July 2008
For anyone contemplating owning a Porsche my experience may be worth considering.
I took delivery of my first Porsche, a new Cayman S in July 2006. After becoming familiar with the vehicle, but within the first 3 months, I became aware of a rattle from the rear near side corner, occurring at around 3000rpm in 6th gear but evident from 60 - 80 mph. Over the next 15 months I returned the vehicle at least 4 times to Porsche because they had failed to identify or rectify the fault. In the end they said the problem was being caused by the rear tailgate struts but even replacing them failed to rectify the problem. Why it should only occur on one side they couldn't explain. When I suggested that the car should be rejected as fundamentally flawed they said that the fault was 'characteristic' and so there was no fault to answer for.
I do not accept that a near £50,000 car should suffer from a rattle, and to suggest that it's 'characteristic' rather undermines the Porsche reputation for excellent engineering.
With only a 2 year guarantee, and this rather tainted experience, I decided I could not face life with a Porsche outside of the guarantee period, and have just sold the vehicle.
I would welcome news of anyone who has had a similar experience.
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I was in perplexing situation this morning. On a two lane road (dual carriage way) I stopped at a red traffic light with a truck beside me. Not longer after an ambulance came right behind me with siren blaring. Momentarily, I remembered the DVLA instruction not to break law even for siren blaring vehicles. But this was an ambulance and most probably with a life at risk. The Ambulance increased the intensity of its siren and the truck moved forward at the red light, somehow I got compelled to give way, thus I beat the red light to give way to the ambulance. Was I correct? Should I have waited for green light and hold up the Ambulance? what about if there was traffic light camera? Your opinions needed. Read more
Tragic for all concerned ... but it's entirely to be expected when the penalties for
intervening are so high.
If the van driver had stopped and taken the child back to nursery he'd have
had a reasonable chance of getting a police caution and ending up on the register
of sex offenders ... and I don't blame him at all for not risking it.
If you punish good faith actions then people don't act in good faith. Why is
anyone surprised?
the bit that surprises me is why more people don't stand up to this rubbish. If the decent folk of this land 'kowtow' to this sort of thing, all of a sudden it's the norm... and there'll be worse on the way.
decent people have to stand up for themselves and thereby do everyone else a favour
there is no reason on earth why a van driver shouldn't stop and assist a vulnerable child. If he has a brain and a tongue he can patiently explain what has happened, can't he?
Hi,
My wife has a 1.4 HDi Peugeot 207. I'd like to do an oil change as we bought the car new and plan to keep it a while. Problem is that I had a quick look underneath and can't locate the oil drain plug in the sump. I didn't have time to do a thorough check but I'm beginning to wonder if there's one at all. Does anyone know for sure? I know that suction is popular among places that do express servicing but I can't believe that a manufacturer would design a car around it...
Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions. Read more
Surely though if sludge is forming in the engine, its all over the engine internals?
I mean, to the oil pick up screen, the method of sump draining would seem irrelevant as the flow of oil through the screen during normal running coats it (when oil is sludging) in a substance that any draining method will not remove.
Whenever draining oil from our own cars over the decades, by the sump plug removal method, there has never been anything other than liquid oil in the bottom of the old washing up bowl I used to decant by funnel after the change.
That`s evidence enough for me, that there is nothing else in there unable to come out by suction!
regards
Fiddling with the audio controls on the radio, I found an option to adjust the "input volume" for the aux input.
I fancy plumbing in my mp3 player, but have no idea where this socket is-if it is a socket !
The unit is a blaupunkt radio cd (sorry there are no model numbers). If it helps, its a "double height" unit, that plays mp3 cds, and also has LW - so I pinch the car when Test Match Special is on !
The car is three moths old, so I don't want to maul about with taking things apart too much. Is there a socket lurking somewhere (behind glovebox?) that will be easy to access ? Read more
Had a good look in there too, as a mate has just bought one and told me about it.......
All that lurks in there is a switch to deactivate the pass airbag - very useful for transporting the nipper and keeping an eye on him.
The more I drive it, the more I realise what a well thought out and satisfying little rocket the Panda is.
One other thing - the Aux input is selected by pressing the CD button a couple of times.
Ford C-Max 1.6 Duratorq CVT produces puffs of thick black smoke on pull away and also seems to have excessive smoke at certain revs (1500-1750rpm). As its a CVT it annoyingly seems to spend a lot of its time in this particular band. It doesn't seems to effect MPG (can actually get an unbelievable 58MPG on motorway at 60mph!). The car before I inherited it did have problems with stalling (I know about the transmission failure and engine management issues). The Ford dealer seems to have fixed these problems... I am wondering however if he did so by making the mixture rich in the zones when the engine/transmission would otherwise fail... Therefore causing the excessive smoke.
