October 2008
Driving towards Portsmouth this morning and behind a Hovis van with a displayed notice "how is my driving phone 080 etc etc." Has any body out there phoned one of these numbers, if you did what did you say. Read more
Can anyone please advise as to the following?
Have 05 Wagon R 1.2, having power steering. Find that front tyres are wearing on the inside edge. Dealer was asked to check during service and reported " nothing wrong ". Now on second pair of front tyres ( different make ) and same thing happening.
Went to local tyre place and had tracking checked, reported " nothing wrong ".
It is now suggested that this can be caused by power steering. Can anyone offer confirmation of this possibility please?
Thank you. Read more
ive 56 plate agila, tyre wear quite normal ,20,000 on front tyres originals, then again on Hankooks {typo corrected}. bit pricey 90 pound a pair
Hi
Was replacing the back box on the Corsa the other weekend and noticed the aluminium heat shield flapping down over the exhaust.
The heat shield had been 'eaten' away around the nuts (catalysed by heat) and had simply fallen loose and dropped down.
Now, I know that if you're going to join steel and aluminium together (especially this thin) that you use a stainless steel or gasket sandwich in between them. So why don't car manufacturers (or Vauxhall) do this? Read more
I guess it's down to price like usual.
Current in the market to get a year old Galaxy 2.0 TDCi Ghia (manual) to replace the very ancient hyundai estate. Found an almost identical pair at an independent, but one is a x-pack variant, 2k less miles with a price differential of +2.5k which seems a bit wide to me. I know from experience that some vehicles (volvo/merc/bmw etc) need leather + gadgets to keep their price but are MPV's with hi-lux interiors that sought after ? Read more
Just for the record we went for a standard Ghia but on a much alter june 08 plate + satnav for the same price with a few other bits chucked in.
I would be grateful if I could pick some collective brains. Thinking about buying a secondhand audi tt ( new shape 2.0fsi). When is the best time and place to buy the tt ? november,december or start of the new year. Been thinking about it for the last 2 years, so now I may be able to afford one! Is it best to go to a franchised dealer or from an auction via a broker. I would like to get one sooner rather than later but do not want to buy and find that if i need to sell, it i would taking a big hit. Any advice would be appreciated.
re-titled using the really useful drop down menu thingies Read more
Hello all,
Looking to buy a second hand Astra privately but confused to the value given by various guides. The car in question is a 5 door 2005/05 SXI 1.7CDTI (100) with 45k miles.
I normally look at 3 guides for comparison but am surprised at the vast variation for a private sale with this mileage.
Parker's £5470, What Car £4875 Wisebuyer's £4580
Can anyone tell me why there is such wide discrepencies when I would have thought they would have used similar depreciation statistics. With such a variation it is difficult to negotiate on price with the seller as they would quote Parker's and I would quote Wisebuyer's. I accept that there must be regional differences, I am in Hampshire.
Any advise gratefully received.
MAK Read more
The 1.7 CDTI engine has been made in two power outputs - 80hp and 100hp.
Also its just possible that the lower value is based on the old Astra G model, while the higher price is based on the new Astra H model.
With regards to the new "floating" centre consoles on the new shape Volvo S40/V50s seen here:
tinyurl.com/5aat2l (LHD pic I found first!)
Can the stereo part at the top still be removed easy enough to allow fitting of a single or double din 3rd party stereo? Has anyone done this?
To be honest it would probably ruin the look, but just trying to decide if I got a new S40 do I fit my newer fancy (and not cheap) all in one usb, bluetooth, cooking the dogs dinner, cd/dvd stereo unit, or just flog it with the old car?
I know the Volvo sound systems are normally pretty good, and nowadays they are all "premium" with about 8 - 14 speakers or something like that, with built in amp, but I like having the USB flash drive connection for music and the bluetooth phone/contacts list all in one as well as the dvd/tv option and various outputs.
Any thoughts? Read more
Surely its dangerous having a gadget that will cook the dogs dinner while moving? :)
The dog doesn't agree ;-D
You might have seen the other day in the papers that the Italian police have just taken delivery of their new Gallardo. Click on the link below to see the pictures - they come from the German Auto Express. You really have to hand it to them.
www.autobild.de/artikel/lamborghini-gallardo-della...l
Somehow I just can't imagine seeing West Yorkshire plod piling down the M1 in one of these!!!! Read more
Started with the German customs police around 1950 or a bit later. Their normal cars couldn't keep up with US servicemen smuggling coffee in their Buicks and so on, a profitable scam as coffee was heavily taxed in Germany but not in Belgium. Chased by jolly little 356s, the naughty GIs would either crash trying to escape or be caught.
"RETURN TO SENDER"
Howzit!
