November 2008
Have done 32k miles and still under warranty. After inspection and hearing the loud noise my local VW dealer has said it's the dualmass-flywheel and if the clutch has caused the problem to it then the fault is not covered by the warranty, as the clutch is only under warranty for 6 months. Can this be true, surely clutches don't wear out at such a low mileage? Is it worth me getting someone independent to also take a look, such as the AA? Has anyone else had a similar problem? Read more
I need a car for mainly town use, but it must have the following characteristics:
As comfortable as a Volvo
Automatic
Fiesta-Focus size
Well built and reliable
I'm not too constrained by budget, don't care for diesel as low mileage, and will buy second-hand.
Anyone got any ideas?
{Thread title amended so people have an idea what it's about. Rob} Read more
Thanks for all your postings. I have finally settled for a Volvo S60 auto. Probably bigger than I need but the seats are the best I have ever sat in and an electric driver's seat was the clincher.
Why does my 318i Touring E46 47k miles 2005 handle so poorly(twitchy)? I have to correct the steering for every little bump on normal roads making driving tiring. On the motorway things only improve on the new 'smooth' surface. This has always been the case, not just started happening. I must say I haven't tried a heavy loading. Also I find it underpowered in low revs (below 2500rpm) compared with my Astra 1.6 16v estate 2001 127kmiles.
All comments appreciated
WBD Read more
I've owned two examples of the E46 320dES - and think it has a lot to do with the wheel size, going on my current cars perormance.
I bought a 2003 (E46) 320dES in Oct '03 with just 8000 miles and upgraded the standard 16" ES alloys to the 17" Star 5 Spoke wheels. Being 8 months old the car was in excellent health and was bought BMW approved, hence all the checks. And it tramlined (didn't know what was wrong at first, then read it seemed to be worse with the 18" wheels on the Sport).
... This August I bought a 2005 (E46) 320dES from the same dealer (graduation present to myself having given up the last to go back to Uni for 4yrs). This time, I kept the standard 16" alloys. Same again, BMW approved so all checks, 28000 miles only with FBMWSH and remainder of 5yrs/60,000 free servicing. 4 brand new Dunlop sports fitted on delivery as part of the BMW Approved scheme.
Situation has improved with 16"! Both cars have the sports suspension configuration and to my mind are the same (both were the later ones with the 6-speed manual). I'd like a Sport next, but might just stick with an SE with a possible return to 17" (am I choosing style over form? This one looks good as it is...) :)
Can anyone help?
I understand that learner drivers are not permitted to drive on motorways (i.e. M4, M1, M11 etc) but are roads like the A1M and A3M also classed as motorways or can you drive on them with L plates? Read more
like the Mancunian way, A57(M) the clue is in the (M). These 'A' roads will also have a Motorway sign on the slip roads so it is quite difficult to miss.
It's a question. Enough snow falls to needs a plough to keep the roads passable; does the driver connect up the apparatus and go for a drive as normal? Does he keep the truck engine on the rev limiter and drift round roundabouts? Where does he learn his technique? Do Highways Departments ship out loads of lucky trainees to Finland or Austria?
Anyone care to guess; anyone know for sure? Read more
As the advert showed-with an air-cooled beetle.
hi can anyone tell me where the alarm horn is on a 2004 land rover ,ive to change mine as its not working ,thanks Read more
thanks again screwloose !!!!
Peugeot 307 SW 2.0 HDI 110 - 100K miles
The centre console is coming up with the warning: MINIMUM DIESEL ADDITIVE LEVEL.
There is another thread on topping this up, but Screwloose mentions servicing/replacing the FAP system as well. What is this, and is this expensive? Can this be done outside main dealers?
Thanks for any information. Read more
piers
You've let your additive run low - kick whoever's been doing your services.
As I've droned on about before; by the time the additive is gone, then the FAP in the exhaust will be getting full of unburnable regeneration residue. The only practicable [and legal] way to deal with that is to fit an exchange FAP.
So; you need, FAP, fill and re-set additive ECU. You'll usually also need a fuel-cap sensor and often a FAP pressure sensor. If the additive ECU refuses to co-operate, one of those too.
Very few places outside a dealers have the knowledge and equipment to do this job; shop around - the bill will, typically, be somewhere between £600 and £1000+. Leaving it until it blocks completely will guarantee it'll be the higher one.
Beware the shysters now getting into this lucrative little racket. If the job's not done properly, then it'll just come back again - only worse.
tinyurl.com/5phvqj
From the report, it appears as if this guy was a serial speeder. Not only had he been caught speeding on 5 separate occasions (in passenger vehicles), but he had also been disciplined for tampering with a speed limiter! How he was still allowed to drive a coach, I have no idea.
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National Express tend to play low wages - and unfortunately this is reflected in the quality of staff they have. A Stagecoach operation such as Megabus or the Oxford tube pay pay significantly and they are very choosy about who drives their vehicles, especially so in the case of the Oxford tube. Not all coach companies have bad drivers in my opinion.
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, is to scrap the extension.
Consultation produced 28,000 reponses. 67% of residents and 86% of businesses wanted it scrapped, so scrap it he will do! Read more
There was an initial reduction that has now been eradicated inside the zone, however traffic and congestion is far worse just outside it.
