August 2008
Classic Vespa falls foul of EU emissions rules
The classic Vespa scooter which came to symbolise Mod rebellion in Britain has been scrapped after falling foul of European Union emissions rules.
The last Vespa PX, with its distinctive waspish engine, came off the production line this weekend.
Italian company Piaggio said that tightening emission legislation sounded the death-knell on the 30-year-old, manually-geared bike - and that all models would now be automatic.
More here: tinyurl.com/5w637p (links to The Telegraph)
And after having a few of them pass me in Southsea on Sunday, I can quite understand why - noisy, stinky, horrible things. Read more
the red light handbrake light has started to flash intermitently but this only happens when either i dip the clutch or i accelerate brake pads are ok as are the back breaks so any clues of where to look for this fault? Read more
thanks mate i,ve checked the fluid and it is down so i,ll book the car in tommorow at the garage
Despite a full and very expensive service at an audi main dealer, my A6 Avant 2.5 TDI (02) is shuddering quite badly when accellerating from a standstill or from a v low speed (probably from 1st gear only - it is an auto gearbox). The problem was reported to them before the sevice and they changed the fuel filter in the service (scheduled) which seemed to rectify the problem but it has started again just a few months later (and not many miles added). With various bits and pieces the last service came to £1k and i don't feel like giving them any more of my money! They want another 1 hour diagnostic session at £100 per hour and am not sure what to do - is it good money after bad?
Any thought on what the problem might be? a faulty new filter? a gearbox problem (they also changed the gearbox fluid in the service)? an engine problem?
Any advice would be very much appreciated Read more
hi, car is a 2004 mg zr 1.4 lt. i've just have fitted a replacement radiator as the old one sprang a leak. since fitting it and running the car p to temperature, i have found that the bottom radiator hose doesnt get hot and neither of the hoses for the heater get hot either, on both hoses in question you can hold onto them without fear of getting burnt hands. also in the expansion tank, it seems to be spitting from the pipe near the top of the tank into the tank.
hope someone can help
thanks in advance Read more
now all fixed. bled cooling system as now seems to be a lot better.
thanks for the help.
My friends on here may have noticed that I have been sleuthing for a little run around for some friends as I am supposed to be the car nut. I always like to do my research and hence I up a thread up on the Jazz. The Colt was mentioned as a great little car but is it true that the 1.1 3 pot feels quicker than the 1.3 4 cylinder? The latter has 20 bhp more and the figures are quite marked. I like 3 pots as they have chracter but I put a post on three cylinder motors and the general consensus was that three pot engines tend to be knackered bu 60K. Advice and experience welcome. I gather that the 1.5 Diesel is a three banger as well but I personally wouldn't want to recommend a small car with common rail. Read more
I'm pretty sure HJ commented three years ago that the 1.1 was the better drive.
That's why I was surprised at how bad I found the one I tried. But horses for courses (and it might have been a duff one) - I would just say don't dismiss the 1.3 based on its engine without driving one first.
Of course I accept that your purchase and running costs are going to be higher with a 1.3 and those might be good enough reasons for rejecting it.
Hi all,
I have been thinking about buying a Toyota Verso 1.8 petrol and, with all the rise in fuel and VED, I am begining to look around for an alternative. The other car which I am considering is the Ford C-Max.
I had a quick sit in one in Motorpoint a few weeks ago and, partly because I was not really aware of the car and so my mind was 'set' against one plus I find the way I had to wrap my legs on either side of the large steering wheel column in a strange way, I admittedly did dismiss it. However, I am going to take another look at one later on this week and would welcome views on the vehicle itself, quality, engines, etc.
My last car was a petrol 1.6 and I was hoping to downsize in engine with my next car but my height makes this impossible. I am looking at the likes of the Verso, the C-Max and so on because they allow me to feel comfortable and safe in the driver's seat as opposed to cramped and too near the metal. I am against diesels for health reasons but have to admit the 1.6 and 1.8 Ford diesels do seem very economical and I am told that they are the most refined diesels on the market - hate diesel clatter also - and the VED is low on them compared to both the diesel and petrol Verso VED... I think.
