February 2008
Hi. On my T reg Vectra I have scratches on the windscreen where it looks like the wiper blades have done it somehow. Theres are not small scratches. They look like smears but there not.
1st, what can cause this and second is there anyway I can get these scratches out?
Thanks for any help. Read more
Hi All I wonder if anyone can help me please I have a 2001 Merc Vito 110CDI. I have problems with starting the van at the moment I initially thought it was something to do with the glow plugs as the light was staying on after ignition however I have had glow plugs changed but I'm finding that the van will start then if I turn it off and try to start again it will turn over but not fire!! If I take the van on a run and get it warm it does start. This morning I got up tried to start it and no chance (it wouldnt even fire when my brother in law towed me!!) Anyone got any ideas please please please. cheers Matt
{don't worry, I'll put the year/engine details in the subject header for you. Getting used to this now that I've already done 1000+ other threads because no one bothers to read the sticky messages or the other prompt under the subject header when they compose their question!} Read more
Hi depending where you are i specialise in mercedes repairs, vitos, sprinters, ategos, axors and when needed cars. I have the mercedes xentry das computer.
My details can be found in HJ's Useful websites directory, in the Specialists category. Listed next to "Diesel Injection Specialists"
{Slight edit made}
On a couple of occasions when on the motorway i get a misfire and flat spot.
I have recently disconnected the battery and wondered if it could be related
{year/engine edited in} Read more
Its a 1998 2.0 16v SE
{thankyou}
I'm sure all motorists are aware of them, the new cylindrical cameras mounted on pods, usually on main roads .
What would happen if an insured and MOT'd but untaxed vehicle would drive underneath them ? A contact has posed the question - I promised to investigate . Read more
It'll record a "hit" in the Police Control room and the dogs of war will be unleashed by radio (apparently)
I need a small car that has enough oomph to tow my trailer but I am unsure how to work this out.
The trailer is a Brenderup 1205 S.
Total weight 750 kg
Working load 610kg
I was looking at a Clio 1.2 (weight 1080) but it has an unbraked towing weight of 535 kg. Am I understanding this correctly, this car is not suitable?
Do I need to find a car with an unbraked towing weight of 750+ or should I be looking at the weight of the car.
My current car (Audi A4) weighs 1405 kg, has unbraked 740kg and braked 1600kg and pulls the trailer easily but I am selling it and need the smallest capable car.
Any suggestions please?
Thanks Read more
Thanks for your comments, I understand now.
I'm in need of 2 new tyres for my Mazda MPV. Those which were supplied with the car are Bridgestone Turanza ER30 size 215/60/R16/95H and the rear set are fine but the front pair are past their best now. The best quote I've had so far for that size is just over £100 each (fully inc.) for Michelin Primacy at Costco. I have no great knowledge of tyres and am no boy racer so can anyone suggest a better choice and/or a better price? Location Bromley Kent.
Many thanks as always forumites :) Read more
Got the job done yesterday - decided to stay with the ER30's as a known entity and support local business by using a small local independent outlet who were very helpful. They couldn't quite match the internet price I was quoted so we split the difference at £230 for the pair. They've fitted the old rear pair on the front and put the new ones on the back so I imagine I'll be buying another pair in the not too distant future. Anyway job done :)
i'm having trouble with my polo 1.4cl, it wont tick over hot or cold, it revs out fine but wont tick over, i dont have a large budget so any help would be great Read more
i cant find the engine code do you know where it is? also i said it looked like a carb but was confused when i couldn't see a choke of any sort so thinking it must be the single point injection your talking about, sorry to sound like a total dunse
As readers of some of earlier posts on this forum may know, we are a 2 car family, car 1 needs to be a full size 7 seater, and my story that lead to me a Mitsubishi Grandis is here:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=48948&...f
Car 2, is for fun, and spare when second card needed, I have flirted with various 2+2 coupes, wrote off a mint condition Nissan 200SX (aaagh!!!!!) and now have a 406 3.0 Coupe (hmmm!). Often the second car is used to get 1 or 2 kids to/from something, so a 2 seater won?t do, but any time we are 4 or more, we would take the Grandis so a large 5 seater would be overkill.
So, looking to replace the 406 Coupe due to reliability issues , I want a car that makes me feel I am sitting in something a little special, and that drives with some degree of Grand Tourer type performance (not hardcore sports car or overly ostentatious hot hatch). Also quite a compliant suspension needed due to ridiculous state of roads around here and speed bumps everywhere.
Budget likely to be 12 ? 14K so looking at used vehicles ( up to 3 year old most likely). Although I could be tempted to look for something older and classier (e.g. Merc CLK) I have rather had enough of putting £70 in a gas guzzling V6 and getting only 300 miles tops out of it. So the common sense man in me says look for something mid-sze, more modern, more efficient. A Merc CLK might still make it in to the list but would need to be a fair bit older to be in budget ? we?ll see.
I love the look of the new Fiat Bravo, and since I previously owned two Mareas and two Tempras at various times ( and got on really well with them), thought I?d give it a go. Cabin feels flush and high class, but seat base very small and under-supportive under the thighs. Whole car felt smaller too than I expected. Wouldn?t bother taking it for a drive due to the inadequacies of the drivers seat though.
