May 2008
seeing that Honda are offering 7 year warranties on their motor mowers makes me wonder why car makers don't follow Hyundai and go for at least 5 years. Yes, I appreciate that mowers are must less complicated than motor vehicles but how measly are the 3 years that most makers/dealers give the buyer - doesn't display that much confidence in your product! Honda has a good name for reliability and could surely go to at least 5 years. It would be a very attractive reason for buying their cars.
Do I recall correctly reading here at some point that in the US car warranties are much longer than those in Europe? Read more
The Back Room is not a political instrument, and must not be used to promote a political agenda of any sort. While the expression of personal opinion is encouraged, this should not be at a level which the moderators consider deters people from visiting and contributing to The Back Room. Moderators have discretion to close such a thread.
Please take note of the above. Politics are, unavoidably, part and parcel of the motoring world, but of late some of the debates here have become childish "ya boo politics" of the worst type.
Please keep it at a civilized level otherwise the mods will have to step in and start snipping, locking or deleting threads and posts.
Thanks.
Dave, Smokie, Pologirl and PU. Read more
Bump.
Trying to buy four 195. 60. 15V tyres and am considered if it was worth joining Costco and splash out on Michelins instead of Goodyears.
Rang for a quote today and they will not give a quote to non members. So chicken and egg. Not worth joining until I see the price, but have to join to see the price. Seems crazy.
Any solution possible? Read more
Were your tyres 'Energy' or 'Energy Saver' the new 2008 tyre? What is your experience
of them noise and gripwise.
I'm not sure of the exact model and I'm away from home at the moment so can't look. I only got two of them a month or so ago, but replaced the other 2 some time ago (a year ish) and I'm pretty sure they're all the same.
These are on our Jazz and replaced factory fitted Yokohama Apec's. No noticeable difference in noise, I *think* the car rides a bit better (but the Jazz is very bouncy anyway).
Grip is more interesting. The Energy tyres are treadwear rated at 400 - the Aspec's are something like 200. All other things being equal (which I accept they're not) the Energy tyres should grip less. I had quite a "discussion" with Costco about this when I bought the first pair as they insisted on putting the new Energy tyres on the back and moving the half worn Aspsc's to the front. In my opinion the less grippy Energy tyres should have gone on the front but it became a take it or leave it situation. So I swapped them when I got home.
Now the car has Energy tyres all round, in normal use on the Jazz there's no noticeable difference in grip, but we live in a rural area and on slimy back roads I think the Energy tyres are noticeably less keen to grip on turn-in than the Aspec's were.
I reckon a "press-on" type of driver would definitely notice a difference. This is a known issue with "eco" tyres - in fact the Technical boss of Continental has commented that the tyres shouldn't be mixed and drivers switching from non-eco to eco tyres could be caught out.
i have a Renault laguna and just recently the car doesn't want to start. everything else works fine, engine cranks but there is no ignition spark! an the red immobiliser light constantly flashes when the key is in the ignition on second and start position when you turn the key i hear a relay clicking twice in the dash board area on the passenger side i was going to investigate that but i wasn't sure if was normal and iv'e been trying other things. do you have any ideas ???
typo in header amended
duplicate post made 1 hour later deleted Read more
i already know that! but as i dnt have any money i am unable to do things like that!
basicly im looking for advise that people wld be able to give so i can look at it myself as i am in the trade!
Our 7 series has an ongoing problem. When you go to start the car, you get no red lights on dash or fuel pump whurr. It only starts off a jump, but when you turn it off after a short or long run it refuses to start. Also when the engine is running there is a clicking from behind the air vents above the stereo every so often. We've checked the battery and thats fine so dont know where to go from here. Any ideas would be very helpful, TIA Read more
Because its on a brand new battery which was returned to shop & checked twice & was deemed fully charged
Did anyone see Flood last night. I don't think I'll be using a mobile while driving. Read more
Flood, not yet, it's waiting for me to watch, now I'm curious.
