March 2008
hi can any help i have a 2001 mk 3 mondeo zetec (petrol) with just a normal indicator
stalk i have seen a indicator stalk for a ghia x with computer info button for sale
would anybody know if the computer infomation would now work on mine or is there more than just the stalk needed? Read more
Just got back from a long weekend in Israel. Didn't use my regular company and got a 20,000 mile Focus 1.6 Auto. Thoughts....
1. Passenger seat is too low, especially for SWMBO and myself, both of us being about 5'7".
2. Cabin is quite nice, but bland and not as well built as my Outback (there's a surprise!).
3. Performance around town was poor. Lack of bite to the power delivery, noisy, gutless and uneconomical. On the motorway it was very nice, but there are so few opportunities to cruise the length of the country at 75mph that it would have been better with a five speed box (not four) with four short ratios and a very high fifth.
What is surprising is that the 2.0 auto Chevrolet Tacuma we usually hire is more perky and better in the cut and thrust of traffic, although it is noisier and less economical than the Focus.
Pity, but I ain't swapping to the automatic Focus anytime soon. Read more
It's an older engine coupled to an equally old gear box.
99 brake and 4 speed. It's probably the weakest link in the focus chain to be honest. Even the 1.4 would be more pleasant.
If you want to try an auto in a Focus, the 2.0 tdci with the powershift gearbox (similar to VW's DSG) is the one to try. Otherwise forget it.
I personally reckon Ford are losing out by not fitting that box to petrol engines, they may do so with the new turbocharged units in time when launched. I even think the 115 brake 1.6 would be good as its a nice unit with plenty of go for what it is. I have heard the 115 brake is a little on the conservative side too
I bought a Mercedes from BCA Blackbushe and it came up as owing finance as its previous cherished plate now sits on another car which was bought on finance. I thought nothing of it as the HPi check clearly states the car on finance is a different one to mine. Unfortunately the Merc is too big for my girlfriend and I've had literally no calls from Auto Trader ads or eBay so I decided to enter the car into my local Manheim auction. After taking a day off work to go there I was told I couldn't enter the car as it showed outstanding finance. I explained that this finance related to a previous plate not the actual car and showed them the HPi print out but they wouldn't allow the car to be entered until it was removed from Experian. I managed to contact Experian and they've agreed my car has no finance but now they tell me they are awaiting a fax confirmation from the finance house before they can remove it from the register and I've already been waiting a week!
Is there any easy way of resolving this? I've tried to phone and emailed the finance company to get them to send on this confirmation fax.
In the past though I've had admin problems with cars I've bought from auction - in fact 2 out of 2 I bought last year were showing outstanding finance and a mileage discrepancy on a warranted mileage car. I eventually managed to get the cars removed from the register (the 1st was a slow finance firm that didnt remove it fast enough and the 2nd a blatantly incorrect entry into the mileage database) but the bottom line is when buying at auction and paying massive private buyers fees surely all cars should be 100% clear before being offered for sale. I'm told part of the problem is that the most people use HPi whereas the penny pinching auctions use Experian which is cheaper but doesnt give full details so if a car is showing finance because of an old plate these details wont be shown, it will simply show up as finance!
This has really put me off buying at auction but has anyone else experienced this? Surely I cant be the only one! In future I'm thinking I might try and do a cheap HPi check on any car I'm interested in before buying because once you buy even when it's guaranteed mileage and supposedly all clear from HPi you seem very much on your own in trying to get the car removed from the register. Greatly appreciate any advice and thoughts on this, I'm sure I can't be the only one who's bought at auction to find late the car incorrectly shows up on finance or incorrectly showing a mileage discrepancy. Read more
You are lucky getting the car off an Experian system so quickly as a few days.
sq
We are talking about two totally different Experian products here!!
Getting a car removed from their finance register is much simpler matter than resolving your above issue. Usually with a car issue like finance I have had the database changed within 24 hrs. I would imagine for the type of black list that you were on it would take considerably longer because of all the detection work involved.
Hi Everyone, long time no post, hope you are all well.
Towards the end of December last year, i received a letter from my insurers, informing me a claim had been intimated agaist me for an incident alleged to have occurred on 31st October, at 12.01am.
Now unless I was driving in my sleep, I have certainly not had any accidents in my car. After a couple of calls to the insurers, it turned out somebody is claiming I smashed into the back of them, pushing them into a post, causing significant damage. Since this is something I think i would remember occuring, I obviously denied any involvement, and as such my insurers have requested proof that I was at the scene.
My questions are
1) What will they require to validate the claim
2) How do I prove it was not me (will they come and check my car for damage/signs of repair?)
3) If they only require the claimant to provide details of my car, these are readily available on the Internet as they obviously have my registration no, what else will they ask for?
my concern is a significant rise in my premium for somebody claiming I was involved in an accident I know nothing about!