Sat in a Nissan Qashqai only because the Fiat dealer is also a Nissan dealer, and thought the plastics were all on the hard/cheap side. Also didn?t like the mechanism for tilting the drivers seat back, you need two hands, right hand to pull the lever, left hand to go behind your head and pull/push the seat back? whatever happened to the old ?knurly wheel? most cars had. My Mitsubishi Grandis is the same as this Nissan, and it is about the only thing that regularly annoys me, not going to make that mistake again.
Thinking about it.. what do Nissan have to tempt me? they don?t have a 2+ 2 coupe anymore to replace the 200SZX, like Peugeot 407, Alfa GT,? nor a CC like VW Eos, Focus CC, Volvo C70, they don?t even have a hot (or warm) hatch like latest Astra / Golf / Focus variants). Go up a size, and the Primera is woeful compared with latest Mondeo / Mazda 6. They don?t have an MPV to tempt me from my Grandis or to compete with S-MAX, C-4, Espaces, Galaxy? they don?t have premium mid-size saloon either like Audi A4, BMW3 / Lexus IS ? nothing!!!!! what do they have? Oh.. the GT-R coming! Wow! But what a price. Sorry for the sideways rant, but being in their showroom yesterday left me SO disappointed. While I am on a rant, Toyota too? Can?t even be bothered to go to their showroom, but at least they have Lexus, and I could be tempted by an old shape IS200/IS300.
I also sat a varietry of Golf variants and without failure felt that the quality of interior was a step down from previous generation and since I drove a Bora SE for 2 years, the current models didn?t excite me. Also similarity to Skoda Octavia taxi interiors (that I ride in a lot during my monthly visits to Belfast) didn?t help make me feel I was sitting in something special.
Sat in a Alfa GT, found it very cramped (147 too), if carrying a passenger in the front I think we would feel on top of each other rather. Nice if driving on your own a lot, but the seat felt rather narrow, the whole cabin too for that matter.
Crossed over the road to big Honda dealer and sat in a Civic ES. Wow, lots of space in the cabin, beautiful quality leather seating and materials all round, and of course as is well documented a rather space age looking dashboard. To be honest the dash design I think is a bit of a distraction, but the material qualities, comfort of the seat, and sense of space around the driver (for this class of car) felt light years ahead of anything else I have been in so far.
Yes I know, someone will chew my head off and tell me that it is how they drive that matters, but I am working towards a short list and then will take the ones selected for test drives, to make it on to my shortlist, the car has to be comfortable to sit, spacious too, and to feel a little special inside, (certainly not like a taxi ?are you listening VW?). It is quite possible that when I drive the Civic I will be less than impressed, but I will cross that bridge when I get there.
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HJ car by car breakdown confirms the RX8 needs to reach full temp each time you use it. So what you do is drop off the kids then give it the beans the long way home ;-)
I had the misfortune to be involved in an accident in my own car a couple of weeks ago, and it's now in the bodyshop being repaired. As I'm entitled to a courtesy car under my own insurance conditions the bodyshop have kindly provided me with a small car, and it's insured under my own policy; this condition is clearly stated on my Certificate of Insurance.
However, when I checked the insurance status of my courtesy car on the Motor Insurance Database (askmid.com) it shows up as being uninsured! On the main road that I use everyday to drive to work the police, quite rightly, are very active with their ANPR vans, I must see one at least once a week, either parked by the roadside or on one of the cross-over bridges.
So, can I assume that, if my courtesy car is picked-up by such an ANPR van then I am going to get stopped? When I discovered the insurance situation on the MID I telephoned my own insurance company about it, but, to be perfectly honest, they weren't tremendously helpful, and just told me to carry my Certificate of Insurance with me at all times while I am in possession of the courtesy car. I replied that, given the choice, I would rather not be stopped by the police, it's a lot of hassle, couldn't they just put a note on the MID to the effect that the car is temporarily insured, but they said that they couldn't do that.
The insurance company did say, however, that if the police do put the courtesy car registration number into the MID then they will see more information "than you can see on the internet" but wouldn't elaborate further.
Has anyone else been in this position when they have had a courtesy car from a garage?
Has anyone been stopped for having an apparently uninsured courtesy car?
Does anyone know anything more about the "extra" information that organisations like the police can apparently obtain from the Motor Insurance Database?
Many Thanks,
Galaxy
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It ought to be insured third party by the bodyshop though.
As for large fleets, ours is self-insured with only third party liability covered by an insurance policy. But if I put my car reg in the MID it shows up and did from the day I got it brand new in October.
In Quentin Wilson article today he says that the Highways Agency has confirmed that all speed cameras on the variable speed limit section junctions 10 - 16 will be going digital, and that the trigger point is being lowered from 90 to 79 MPH from 15 Feb.
Richard Price
{please continue discussion in this thread www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=56...2 (as has been previously mentioned a few times already)}
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Thanks for the help isisalar