I know that high loads and harsh acceleration can cause diesels to smoke but beginning to think that the car is becoming a red arrow at times!
On a separate issue (I hope!) the car was recently serviced and they found that the oil was very gungey (the correct term?). They also noticed that the dipstick always seemed to have oil on it even when the sump was drained (the oil is disgustingly black). They recommended a oil flush to clear this excessive deposit away. Is this worthwhile or have a got a serious problem?
Thanks
Chris
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hi guys, got no lights on within the car, i have a 54 plate, always when i start it in the morning get black smoke which i think is ok , however i have recently, whilst on the motorway seen loads of black smoke, may need a service and the turbo appears to be in working order. ???
...
Bargain. I could scarcely buy the oil and filter for that - let alone have my tyres gone over by somebody who is desperate to sell me some new ones.
They did tell me I need new front brake discs however as they were rusty round the edges, but I pointed out that I had a nice shiny new MOT, so I really didn't think so; "very well Sir". You'd have thought that if it were so urgent they'd have tried to persuade me a little harder, wouldn't you?
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going back ten years I know, but I got a nail in a front tyre took the car to a well known fast fit chain and had the job done.
short while after realised by oild drips that the sump was squashed and buckled so badly it had taken out some retaining bolts it needed a new sump plus lots of drilling and tapping threads to fix it.
Sad part was the day before it collected the tyre nail, it had a full service at an independent and I saw under the car for other innocent reasons just before it was dropped off the ramp, and I KNOW the car was 100% OK when it left the independent and before I took it to THAT fast fit.
lF i ever get another nail in a tyre I swap tyres with the spare and take the wheel in 'loose' now
I am coming to the end of a bangernomics phase (18 months ago I gave up full time work in order to build an extension on my house which is almost finished, so I should be earning again soon) and fancy a change (I think) from my customary Legacy estates.
Last year I bought an immaculate Mazda 626 2.0 petrol with FSH and all the toys from someone on the BR but now I wish to take advantage of the falling market, and MichaelR's constant praise of his 530 has got me thinking...
My annual mileage is quite low, circa 5/7k,and I wondered what the advantage of a manual box over an auto was....apart from extra mpg. I do very little urban driving, living on the NYorks/Cumbria border. Presumably not having an auto box restricts the number of potential buyers when I come to sell.
Reliability and handling are my primary concerns...the Subarus delivered in spades on those two counts, but their interior trim let them down.
Opinions please
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In my opinion, the manual 530i (E39) is a candidate for 'best car in the world'. Superb choice!
I own a company, and a driver left the keys in the ignition whilst he made a quick (1-2mins delivery) 10 yards from the van. As his back was turned, someone stole the vehicle. It appeared a few weeks later - a complete write off. Our insurance company have just rejected our claim referring to a clause in the policy which invalidates the insurance if the keys are left in an unattended vehicle.
This incident has meant that the hire company (whose vehicle it was) have issued us with a £12,000 invoice in settlement of the loss, and continue to charge us £330.00 a month (hire fee on a van we don't have) until this is paid.
This can't be the first time this sort of thing has happened, and I am interested to know if there is a recommended course of action that I could take before I threaten my now ex-employee with court action unless he pays the bill.
I am also aware that court action can be expensive and long winded with a great possibility that the person will be 'unable to pay' despite me winning the case.
Any information/advice on this would be much appreciated
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I've set mine to someone I hate.
you utter pig PU, someone has dumped a hideously ugly roomster outside my house and the neigbours are complaining.
At 3 months and 6000 miles the hydraulic tappets on this deisel were a-tappeting away rather noisily so I changed the oil with Vauxhall fully synthetic (£70)
At 6 months and 12000 miles the oil is black and they are starting to be noisy again.
So what happened to 20000 mile oil changes and what would be a good idea to check or do?
Cheers
Tom Read more
At 20000 miles the oil change has not fixed the knocking this time. It is not deisel knock because it is only under load. Basically I now believe that it is bearings and an insider tells me that it isnt good, is common and that Vauxhall know about it but are not admitting it. I dont know how long this particular engine has been around since relevent modifications. That is fairly vital as it would show how much of a problem it is going to become over time for Vauxhall to deny it and the chances of getting Vauxhall to have to accept the reality.
any car..just a general question {not compulsory to select make/model here in Discussion - your earlier choice now removed DD}
i was just wondering was there a specific time when vehicle makers changed over to metric fasteners?
did europe have metric stuff before us?
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All Morgan 4/4 wheel studs are metric threads. So from 1936...
Same thread as a VW Beetle...
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I do see your point. My wet dogs and I could live, just, with a rattling Porsche. Shame he's got rid of it as I could have done a swap for my faithful Nissan.