October 2008
this isnt a reminder for the initiated , but to the scores of motorists who pour out of the factories on a monday evening , post 5.00pm and run the gauntlet home without lights on ..you see them every year and apparently road accidents increase the last week in october Read more
Hi, I'm looking to buy a secondhand Suzuki Jimny. I've looked here and other websites and read that they lose half their value in the first 3 years. That's fine but the prices then seem to stick around the 2-4k level regardless of age and regardless of what the Car Price Guides suggest. I've seen 2003 models which the guides say should be 2-2.5k advertised consistently around the £4k mark. Have the guides got the values wrong? I've been looking for about 6 months now and all of the older Jimnys advertised are well above guide value. Do the guides show what they 'should' be worth rather than the market value - any help from anyone with knowledge of this car would be appreciated. Read more
Nothing to do with prices, but I noticed the other day that on the back of the car (?) the "n" in Jimny is written backwards. How long have they been like that? I'll have to pay more attention to these matters!
I've just renewed my car tax at a Post Office. The renewal reminder form V11 was stamped and returned to me. Shouldn't the form have been kept by the Post Office as proof that I'd done the necessary? Read more
I don't buy this "You have a moral duty to use the post office so it can stay open for pensioners" stuff, anymore than I use the buses to keep them viable for people who don't drive.
They have to go into town to do their shopping once they have drawn the pension, so it could be just as easily paid into a bank or building society, of which there are plenty on every high street even in these troubled times.
Hi all, my wifes 53 reg Punto seems to be losing coolant by about 1-2 inches per week, i've checked for leaks but cant see anywhere its leaking from, have noticed when revving it at standstill when cold i can hear a gurgling noise from the heater area as if theres an air lock, so wondered if it was sucking air in from somewhere, any ideas please? Read more
Thanks, could be expensive then.
My Wife's Corsa had a flat battery , bought a new one however car will now not accelerate ?
Any ideas s?? Read more
Any unusual warning lights on the dashboard? Do you mean it won't rev or just very little go in it?
Do the rear bushes on the front subframe wear?
My lower arms were replaced around 3 years ago but I have a small kick through the steering when pulling away rapidly. Car is 8 years old with 80,000 recorded miles
I cannot find play with a large screwdriver but this seems to me to be the only place where movement could occur.
Does anyone have experience of these bushes wearing in this way. Read more
Thats interesting - i have the pulling-off judder with my Golf and handling problems. Will have to change the bushes and see if thats it.
Out of interest I believe these can go hard with age as well as wear - either causing problems.
Cheers,
James
Hi all,
I recently bought a vauxhall astra which had some scratch marks about 1/2 an inch long above the driver's door handle. The affected area covers only about the size of a 50 pence piece, but because it's in such a prominent place I would like to get it repaired.
The main vauxhall dealer quoted me £175 so I decided to buy some touch up paint and do it myself. I'm ashamed to say that I've made
.**********
The colour of the car is silver lightning so I bought silver lightning touch up paint which looks to be a slighty different shade, and the paint it seams to be a bit too thick and blobby so I can't get a thin smooth coat. I tried to remove it with some t-cut type abrasive but this made it worse ! I finished up removing both the touch up paint and the top layer of original paint exposing the primer. I've tried to repaint it again using the touch up paint but it's looks a real mess - I wish I'd left it alone now !!!
Is it too cold now to use touch up paint outside ? And would it be better to use a spray can if I mask off the rest of the body work ?
Would the chips-away people be a cheaper option to the garage ?
Apart from telling me I'm a right pink fluffy dice, all suggestions would be appreciated.
John
{Post reformmated to use all the text box, and not just 2 thirds of it} Read more
Despite that wonderful two-page spread in Haynes manuals, DIY paint jobs using either touch-up cans or aerosols will usually end in tears...
As you've found, it's just not possible to get an 'original finish' using a brush. The normal aerosol just doesn't spew out enough paint, forcing you to spray too close to the panel - paint 'runs' inevitably follow. They also have a nast habit of 'spitting' just when you think you've acheived that perfect finish :-(
Add in the problems of cold conditions and draughts and it becomes even less feasible.
