June 2008
A friend brought a second hand Vectra from an independent dealer a few weeks ago. The car came with a full MOT. Yesterday for some reason he decided to check out the MOT history on the VOSA website. This proved interesting in that a few days before the current MOT was issued it had failed at another garage. He then crawled under the car and found the failure items had not been attended to. Has he any comeback as the failure occurred after he agreed to buy the car or is it just down to individual tester?s interpretation?
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Hi,
I have just bought a 1992 Mazda Mx-5. The car is imported and on the V5, the only date of registration is 1992 i.e. no month specified. Underneath the car, the cat has rusted away, i think it's only the outer casing that's rusted.
I plan to get the car MOT'd and am unsure what date of registration voided the need for a cat. Does anyone here know? Ive heard there's a specific month in 1992 when the law for needing a cat changed but am not 100%.
Many thanks Read more
There is no lambda sensor test - common misconception.
I hope some one out there can shed some light on a little dilema I am facing: I just had my 1999 Honda Civic checked into a garage to change the Cam belt but they found that the bolt ("crank shaft pulley etc " i think they call it) on the engine cannot be undone- to gain access to the belt- they have used force thats well over 180 torque (the usual Honda value?). They said they would try and get it open on my permission with brute force or heat but that would be totally under my own risk if the bolt breaks- which would cost like £1200 worth of damage (they adviced). Now my car had already done 75,000 miles when I first got it and I have done another 1000 totaling to 76,000miles (recommended change is 72,000 miles max) and I can't seem to find out whether the Cam belt has been changed by the previous owner. Can I assume that since the bolt is so tightly screwed- that it must have been opened for a Cam belt change previously? Or is it actually a common manufacturing feature of Honda cars? Should I take the risk of getting the bolt off and if it breaks then throw the car away? Or carry on driving with my life on the line of the cambelt?
Please advice!!!
Thanks! Read more
Remove starter motor,lock ring gear with suitable screwdriver/lever,apply 3/4" drive bar with impact socket on offending bolt,place large booted foot on end of bar and press down,guess what?,the bolt will undo!,I also mark the bolt's position relative to the pulley and airgun it back to the same place when re-assembling
My pavement is getting stained from a fluid emitting from the engine bay area.
I have had the engine bay examined on two occasions but no leaks apparent from the engine assembly and all the normal fluids are full and never move. I'm assured the gearbox levels are good.
The stain is not dark lubricating oil, we initially thought it might be the clutch cylinder/s but it was dry as the fluid is of a light complexion, does not smell of anything in particular.
I know that the airconditioning emits watery waste but would this cause a stain. If it was water, I'd of thought it would evaporate.
Advice appreciated.
Many thanks. Read more
Air con maybe often leave a residue when stopped quite normal.
before a head gasket will go must the engine overheat?
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The engine may overheat due to the headgasket blowing and chucking coolant into the cylinders and then loosing pressue/airlocks in the system.
Flip side of this is leaks/pumps/badly filled coolant change may lead to overheating which could take the gasket as it acts pretty much as a safety valve.
I have owned many K series cars and still own 2! Best advice would be to lift the bonnet once a week and check the coolant level and oil and attend to any coolant loss, change the water pump at cambelt time (£20 wont break the bank!) and dont take the engine over 3K revs until its fully warmed up and therefore reducing thermal shock to the head.
Well, we knew that. There's a fairly entertaining write-up in "What Car?":
www.whatcar.co.uk/news-special-report.aspx?NA=2331...0
The most efficient speed seems to be below 40MPH for many, if not most, cars. Read more
Shame!
Engine management light on, diagnostic says its missing on No1 Cylinder, changed plugs & leads yet the misfire is still there. Any ideas???? Read more
idc
The most likely cause would be the, very common, failed coilpack.
Don't drive it like that, as cat failure and ECU damage are often the result.
Well done to the muppets at the Tyne Tunnel! Who thought it would be a good idea to close and cone off some of the toll booths?
Result = longer queues and slower traffic and those in the 'closed' lane then have to squeeze back into another lane.
I assume some consultant was paid 000s for this idea!
(before anyone mentions, no the toll booth isn't broken,its just been closed off!) Read more
They do seem to be 'experimenting' a lot with lane closures and modifications. Is this just the usual anti-motorist tactic or is there an actual reason does anyone know?
Just a little reminder to those who will be reinsuring soon and want to save more on rising premiums.
Many companies offer cashback if the policy is purchased through one of the CashBack websites (often after a £5 registration fee).
My wife and I did this last year with Privilege who were by far the cheapest anyway and earned £190 cashback for two policies.
This year she earned £95 with Privilege and I £65 in addition to the cheapest policies and the fact that we reinsured with the same company again.
The two largest are Quidco and CashBackKings both are well established.
In times of rising motoring costs you'd be daft not to try and get some cashback.
Check out some of the rates available below.
www.quidco.com/finance/life-auto/highest-rates-cur.../
www.cashbackkings.com/insurance/motor-insurance/br...2 Read more
I have just done this through Quidco-
premium was just under £190 with Tesco
cashback of £50
'free' pressure washer thrown in (looks a fairly decent K'archer) ,meant to be worth £100 or so.
Doesn't sound sustainable but I think the economics of insurance lean towards peoples lethargy for changing hence he often found automatic renewel written into to policies nowadays.
If quidco are able to pass on the commission at this level, search engines / comparison websites must make a fair sum when you click through from them
After having some time looking at a used car for a relative recently, I seem to have got the bug too. Quite fancy a used Accord but can't seem to decide on whether to go for a Saloon/Tourer or diesel/Petrol. I know that sounds pretty undecisive but that's me.....
My requirements are;
1. Needs to seat 5 - 2 adults and 3 children (9, 7, & 2 years on 2 boosters and 1 car seat).
2. The car will be used for my daily commute which is currently ~30 miles a day on a 50/50 mix of urban and rural roads.
3. On the weekends it will probably do another 50+ miles as the "family" car, loaded up with various kit - a Tourer would be handy here.
3. We usually have around 2 annual trips/holidays where everthing and the kitchen sink gets loaded up for a week or so - again Tourer would be great.
4. Would like to achieve a minimum of 30mpg on average - so perhaps a diesel?
5. I like my luxuries/gadgets so Executive spec would be great.....but I'm also a miser and don't want to spend more than £5-6k.
The other option is something like a Mondeo hatch/estate which I have no problem with and actually quite like the look of....it's just that the Accord seems a tad more refined and nicer inside. I also found the Mondy estates on Autotrader, in say Ghia X spec, seem about the same, if not pricier than the same age/mileage Accords.
Thanks in advance.
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Another thing to look for - the space saver spare was a no-cost option - check if it has one or a can of sealant AND a compressor. If not you will be able to get these (from Honda?) but don't expect it to be cheap.
Browse
" my MOT station had an assistant at my last MOT.....ME!"
All commercial vehicles are tested using the presenting driver as the assistant. You can not leave it at the test centre and pick it up later!