January 2008
I am sure that I must be airing a subject that has been discussed before but I would welcome comments from anybody with an opinion.
Earlier this week I had one of the more frightening experiences of my 45 year driving life. I had to access a 2-lane motorway in appalling weather conditions (very strong wind and stair-rod rain). The overhead signs were set at 30 mph and the traffic was nose to tail. I just managed to slide into the inside lane before the slip road ran out (nobody would give way) and I had a 37 tonner ahead of me and another one behind.
It was impossible to get out onto the outside lane because of the volume of traffic (and as I was only due to be on the road for 3 junctions it was more prudent to stay on the inner lane anyway). To give myself some leeway I very slowly decelerated until I had about 5 car lengths gap ahead of me. Bear in mind that I had my wipers on at full speed and forward visibility was still seriously impaired. The reaction of the artic driver behind was almost manic. He flashed me 4 or 5 times and then left his main beam on before doing me the favour of coming so close behind that his headlights were not visible in my rear view mirror.
I decided to cut my losses and left the motorway at the next junction.
I consider myself to be an experienced driver (don?t we all?) but I felt helpless in the conditions that prevailed.
Is there a driving technique that is recommended for such conditions?
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My car was crashed whilst being returned to me after some diagnostic work by a main dealer.
This is the latest in an ongoing saga which has seen me get overcharged (admitted by them), have the wrong work carried out (not admitted as yet) have a hub cap lost by them, I have also had a 'half price service' voucher sent to me which has not been honoured, I have had 2 courtesy cars delivered much later than promised causing loads of hassle, and now finally my own vehicle has been crashed by a garage employee upon delivery back to me.
Any advice what I could/should do? What might I expect to happen?
Cheers in advance. Read more
You should have refused to accept the car when it was returned, and I assume you took lots of photographs of the damage (?????)
I would have called the dealer immediately and demanded their principal attended straight away - and I would have made sure there was a meighbour listening in to the whole conversation.
Took me 75 mins to do 7 miles this PM!
Floods everywhere, every little dip in the road filled by torrents of water running off the hills and fields, numerous roads closed, the deepest I went through was only about 8", apparently it had subsided, a broken-down SEAT was testement to its previous depth. Various other abandoned cars including a nice looking 56 plate E-Class just up the road from here. I turned around at one point, it looked too deep to me though others were trying it, not sure if they got through. The intake is not too low on the Mondeo, nevertheless I drive very slowly through the water so as to avoid a bow wave, I also drive along the crown of the road where it is most shallow and to avoid vehicles coming the other way pushing a bow wave ahead of them.
Worst I have known it around here though - and also snow on top of the Mendips, slushy and slippery!
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A370 not effected as far as I am aware.
I currently drive a Honda Civic 1.6 (03 reg). I have no particular problems with the car, other than the noise level when driving - but I know that's a feature of that model/engine.
I have been having problems with my knees for some time - and I didn't think I was that old! Basically, I need to have my hips higher than my knees when seated to avoid pain. I am currently only driving fairly short distances in the Honda for this reason. Can anyone suggest a car where the driving position would be better for me? I assume an MPV type might be better but don't really know.
The other consideration is interior space. The Honda is great for that, especially in the back. I sometimes need to have 5 adults in the car, and three of them are 6 ft or over. This is actually fine in the Honda as there is no transmission tunnel to make the midde seat passenger uncomfortable. I am 5'8" but have approx 34" inside leg, so need plenty of legroom for myself (I am female, in case that makes a difference).
I would probably be looking at a 1 to 2 year old car. Probably only drive about 7,000 miles pa, mostly local trips but with longer ones each month.
Will consider most cars but definitely not any Vauxhalls. It would be nice if it wasn't too ugly, but considering the appearance of the Civic that's obviously not my first priority. Don't really want anything too much larger externally than the Civic. Read more
Best seats can be found in SAABs.
My Focus has the SONY 6 Disc CD Player and apparently has Bluetooth as well
I cannot get my bluetooth phone to sync with the audio at all. There is nothing in Audio guide book either.
Anyone got any ideas?
Thanks Read more
Hi.
VW Bora 1.6 8V (2000 reg)
After the car only running on 3 cylinders we tryed every HT lead and found in the end that one of the spark plugs had gone pn #2 cylinder . So we changed it yesterday and all was running fine for 1 day.
