August 2008
At last, some "man maths" which actually stack up ! As some of you will already know I have been running two cars back to back for a month. One is my older (02 )Mondeo diesel estate, the other is my recently aquired, albeit second hand, 2.2 petrol Signum.
This has been an especially busy motoring month and I have managed to rack up 3000 miles in both cars.
The Mondeo has used 69 gallons of Diesel. The Signum has used 80 gallons of petrol. These figures are real and measured using brimming rather than on board computers.
Given the diesel / petrol price differential of approx 10% at present it starts to become quite marginal which is the more economical to run even on high mileage.
If you then take into the picture that the second hand price differential between same model petrol / diesel cars is markedly in favour of petrol variants it makes even more of a case for petrol.
Now, as I said, this has been a particularly busy month and should not be taken as typical but the reality is that I shall probably do about 40k in the next 12 months.
My back of an envelope calculation tells me that if I use the petrol car for the next 100k miles that when you take all the numbers into account that the cost works out about the same as if I had chosen to buy another diesel one. Read more
Hi,
I've had a Nissan Tino (auto) for three weeks now and it's been great to drive. However, there seems to be a fault developing and wondered if anyone could shed any light on this please?
When I turn the ignition key to the point where the dashboard lights come on, the car often does one of three things...
1. Starts normally (approx half of the time)
2. Sounds a quick beep of the horn and starts normally (approx half of the time)
3. Lights all warning lights on dash, windscreen wipers and washer fluid come on and horn sounds continuously ALL at the same time! (only happened twice - the second time this morning!)
This is an ex-mobility car, in case it matters. One thing nobody seems to know about is that on the pillar between the windscreen and drivers side door and almost at roof level is some kind of electrical device. It's a tiny (approx 2cm square) black plastic box fixed with velcro to the pillar inside the car. It looks to have an LED embedded into the centre of it, although this has never been lit and there's a black wire coming from the box and going behind the trim to goodness knows where. The dealer didn't know what it was. I wondered if this is the cause of this electrical (fault?) or if there's possibly another explanation?
Thank you in advance for any help or pointers.
Regards,
Jim Read more
Hello there Jim ... You've picked a good car there - I've had an 05 Almera 1.8 auto for about a year and a half now + its an ex-motorbility car, as were my previous 2 cars, a Focus and a Clio ... I buy them all from a dealer in Cornwall who specialises in ex motorbilty cars which are one owner low milage jobs.
I would recommend that you treat this as urgent (just in case), try to contact the previous reg. owner, try to contact the garage that carried out the motorbilty conversion, failing that, I'd recommend you contact an auto electrician pronto !
Good Luck - Dog.
I was involved in an accident about 9 months ago and I didn't bother repairing my car afterwards, I just had it scrapped. I didn't make any insurance claim myself as my insurance was third party only, but I informed my insurance company as there had been another vehicle involved (and also because I'd scrapped my car). I received a letter from my insurance company asking me to forward on any correspondence to them. Later, I got a letter saying something about damage to a fence. But now I haven't heard anything for ages; the accident was back in November. My insurance policy eventually expired (in February) and I didn't renew it because I didn't get a new car. So, what happens to my no claims bonus? As far as I know, I haven't made a claim, or at least I haven't been informed of one... Is it even possible to keep a no claims bonus after a period of not owning a car / having any insurance? Any opinions?
Cheers :)
J Read more
I would ask for a letter confirming NCB. This what I did when I went car-less for a while.
I have an older car I don't use much. The battery was running low so I removed it and trickle charged it on a ' clever ' charger until it was fully juiced .
On connecting it back to the car , suddenly smoke emerged from the engine bay - I quickly disconnected it... I investigated and saw that a cable ( no more than 2mm core ) covered in red insulation and feeding the starter solenoid off the main loom had begun to melt ... or rather the red insulation begun to melt and expose the cable
I will call the 4th emergency service out, but beforehand , anybody got any tips on what could have been the root cause and what I can do to cure it ?
many thanks Read more
I think you might need to check that the alternator is actually charging, and all 3 phases are still working.
Hi all! I have a mazda 5 Ts2 08(facelift model) 2.0lt petrol which I plan to tow with.I carry in the boot space a fair amount of disability equipment plus a 1000w generator when out with my caravan.I have been told that the suspension on the mazda 5 can be a little soft and that I might need spring assisters.Is this the case and if so what size would I need? I know that I would have to measure the gap on the coil when the car is raised to get size but my disability makes this impossible for me to do.My son says he will fit them if I get them.Please can anyone help? Read more
Give Grayston Engineering a call on 020 8974 1122. They are the premier manufacturer of rubber spring assisters.
My wife's Punto has developed an issue where when you brake hard the red handbrake warning light comes on sometimes for 5 or 10 seconds and then goes out.
I've checked the brake fluid which is OK and the the handbrake lever was fully down when this happened. I can't see any other issues that this could relate to according to the manual.
As far as I know the 1.2 Active model does not have brake wear indicators but I may be wrong and it could be this.
Does anyone have any ideas please? Read more
Having had a closer look it looks like the feeder filter is partially blocked hence the actual fluid level is less than it looks.
Evenin' all
SWMBO's Zafira has developed the usual wiring fault where the leading edge of the rear door chews through the loom between the B pillar and the door connector - central locking and speaker have stopped working on OSR door.
Having already done this on the NSR door it was a real pain trying to solder the wiring with the door still on, so this time I'd like to remove it. Haynes just tells me to punch the hinge pins out, but I can't see how to do this, given the curvature of the door skin there's nowhere to locate a punch and swing a hammer. Is there an easier method? Read more
If you can't find one locally, then look on the Draper website. tinyurl.com/2z7w5p
I went to a historic car rally recently and saw a Model T Ford. The car looked like it had just been discovered in a barn so shabby it stood out from all the pristine, done up to perfection other entries. The owner had the bonnet open to show the engine and I could hardly believe what I saw. In place of the HT leads was rusty barbed wire. The engine actually ran as it was driven to the site. Just thought it might be of interest. Read more
Model Ts were meant to be like that, I think - go on forever as long as they could still be botched up.
I'd love to drive one and have a go at that two-speed gearbox with the foot pedal change. My grandfather said it was once reckoned you could drive a car or you could drive a Ford Model T - but rarely both.
i romoved my instrument cluster yesterday to replace a blown bulb. when i put it all back together my speedo, rev counter fuel and temp guages have stopped working. All mt warning lights are working and my mileage is displayed but not advancing as i drive... does anyone have any ideas o i forgot to mention it still lights up when i turn my headlights on. Read more
thanks for your help have ordered second hand cluster will try again when it arrives
My Mazda 323TD (90k miles) has started running rough recently hestitating and surging at low speeds. Today I felt a distinct lack of power pulling away from stop. Runs okay at higher speeds. When revving at c2k when staionary there is first blue smoke then black from the exhaust and the engine stutters then runs okay above 3k revs. Engine has been regularly serviced. Still on original exhaust - could this be on its way out? Any ideas most appreciated.
Read more
Turned out the problem was down to a dirty air filter element. Lifted out the old filter by chance and although it was only replaced in March (7k miles ago) it had collected a lot of crud and dust. Pity the mechanic in the dealership didn't think of that before me. Could have saved me £60 replacing a fuel filter unnecessarily.
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>>If you predominatley drive in town then diesel scores for the above reasons.
But, doesn't the particulate filter on later (Euro 4/5) diesels need a regular long quick run to avoid it getting blocked up? Even then it might be an issue...
If you're paying the bills, and not a gambling man, petrol has to be the way to go.