Main dealers have competition from internet brokers. But they supply those brokers, so presumably reducing the number of high profit new sales they make. Allegedly there's no money in warranty work. They have high labour and overhead costs.
So where are main dealers making their money? Read more
The money in selling cars is in buying a freehold site. I know two car dealers one non-franchise, the other ex-franchise, who have done very well out of selling their sites for residential development. I expect they made more money each year "sitting" on the plot than they did operating the business, but of course they couldn't take the profit out until the end, without racking up debt.
Hello.
I have a 01 reg 1.8T Audi A6. About 2 months ago i noticed the trip computer averaging 15 to the gallon and a very strong smell of petrol, so i took it to my usual garage who did a code read - P1128 and P1136 = Bank 1 mixture adaption too lean !
So i had a new Lambda Sensor fitted - still the same, so then had a new Mass Air Meter - Then a new Thermostat and i also had the Throttle Body cleaned - still the same problem, The EML still comes on MPG is awful and a very strong smell of fuel coming from the tail of the exhaust. How can it be running Too Lean when it is running Too Rich !
So my garage put me in touch with a Bosch Service Centre who worked on the car for 6 hours, doing all checks relating to Fuel and Air.
The car has no air leaks, all new parts work correctly, Coil packs are fine, i also had the exhaust and cat checked - both fine.
Last Friday i had the codes re-set and seemed better for a while until the EML came on again and back to square one again with poor tick - over , loss of power , smell of fuel, black smoke coming out exhaust etc Could someone please help me here with some good advice or suggestions because i am at the end of my teather with this problem not mentioning how much it is costing me . Please Help !
Regards Steeley
Read more
Hi Steeley,
Did you ever resolve this problem with your A6, as I have exactly the same problem with my Quattro 1.8T (YEAR 2001 WITH ONLY 68000 MILES ON CLOCK)? Have replaced everything you have and still the same fuel smell etc- all same problems exactly. Can you or anyone assist.
If so send me email to rogert.kelly@btopenworld.com. Thanks
My daughter ordered a Fiat 500 Pop on the 2nd February 2008 with an estimated delivery date of 31st March 2008, have had many conversations with dealership (on the south coast, always dealt with the salesman perhaps should have escalated to principle) have now been told that the car will arrive UK 12 May delivery to my daughter about 7 days after, any body else out there experienced similar delay??
Richard Price Read more
I ordered a Ford-not to a standard spec so needed to be built for me-dealer gave me a delivery date which he got from Ford.Date came and no car, so the dealer told me to stop the payments to Ford Credit on my current car and carry on using it.Three months later,my car arrived and I started a fresh agreement-I doubt you'll get anything out of Fiat.Most of the hold-up was not in the build but in the shipping-dealer kept me up-to-date on location of car at all times.
I'm off to Phoenix in a little over two weeks for six months and while I'm out there I'll have the use of a car (though I need to sort out my driving license first - I filled out the forms and stuck the photo on, then missed the white box with my signature... oops).
Anyway, I've never driven on the "wrong" side of the road before. I'm hoping that sitting on the left will make it pretty easy and all that's really needed is extra care when making turns from sideroads, but is there any advice more experienced drivers can offer which I can take on board?
Anything general about driving over there / dealing with the police / parking / freeways / speed limits / etc will all be welcome.
Cheers,
David. Read more
Watch out for vehicle checks at State borders. We had to drive slowly though a darkened car park entering Nevada while torches were shone in. Big queues also built up while returning to California. Inspecting for illegal agricultural produce I deduced.
Carry plenty of water- you will need it.
Do not stick to the inside lanes of greater LA freeways if you want to go straight on.
They rapidly change to slip roads.
If everyone wants to get a long warranty, then other than Kia/Hyundai no one would have been in market by now.
Buyers balance warranty offerings with badge value and reliability perception (from friends/families/journos etc.)
Porsche offers 2-yr warranty, their reliability is not exemplary, repair is quite expensive - yet people buy their cars because their perceived value is much higher.