Was running around in the car yesterday and when we set off from the lights it started running on 3 again. So checked the plugs and everything is fine, Even bought a new set of HT leads but its still the same. I have had the #2 spark plug out again and its really black with carbon with a slight petrol/oil on there.
Am away in it on Saturday, So i need to fine out whats wrong ASAP.
Thanks in advance!.
Luke Read more
No compression test was done on the car as far as i am aware. I think then the only thing i can do is take it back.
The coil pack seems fine, Sparks are flying out, And its misfiring on tick over and while revving.
The garage has a good reputation, So i can only take it back and see what they say.
Luke
www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1958780.0....p
Re above, this has came up in discussion here before. Can any of the legal eagles confirm whether the law covers this right through to prosecution for non payment. IIRC there was some debate that although all the threatening letters etc could be isued, at the end of the day they could not prosecute through the courts?
FWIW, I agree with the principle of this, albeit I realise that it is also excellent publicity for the supermarket concerned.
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Following the use of offensive terminology this thread has been locked. The term used may be offensive enough to be considered as an offence under S4 Public Order Act 1984 - the liability would be on the person who posted the comment. The thread is locked. I for one an shocked at the attitudes displayed by members in this thread, especially as there are disabled BR users here.
The offensive post has been hidden from public view. The poster in question has mail. (you know who you are)
My 2001 1.8 petrol Primera turns over very slowly when hot. I don't think it's the battery because it starts OK from cold.
At the moment, despite turning over very slowy, it's starting OK when hot too, but mainly thanks to the fact it starts at the first turn of the engine.
But I think I'll soon reach a point where the starter won't turn at all when hot.
My plan is to remove starter motor, and clean up/re-grease the starter gear. Failing that I'll fit an exchange starter motor.
Any other ideas? Read more
I had a problem on one vehicle-reliable starter but slow cranking.Turned out to be the crimping of the terminal on the cable.Not crimped tightly enough.
I'm not sure if "Discussion" is the best place for this, but I would be happy for the mods to decide and move it if necessary.
SWMBO's daughter's 306 HDi (the one that survived the misfuelling a while back!) will be SORNed and kept on Mum's drive for 12 months while the young lady travels to various far-flung parts of the globe.
My initial thoughts about the best procedure for this are that it should be started and run to full temperature every fortnight or so and, as the driveway is spacious, it should be driven back and forth as much as space will allow.
The handbrake should not be applied and the tyres should be marked so that the wheels are not always in the same position when at rest.
Is this about right? Any other advice? Thank you for your help. Read more
The 1994 Mercedes W124 I recently acquired was laid up for almost 2 years from 2005 to 2007 following the death of the owner. I don't know what (if any) precautions were taken but it went for a checkup and service to a Mercedes dealership and was given a clean bill of health. I know for a fact that it was stored indoors, though.
I previously owned a BMW M3 which used to stand for up to 3 months at a time whilst I was away on business. I never had any problems except that at each service the dealer reported that the ECU error memory was full of "battery low voltage" errors.
Hi. I'm going to look at a...
2001 ROVER 45 1.8i XL Auto
Features: 50,000 miles Automatic Red Petrol Hatchback 1796 cc Full Description:
Step, 2001, X reg. 50000 Miles, Full service history, taxed & Motd, red, alloy wheels, CD/radio, air-con, electric sunroof, 4x electric windows, remote central locking, very good conditiion. £1,750. ono.
2nd. I read in Honest John car by car page about the Rover 45 'K' Series engine's (copied)...What to Watch Out For
'K' Series engine inlet manifold 'O' rings tend to perish between 25 - 30,000 miles. Head gasket failure common on K series four cylinder engines because very low coolant capacity of engine means small leaks rapidly lead to overheating. Weakest point is water heated inlet manifold gasket. 1.8 K Series head gasket failures.
How do I know if this car I'm going to look at is a 'K' Series engine?
Thanks for any help.
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Is the Step you refer to the 'Steptronic' auto box?
Correct. Auto with a manual choice (or something like that).
Browse
Well said Woodbines - so you have noticed this effect too!
It's unbelievable the lengths some of these people will go to. I've sometimes tried to be accommodating - holding speed, holding back, speeding up, only to have the joining car mimic my every action. They usually end up running out of slip road and doing a quick stop off into the gravel, looking indignantly at me as if I had just tried to run them off the road.
The alternative scenario is they creep past doing about 3 mph faster than me, then spend the next mile very gradually slowing down again.