April 2008
I was told last Sunday that some of the Sat Nav's we can buy record your speed as you go but when switched off memory is erased - so in theory the cops can interrogate your sat nav and do you for speeding - any one else heard this or is someone pulling my chain. Read more
duplicate post deleted, and replies from here moved to same question asked yesterday Read more
So, Has anyone else wondered what the point of these are. They are part-time signals that exist to control the flow of traffic onto the motorway.
They started working this week (junction 7) and are a complete waste of time (IMHO)
They turn to Red, for about 30-40 seconds, then change to Green for approx 5-6 Seconds, then straight back to red
I had 5 cars in front of me and it took 3 phases to get onto the motorway.
It increases fuel consumption (several quick accelerations), and my stress!!!
Did we ask for these? Was there public consultation? Read more
We have had these motorway access rationing lights for a few months around Auckland. They do speed up the motorways a bit, but the natives are becoming restless about the queues of idling traffic which did not used to be there in the streets leading to the slip roads.
My neighbor is a retired service manager (think big cat).He was telling me about a problem they had some years ago with a microswitch. This switch was connected to the brake pedal, it's purpose was to switch off the cruise control when the brake pedal was pressed, this switch was faulty thus when the brakes were applied it didn't switch off the cruise control, instead the cruise control sensing the car was slowing down applied more throttle! Can you imagine say doing 70 mph down the M1, applying the brakes which makes the car go faster.fortunately the only damage was in the underwear department. anyone else with similair stories? Read more
Daughter had this happen on her Skoda Estelle. They hold an awful lot of coolant due to the engine at the back and the radiator and heater at the front. I was surprised by the thickness of the heater hose, almost like a bike inner tube.
Shocking news!
£4 billion penalty on drivers achieves just 1% reduction in vehicle emissions!
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008...l
The "green levy" on motorists announced in Alistair Darling's first Budget will double car tax revenue to £4 billion but reduce vehicle emissions by less than one per cent, Treasury figures have showed. .....
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Is Green the new Red Comrade?
Pictures of the updated A3 show it to have LED headlights as used on other Audi models.
Do these offer any practical advantage, or are they another "bling" item? Look a bit naff, and only really suitable at Christmas time.
Seems to be similar to the "white" tail-light craze of a few years back, which always looked like you'd had a rear shunt and put a temporary polythene cover over - fortunately they seemed to have been dropped by manufacturers now. Read more
Oh, thanks Hamsafar.
(BTW, I keep thinking your first name must be Abu. :-))
Just about to leave on a longish trip. The battery warning light is now on. I possibly heard a faint clonk on starting, there is possibly a bit more of a whirring buzz than before, but the belt is moving. I was supposed to leave 30 minutes ago! Now this has just happened! Any "bright" ideas about what's wrong? Read more
Sorry. Went to the garage this afternoon, £150 for a new alternator, fitted. Bother. I'll have to stay "in" at the weekend, now.
Hi all
Bought a car from the main dealer and collected last night. It's got the main dealer 12mth warranty etc and was advertised with Full Service History.
Being a bit stupid I didn't actually check the service log before i'd part ex'd my car and got home last night.
Opened the book and it was serviced in Jan 2006. (first service) and there are no more stamps after this time. It should have been serviced at 1yr or 20,000 miles and it hasn't been. In fact it should have been done in 2007 & 2008 too.
I popped the bonnet and they have serviced it before sale (new oil filter at least) but haven't stamped the book this time.
Does anyone have any advice on what I should do here? What rights do I have? I paid a premium for a main dealer car, foolishly made an assumption and trusted them rather than 'honest john' around the corner and as it's turned out I would have been better off around the corner.
What damage could have been caused to the car from missing two services?
Thanks,
Adam Read more
Personally i'd rather see a big folder full of invoices for work done than a fully stamped service book. You can see exactly what was done on the invoice whereas the stamp means very little, especially as you can buy blank service books on ebay and its not hard to get it stamped up.
I recently used Shell V-Power in my 2005 MINI Cooper S and 2007 BMW 320d to see if it gave better fuel consumption over 'cooking' petrol/diesel. Total mileage of test approx 3,000. Result: no meaninful - if any - improvement. Conclusion (for me and my cars): premium fuel = waste of money.
Of late I have taken to accelerating harder up to the speed I'm aiming for, and I THINK this improves consumption a bit. On the BM the 'swingometer' fuel consumption needle stays on the 50 mark for much longer, which is always nice to see... Read more
CC is certainly a factor in yielding 27-28 mpg from my MB E320 Coupé, and was similarly helpful in the previous Coupé and in getting 31+ out of the preceding Audi 100. It is widely recommended as a fuel-economy aid, but not in hilly areas and other circumstances where it can't be sensibly used. Given the nanosecond monitoring that is involved, I bet its a far more sensitive and effective device than my right foot.
"Dear Sir
I see from the recent discussions within the Government that those who suffer as a result of tax changes in the budget are to be compensated (withdrawal of 10p tax rate).
The rises in fuel duty and car tax, which have been far above inflation, have cause my wife and I great hardship. We both work and both have to run cars to get to work, by working we contribute income tax and national insurance to the government. I fear that the elevated level of fuel prices and car tax will mean it is no longer financially viable for us to run cars. The location of our places of work mean that public transport is not a viable option (I cannot get to work on public transport unless I leave the night before which is clearly ridiculous and there is no public transport to my wife's place of work). I believe that we will soon have no option but to stop working and begin to claim benefits.
Are those who are suffering as a result of the rises in fuel and vehicle taxes going to be compensated in the same way as those who suffer as a result of the withdrawal of the 10p tax rate or is this compensation simply a measure to retain votes in certain other labour constituencies?
I would like you to take action to ensure that this imbalance is redressed and would like you to know that at the next election my vote will go to the party who offer the policies which are tailored to minimise the costs I incur getting to and from work."
Of course we all know the answer! And unfortunately I do have a labour MP.
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Much as I'm enjoying this, and wish I could take off my mod hat and contribute... back onto motoring please!
Thanks
Browse
The EU directive does not include SatNav, or a phone in the true sense, but is named E-Call - info here - www.esafetysupport.org/en/ecall_toolbox/
It will call the 999 operator for you if your airbags deploy in an accident, and give the location of the car, hence the GPS kit. The call is placed over GPRS/GSM.