Thanks for any constructive thoughts,
T. Read more
Tawse, Somewhere buried here is a thread I started 18 months ago. I reckon you just might like the idea of buying the car I went out to buy; a Subaru Legacy Tourer. My local dealer has an 06 model up at 8990. I suspect this is negotiable. I think this would tick all your boxes. Best wishes.
a family member has purchased a w reg 1100 (yes really) rover 200 , ive been asked to have a poke round to make sure its ship shape and trusty
im looking for tips on what to look for on this model
is the 1100 engine one that suffers head gasket failure? whats the cambelt interval?
are they as underpowered as im expecting Read more
my girl friend has the 200 1.1 model.
The water pump started leaking and the rest you can imagine - I've rebuilt it after cleaning it and new parts.
Got to say I started it today after not being touched for 5 months and it still starts first time, good runner, even when the head gasket went it ran - only 40 flat out though!
.*********
Just do you weekly checks and if you spot anything sort it so its not too late and costly.
I was watching this the other night.
As usual, some teenage hooligans were stopped and turned out to have little in the way of tax, licence, insurance, brain and so on.
One of them objected to being filmed. The PC told him that as he was in a public place the cameraman could film him.
Then I thought afterwards about all the current stories concerning the police and community support, telling people that they can't take photographs in public places.
I must say if I were stopped by the police accompanied by a film crew I would object strogly to being filmed. But I would also object to a policeman telling me I couldn't photograph, say, my local council office.
Any thoughts on rights and wrongs?
Read more
I saw that BobbyG I think it was a Roadwars epsiode which has not been
repeated every day like the others. That whole job was so embarassing they all had
red mist because a motorcycle policeman got "attacked with a machete" and it turned out
he was uninjured and hadn't.
The only embarassing bit that I can remember was accidentally stuffing the Vectra into the marked car, but who here has never underestimated how long their car will take to stop? Especially under such cicumstances, I've ended up going almost sideways through a junction once when I made a similar miscalculation on a wet road and I didn't even have any wet mist. I did have two new tyres soon after though, Chinese rubbish is not good in the wet.
The rest of it was just how I would think it should be, they smashed the hell out of the Astra with a range of heavy impacts from their patrol cars and eventually detained the guy in a field. I thought it was impressive and if it wouldn't put such a large hole in the traffic budgets I wish they would be similarly hard with other miscreants.
Hi All,
My Daughter has purchased the above car and is extremely pleased with it. However, unlike her previous '02 Corsa its only come with one key plip for the central locking. It has come with another key which I assume is to manually unlock the doors. I would like to order another key plip as SWMBO will be driving the car as well.
Questions are:
1. I assume I will only be able to get the plip key from a Vauxhall Dealer as the key number will be imperative.
2. If I get the replacement will I need to get it programmed or can i just put it in the ignition and in the on position hold the button in for 5 secs (like you can with Peugeots).
Any Idea on costs for a replacement key plip?
Your help and assistance is as always very much appreciated Read more
www.alarmremotes.co.uk/
Or these guys - they were well regarded hereabouts a few thousand posts ago.
Every warning light concerning Brakes ABS Tracction Control and a few others have come up on the dash and my mechanic can't get any code read, He has sophisticated code readers, could it be an ECU Failure, the car drives fine but cant get it through an mot because of the ABS lights on, Most Gratefull For Any Help Read more
You appear to have posted away form your thread. Are you looking for
www.bba-reman.com/
Regards Peter
Browse
I had a 1986 PX 125 in the late 80's, and loved it. Yes, it was slow and cumbersome and a bit smelly, but that was all part of the charm. I reckoned I was a bit of a latterday mod, but wasn't at all really. I traded it for a car when I went to Uni in 1989 (Exeter is a long way from Bromley & the Vespa doesn't have a great deal of luggage space).
I actually now commute on a modern Vespa ET4 125, and find that I am quicker than the few PXs I come across, even though a 4 stroke. One part of this may be because the CVT autobox (or whatever it is under there) goes straight to peak power and stays there as you accelerate, where the PX being a manual has to go through the rev range in all gears.
All in all, I will be sad to see the PX go, but scooters have moved on- cleaner, more practical and quicker. Sadly, also now much of the time ridden by chavs in hoodies with stupidly loud exhausts.
Cheers,
Alex.