June 2008

Dynamic Dave


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Stuartli

Panasonic has just launched three new sets, 42in, 46in and 50in, with a built-in BBC/ITV Freesat tuner as well as the Freeview and analogue versions - Freesat set top boxes are available, Humax brings out a Freesat PVR in September and, if you already have Sky, you can fit a second LNB for the service (still need a set top box or PVR).

I second rtj70's mention of Panasonic, it makes probably the best large screen TVs you can buy.

You really need a large screen set to see HD at its best.

gymcrazy

Earlier this week I put a deposit down on a car with Audi. The car was at a different audi garage and I was told it would be arriving at the Audi dealership in my area today and left a deposit and received a completed order for.

I received a call today to say the audi garage that had the car had sold it to someone else even though it had been reserved for me and was expected to be received today.

Can anyone give me advice on what I should do and what my rights etc are? at the moment the two managers of each Audi garage are invovled in conversation over it. Read more

mikeyb

Had a similar situation with Audi - waited 12 weeks for new car and when it arrived the spec was wrong. they were very keen to help, and offered 3 options:-

1 - order new car again and have to wait for it

2 - Return of deposit

3 - come to a mutual agreement over the car that had turned up (spec difference was wrong colour interior and Quattro when not ordered).

Result was more discount than originaly agreed plus a few other freebies thrown in.

Unless you are in a rush I would remain calm - express your dissapointment and ask them how they propose to rectify the situation - they are likely to give you a good deal on an alternative to cover their mistake and it may be to your advantage!

plant1983

I bought my 2006 Ford Focus in January. Just after the 30 day no quibble exchange period ended (typical!) the boot started to open itself at random. The dealer fitted a new boot catch which sorted the problem for a while but now it's doing it again. Thankfully it's never opened whilst driving along, only once I've unlocked or locked the car or just before I pull away.

Has anyone else had this problem? The Ford dealer claim that it's never seen this before, which I can't believe as I can't be only person with a dud Focus boot.

This is not the only problem I've had with the car, I found 2 inches of water in the spare wheel area when I needed to change a tyre and the radio/CD player is about to be replaced for the second time as that keeps turning itself off and refusing to play CD's.

I am pretty disappointed with what is supposed to be a class leading car.

Rant over - any help with the boot would be great, the car is heading back to the dealer soon so if I can point them in a new direction that would be handy.

Thanks. Read more

CGNorwich

Ford C Max had the same problem. As already mentioned was the subject of recall and was fixed but just before I disposed of the car it started to re-occur.

drivewell

Hi My wife phoned shortly after leaving the house to say that her Punto had stopped (close to where she leaves it, to get the bus into Glasgow to work).

Rear wiper had come on of it's own accord, stopped in vertical position, and engine cut out.

I've been round to car, disconnected rear wiper. Engine will fire, but won't run. Also think there are some electrics issues (suspect 'lights' warning light was on, without light switch being on.

Anyone seen this? Any suggestions. All (helpful) comments appreciated! Read more

drivewell

Think I have a fix, Screwloose..., and elekie / air-con doctor....

Having checked all the earthing at the front, and having confirmed that none of the earth wires to the rear of the car were actually grounded to chassis earth, I decided to create a new chassis earthing point in the boot.

Soldered a loop on the end of a peice of earth wire, secured it under the rear seat back securing pin bolt, and then set about finding a concealed point to connect it to the black/white earth wire coming from the lights.

As I folded back the carpet on the left side of the boot, I found.......

Multi-wire earthing connector sitting over the metal fixing stud, but no securing nut. Fixing stud a shiny shade of Teseo blue, and had clearly never had a nut on it since the Punto was fixed following a rear-end shunt in November 2006.

Quite how it has been making an earth connection up until now escapes me, but with the paint scraped off, and the correct nut fitted and tightened up, I think we have a FIX.

Thanks for posting anyway.

oldnotbold

The 405 with aircon has an electronic heater control. There's a slider on the ventilation control that sets a temp on a rotating control behind the ventilation panel. This is wired to the matrix, I think, where I guess there is a matching electric valve that controls the flow of warm water into the heater matrix.

