January 2008
I have noticed from looking at various tyre sidewall markings (yes I know i need to get out more) that the ply construction on many of the budget brands consists usually of just steel and polyester. Virtually all of the premium brands however contain an extra nylon ply. On enquiring about this, a tyre fitter friend of mine told me that this nylon ply acts like a cap, that shrinks over the other belts as the tyre warms up. This is supposed to help prevent tread delamination at high speed. There is no legal requirement for manufacturers to fit this nylon ply.
My question to the BR is, in the "real world" of every day motoring does this really matter, or are an unsuspecting public being sold tyres that are missing a key safety feature? Read more
This applies to a new Land Rover Defender 110 I'm waiting for, but I guess the same would apply to virtually any new car.
When I placed the order, it was suggested by the dealer I might like to wait a bit and have a 'new' new registration of 1st March. As it was by no means clear then when the vehicle might really arrive I saw it it my interest to push for sooner, rather than later.
At the moment, we are looking at an earliest deliverable date of 25th February. Much to my surprise the dealer now thinks this good, and not to wait a few days for 1st March and a number with an 8 in it. I guess sales targets are the dealers issue as the extra 1 week tax would be covered by them at no cost to me (I have this in writing).
Pro's of this, the above, and the fact I don't have to renew the tax on the trade in. Dealer does not seem willing to let me walk off with the tax disc which although I'd only drive the old car a dozen miles on the 1st, the act of signing the V5c, the no tax and or SORN would probably make me an easy nick for Swansea. So all in all it is cheaper.
Con's, well I'd never played the 'new' new registration game, and truthfully, not really my style. But less than a week? Given the date of build won't change, the date of first registration does come into play. Trade in wise, a dealer would pay you less, but the forecourt price would not change that much.
In all this, I tend to keep cars a long time. The existing one will be nearly 8 years old, and I think it very likely I'll keep this one even longer. I'm aware I get stung on VED, but I'm hoping it's not priced off the road. Purchase of another 8 years down the line though is probably going to be only for the very rich. So trade in is probably not that big an argument.
So, what do the readers think? Dealer has been told that I'm not deciding now as it's to soon (car not built yet etc), but obviously I will have to be ready to give an answer.
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Quite true, you can have 12 months 1 week tax on a new car. And the dealer has said they'll fund the extra week. But with a March registration, the registration number would have an 8 in it, hence my question.
Useful to see a variety of opinions. I don't post that much but read a fair amount.
I wanted to ask about this strange experience at the hands of a garage, and whether anyone has known similar.
I took my car to a large, tidy-looking independent for a full service plus MoT a couple of years ago. When I collected it, the mech talked me through the recommendations for things that would need to be looked-at. He said the differential was badly worn, and that it would give-out in the near future.
This struck me as odd since it hadn't given any trouble before, but sure enough when I drove off, it was making a noticeable rumbling noise which it hadn't before. I considered booking it in straight away to have the work done, but it got put off for a while. Strangely, the rumbling got quieter over time and eventually went away completely. It hasn't given a hint of trouble since (~2.5 years and 25 k miles).
I just wonder what the guy did to provoke such a bad noise from the diff? Do you think he was deliberately mistreating the car to try to cause a fault to be fixed? Thanks for any views. Read more
^ I worry about the car getting thrashed from cold too. I always get the MoT done directly at a testing station rather than via a garage which takes it to the station for you; at least that's one less chance of it getting abused and you can get it tested while the engine's still warm.
Anyway, my face is red, I just checked the invoice and BW was spot-on - I had both rear tyres replaced and no doubt had the tyres rotated - well diagnosed! At least it apparently fooled the mechanic as well ;)
Thanks for the responses.
For some reason I got to wondering the oldest model name in current and continuous use is. I happened to be looking at a Fiesta at the time (introduced 1976) but the Golf beats it (1974). Is there anything older?
JH Read more
Officially the Volkswagen Type 1 commonly known by its nickname of Beetle in Europe or Bug in the US. As far as I know only the new Beetle is an official VW name.
Jeep maybe?
All,
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN FIXED, I AM JUST OFFERING ADVICE
Over the last few weeks I was waking up to a sluggish battery, and yesterday morning it wouldnt even start. After jumping it and running for an hour I noticed that the fan was on all the way. I then discoved that the fan had been running all night on several occasiions and had depelted my battery.
Fault was the thermo-sensor which screws in to the radaitor and goes to the fan (something was telling the sensor that the temp was at 100 degress even tho engine was off!). Replacing that means draining the system and getting one which costs 12 pound roughly. Luckily I had a old radiator which had one in also i put fresh coolant in and you wouldnt believe the mucjk that came out. Took an hour to replace and very simple on mine with limited mach knowledge and a haynes manual
This will probably be the case for most water cooled cars, like i said it worked for me
Thanks Read more
Any clues the Radio on my 2002 1.9 hdi Berlingo Multispace keeps turning the volume up to full, not all the time.
{header made less vague} Read more
is it only on traffic reports, or any time
I'm planning a replacement for my ageing (but still excellent) BMW 525TD, and I rather fancy a Hyundai Coupe.
Has anyone on this forum owned or used one, if so are there any pitfalls to look out for when buying?
I'm looking for the 2000-01 models with the different front end, preferably the 2.0 SE.
TIA Read more
My borther has the V6 version. Seems to like the speed of the thing but generally moans about some build quality issues (sunroof leak problems particulalry) and the usless service he has received from the dealer
What about this seemingly uncomplicated electric vehicle for London and provincial, school run/ supermarket urban use?
www.piaggioporter.co.uk/electric.htm
regards Read more
How environmentally friendly is it to get your fuel from a gas/coal fired power station rather than a petrol station? And are "lead-gel batteries "environmentally friendly" in terms of manufacture and disposal? I can see that the local environment may benefit from the reduction in air pollution - but otherwise?
Just wondering
Does anyone have any ideas, technical or not, of how many miles running a car has to do to replace the power loss on the battery of a cold start?
Thanks Read more
>>If it helps, especially for ClkSec, here are my views on the £9.99 Maplin Solar >>Charger.
Many thanks Dulwich Estate. I?ll buy one next time I?m in the metropolis.
Clk Sec
In the Honest john review of the 9-5 there is a note to avoid Avon tyres. Why is this?
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The Avons (ZZ-something, probably ZZ3) I had on one of my cars were reasonable when new but I had to scrap them after 8k miles. They had plenty of tread left but the understeer became absolutely appalling.
Other Avons may be better but mine were an expensive mistake.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=28...4
Kevin...
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Skim read all the article, but 1 interesting point is that it recommends budget tyres for people on low budgets (a point I dont disagree with) rather than 2nd hand tyres.
Does that mean when purchasing a 2nd hand car (as per the example they highlighted) it would be recommended to put new budget tyres on (if better brands cant be afforded?) rather than run on the unknown tyres? So. if so, it could be an example of throwing away good (tread wise) named tyres and replacing with lesser brand names?
If the report is taken at its facevlaue (with all its comments) then that can be logically concluded! Not correct imo though!
Tyres are so emotive they do bring out some deep entrenched views dont they!