June 2008
Thought I would do a door check strap replacement myself this AM. The door needs stripping and I would normally balk at that, these days.
Anyway, decided to do it as it was hot on the drive allowing the old lizard full power through the joint tendons.
LOOKED at a trim tool costing £9.99, then made one out of spare material and got started.
Going slowly and looking at the sometimes seemingly cryptic Haynes, which anyway was for the previous model, took just under 1 hour. No fasteners snapped or broken and reckon I could do it now in under 30 minutes.
Saving, £74 reduced to £45 when questioned Main Dealer (last years quote other Punto) or independent £20 cash.
So why do it for £20? Because I can and for the sense of having no one else touching your car.
But enjoyable too. giving confidence back to do fiddly jobs I wouldn`t have tackled since a teenager.
It does raise a thought though. Would you put an hour in for £20 and the satisfaction of doing it yourself?
Hope that comment doesn`t attract the "£20 is a speck of dust being snorted into the air intake of my Three Litre Bavarian V6" ;)
Its five pairs of Chinese jeans up in West Yorkshire ;)
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A stone the size of a pigeons's egg has left me with a circular dent about an inch across and with a slight crease in the middle on the aluminium bonnet of my Legacy. The paint doesn't look broken. It looks like the rear of the dent is accessable.
Has anyone had any experience, good or bad, with dent removing companies or would a bodyshop be better? It's the only mark on the car so I want as perfect a job as possible.
And any idea of a ballpark cost? I'll be paying myself. I'm in northeast Lincolnshire if anyone has any recommendations.
Thanks in advance. Read more
hi the no to call is 07778680588
have done quite a few scooby's in the past no trouble
regards
mark
the dent doctor ltd
www.dentdoctorltd.com
hope to speak soon
SNIPQUOTE!
Is it just me or are roundabouts turning into nothing but mad, accident waiting to happen, free for all junctions.
I seem to remember that you continued onwards only when there was a suitable gap in the traffic coming from your right.
One of the major ones that I use every day has changed these rules and you now have to unofficially stop half way round to avoid hitting the cars and lorries who pull out when they feel like it.
Is it more powerful engines that are to blame? Do people think they can get through a smaller gap in the traffic or are people travelling around them at too high a speed. Read more
That said even quite small tight 2-lane roundabouts are great places for nipping past a
couple of mimsers.
Ah but the chances are that you will get run off the road when they cut across your bows. Why people don't look in their mirrors more often is amazing and r'bouts are undoubtedly the place where other people's cars come closest to hitting me. Even with defensive driving you are still in danger.
Hi,
I have a problem with intermittent power loss in my jeep. It is LPG converted and when i get to 1500revs the power seems to go and the revs will not go any higher, i take my foot of the accelartor and then immediately press it again were it revs and seems to unblock and its ok again for a short time. This happens on any surface and up and down hills. Help!
Any suggestions before my husband takes the engine to bits!!!!! Read more
Thanks, will try all you suggest.
I wonder if anyone has recent experience of insuring a new driver/young person for the first time?
My son is 18 and about to take his 2nd practical driving test (he failed the first one 2 weeks ago), he is due to start work very soon and will need a car to commute the 10 miles each way and - living in rural Gloucestershire ? there is no public transport between work and home.
I?ve run his details through Confused, ComparetheMarket, and so forth and it comes out around £1700 on a group 2 car TPF & T with my wife as a named driver- it?s actually over £2K without her on the policy!.
I?m sure there must be some specialist brokers who can find us something cheaper ? but I don?t know who to contact. Does anyone have any recent experiences?
He?s currently insured as a provisional licence holder on my wife?s Mini One and this adds £750 to her premium of £160 (Post Office) but they are not willing to insure him in his own name and we don?t want to ?front? him.
I expected £800 - £1000 but £1700 seems ridiculous.
I?m also looking around trying to find a cheap, low insurance car .