At present I have permanent warm air through the heater - I can direct it to the screen/cabin etc, but I can't reduce the heat.

Before I remove the entire dash/fascia, has anyone been through this before? My guess is that this system is similar to other models in the PSA Group from that era. Read more

RichardW

That sounds like the sensor - in a Xantia you can remove it through the radio aperture. It should go cold if you put the temp control onto the blue section. If it doesn't then it might not be the sensor: another thought - the air flow over the matrix is controlled by a servo operated flap - It may be that the servo has failed / broken off, and hence you are not getting control anymore. Getting to these will involve delving in behind the glove box no doubt.

BobbyG

Off on holiday to South of France this weekend, starting off with driving from Glasgow to Calais on Sat. Usual route of M74, M6, M1, M25 and M20.

Any holdups, roadworks, planned disruption that anyone is aware of on this route?
Or am I Cruise Controlled at 77mph for the whole way? Read more

GroovyMucker

Were you to stop off in Rouen, Le Toque d'Or was nice last time we went, last year.

salguod50

I'm getting a 300c diesel in a few weeks, I happenend to be talking to a 300c owner the other day and he says he has to have new pads every 3 months!!
anybody else experience this? Read more

Hemi

my Hemi has done 17000m and Im still halfway through my pads and I dont hang about I can tell you

jonster

I have just bought a Peugeot 307 CC which is on an 07 plate its a 2.0 and the smaller engine I think the 140bhp one. However I'm a little worried that the engine noise is quite apparent. I took it back to the dealership who explained about the tick over is normal and i've been told its sounds okay. Sometimes it sounds a little dieseley on start up and my car is actually a petrol. I have also noticed in wet/dam or cold conditions there is more engine noise. Is this right for a 307 cc engine?

If anyone has a 1 year old one please advise, my friends and family have mentioned it should run smoothly and quietly. This seems to be so on a standard day and barely noticeable inside the cabin. Then I have also read lots of reviews that mention engine noise so I am in two minds what to believe.

thanks!

{amendment to subject header to give brief details of the question being asked and therefore make less vague} Read more

jonster

Hi, thanks for the reply .. the oild says ok on it when I start up.. the dealership insisted that they wouldnt have sold me it in a less than happy state. Hmm Im driving over to another Dealership of Peugeot and like a complete tool I will ask them if this sounds correct to them. Asside from this I have 1 year of the Manufacturers Warranty left as well

s14.photobucket.com/albums/a350/Jonster24/?action=...g


welshlad

Just thought i would warn people that next month between Llanfairfechan and conwy there is going to be 9 months of road works on the A55, they recently carried out 3 months on the section between Llanfairfechan and Tal-y-bont and that was bad enough so anyone heading into north wales from the direction of Chester should be aware that there could be some major headaches Read more

welshlad

yep rouge thes the project thanks for the link

just come back from tal-y-bont and theres a 4 mile tailback and they havent even started yet....a sign of things to come??

i wasnt altogether bothered today was the first day ive been able to put the roof down on the car in weeks and with crawling along i could put all the windows down too got the evil eye off a few sweltering in their cars :-)

aahbarnes

There is currently a team carrying out the word road resurfacing I have ever seen in our village.

A road planer removes the top few inches of tarmac and the throws the planings onto the road behind it. These are then levelled out with a roller then covered in bitumen emulsion from a tanker. This is all then covered with green gravel, the roller goes over it again, and that is it!

It is the most awful finish you can imagine, chippings all over the place sticky tar everywhere and holes in the road - some a couple of inches wide.

Is this common practice? Seems a quick and cheap way to mess up a road! Read more

PhilW

Just done in our village on a very potholed section of road with loads of manhole covers - only difference it has made is to change colour of potholes - they are still there, but the manhole covers are now a further cm or so below general surface to add to the 4 cm they were before (used same technique for many years). Pointless waste of money - but probably ensures that they get a decent amount of money next year to do the same. Do they have shares in shock absorber companies as well as paint cos?