June 2008
The tragic news of the death of Arron and Ben Peak, whilst travelling in the rear of a Toyota Previa, has got me thinking about MPV safety again.
It would appear that both boys were travelling in the rear-most seats of the Previa whilst their friends, travelling in the middle row emerged largely unscathed.
Whilst you can't stop [alleged] dangerous and drunken drivers of other vehicles, as a parent you are keen to protect your children as much as possible.
So how safe are rear seats on MPVs. Does the "safety cage" extend behind them. Does the seating area form part of a "crumple zone" if rear-ended?
AFAIK NCAP don't carry out tests of accidents involving rear collisions, and even side intrustion tests are carried out on the middle row of the car. EC Type Approval seems to follow NCAP lines with Frontal and Lateral tests only. The only published rear end collision simulations I've seen (IIHS) just test the seat for whiplash injury protection outside of the vehicle!
With the huge growth in the sale of midi-MPVs, with the most vunerable passengers being placed in the rear seats inches from the boot door, surely this is a huge failing!
Can anyone point me in the direction of statistics or crash tests that show that rear-most seats are safe? Or should one just assume that rear end collisions with a large speed differential between the two vehicles are rare enough not to need to worry about it.
Rufus. Read more
Does anyone have any feedback they can privide on the pros and cons of a Ford Focus III 5 door hatchback for the specs below ?
Ford Focus III : 2.0 TDCi 136 ps Style, Zetec & Titanium
Ford Focus III : 2.0 petrol 145 ps Style, Zetec & Titanium
Also what differences have you notice with the Focus II compared with the Focus III ? Read more
Thanks for the feedback so far.
Has anyone driven/experienced the Focus III 2.0 petrol/TDCi and if so what are your thoughts in general ?
I have water accumulating in the plenum chamber which houses the battery. Presumably it is a blocked drain hole but to access it I need to remove the battery.
Haynes implies I can disconnect the battery without a problem (I do know the radio code). Can anyone confirm that this car doesn?t suffer any kind of electrical gremlins when removing the battery?
Many thanks
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One drain hole is under the battery and the battery tray has to be removed to get at it. The other is in the "well" for the servo vacuum chamber. I would recommend discarding the bungs and at the same time, checking the pollen filter housing seals.
It's very easy to maintain electrical power via the socket in the boot which is live all the time. At the very least, it saves resetting the clock and the radio.
659.
What is the Best Value New Small Car on the market?
In terms of:
*MPG
*Resale value
*Build Quality and Reliability Read more
I think you have summed it up! I have owned Yaris, Colt, Panda, and now 500. There all great cars but each had a minus, Colt too noisy, Yaris too expensive, Panda rolls on bends, 500 too girlie and expensive. Its all down to personal feelings and after all thats what makes buying a car different from buying a vacuum cleaner.
can any one help ? ive got an astra 1.7 td 2004 model.after replacing every hand brake cable , the handbrake lever assembly , rear shoes and both drums , all genuine parts as well.......................the handbrake is still very poor can anyone help ?
cheers, richie .
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answer-dont buy cheap parts ...
At the start of this thread you said "all genuine parts as well" which implies they were branded parts, from a reputable source and therefore not cheap parts.
Just bought a Karcher (variable) pressure washer and wondered if there are any tips for using it on the car? Obviously I would use it on the lowest pressure setting but what are the best car cleaning fluids for use with these? How much cleaner does a normal wash use? At £8+ a time, not too much I would hope Are they effective without using any sponges or brushes etc? Read more
So was their ability to rip the lipstick off your so-called bumpers.
:o}
Hi i want to run my 2.5 di non turbo transit on used veg. oil. How much white spirit do i add. ? I keep getting conflicting advice. please can anyone out there help. cheers
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If you declared the central heating oil as road fuel and paid the tax on road fuel, then you can use it, I guess. Cars don't like it much though IIRC. You can not declare red as road fuel and pay the tax on it though.
The wife had trouble operating all 4 windows up from the drivers side master cluster of switches.
I found I could operate them up from the individual switches in their own doors except the drivers window, as there is naturally no second switch for this. Again I could drive them up and down on their individual switches, but only down from the master cluster of switches.
Now I have only the drivers window fully down and cant budge it.
I presumed the switch cluster at fault, but a brand new one proved me wrong. No fault lights flashing either.
If its a faulty window motor, whats the deal with the switches on down only?
Could it be a relay, if so, which one is it?
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Thanks very much, repaired and working.
I had a busy day yesterday and then I immediately discounted the door conduit as I didnt think such a bit of sloppy design was possible....Duh! naive or what!
I take it that as it was one wire acting as the return feed for all the windows instead of one wire for each window that they are adressable from switch to window.
Thanks for your help........anyone want a brand new unused switch cluster?
Just wondering if anyone could let me know how many litres of fuel (approx) would be left in the tank when the light comes on.
I just wanted to compare it to other cars ive driven.
Also could people with the same car let me know how many miles they get from a tank
cheers Read more
I calculated my consumption the other day (306 HDi 1999) and found I got 2340 miles from 176 litres, which is slightly over 60mpg (ignoring the fact that Peugeot miles are 1 or 2% shorter than real ones). The handbook says the tank is 13 galls or 60 litres, and the warning light cuts in with about 6 litres left. Bettr not to find out exactly how much is left - it's not worth the hassle.
Hi,
My daughter recently bought one of these and it was running fine then suddenly the engine stopped running as she was driving along the road and now wont even turn over.
She stopped and as she did there was a bit of smoke from the engine and a smell of burning electrical. When you turn the key the ignition lights come on but that is all, it doesn't even try to turn over. plenty of oil, water & petrol, not seized. Any ideas anyone?
John Read more
Hi ALL!
The same thing happened to me last night in my 1998 12v LS 1litre, engine cut out while I was driving, the car just rolled......i stopped the car, changed to neutral & put handbrake on & tried to start the car again - being a provisional driver, I thought it's me, I've stalled! but nothing, all the lights on the dash come on, head lights etc, but wont start, not even turning over. No Smoke from the car, no strange noises etc.
Luckily I was almost home so my 2 passengers were able to push the car into my drive with handbrake off, tried again 30 mins later nothing, same this morning.
Any ideas?
If it is the suspect start motor - do i hve to take to a garage? or can I get a "DIY" man to do it??
Many thanks
;)
Browse
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Less kids?! (only joking, bb!)...
As you say they are rare, but the problem is you have very little control over a rear end shunt as its invariably the other drivers' fault - they should not allow seats in the crumple zone....