Thanks in advance. Read more
Exactly the same thing happened to me, Nick. I posted on here as well (forum search?) and got a lot of useful advice - as usual. It turned out that other BR'ers were in the same situation and my insurers told me this kind of thing is common. It is usually caused by someone incorrectly recording the reg. details at the scene of an accident, and yours happen to match. Your insurers will contact the other party and request more information. When the colour/ make/ model given in their account fails to match yours, you are in the clear.
In my case the other party refused to provide any more details and told us they intended to issue proceedings against me. Two and a bit years later and they have still not done so.
The only other hassle I had was getting my NCB re-instated.
I'm looking at buying a car at auction.
These days what's the risk?
The way i see it, if i buy a car from a small dealer, the only diff. is I pay more and he gives me say a 3 month warranty. (Which i could buy easily myself)
So if i cut out the middle man, and buy a car under 3 years old, I have the safety of the manufacturers warranty, and if the car is older I can take out a aftermarket warranty, ( I know some companies are better than others) and save a packet.
Are there other risks that i'm not seeing???
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If you want a decent price for your car, 12 photos will not accurately describe the car nor will you get a good price. you will have to get a free photo hosting site to host the photos, and link them up with your eBay ad.
I sold my car via eBay - I had at least 20 high resolution photos, and described the car in detail including the service history. My car fetched just short of £5k - the buyer didn't come to see the car, nor did he even email me about the car. Contacted me within 24 hours of the auction ending, came the following day, paid the money and took the car away.
There used to be a link somewhere on the net that gave you a Glass's valuation for free...
any ideas?
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thnks.
A friend recently took her Citroen HDi in for a service at a non franchised garage. During the service they noticed a frayed wire to an injector and the cambelt was due for replacement. She dutifully booked it back in a couple of days later to be fixed.
During this repair, her car caught fire ?during the test drive? and the garage told her she needed to claim on her insurance. A subsequent phone call said it was a write off. She told them as they were driving that it was their problem and to claim on their insurance.
After several weeks, she heard nothing, and had no joy at the garage, so she wrote to head office, asking them to pay up or else she would see them in court. There reply confirmed that there had been a fire, but said it did not happen during the test drive, but while idling on the ramp after the repair. Also, their assessor said the fire was due to a short on the heater solenoid, and as it could not be forseen in combination with the fact they were not driving means it?s her problem.
A couple of questions:
Whose insurance does she claim on?
What does she need to do next?
Thanks
Joe
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Dr Rubber: "Interesting point, where does the garages "resonable care" end? I understand if its an "unknown fault" its a bit rough on the garage, "
To be honest the behaviour of this garage sounds decidedly dodgy and not above board. I would have thought that a reputable garage would get an independent assessment of the car to support their claims, either an insurance assessor, or someone from a respected body such as the AA. The fact that they did not surely acts against them.
I hope your friend gets a just solution.
Hi
need some help. What is an early 04 Mondeo ghiaX tdci 130 34k miles worth. Needs some bodywork two doors damaged, dinge/scrape on other side so will need both sides sprayed (silver) alloys not in great condition. What is bottom book, what is it worth as trade in?
thanks Read more
Just being looking at a mint ghia diesel with leather on 54 plate one owner 50k and its retailing at £5495 a dealer will give you if he is at all interested around £3k,try it and find out foryouself its not rocket science.
Hello folks! I would appreciate any opinion regarding the idling speed on my 2002 TDCi 130bhp hatchback, 101,000 miles. Idling speed of 750rpm seems just fine, but as soon as the car is moving the speed goes up to 950rpm, in neutral or with the clutch down. This makes for uncomfortable motoring in slow-moving traffic and necessitates slipping the clutch at any speed below 10mph. The car has just been serviced and I am assured that "they all do that" but I am not convinced. Does anyone else have this problem? Many thanks.
{year added to subject header, as per the 3 requests you missed asking for you to do it} Read more
Thank you Kith. That just about confirms that there is no problem with the idling speed. I guess its just something I'll have to get used to. Thank you for yur advice.
We have a Seat Altea with cooling system issues. It started leaking water at 38000 miles, the dealer replaced the water pump. It has continued to leak water for a few months and after fobbing about air locks they are now saying there is a fault with the thermostat causing overpressuring. This doesn?t make sense as the water leaks from the car when stationary as well as when it is running, even when left for a week.
No steam is visible when looking at the engine, the water appears to be coming from the engine and not the radiator or header tank. The coolant is not showing signs of head gasket failure.
The only clue is that when starting the car a gurgle can be heard from the heater matrix in the dash.
I am concerned that we are about to embark on funding the dealer replacing the cooling system bit by bit.
Can anyone offer any advice?
Many thanks,
Tim Roberts
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To follow up in case anyone has the same problem in future:
The car starting dripping regularly yesterday and I managed to trace it to where the plastic coolant pipe connects to the cylinder head on the right had side of the engine.
I found a useful document www.mk5gli.com/downloads/2.0t.pdf which shows the cooling system on page 14 which helped understand where to look.
2 coolant leaks on a 3.5 year old car in 6 months. Not impressed.
Browse
IIRC you need the correct display i.e. different instrument cluster as well as the stalk.