December 2007
My 405 is a write-off after a minor collision which has damaged the NSF. The engine is strong, starts fine, uses almost no oil and does 45 mpg. I wondered if there is any point even considering a complete swap of the engine and gearbox into another 405? I've seen one with a blown engine.
My guess is that the cost of labour is prohibitive? Read more
Hello,
A friend of mine has seen and agreed a price on a BMW 3 series Touring.
There are two issues (possibly not but neither or my friend have had to settle finance before)
1) The car is 150 miles away
2) There is outstanding finace... this was known from the start
We understand that whatever price is agreed the buyer pays the finance and gives any balance to the PO.
We are trying to find a balancxe between convenience and security. I'm interested in how (if any of you have) people have dealt withg it before.
Currently his opitions are...
Transfer the money, jump on a train, meet bloke and hope the money ahs gone through. (Should be ok if timing is correct)
Transfer the money on afriday, meet the bloke Sat Am
Option A) involves a day off work.
Option B) Involves the bloke potentially getting teh finace cleared long before we're anywhere near him.
We are both suree that the adress for the PO is cosher because we spent about an hour and half inside chatting with him and his wife, so in that respect we're reasonbly sure the guy is above board.
We've also spoken to BMW finance and have seen the paperwork.
The HPI check is fine also.
What would the various FM'er do/suggest?
TIA, and sorry for the long post :)
JaB
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If the seller is with you in a local bank when you do a chaps transfer to BMW finance then he can hand over the keys and documents. There's no way, once it's sent that it can be retracted.
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I read often, only post occasionally
hoping somebody can help me
when i start my car all power comes in and out
all lights and dials on dashboard flahes on and off
also all lcd displays does the same
then the engine cuts out
also abs light has come on
any help will be greatly appreiciated
thanks Read more
i have a peugeot 306 lx t-reg
i asked this question a while back {and now tagged onto that question - DD}
it starts ok if it's running while parked or i'm reversing
there is no problem but as soon as i drive
forwards all the electrics go, the dials go up and down
the led display goes haywire then the engine cuts out
also now the central locking does'nt work either
i tried the battery terminals they were fine
i cleaned the points on the earthwire
still no joy it's now becoming a pain
could it be the battery itself
it does seem to die quite quickly if
the car ain't running
thanks
well here it is.
As from friday my cars been playing up, when i go to lock it with the remote the courtesy lights flicker and doesnt lock, when i go to lock the car via the door it still wont lock all doors, just locks the drivers side. Also now because of this problem my cars dash is like a disco every now and then when i brake :S. any ideas please?
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David
You can't always see a bad earth; it needs carefully testing for. Start with the earth from the brake light - maybe only one side is affected - and work it down.
The dealers like new, clean, cars and will not want to sully their hands on one of these. They'll charge the earth; so ask the nearest trailer place who does their electrics and go to him.
Hi, been looking through autotrader and was wondering if I should avoid cars that have been on sale for some time (say 1 week or more)?. Some are easy to avoid i.e sports cars with high millage boy racer type mods ect.
Now I'm only spending £1500 so I cant be to fussy the cars I'm looking for are S40/V40 or maybe a passat would these cars maybe not sell fast?. I've only got a short time over in England to buy which makes it even more of a risk but theres nothing I can do about that.
The cars I'm looking at are online any advice most welcome.
Cheers. Jon Read more
"I sold my Volvo S40 TD last week. It took good three weeks or so for me to sell it. Being a big car not many people are interested in it and those who used to come to see it, would used to offer some silly money. But at the end a chap bought at the price I wanted and he was planning to take it to Poland where he's originally from!
If you look for Volvo, be certain to check the 1st and reverse gear.
Let us know what you get at the end?"
cheers I will take note of what you said.
Can't figure out what I Have done wrong, took of the filter, filled the new one with fuel, put it back on and it just won't start. Noticed some air in the pipe. Any help? I know on my old peugeot, you could pump the fuel by hand, but not on this :(
{No mention of the year car registered, so picked info up from drop down list - DD} Read more
Thank you for the tip. I will bear this in mind next time I change the filter.
