An old Elsan toilet just sprang to mind there.
But this super economy car (Autocar Road Test this week) "only" got 41mpg overall and 51.8mpg touring. The claimed figures urban/extra urban/combined are 55.4/83.1/70.6 mpg. I know these figures are for comparison only but such a wide discrepancy is ridiculous.
Many smaller diesels must be capable of getting 51 mpg without an official claim of 70mpg.
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A few weeks back I approached a car weaving from side to side on the northbound of the A1 dual carriage way close to where I live, I witnessed the driver nearly side smack 3 cars due to his obvious drunken state. I pulled over at the next layby and telephoned the police who took details of the car and said they would attempt to intercept the driver.
When I had heard nothing back from the police I assumed they did not catch him, that is until I read in my local paper a report of the driver being stopped, the time, date and where the call was made from matched my report of the drunken driver. The driver was reported as having 161 mltrs of alcohol in his blood 5 times the legal limit and had previously been banned for drink driving.
What surprises me was that although I witnessed him nearly collide with 3 cars and other cars had to brake when they seen him swerving all over the place, it appears from the report that I was the only one that rang in. Although I am pleased they have not contacted me since as a witness to the manner of his driving I was surprised they did not, or is it sufficient evidence just to rely on the blood alcohol results.
Any way I am pleased to have been instrumental in removing one more drink driver from the roads. It is reported he now faces a custodial sentence. Read more

Hi all,

I'll keep the history of this as brief as possible to help avoid confusion:

My 2000 Mondog 2.5 V6 will not start, it's been a reluctant starter for quite a while but has always sprung into life in the end so I've never thought there was a serious issue until now.

The car refused to start the other day, it would turn over and over normally, and would *almost* fire into life on a few cylinders but just wouldn't quite go. In the end it appeared to fix itself, then it went off again, my mate came round to have a look, he primed it several times before trying to start it and it fired up.

Thinking that this pointed to a weak fuel pump, he replaced that with one from Ebay last night and the car seemed to be starting again, however, once again this morning I've gone out and she just won't fire.

The smoke that comes out of the exhaust is black when cranking, and there is a healthy smell of petrol, so, what do people think may be the cause? She has a recent replacement coil pack and brand new HT leads, none of which made any difference to the running, which, even when she does start, is less than perfect. She often seems to hesitate and often the power delivery will become weak, sometimes in mid-acceleration the get up and go will appear to have gotten up and gone!

Any ideas welcome, she gets towed away this afternoon but the guy may not be able to look at her for a few days.

Blue Read more

First off thanks to everyone who gave advice to help get my cav through it's MOT.

Just my luck that 2 Days later I've managed to stuff it in the back of a Honda Accord at about 20... Couldn't have hit it any squarer if I'd tried.

Now, it drove home fine (with police Escort) but really didn't feel any different to what it did before the crash. Radiator doesn't seem to have popped either, at least no leaks and no overheating. Seems like it may just be Just cosmetic, a bent bonnet/Front end and smashed headlamps...

Hopefully I can straighten it out and put it back on the road.

Anyone know of any weak spots I should be looking at before taking it out on the big bad roads??


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Hi all,

Just a quick question, I need to rent a car ASAP as the Mondog has broken down again but all of the local firms in Sunderland seem to want to charge a fortune as I'm under 25. Does anyone have experience of renting at a reasonable rate whilst still below this hallowed age?

At this rate I'll be getting the TF out of retirement, I just don't want to tax her etc. for one week's use! I need something soon though or else I may be forced onto public transport. I feel sick.

Blue Read more