My patience has been tried sorely these past few weeks.
Wife's car was parked o/s our house, in the street, 3 weeks ago and was clonked hard by a local council minibus, meaning the car will need a new wing. Fortunately for us, as the minibus drove off without stopping, my local newsagent directly across a main road (we're at the head of a T junction, in a side road) witnessed it and recorded the make, model and registration number.... so i got him to sign and date it and kept his note for evidence.
Whilst crossing back over the road from the newsagent i noticed that type of minibus parked much further up the road...so took a look and bingo, same vehicle, with a big blue paint mark down it's rear nearside wing....so took some pictures with a digital camera of our damage with white paint and white paint dust, their damage with recent dirt smudges and blue paint....then contacted the relevant council depot, who rang the driver. He returned to the vehicle, we exchanged names and addresses and he apologised, admitting liability stating he'd had to pull in tight to our car suddenly, due to another driver and hadn't realised he'd hit it when turning right, but with the paint on his wagon and recent damage/paint on ours, it was obvious he'd caused it
so far so good.....but then comes the insurance calim fiasco
a well known budget insurer....(yes i know, you get what you pay for, pay cheap pay twice etc...but with two Jags parked on London streets...that's my excuse)... hear my tale of woe and advise we have a good chance of recovering all our costs etc from the 3rd party, so may they pass us over to an accident handling company, who will provide me with a courtesy car, handle the claim and I won't need to pay our excess (which is steep to keep the premium down)...so despite HJ recently advising against this, i thought, why not?
what a useless pile of cretins they have turned out to be. I've now learnt that these sorts of companies provide two services; 1, credit hire i.e. courtesy car, which they'll lend out if they think they'll get their money back..and 2, repair and credit hire, which they'll only do when the 3rd party admits liability and agrees to pay
who in their right mind thinks a council is going to get their act together quickly and admit liability immediately without waiting for a driver's report and then perusing it at their leisure for some weeks...so in the meantime we're waiting like a couple of numpties. On day 3 we drove the vehicle on a long journey believing the damage to be just visual and found the tyre was connecting with the damaged wing at m/way speeds, so with local speed humps everywhere as well, decided it wasn't wise to keep using the car and parked it up.
When i finally lost patience with the accident handling co. after 2 weeks, because they faffed about trying to get the council to admit liability.. and went back to the insurer, the insurer advised me the accident handling co. would nevertheless let me have a courtesy car even if they didn't handle the claim, as that risk was considerably less to them as they own their courtesy cars anyway..so i thought great, with a 10 month old baby and two dogs we need an estate car, so we will no longer be 'familial housebound'...but no, the accident handling co. declined to provide a car...because... we'd managed without it for 2 weeks and their assessment of being able to claim this off the 3rd party dictated this was a negative...despite me having a genuine provable need for an estate type car. The irritating thing was, if i'd asked for the damn thing within the first 2 weeks they'd have let me have it as long as they weren't expected to settle the claim as well, but of course i was still expecting them to do the whole lot and at that time hadn't told them to go and whistle at that stage.
For 3 weeks solid I have been ringing people every other day, i have been passed from pillar to post. All persons have been 'nice', but i don't want nice, i want effective. How i've kept my patience i really don't know.
End result is vehicle is now authorised to go to garage of our choice (which slowed things down more, but i wanted decent parts fitted and Jaguar paint warranty to be still valid) and i've declined the garage's Nissan Micra as they way things have gone there'd have been a problem with that too.
HJ advised avoiding these accident handling companies....wish i'd listened, it set me back 2 weeks in the system and gave me untold frustration/stress.
p.s. my newsagent needs a great big Christmas present as he's probably saved me many hundreds of pounds, if not nearer the thousand mark, when you consider what higher premiums for two cars would be over the next few years. Any ideas on what to give a married, 35ish Sri Lankan man who's got 3 kids, mild practising Hindu? (Not booze, already thought of that and his wife said the doctor has told him to stop!)
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Sorry tale WP. Hope it all ends satisfactorily.
Family man? How about some vouchers for your local multiplex cinema? If he has a corner shop I'm sure he can get a good deal on popcorn so they should have a fun and cheap night out !
I had something similar a few years ago. Hit up the harris while stationary. ( never can remember whether that's paper or standing still )
Anyway, my insurance co. were excellent and organised a suitable replacement hire car, coincidentally a large estate, within 3 hours of the accident. I had the free hire car for 5 weeks while the insurance companies did their thing and eventually got my car back good as new. No effect on my ncb or anything and in due course I forgot all about it.
Two years later I get a strange phone call from a firm of solicitors asking me to recount the detail of these events. Seems they were acting on behalf of the car hire company who had been unable to recover their costs as the company which owned the pick-up truck which parked in my boot had gone bust and disappeared.
Fortunately I was able to confirm events as I had previously reported them and they went away but there was a short while when it was clear that they were looking for an angle on me.
I would be fairly cautious in future if offered this service.
Browse
You could wear out a clutch in minutes if you wanted to. I believe it is only Mazda that covers clutches under warranty even if it's driver error.
Of course they may find a fault with the clutch due to manufacture. You have not got many options. This could be costly.