September 2008
Mrs P's GTi will be due for a service in a couple of months - Having been disappointed with the supplying dealer's abysmal service we may do it whilst we're up in Wales. Located three dealers in the area where we'll be staying (near Llanberis)
1. Slaters in Abergele (Good experience at the Skoda side of things there)
2. Pentraeth Automotive on Anglesey
3. Regent Garage in Criccieth
Any local knowledge out there ?
We're not going to the Chester VW site. Read more
I have just bought a 3 year old Mondeo from a dealer in Southampton, with 30K on the clock. I found the car on the internet and went to view and purchase the car yesterday. When I originally phoned about the car, I asked if there was a full service history and I was told there was. I did a visual check of the car and went for a test drive. Everything seemed OK. I asked about the Service Book and was told it was in the glove compartment. I didn't check. I paid for the car and drove away.
I couldn't check the car in detail after I got home yesterday, as I had to go out. I used my wife's car as I cannot tax the car I bought until Monday (It was originally resistered in Northern Ireland, and I live in England).
This morning, I checked the car in more detail, including the Service Book. It had one service recorded in it - the one the dealer said had been done as part of their package when selling a used car. The car was a proper Ford Service Book, but there was no history of any other service.
I called some Ford dealers in Belfast, and located the one which had serviced the car last. The dealer said that the car had been serviced in December 2007, and a few parts replaced under warranty. The service was carried out at 20K miles. However, they then went on to say that the first service at 12.5K was missed. Any defects as a result of missing this service would not be covered by Ford. Presumably, this is not a problem as the warranty is 3 years, and the car is just over 3 years old.
I am annoyed I didn't check this before, and probably won't get anywhere with the dealer.
The question I have is, I would like to take out extended warranty cover. If a failure then occurs, will the warranty cover company get out of paying up if they discover the history? Will the fact that Ford replaced some parts under warranty on the service at 20K miles have a positive effect on this? Read more
Past history is not relavant, you would not be able to extend the Ford Warranty has the original has expired. If you can, it would be very pricy.
I would suggest you look at Genisis (Warranty Administration Ltd) and take out a years cover inc breakdown. As long as its serviced in line with manufactures spec there is no problem. You might have a case against the garage if you were mislead, might be worth speaking to them. For piece of mind, maybe take it to a Rapid Fit for an oil change and visual check perhaps?
Just looked it up and its still alive! My Dad done it up, new engine everything about 10 years ago. Wonder where it is now! Read more
Ask on volkszone.com - UK-based with lots of camper owners, and there is a where-is-it-now sub-forum.
Two different but equally alarming observations of dopiness on the M40 in Buckinghamshire the other evening.
1.
In fading light, when almost all the other vehicles had lights on, a twilight-grey Audi A6 was trundling along at 60ish in lane 3 of 4 with acres of empty space to its left and not a light in sight; in other word, getting on for invisible. As I passed, I looked across to see its driver (40ish, female and alone in the car) evidently engaged in a conversation on the phone that required a good deal of gesticulating. She seemed still to have a hand on the wheel, but plainly not much mind on the job - not the one of driving anyway.
If challenged, I'm sure she'd have insisted that her hands-free device made this safe. I would disagree.
2.
The other car was a Volvo S60, and this one was showing some lights - just not enough; the offside tail light wasn't working. Unremarkable, except that I know a bit about the S60 and not only does it have two bulbs for each tail light, but the computer (even the bare-bones one in my S model) gives you an unmissable and specific warning when one of them fails. So this driver (youngish, male, didn't look dim or impoverished) had been ignoring the message about the first bulb long enough for the second one to go. At this point, the message would have changed to 'Multiple lamp failures'. And he still didn't fix it.
There have been threads here about the difficulty of changing bulbs on modern cars, but an S60 tail lamp bulb costs about 80p and can be fitted without tools in about two minutes. And Swedish cars (the makers' marketers tell us) are supposed to appeal to those of a higher IQ than the average car buyer!
There. Feel better now. Nice cup of tea...sit down. Aaaaah.
}:---) Read more
Another good reason to make motorcycle riding compulsory; give people a sense o vulnerability. One of my "usual suspects" was stopped by the Police the other day, not only content with overtaking a Police car in a 30, he nearly clipped a kerb on an island, he had no brake light, no indicators - I was surprised he only had a ticket to fix the faults, seems the cops were in a hurry as well.