Hi everyone,
I've got a 54 reg Renault Clio II 1.5dCi 100 bhp. It's a couple of months past it's warranty and the climate control has died. The c/c computer is still working fine, but there's nothing coming out of the vents.
It's not the fuse, as it failed once, then a few times, then permanently. It's not the heater, as if i leave it on i can feel that there is heat seeping out of the vents (but only passively) and I've tried different vents, power settings, temperatures and with/without air-con.
Searching a few forums suggested a similar problem on RenaultSport Clios might be down to a blocked fan in the overhead console, but I'm told there isn't one on a standard clio. A renault mechanic told me there's a history of rheostat failure on clios, and I've also read that a resistor might be to blame (although that might be the same as the rheostat?).
I'm quite far from my local garage, so struggling to get it booked in. I've bought a Haines manual, but while it's great at walking through a fix, it doesn't help me to diagnose the problem.
Has anyone seen this before?
Thanks a lot, Adam Read more
In the days before CANBUS In did that job for (Rover) approx £3.50 (ten yrs ago) using ballast resistors instead of the manufactures module, which then cost £70 ish.
`no-CAN-do-BUS`, designed to stop the enthusiast from saving money. ;(
Regards
Hi,
I wonder if you can help regarding a friend?s car.
She has a Pug 306 HDi (V reg). The rear wiper has always been temperamental, sometimes it does a full sweep, sometimes not but it?s never been a really huge problem. Over the weekend, she put on the rear wiper and the battery light came illuminated on the dash. She thought nothing of it and carried on. When she started the car the battery light had gone out again however now the back wiper has stopped working completely, her clock and exterior temp display no longer illuminate and her electric windows no longer work.
Sounds to me like it?s a fuse somewhere but any help appreciated.
Thanks
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You'll have blown fuse 28 By the
way you'll likely have to renew the rear wiper motor.
David Davies
Spot on, Many thanks
Hi All.
Am looking to buy a new car in the New Year, and am trying to weigh up the pro's and con's of buying a Diesel instead of a Petrol Car.
I am looking at the Honda CR-V range, but it might help all if we kept the discussion as general as possible????
I will probably be doing between 10-15,000 miles a year, and I want to keep the car for 4 years (at least).
The difference in cost in my car for Diesel over Petrol is about £2k, and I was just wondering what sort of payback I would look at (mileage / time)!
All comments welcome. Read more
I would certainly reccommend a diesel to anyone who does more than 20k per annum, as obviously they are the ones who will benefit more financially by driving a diesel as opposed to a petrol. For people who drive 5-10k per year, it would make little difference whether a car was petrol or diesel.
I do approx 22-25k per year and as such diesel certainly does it for me, mainly due to the fuel economy (42-47mpg generally), but I also enjoy the low down torque and the power delivery over a sensible rev range.
It is true to say that diesel cars have certainly gained popularity over the last 5-10 years, not only because of their fuel saving nature, but also the fact that diesel engines have become almost as refined as their petrol counterparts with the introduction of common rail diesel engines back in the late 90's.
Turn the clock back 10-12 years ago, the only decent mainstream diesels were the PSA 1.7,1.9, 2.1TD's. At such time, most diesels were regarded as being noisy and slow, with the exception of the Peugeot/Citroen units. I still find the 1.9TD XUD engine in my 1994 306 fairly refined, even by today's standards.
Martin
This is an excellent resource. I always refer friends and colleagues in this direction when they are changing cars.
Ian S (No relation to HJ!) Read more
I echo the comments above. CBCB is a cracking read, whether or not you're buying a car. It's been a great help to me in its current and previous incarnations.
Browse
If you've only had minor damage to the NSF, it may be a cheaper option to have yours repaired. I'm sure you can get parts from a scrappie. Might be easier to get the car with the blown engine and swap the damaged parts over rather than swop engines.
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These are the views of Robin the Technician with 35 years in the trade. I fix, therefore I am...