June 2008
Speaking personally, higher fuel prices mean that sooner, rather than later, I can finally afford that luxury car I have always wanted. I only drive 6k miles p.a.and working part time make full use of a cheap rail fare to work. Looking at recent auction reports, I may soon be able to purchase that Lexus LS430 once prices hit £10k.
We all know that the major cost of any car is depreciation, and I can afford £1000pa depreciation, and 25mpg with my small annual mileage, so at the risk of sounding dreadfully selfish, bring on the £2 per litre petrol...I may even be able to get a newish Spec B Legacy Tourer.
And yes, I fully appreciate that higher fuel costs mean associated higher costs for just about everything else. but I am a fully paid up member of the 'petrol head' club!
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Last week due to bathroom tiling duties, SWMBO kindly offered to 'do' the car for me. Now being a typical bloke I must admit to being a bit cynical, but lo and behold, within an hour, it shone like new, hoovered, waxed and given the Wonder Wheels treatment. This was compounded further in the office car park the following day when I was complimented on the appearance and had to admit it wasn't my doing for once.
Given the abundance of Eastern European car valeters doing such a fine job for so little money (SWMBO didn't get a penny by the way), does anyone absolutely insist on always doing it themselves still?
I must admit, I had several fag breaks to "see how she was getting on".
{make / model dropped as this appears to be a general question, and not specifically Ford Mondeo related} Read more
Stu, any chance I could get your contact details? I'm moving up your way in the near future, and may require your services for our two cars. Email details should be in my profile.
In terms of geographical area - how far do you cover?
Thanks,
Matt
I wasn't sure where to post this......here seems a good place as any;
Does the Mondeo mkIII use the same wheelbase for all the variants?
The estate body is obviously longer but I can't seem to find out whether there is a difference in the wheel base too.
Thanks in advance. Read more
Also the estate models have a different rear suspension set up (same as x type jaguar saloon)and generally do not suffer with the common problem of rear subframe worn bushes.hth
I've just bought a 1998 Saxo VTR and sometimes it starts perfectly first time and other times there is just nothing, no noises from the starter motor or anything but then if i turn off the ignition and try again it's been fine. I really don't know much about cars so does anyone have any sugestions as to what could be wrong? Read more
I fell in love with this car the first time I heard one.
I want one. Badly.
Cheers
DP
I'm just about to look at a used car for my son, the vendor has told me that she is leaving the country at the end of June. The car in question was purchased by her from a dealer in Nov 07.
I'm concerned that she may have bought the car on HP from the dealer and she could be leaving with o/s amounts due.
I've no reason to think this - but I need to be sure with an HPI type check. What are the best one's? , are any cheaper than HPI? Do they all guarantee to pick up all o/s finance?
The amounts are relatively small, the car is advertised for £995 (1.0 GX Micra / 64K P reg)
so i'm guessing she paid the thick end of £2K last Nov, possibly in cash, but then again....
any thoughts
The car is present for my son.
J Read more
I done a £5 rac check on monday on a focus and it came back with outstanding fiinance.Gave the name of the company in this case bank of scotland, gave the phone number and aggreement number gave them phone and they told me they have no finacial intrest in the vehicle. Everything else was fine i.e reg mark,chassie number,current mileage which was correct. Not recorded stolen by police not recorded theft by insurance company and no total loss or recorded repairs.Purchased vehicle today now sat out on driveway
How do you remove the plastic engine cover off a Renault Clio 1.5 cdi? Read more
Yup. There are little prongs on the underside of it which just push into rubber doughnuts on brackets on the engine.
One hand either side of the cover, and lift vertically upwards while giving it a little wiggle. Will just pop off.
seem to be losing water from expansion bottle after filling, after driving 10 miles water light comes on.Bought new bottle but problem persists, when going fast or on moterway light goes off then comes back on when slowing down, cannot see any leaks anywhere.Would be obliged if you have any answer to my problem.
Alan Marriott Read more
How much water is it losing? If it is losing water via the expansion tank filler cap under pressurisation then this is likely to be a failed head gasket. Two simple steps in helping to determine a failed head gasket:-
1. Run engine for a few minutes with expansion tank cap off and see if bubbles appear in the coolant within a short space of time.
2. Remove the expansion tank cap off after the car has been standing still overnight- if there is pressure in the system when cold this is another sign of HGF.
Replacement of a failed head gasket is not usually cheap, on the old 1.9TD XUD engine, replacement was usually anywhere between £500 and £800, not sure about the HDI engine.
Martin
Afternoon BR'ers,
Starting a new job in a few months and my 10 year old Saxo is getting on a bit so I think its time to replace..
I am seriousloy considering the C1 / Aygo / 107 option, but the problem of 1) a bloke 2) 6' 1" 3) "business man" driving what looks a very small car....
Is it a realistic option?
My driving will 90% be just myself in the car, 9% me and girlfriend and 1% maybe 3 / 4 people in total...
To get to work is 13 miles through town, out the other side, couple of single "main road" carridgeway a-roads mostly 30mph / 50mph and a section of national speed limit... and then some windy (how the heck do you spell windy without it sounding like the roads have flatulance?) country roads...
Then I will aproximately once a week have to drive 24 miles from one work site to another on A-roads (not sure of speed limits / how busy).
I'm no brand snob and don't need a car to do 100mph - cheap motoring is more important to me than looking cool (although I have to look respectable for my job), but I am conscious that my Saxo is on the edge of looking silly with me in it....
Help...! Read more
I had an Aygo 'Blue' as a courtesy car. It was great around town and on normal roads.
Was not good on the motorway, and felt very exposed on M6 in rush hour.
Overall it would have been a great seond car choice except that with 4 kids a four seater is too small.
Car runs fine if ambient is less than 70 F/ 20 C. Last w/e we went out at 10.00, and had to put the heater on to cool the engine circuit as the temp gauge was heading for 100 C.
Turning on heater full blast (!) keeps the needle in the safe section of the gauge, but still about the 95 that is normal in cooler weather.
No loss/use of cooling fluid, no pressurisation of coolant, no mayo, oil OK. Fuel consumption seems fine.
Any thoughts? Noticed the rad was cooler at base than at top on one such occasion. Read more
gon
Use a proprietory radflush; much safer.
Browse
"Trade-in offer from Motorpoint on our 2002 FSH Saab 95 estate Linea model, 130k, average condition, was £1400. Thought that was a bit low so looked at Glasses guide on Vauxhall site - £2000. Glad we didn't buy it new at list price...."
That's precisely why I'll be keeping our pair of "gas guzzlers" (2.0T Vectra and a 2.3 Galaxy) instead of buying newer, more fuel efficient cars in the near future.