even the gizmology of the climatronic can compensate for this.
659.
Are motorbike adverts banned from TV? I don't recall a single one. If they are, why? If not, why aren't there more? Read more
I doubt whether the overall sales would warrant more than very logically placed advertising.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
I have a 1998 Rover 400 1.6 with a K16 Engine.
The car works fine except for the heater. I find that even after the engine temperature gauge reaches working temperature, there is no heat available. The engine appears to warm up as quickly as ever but there is no hot air available for window demisting or to heat the inside of the car.
I do not think there is a problem with the heater itself as is does work fine eventually, usually 10-15 minutes in AFTER the temperature gauge reaches the normal reading however by this time the journey is over.
Could there me a problem with the engine thermostat ? would that give the symptoms that I have described ?
Thanks in advance
Steve
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I suspect the heater valve has stuck,common on these,check to see if the cable is operating the lever properly if not you need to replace it....
Saw Diesel for 118.9/litre in Norfolk yesterday-anyone seen higher?? Read more
I paid 1.15 per litre of diesel on Saturday. It was euros in Boulogne.
The clutch & slave cylinder are going to need doing in the next 10 days or so. I'm wondering how many more big bills I'm going to have. I love the image of the car & the way it drives etc but I'm wondering (semi-seriously this time) whether I should quickly part-ex it for an Audi TT 225 (convertible if poss)/ A3 3.2 / Nissan 350z (import) at about 4-5 years old with 40k-60k miles on - question is, will these be more in line with my needs for paranoia-free reliable motoring, or is any performance car at 5 years old likely to throw up expensive issues? Budget is 11k-12k. Still not up for sacrificing 'the badge' yet.
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Volvo V70 T5 or 2.4T or 'R' chipped if necessary, (not 'R' methinks) and stop worrying about what you think you look like behind the wheel. Only small boys and adolescent girls care, (for a brief second), and nobody, but nobody else gives a flying fig. Trust me P/man, trust me.
Hope you sort it and with the change you can but us all a 'quick' pint!!
VBR........................MD
Hi,
I recently purchased a 97 Vauxhall Corsa Breeze 1.4i 8v, and have noticed a constant rattling/knocking noise coming from the rear of the car if there is an weight in the car,
I have had my shock absorbers and springs checked so they have be ruled out as the problem, I think it may be the exhaust coming into contact with the rear axle and vibrating against it.
I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem or if anyone knew how to correct this problem as it is starting to get irritating???
Kind Regards
{Slight edit to remove 'txt' lingo as this can also be irritating} Read more
hey thanks for the help, got the car checked at a garage turned out to be the exhaust was needing realigned, also as "the original horse" said the joint clamp was fitted incorectly.
got it sorted for free so no problems anymore
thanks again
anybody else noticed that most new cars from mainstream makers seem to have more sharp edges under the bonnets than ever before?,im talking razor edges on wing lips etc
is this to stop diy bodgers from working on their cars and do main agents now supply chain mail gloves to technicians to wear under the latex? or can you buy them off the snap on man Read more
Found a few myself over the weekend when I was removing the dead leves from various orifices.
Anyone get caught up in this? It seemed to come from nowhere and no grit on roads at all so was it not predicted?
Local roads were nearly impassable and even main road to Northampton was terrible, certainly no grit there either. My van went sideways at one point but managed to catch it before i went in the bushes - wheelspin at 30 mph in 5th gear! Scary stuff. Read more
Don't know what it was like "out east" but on the Towcester side of Northampton the snow was completely unexpected. BBC forecast suggested it was possible above 1000 feet - doubt there's anywhere in the County over 600.
Went out at 17:30 in heavy rain, ferrying daughter where she'd normally walk; any grit laid then would have been washed straight down the drain. Temp +3 according to Xant's OAT display. Noted wet sleet at around 18:30 and by 19:00 it was snowing lumps. Roofs and roads soon covered to about an inch.
Slushy/slippy when collecting Bromptonette at 20:30 but nothing to be bothered about if you grew up on the Pennine fringes:-).
Turned to rain again c22:00 and all gone when I left for work at 06:40 today.
Browse
UPDATE
The 1994 2 litre Volvo bought for under £300 (98K, 1 yr MOT) drove all the way to scotland from Cornwall (9hrs) with no problems, no excessive oil consumption and 28 - 30 mpg at errr 80ish mph, no faults noticed...
Student was almost reluctant to part with it. We were all impressed. Just shows with some luck, there are old cars out there with no faults for bargain basement prices - just a lottery trying to get one!
In the end he just told insurance company he had changed cars, the changed back again, no problem. Other car was kept off road.