September 2008
Right,
5 months ago, yes that's right back in April/May I took my car in for a service to a Mazda dealer, this dealer was 20 miles away and selected because they were the cheapest in the area.
All good, they advised that the car had a rust problem which was common with these cars, a simple warranty repair should do the trick. They offered to fix it, but I declined thinking my local dealer will do the job to save the hassle of traveling.
Took the car into local dealer a week or so later, they need authorization from Mazda, guy took photos and said he will ring me.
Few weeks later I go on holiday, I am fairly busy so forget to chase things up, which I shouldnt be doing in the first place.
Return from holiday wondering about the car, go to see them in mid July, they say your work should be authorized by 18th August - we are very busy sir!
A week before the job, dealer calls and says Mazda aren't happy with the photos (this is almost 3 months after they have been taken) asking to bring the car in for new photos.
Car gets new photos in August. Early September I give Mazda UK a call, saying that I am being messed about. They send me a letter saying 10 days. Today is the last day, ring them up and get told to wait until Friday, the dealer should call you and arrange a date to be booked in, I am sick of this and just want away from my local dealer and take to the dealer 20 miles away that were good to me at service time.
"I'm sorry sir, you cannot take your car to the other dealer, if you do wish to do that, we have to start the whole process again"
This involves the whole taking photos for authorization on the same body repairs again, rather than just handing the case over to the other dealer.
Also my local dealer will farm the work out to some dodgy accident repair centre. What a joke.
Does anyone have any advice on how to resolve this easily? Read more
My old Honda has an immobiliser key. The handle cracked. The "circuit board" bit could be anywhere between here and there! Luckily, I've a spare. Should the 1st. one not turn up, is it possible to get some sort of similar "circuit board" stuff (tinned copper sandwiching fibreglass sheet) to make up a new one?
That's unless, of course, immobiliser keys for 18 year old cars are easy to get (and cheap!)! Read more
Heck! If I buy the smallest quantity possible, I can make at least 60 of these things, sourced at *retail*, for 8 quid!!!
Hi Guys
Please can someone give me some advice, I am a novice when it comes to mechanics! I have had no problems with my 306 and all in all been very happy with it, (and I have to be it?s got to last me another couple of years yet!) It?s a 1.9 Turbo Diesel, S Reg with 123,000 miles on the clock, it has been serviced every year (whether it?s done the mileage or not)
However in the last few weeks some gremlins seem to have crept in and I would like some advice so I know what I am dealing with if I go to a garage or if it?s something simple I can fix myself.
1. The air ventilation system has stopped working, also the recirculation and air conditioning buttons do not turn on either, would this be the fuses? Or a wiring issue?
2. More worryingly, when I go to pull off and bring the clutch up to the bite point the car judders (even with a reasonable amount of revs) as if something isn?t quite catching?? If that makes sense? The same happens sometimes in reverse, but in all the other gears it doesn?t do it. Once it?s moving (Say between 5 and 10mph) in first the judders stop however it doesn?t sound good.
Thank you for any advise I am given I really need your help!!!
Martay
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I presume your 306 aircon has not lost pressure? If it needs regassing the aircon will not work, though that won't stop the fan working.
If the blower motor has genuinely failed, it should be possible to get a used one from a scrapper (try Car Transplants) and fit it yourself. I haven't done it on a 306, but that is pretty much a grown-up 205, where the motor is under the dash above the passenger's right foot (maybe driver's foot in France?). Three screws and a connector to deal with - using a mirror makes things easier to see.
The Daewoo is showing the classic symptoms of knackered temp sensor -- runs fine when warm, but jumpy when cold.
Nudge the gas pedal, and the revs dip sharply for a fraction of a second (such that the exterior lights dip in the dark), then rebound back up to where they should be. When the car is running, all is fine. Careful use of clutch minimises the lurching but it catches me out regularly as it's the second car and I don't usually drive it. Strangely SWMBO doesn't see a problem....
As soon as the car has been running for a few minutes, all is fine. Engine sweet as a nut, no MIL, revs stable as can be. Car starts first-time, every time, so in general is running well.
I've identified that the part costs about £20, and that in theory it's fairly easy to fit. However I've had a quick look underneath and can't see it anywhere -- I thought it was supposed to be around the inlet manifold somewhere?
Does anyone have a link to a tech manual for these? I don't think Haynes ever did a manual for them. The engine is just a standard Holden-sourced GM Family II, so I'd imagine almost the same as an Astra. Read more
If you look at the EURO NCP website, it would appear that all cars produced are not tested/listed? Does anyone know how the current Mazda 6 faired? Read more
SWMBO'S daughter's Peugeot 306 HDi is SORNed, being kept on her mother's drive. It gets started up every few weeks and recently we noticed the aircon is not working.
We feel we ought to get it looked at to see if a simple re-gassing will solve the problem, but obviously the car can't be taken anywhere.
Can anyone recommend a mobile aircon specialist in the Peterborough/Oundle area? Many thanks for your help. Read more
CP. Glad to help. That what this lovely site/forum is all about innit?
hi
when i slow down in 2nd and 1st gear i get a whining noise from the gearbox of my 56 reg Fiesta.
is this normal?