Not many Micra?s for sale around here, the Corsa?s I?ve looked at have all been rough, and the Fiesta?s all seem to have the rattly 1.3 engine, Ka?s (same engine I know) all too expensive.
Thanks
Jacks
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Yes, NU announced they are scrapping it after a take-up of under 10,000. Apparently it was no cheaper than other insurers and the penalties for exceeding the set mileage or driving after 11 pm were very high.
What is the point of paying out all that money for your child to drive if they cannot then collect you from late parties and nights out?? I revelled in that first year son had his licence when he did his chauffeur duties in return for the use of the car ;-)
My 1999 Zafira has a lap belt in the middle seat of the middle bench. I am actively looking for a middle bench with the middle seat having a 3 point seat belt. Should I acquire it, would it be reasonable for a local service garage to install it for me? Read more
obtian a middle row seat from a salvage yard 2004 onwards and it should fit fine like for like
I've just found out that my car insurer will not take on new customers after the age of 75. This should be borne in mind by older drivers who consider changing insurers with a view to saving a bob or two. Read more
Yes, this was a problem for my late father when he continued to drive past the age of 75.
It should also be remembered that insurance companies place a considerable loading on premiums for drivers above this age, in insurance terms, it's almost like being a teenager again as far as insurance premiums are concerned!
Can anyone on here explain why there are so many crashes on the A14 specifically involving HGVs? I was returning towards Bury St Edmunds (i.e. eastbound) at about 7pm yesterday when there had been yet another crash on the westbound carriageway near Newmarket involving 2 artics. The result was loads of backed-up traffic and police having to divert vehicles off the road at the earlier exit.
At one time, such crashes used to feature on the local news - but not any more - they seem to happen every week on this straightforward (but busy) piece of road. Read more
RtB,
Good! I can uncross my fingers now - had a horrible thought that I might have been lucky when I used it and you would find it totally clogged!
Phil
Got the symptons of a kaputt clutch release bearing on my T-reg 110 HDi Xantia. Thing is, it's done 165k miles and will very soon need a service, 4 new tyres and the invariable few wee extras they find whenever it's in for an oil change.
Car is probably only worth a few hundred quid, so I guess I'm looking for an idea of what the clutch release bearing job might cost - I gather it's a cheap part, but might involve removal of the gearbox, so will rack up the labour costs, in which case I'll seriously consider getting rid of it, given the other work it'll need doing soon.
Anyone any idea?
I suspect the car is still on its original clutch, would it be more economical in the long run to get the whole thing replaced?
I hate the thought of taking it off the road for one costly fault when the rest of it still works relatively OK, but the silly thing cost me 220 quid for a new starter last week after a lengthy trouble-free period, and I'm fearful that I'm due another catalogue of costly failures - I'd rather just take my chances with a spell of bangernomics! Read more
I did my stepmothers 1.8 xantias clutch sometime back no more difficult than most front wheel drive cars.
One of my relatives has been offered a 2003 Mondeo TDCI 130 hatch, Ghia X (6 speed) model with all the bells and whistles apparently with 102k and full Ford dealer service history. It's been serviced around every 12k from what she's seen of the service history. The car seems clean and tidy, no dents, scratches etc. in or out.
The price is around £4300 - there is little room for haggling as it's a collegues and she doesn't want to "fall out".
Price wise*, is this a good deal or not?
* The merits of buying a TDCI could be argued ad nauseum and probably have been here already ;-) Read more
They seem very happy with the Terracan - her husband is a construction engineer/surveyor type and makes use of it's 4X4 capability and space.
A Sonata? Thanks for the suggestion - I don't think she's thought of anything outside the mainstream brands.....the Sonata would suit her and the long warranty would be very attractive. Though I think she has set herself a budget of around £6k.
Browse
If I can do the job, have time and can finish it on a driveway before it gets dark (!) I will still have a go.
I still get a (call me sad if you will) sense of satisfaction from having fixed my own car,even if it did only save me a tenner.