On a recent South African "safari" up near the Cullinan mine, where the famous "Star of Africa diamond was discovered in 1905, I found my own "diamond in the rough"- a rare left hand drive, 5/7 seater '61 Chevrolet Suburban. Incredibly, after lying out under the harsh African sun for the last 30 years, the body had only minor rust. Granted it needed a bit of work but the only thing that really concerned me was the badly damaged, (yellow/black) curved shaped windscreen. The owner, Monty (83), a sun baked, wily African Boer said he'd sell it to me but only if I accepted his challenge - TO RETURN THE VEHICLE TO GM HEADQUARTERS! Somewhat amused, I told him I'd think it over and set off to check out another classic - a '35 Chevy Pick Up, on the Skeleton Coast, a heavily restricted Namibian diamond mining area.
Driving through the sweltering Namibian desert, my thoughts kept returning to that "burb in the bush". I just couldn't leave it there to "RIP" (rust in peace!) This old classic had plenty of life left in it. Suddenly, I got an idea. Why not take up Monty's challenge? I'd simply fix it up, ship it to Buenos Aires, drive it West over the Andes into Chile, on up through South / Central America / Mexico, right up to GM's Detroit car park! Who knows, maybe those GM marketing lads could use this old Chevy for a unique publicity campaign or simply exhibit it in their museum! With some serious current losses, these lads needed all the help they could get! Who knows, perhaps potential buyers might be inclined to believe the GM blurb - GM vehicles are rugged and long lasting.
Over a well earned, cold beer in the Namibian coastal town of Luederitz, another idea came into my head! Why not make a road trip TV "doccie? Surely viewers and those TV network lads must be fed up with all those reality shows? Here was a real life adventure! Everything was in place - a cool, rugged, weather-beaten vehicle, spectacular scenery, plenty of classics to track down and interesting characters to interview. I had the time, passion, experience, energy and with all my Cape Town movie contacts, it wouldn't be difficult to round up a motley crew of 3/4. There was only one obstacle - dosh!
Sadly, I wasn't exactly flush having invested considerably in my own '40's -'60's collection of Bentleys / Chevy Pick Ups and so on. Granted, renting them out as Cape Town movie "prop" weather beaten vehicles did pay for some of those costly "hospital" bills but if I was going to restore, ship this old Chevy across the Atlantic and film the whole adventure, I needed a partner. Someone who not only believed in the project but confident his / her investment would be recouped from TV network / DVD sales. Any adventurous souls out there? Perhaps the next time one of your golfing buddies asks you " What's up Dave?" "Well actually Tom, I'm making a road trip movie!
On a recent "safari" I came across an original '53 Chevy hearse which looks like something you'd see in an early Bond film or used by Papa Doc's dreaded secret police, the Ton ton Macute to "voodoo" terrorize local Hatians. I'm thinking of fixing it up, painting it black/cream, tinting the windows and approaching Guinness (my favourite drink) to see if they would be interested in launching a unique marketing campaign. "Dead on Time" wouldn't be a bad slogan!
Slan! The Celt!
Pics of the '61 burb in the bush" + other African "bush" classics will be sent to "honest" John who hopefully, will post them.
Read more
Local Vauxhall Dealers has 2008 57 plate Vauxhall 1.9 CDTi 120 SRI for sale at £7995. Current car is a Focus 2 1.8TDCI Sport.
Focus is a bit cramped in the boot when we go away and rear legroom is not great for our kids in a car seats...
Would people change or am I wasting £2k? Focus needs Breakdown cover, tyres and wipers soon. MOT and warranty expire in May.
Which is the best car for reliablity? Read more
The vectra isn't my cup of tea, but with new pre reg petrols at 9K and diesels at 10K they do seem quite a bargain, big car and comfortable too unless on huge alloys, these prices at normal dealers so possible to beat them i assume.
Don't wish to start a row but as we've discussed a few times before, maybe it would be worth spending the extra couple of grand to quarantee a non misfuelled or otherwise abused example.
Browse
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There was a similar problem on the Kingston Bridge when I drove for a well known washing machine manufacturer. (They also make vacum cleaners) Several people claimed one of our lorries had hit their cars in the space of a few weeks.
All the claims were the same, rear of trailer hit car as lorry was entering the bridge and always in the morning rush hour.
Fleet was self insured, the company paid out on the first couple of claims.
We then started crossing the bridge in convoy when heading to London from Kingston. (was an overnight stop in those days) It meant we could keep an eye on each other.
A few more claims came in but the company asked the complainants to take the damaged vehicle to our Perivale transport depot or report to police.
Stopped quite quickly after that. Never found any damage on the trailers that were alleged to be involved.
We reckoned the local chancers thought they had found a good way of getting their cars repaired after bumping the vehicles themselves.
A few of our drivers lost their safe driving bonus for the year though.