My Daughter's Polo has a 'Lights On' buzzer that's not working. It should buzz if she leaves the lights on and opens the driver's door. Also it should work if the lights are off, but she activates the either side parking lights via the indicator stalk and opens the driver's door. Neither activates the buzzer. I read that the buzzer is integral to the instrument cluster, cannot be changed, but rarely goes faulty anyway. Apparently the most common fault is the driver's door switch, but I've tested the switch and it is definately working. Does anyone know if the buzzer is activated by a relay? I've looked at the Haynes wiring diagram and it doesn't show how the buzzer is triggered by the door switch. I'm guessing it's the same buzzer as for the low oil pressure warning because I can't see another. Any help to clear the fog appreciated. Thanks Steve. Read more
If I recall it works thro the ignition switch so the buzzer only works with key out of steering lock.Iwould think the quickest and cheapest option is to fit an aftermarket buzzer wired from the lighting circuit to the door pillar switch.hth
Hi,
I am about to move house that will see me have to drive the kids to school up a hillside and across it (for about 5 miles) on a B road well above the snow line in the Scottish Borders. I am considering a Freelander 2 (Will the higher spec Terain Response system be neccesary?) or an X3 or possibly X5 (second hand obviously!) as I am basically looking for a smallish 4x4 that can cope with the snowy roads, and also drives well round corners in normal conditions. Does anyone have any experience of these cars or indeed others in snow? Read more
Off on a slight tangent, some of you AWD owners may find this interesting:
tinyurl.com/3kyxan
I get an error code of P0093, 'large fuel leak' on Toyota Avensis. Also getting black smoke from exhaust. With constant 58mpg there IS no fuel leak. I've replaced the pump, cleared the EGR valve and filters, all of which work for a while. Then ping, back comes the error message, and fuel consumption remains good. Occasionally the engine loses all power, but comes back if you switch on and off. At a real loss as to what's the root cause. Anyone with any ideas? Read more
Definately injector leak past problem. Requires a leak past test to verify faulty one (s)
hth Mickeybo
From the BBC:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7635486.stm
Summary (sorry for the shouting, just cut and pasted):
1. DON'T MISREAD THE HORN
2. DON'T CHANGE LANES IN SLOW-MOVING TRAFFIC
3. MAKE EYE CONTACT WHEN YOU CAN
4. LIMIT YOUR COMMUTE TO QUARTER OF AN HOUR
5. REMEMBER, YOU DON'T OWN THAT PARKING SPACE
6. DRIVING IS A MENTAL WORKOUT
7. LATE MERGING IS OK
8. TAILGATING SLOWS US ALL DOWN
9. TREAT ALL CYCLISTS THE SAME, HELMET OR NO HELMET
10. LEARN FROM LEWIS Read more
May I suggest an 11th , buy a Rover 75............
I have a 2004 BORA 1.9 TDI and ive just noticed that there is some thick oil in the tank where you top the water up. The oil level is ok theres no sludge in the oil cap the heaters work fine the car is not smoking and is running perfectly. If you look in the oil you can see its only on top and there is clean water under it also you can see the water coming back through from the engine is clean aswell.Does anyone have any idea what this could be as i am worried sick thinking that there is something drastic wrong somewhere but what i can't understand is the car is running perfect Read more
Agreed, if the car still runs OK, oil cooler (on oil filter housing) is most likely cause.
The biggest challenge is cleaning out the cooling system once the oil cooler has been changed. You need a suitable detergent (with no salt in it).
Just had a test drive in the new Fiesta. Really good car to drive and, if I was buying a new supermini, this would be top of the list.
Has anyone seen the new Jazz anywhere?
I test drove a 1.25 today and it didn't feel underpowered. Really good car.
Read more
Then again I don't do that many miles to let economy worry me too much.
What do you think?
I think that if your mileage is low, your major cost will be depreciation. If cost is a concern, then your main priority should be to minimise depreciation, and that isn't achieved by buying a new car.
Or even booking the Skoda in while wearing it. "There's lovely boyo" ! "You'll be from England then I expect ? "