March 2008
I know we've done a lot lately on the relative merits and economics of petrol and diesel engines, but I've done some calculations lately that made me sit up.
Here's the background: we're now looking seriously at buying a Toyota Verso as a family and weekend car. It will get moderate leisure-time use, a couple of long holiday trips a year, and will probably do my motorway commute one day a week. Probable total 12-14,000 miles a year.
Now, the Verso is available with four different engines, of which only two concern me. Actually, until I started calculating, it was only one - the 136PS 2.2D, which I've driven and which suits the car very well. But there's also a 130PS 1.8 petrol.
If you walk into a Toyota showroom, ask, "How much?" and write a cheque for the answer, you'll part with about £17,500 for a new petrol Verso and about £1,100 more for the diesel. You could have your own argument based on the break-even figures for those two. But I'm planning to buy something nearly new, and that's what made me pay close attention. For a year-old Approved Used T3 of about the same mileage, Toyota dealers seem to want about £16,000 for a diesel and more like £13,000 for the petrol.
So we can see that the petrol model doesn't make a good new buy. But it looks a lot more attractive 12 months on. At today's rates and my likely mileage, the difference in fuel cost is about £350 a year. (Even another 20p a litre would add about £70 to that.) The petrol car is an insurance group lower, servicing might cost a little less, and there's no worry over common-rail durability.
That leaves depreciation. There aren't any four-year old Versos to compare, but four-year-old RAV4s seem to show about a £1000 premium for diesel. So it looks as if a year-old petrol Verso might lose £5000 in the next three years, but a diesel one might lose £7000.
So what am I missing? It's possible that the 1.8 engine isn't up to hauling a short but not small car, so I'll try one and find out. I very much like driving a good diesel - my Volvo D5 is terrific - but not at any price. Has petrol power really become that unfashionable? And have I stumbled on a special case, or is this the same wherever you look? Read more
I know someone who has had their 1.9 GT Tdi PD 115 remapped to 150. Can anyone tell me if this is safe for the car as I was under the impression the 150's had a much larger camshaft to cope with the extra torque?
(no mention of year, so used info from the drop down menu choice made) Read more
Got a tuning box on my 130 pd golf had it for over a year aprox 20,000 miles only problem is a bit of clutch slip when driven hard, I do know of earlier engines that have been tuned and the five speed box tends to give up the ghost with out much warning
Hello there
I've 2 queries on my Clio.
1. My grandma used to own the car, that= driving round her town at 25mph in 5th gear!!
I am planning an oil change and want to use 5w/40 fully synthetic, this seems to be the best mix, high enough as recommened by Renault to protect the engine when hot and low enough to cause the minimum amount of wear when starting,
So basically is it safe (ie not too thin), to use a 5w/40 fully synthetic?
2. the 2nd question, what size allen key do i need to get the sump plug off?, I want to know first and get it off as opposed to undoing the 'undercover' and having the wrong size plug?
Just one more for fun, I've read these engines can have idling problems so all 4 coils have been replaced, cleaned the ICV valve, PCV valve, and as much of the throttle body as I can, are there any other problem areas (ignition, engine wise) that I need to be aware of.
Many thanks
BW Read more
That oil will be more than suffice, renaults recommend 10W/30 semi synthetic I think.
The sump plug is a square drive not an allen key, I think its 11mm but not 100%, i got a tool for mine from Halfords years ago for about £5.
As for the idling problems youve gone a bit overkill cleaning all that and replacin gyour coils, from memmory they're expensive. There are a lot of things that can cause the idle problems, I spent ages tracing mine and it turned out to be a blocked impulse line to the MAF sensor.
Hi everyone, this is my first time putting a posting on the forum. I have a problem with my 2001 Xantia Hdi. Something is draining the battery over about 2 days.
This appears to be through the 15amp main relay circuit fuse under the bonnet. When you remove the fuse there is not battery drain but you cannot start the car. The main ECU double relay has been replaced along with the glow plug relay but still the drain occurs.
Putting a meter on it its draws 0.6amp constantly when the ignition is off. Does anyone have any ideas what this could be as it has been to a local garage 3 times and they cannot fault it.
This seemed to happen when the battery was replaced just before Christmas and is still an ongoing problem. You can also hear the current running through the main loom on the front of the engine to the relay/ECU.
Can anyone help?
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a quick update - started engine then stopped engine. noise occured again - appears to be below battery area, above clutch housing.
after about 30 seconds, the ecu [or a relay in same area] clicked and the tone of the noise changed - like the speed of a motor changing.
disconnecting battery had no effect!!
I've read or seen something recently (can't remember where, thought it might have been Watchdog, but 'the boss' says she doesn't remember it) about a chap who parked in a m/way service station when driving from Cornwall to Scotland overnight and copped a fine because he stayed in a service station car park for more than 2 hours whilst having a nap...was zapped on a camera.
would be interested to hear what others think. Personally i think we ought to be encouraging drivers to take decent rest stops, not fining them.... and what harm was he doing in the middle of the night. When we do overnight journeys to Scotland, when we stop in a service station, more often than not we're the only ones in there.