It's a bit like plastering - seems simple in concept....!
I'd bite the bullet and get half a dozen quotes from reputable bodyshops.
Hi
Just wondered if anyone knew the answer to this question as the Police and local council do not.
At a roundabout give way line how far should I be able to see along the road to my right?
There is a roundabout near my house, the junction is basically a T junction with a roundabout on it and I drive along the upright of the T. The visibility to the right is reduced because of a wall build on the edge of the footpath.
I have spoken to the council and they say that the roundabout and road is 'up to spec' but no body knows what the spec is!
Any links to suitable web sites that may have the info would be useful, I have Googled but go bogged down after page two of 3.5 million and I still did not find any thing suitable.
Any info would be appreciated.
Many thanks
Derek Read more
That visibility looks OK for traffic entering from Malvern Road.
The problem is probably caused by traffic entering the roundabout too fast from the dual carriageway. The diameter looks a little small for a dual carriageway resulting in poor deflection for entering traffic. Traffic is supposed to be deflected to slow it down. Judging by the presence of the hatched centre roadmarking it looks like the highway authority has tried to divide the traffic flows and thereby increase the deflection.
The brick overrun area is intended to deflect light vehicle paths but still allow HGVs to turn. An overrun area shouldn't be necessary on a dual carriageway roundabout of correct size.
I suspect that the roundabout was constructed onto an existing road; always a difficult thing to do when there are land constraints.
All you can do is ask the highway authority/police if there has been a history of accidents (the police record the accidents but share the information with the highway authority). If there is a high record of accidents then ask the highway authority what they are going to do about it.
With regard to Borasport's junction: again, poor deflection = high entry speeds = accidents.
My Mrs has a Focus Mk2 1.8 petrol, which has lived an urban life for the last 2,500 miles or so. Av MPG showing on the computer is 33.9 whereas my carefully monitored calculations show 37. Has anyone else noticed this kind of disparity?
Incidentally, we previously had a mark 1 focus with the 1.8 Zetec engine and this returned about 31/32 in the same circumstances. Read more
My cost per mile calculations are being helped in no small part by Unleaded dropping from 108.9p/ltr on my last tankful, to 97.9p/ltr on the tankful I will purchase on the way home this evening.
One good thing to come out of the global economic traumas, even if it is only temporary.
Cheers
DP
It is a 1996 N Fiesta MK4, 66K, body work is not the best but nothing T-CUT won't fix, I am not entirely sure of its history but at this price who cars? The HP check came out fine as did the past 5 MOTs.
The engine runs fine, no miss fires, no knocks or rattles, no smoke just started it up now as its cold and misty and I didn't see any steam or anything from the exahust just the odd little bit as normal.
The tappets need doing as the top tend does sound tappety, I took the risk that that is all it needs doing. I am finding it hard to get used to the steering as at low speeds I had nearly miss judge a tight turn, not sure if its just because it I am not used to PAS, or a problem witht the steering but its only done a few miles since the past MOT.
In the past MOT it had
*New Sills
*Four new brake pads/front discs
*New brake pipes (these look brand new)
*Four new tryes
All the above was done as an advisories, but the seller told me a month later the car became surpless and they spent a while decidign what to do, they decided to sell it, so they put 6 months tax on it.
The car seems to drive very well, clutch took a bit of getting used to, this might need replacing at some point but its not slipping yet.
Its a 1.3 Encore fairly tidy and has the bonus of a CD player.
I paid £350 for it.
The great thing is if it turns out to be a shed I can get almost what I paid for it on ebay, I've lifted the carpet up a bit and floor pan looks very good, no rust round the suspension mounts etc.
Got it booked in on Saturday for tappets, oil change and he is going to check the steering.
Too early to say yet how long I will keep it for but for now its cheaper than a hire car and its cheap to insure.
Read more
"The other occasion was a broken clutch cable that went on a Caterham. Managed to limo it to a local motorfactors..."
Oh, I wish I could draw cartoons. Did the limo tow the Caterham or did the Caterham fit inside?
Browse
Fairly worrying, when you think about it, that although one driver might be able to clearly see what is going on that a fellow user of the same stretch of road may not. A timely reminder never to assume I guess.