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Ford make two different FWD g/boxes-B5(also available as 4-speed) and the MTX .You can tell which you have by selecting reverse.If the lever moves against a spring,it's a B5-If you need to lift a collar under the g/lever knob,it's a MTX.They use different lubricants!!
My Vectra B saloon is over 9 years old - one of the early facelifts. Paint is lifted & rusty metal laminated around both rear wheel arches, quite badly and the paint is soon to come away on one side.
Shame as it is a dear old thing that serves well & I have had a very long time. I do not plan to change it yet (it is worthless anyway) but it will soon look unsightly.
However I have had it dealer serviced and stamped up as it should be, and this car came with a 10 year rust (perforation?) warranty.
Rumour has that the rot is from within, ie rather than from paint broken on turned in edge of wheel arch.
I am about to go & see body shop manager of local dealer for a chat. Anyone any tips / advice? Read more
I have a small spot of rust at the rear of one of my wheelarches on a '99 Vectra. However, it's the side where somebody rear-ended me, so I always imagined it wasn't the car's fault. In any event, it hasn't seen a dealer in years.
My wife is an executor of her father's estate and it's fallen to me to sell his Peugeot 206. The family don't want to "give it away", neither do they want to hold out for top price. It's been valued for probate at £2,500 so (to prove my skill and worth) I'd like to get around £3k for it.
What none of us want is to be messed around by tyre kickers or no-shows. So, I'm assuming Autotrader is the place to go, but does the team think that I should put on a value and say Strictly No Offers, or the usual o.n.o. to allow for some haggling. Also would stating that it is an Executors Sale be a Good Thing, a Bad Thing, or would most people who'd be interested not have a clue what that meant?
btw the car is an '02 Pug 206 GLX 1.6 auto, 5 door, 28k miles, tax/MOT till (I think) March, FPSH, generally in good nick except a matching set of small parking dings front and rear (well, he was 86...). If any of our experts have a different view on the valuation I'd be pleased to hear...
Thanks
EDIT: The £2.5k figure was the Low Parkers valuation...
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Just to close this one off...
I used the website mnentioned above (webuyyourcar) to get an online valuation, which came out at £2450. I thought I was fairly honest about the couple of dents which I could see...
Having read around, I told the executors (my wife and her bro)the value, with the warning that they would probably offer less on sight. They agreed to accept £2300 (for the sake of a quick and easy sale).
Made an appt to take the car in, on Saturday. I was 2 hours early (unlike me!) and ended up having to hang around quite a while. Then the chappie came out to see the car, bit of wheel kicking, rubbing tiny chips (on a 6 year old car!), making a few illegible notes, telling me the bonnet was out of alignhment (which I could see, once he pointed it out!) and, using a paint thickness measuring tool, demonstrated to me that the deceased had had more knocks (and cheaop repairs) to teh car than he'd told us about!
He then made us an offfer of £2200, which I initially rejected, but after discussion with the executors I went back in and accepted.
In the circumstances, it was certainly a very easy way to shift the car. Given some of people's comments elsewhere in this thread about it's value, and the overall economic gloom around these days, but, most importantly, the feelings of my wife and her bro, it was exactly the right thing to have done. I feel that with a bit of effort (e.g. cleaning the car inside and out, advertising, waiting patientyly by the phone for no-shows and time wasters etc etc) I could have probably got a few hundred more. But I don't feel hard done by, in this instance.
Mind you, I also got a value on the Vectra I paid £8.5k for a couple of years ago. Either they are completely wrong, or (more likely) I've taken a bath on it. As expected :-)
Lastly, regarding sale & transfer, and just for the record, you *can* sell a deceased person's car before probate is granted. You do not sign the tear-off part of the V5 and send it with a covering letter to DVLA. We also had to take copies of wills etc to the dealer to complete the sale. This prompted the funniest part of the process, where the guy called his boss to check the process, and the boss apparently asked "does the seller look honest", which he repeated out loud to me, and I replied "Of course - I'm not the car dealer!!" He very much saw the funny side...
Thanks to all who contributed to this thread. :-)
hi guys my e36 auto is making a squeeking noise when i start the car and put it into drive,it is not always there but happens nearly every day at some time or another,when i drive off and the revs increas the noise goes away,its like a dry bearing or something of that sort and is only there when car is put into drive,car is an import from japan and is in great condition with only 50 000 miles on the clock,any ideas as to what it is would be great...
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Sounds as silly when my Mondeo has rusting doors. Took it to the local dealer and they send me to their bodyshop. Photos taken but due to a file size restriction on emails imposed by their HQ they cannot send them :-)
Then I chase and still they cannot send? I ask why not post a disk or print out the pictures but no the process is send via email. Later I try to chase them along via the lease company and they say take elsewhere. Then because the lease company never paid the 20 quid per year body check then Ford wouldn't do anything anyway! Warranty void.
Which is why I left photos in the car of the panels before it could have gone to auction!
Best of luck with your case. I think I'd stick with the current dealer and when work approved try to get it transferred somewhere better.