September 2008
Following on from some of the questions raised in the Badge snobbery V inverted badge snobbery thread, I've often wondered why assumptions are made of people by the type of car people drive. You hear phrases like "Typical xxx (insert offending make of car) driver" both on this forum and in general. Often maligned are BMW drivers, but what makes a BMW driver? Many years ago I bought myself a two year old 318. The day before I'd had an Opel Manta, but Overnight the world around me changed - I was now perceived as a BMW driver and it was immediately noticeable that I was not let out of side roads, when I was overtaking people put their foot down to prevent me passing -yes it happened in other cars but not as regularly as in the BMW. Within a week of having it, it had been keyed parked outside my house, two month later someone attempted to break into it. After 3 months I sold - at a profit amazingly, which helped.
I am not a car snob and buy whatever suits my needs/budget. I too have owned an orange Skoda Estelle (and sold it for a profit) and a Lada Riva and suffered a different type of abuse. If you overtake in one of those some people feel as if their masculinity has been threatened and they then indulge in a suicidal manoeuvre just to get back in front of you. I?ve come to the conclusion that a nondescript middle range car in a dull colour allows you to be treated best.
Read more
SWMBO stationary at lights last night in offside lane to go straight on (nearside lane turns left, stationary traffic in that lane too) when front nearside glass shatters (she says she heard loud bang).
She managed to drive home without the glass falling out. When she arrived, there was a small hole right at the top of the window, 7 or 8 mm., and one particle of glass inside the car
RAC autoglass fairly rapidly replaced the window, albeit with one that is slightly the wrong size, but I'm intrigued. Anyone any ideas why it went?
Read more
A stray proton from the Cern experiment?
Again, from "The Daily Telegraph":
tinyurl.com/6b4r3e
Three killed by the livestock, three in subsequent crashes. Read more
Oh, come on you lot, bee hive yourselves.
A friend has just bought a second hand car from a independent dealer.
She has not been given any of the v5, and doesnt remember much apart from signing quite a few bits of paper. She does have a 12 month mot certificateand purchase invoice but strangely no part of the v5 document
Apparantly when the dealer took the car to be taxed the dvla took all of the v5 form and have said they will reissue it all in her name to be sent to her.
They dealer said they will send the service history etc in the post as they are updating it on the database.
To me this sounds a very strange way of going about selling a car. Could there be any truth in it or has she been scammed.
The dealer is well known and a fairly large dealership but something seems a bit odd about how they have gone about sorting the matter.
I think my friend has been a bit silly by not asking enough questions and hopefully she hasnt bought a car that wasnt rightly for sale.
Any thoughts?
Read more
If a car is used by a Disabled driver who receives Mobility allowance than they are entitled to free car tax and the registration class has PLG deleted from it. Consequently it should be ammended back if the car reverts to an able bodied user.
I am toying with the idea of importing a coachbuilt motorhome from Jersey (not a campervan; it's the sort that has a caravan-style body on a chassis which retains the car of a van). It is UK-built, and was bought new in Jersey ten years ago; so far as I know, it was never registered in the UK. Does anyone know what the procedure would be if I did buy it and bring it to the UK? I know that I would have to pay UK VAT, but would I have to run it through type-approval tests before registering it in the UK?
BTW, I quite sympathise with those who regard motorhomes as the being the black sheep of satan's family, and I have grave doubts about the wisdom of owning one even if it was given to me for free. However, I have been offered this monster at a good enough price to make it just about worth considering as an outside option for a project I am planning, so before going through all the could-I-possibly-live with-this-ugly-thirtsty-monster questions, I should see whether the importation process rules it out. Read more
tinyurl.com/ypawpj
Thanks! That link was great, and the I called the DVLA on 0870 240 0010. They were very helpful, and it seems its a matter of an MOT test, then pay road tax and apply for registration at my local VRO. Much less bureaucratic than I feared, and no special type approval test required.
Hi - I'm after the code for my Fiat Punto Blaupunkt stereo - any help would be really appreciated!
Stereo details as follows:
BP Nr. 649 372 316
Prod Nr. Fiat 735 272 569
Thanks in advance Read more
can anyone please tell me if i need to take my remote key fob to jeep to have the battery changed or can anyone do it ?? Read more
HI
No, you can do it.
The Air flow meter has fallen over and is causing minor probs. I have been quoted £175.00 ish for new. Anyone have any leads or views on the raft of companies that trade on the web?
Best regards,
Martin D. Read more
SQ
Had the diagnostics on it and all things point there. Have done our homework. Got the fault codes etc. 2.2 dci year 02.
Thanks...................Martin D.
father inlaw has got brain cancer so he is in a wheel chair and not very mobile at the moment. he owns a 52 plate discovery and a 2001 clio what sort of trade in value could we expect, disco has 80000+ fdsh td5. clio fdsh 25000+, could any one suggest a car for us to look at for him until he gets better. we need space for wheel chair wide opening doors and low sill, price upto £10,000 ish. not to fussed about diesel because milage will not warrent it.
Read more
Really not sure re current requirements thouigh if tghe other cars are for sale you can advertise them in classifieds on here, in fact let us have more info on the Clio, model, engine, colour etc?
As it says above, whats with this precision parking at dealerships these days.
Very often when visiting various dealerships they are involved in some sort of ritual that quite bemuses me, the precision display routine.
Nothing has been sold, but we have to shuffle the used cars around to make it appear as if new stock is available to drool over, and you really have to witness this routine to see just how seriously they take this, a senior sales executive will be directing his minions as they park the vehicles.
Its the perfection of the display that i find irresistable, perfect slant angle, the senior at bumper level squinting along the line of vehicles judging the fractions of the inch that might upset the fine balance of the line.
When parked, a flag pole that needs to be trapped under the wheel will be placed against the wheel, now the driver will move the car, and after carefully pushing the flag pole inwards the car will be mover again to trap the wheel in perfect position, its wonderful to see.
Of course the cars will be too close together for any purchaser to be able to look around them, but this seems not to matter.
This seemingly only happens at the large chains of dealerships, the more family run and smaller affairs don't take this pride in perfect parking.
Do car buyers here like this wondrous display of perfection or even notice it? Read more
>Ramps and open tailgates were to differentiate the cars <
Ramps - haven't the faintest. But there seemed to be some point in opening the tailgate to stop the interior reaching 50°C or more, in case a test drive was called for. Until the next heavy shower ...
Oh, the government gb. I thought you meant socialists.