How come the French provide decent rest stops with picnic tables etc, whereas over here you get sod all and are expected to pay through the nose for something wholly unpalatable.
{amended typo in subject header} Read more
I hate being a a seagull following the trawler throwing sardines in the forum, but here goes:
If the people running them can't achieve profits from the provision of 24 food and drink plus fuel sales and shop items, then they don't deserve to run a business. >>
Why don't you bid for running one of these service areas since you are such a clever businessman?
Just thought I would share my experiences in fitting a parrot handsfree system.
Now typically, these cost from £100 fitted by Halfords for the basic CK3000 but you can buy the units on their own for £60 so the fitting is costing you £40.
I got the slightly better model, the 3100 and fitted it in my work's Transit van. Now I am not in any shape or form technically minded but it was a relatively straightforward job. My only problem was trying to get the radio out - couldn't get the keys anywhere and eventually had to ask a friendly car audio installer for a loan of his keys for 2 mins.
Apart from that the Parrot comes with leads that are all shaped so that they can only fit one other fiting so there is no doubt where any of them go. If your radio is not ISO then you need to get a separate lead - Halfords will charge £20 for this but available for about half that on the net.
The system itself works great, sound comes through the car speakers, caller can hear you clearly and you can use the control for voice-tag dialling if required.
The only slight problem is finding a place for the parrot box and associated cabling. This was obviously easier in a big Transit which had ample space behind the dashboard, than a small car.
Very happy with the unit, even happier (and OK quite chuffed with myself) that I was able to fit it myself!
Considering if you get caught using a mobile its £60 and 3 points, then the same sixty quid is a good investment!
Isn't it a good feeling when you feel that you have achieved something on your day off! Read more
I've had one for a year. It is very good, although more sophisticated phones are harder to set up.
For once I wanted to make this a general any car post, but since it seems to come up a lot with tdci models...
We regularly see posts mentioning injector coding as a repair. What exactly is this?
My guess would be that with the high pressures used these days accelerating injector wear and the multiple injections of fuel into each cylinder per cycle, that the ecu can fiddle with the durations of injection and the intervals between them.
I can see that these parameters might be tweaked as injectors wear, or indeed to allow for variation in injector performance when new.
So, am I correct? If so what does recoding involve? Do they remove the injectors and test them to assess the flow rate accurately? Using the info gained to recalibrate the ecu?
Or am I totally mis-understanding?
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also the injector coding is quite simple to carry out & plenty of diagnostic gear now has this facility. there are certain guidelines for different makes but the principle the same. If you suspect a coding issue a good Indy should be able to recode for you. Ford peugeot fiat renault Landrover ( L/R started off with 4 digit coding but how now got longer digits to allow for all variants ) etc all use this facility.
Doc
My sister-in-law has a Honda civic and asked me to change a front indicator bulb. "Not a problem" I say. User manual says access bulb from wheelarch - undo a couple of fixings from the arch liner, pop your hand in and remove bulb....
An hour later, wheel off, many more than 2 fixings removed and brute force to pull back liner I manage to change a simple indicator bulb!!! Maybe I'm missing something or just don't have the small, delicate Japanese hands required! Incredible that cars can have such difficult to replace service items nowadays - it should be outlawed!!
{year supplied via an email to me - DD} Read more
it doesn't seem that unusual these days, i wonder whether designers do this to force us to give the work to the dealers ! but i always was a cynical old sceptic.
P reg 2L petrol v40 estate.
Is this reallt rubbish MPG
I did run from Liphook to Gatwick and 2 runs from Gatwick to Brighton and back
The rest of the tank was used locally.
25.99 mpg Read more
I had an R reg S40 2 Litre - I can honestly say it was the worst car I ever had. Fuel consumption wasn't too bad - about 28 - 30, but only 500 miles to a litre of oil! Reliability was awful - in the 3 years I had it (lease car), it was back at the dealers every two months (or even more frequent) for yet another problem.
In the first two weeks, it was in my posession for a mere 36 hours! Dealer was also dreadful. I was glad to switch back to Saab. I'll never have a Volvo again.
My son has just left his Vauxhall Vectra (1997) with me and gone on holiday. The car won't open with the remote control and when I use the key the alarm goes off but stops when the ignition is switched on. I've changed the battery in the remote control but it hasn't made any difference - any suggestions?
{year added to subject header - the 3 separate requests for this obviously became invisible again!} Read more
Yes, I know someone who was charged an not inconsiderable sum for this service. He was amazed when I told him the instructions are in the handbook. Moral - RTFM!
Oh, and for the record, later cars have a different system - but again it's in the handbook.
JS
Browse
Someone wondered why the Verso is a 1.8 petrol, not a 2.0 or 2.2.
Toyota's big market for right-hand drive Corollas (and derivatives) in Europe is Ireland. As a nation, we love Toyotas. Our road tax and insurance scales also become punative for anything over 1.9 litres. Hence the majority of private cars are 1.6 petrols and the majority of repmobiles are 1.9 diesels.
Irish buyers will go as far as 1.8 in an MPV but no further, so that's what Toyota offer you in the UK too.