I assume the ANPR system ignores foreign registered vehicles or that traffic cops assume these are visitors to these shores and thus covered by foreign insurance and don't need UK tax.

I ask because a foreign plated car has parked outside a house near me for over 12 months, but shows no UK tax disc, which surely it ought to?

This also makes me wonder whether it is one of the alleged million-plus uninsured
vehicles on the road?

Are the local BIB likely to be interested in checking? Read more

Hi everyone,

I thought best to give everyone a full description of my problem and what to do to get it fixed cheaply

Having read so much about this common diesel pump problem it was no wonder after hitting shy of 100k my car started to play up.

People have suggested that you can get about 10k out off the car until it dies...with me try 100 miles.

It all started last week when the car started to cut out after starting from cold, two or three minutes into my journey once the car was warm everything was fine.

One week later and im not able to start car, so much for 10k miles.

My next step was to establish exactly how much this problem was going to cost to have put right, bearing in mind i did have some idea having read what others have said.

I contacted my local mazda where they quoted me £1200 + vat for recon.
I then phoned a diesel specialist in Coventry who quoted, £50+vat for diagnostics, then £270+vat for the removal and reinstallment of the pump. The pump once out would then be sent to Feather Diesel in Halifax to have it reconditioned and that little beauty would cost a cool £470+vat. All in all not much change out of grand, ouch!

I decided to contact feather diesel directly myself just to check the price etc quoted by the diesel specialist in coventry. Feather's confirmed the price, for a garage to send the pump to them for reconditioning would cost £470+vat.

I spoke to a guy called Mike at feathers who said, why not drive the car down to Halifax that way i would save the diagnostic charge plus the charge for taking the pump out and then reinstalling it. He said if i could find out the diesel pump product number he would be able to tell me if the pump was the old one or the new one. The old one can be fixed without the pump being taken out whereas the new style pump would need to be removed from the engine to be fixed. Old pump style would cost £250+vat to be fixed, whereas the new pump for repair would cost £670+vat. I phoned Mazda, gave them my registration number and they gave me the diesel pump product number. I then phoned Mike back who thankful told me my pump was in fact the old style which meant the pump could be fixed without it being removed...£250+vat get in there.

He then said he knows exactly whats wrong with the pump and it would be a faulty component called the suction valve.

I asked Mike how many of these does he have to repair and his repsonse was alarming. At one point it was 60 pumps a week. Amazing how mazda still refuse to except there was a problem with the pumps. Most pumps would fail outside of the warranty meaning Mazda rarly had to cough up.

I travel to Feathers in the moring to have this work carried out so i will reply back and let you all know how i get on.

IF SOMEONE CALLED DIESELDAZ READS THIS CAN YOU GET IN TOUCH WITH ME BECAUSE YOUR THE ONLY PERSON I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIND WHO HAS HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AS ME WITH REGARDS TOO A MAZDA 6 CHUCKING OUT LOADS OF SMOKE WHEN PARKED FACING DOWNWARDS, I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TOO YOUR REPLY AS TO WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM. IF ANYBODY KNOWS DIESELDAZ LET HIM KNOW
My email address: andrew.2.parsons 'at' bt.com

{Volume in subject header lowered} Read more

Following on from technical matters and my wifes poorly rover 214, we have just done a deal on a pre-reg Grande Punto Stripe and wondered if anyone has any owner experiences, things to look out for etc?

Ihave checked Car-by-car and it looks like they are well screwed together, which would reflect the impression I had when looking around the car.

The bluetooth handsfree and steering wheel controls looks like a nifty little toy at least!

Not sure if we have paid a bit too much but its only done 4 miles, pre-reg Stripe edition, got a full tank of fuel, 12 months VED, mats etc for £6900. We did look at these in July when they came out and were around 9K so quite happy we waited a few months!

Hopefully we will get as good a service as we have had from the Rover over the next 6-7 years. Read more

Hello - I just wandered if anyone in this forum can pass an informed eye on the fuel economy I am getting ( or not getting ) from my Sept 2005 Diesel Espace 2.2DCi (non-FAP apparently). It is a 5 speed Auto with the "tiptronic" option - i.e pushing the stick to the left turns it into a clutchless manual. I have tried using both methods. I am not new to automatics and have never had ANY car give such poor fuel consumption in 20 years of car ownership, let alone a diesel.

I bought it used about 2 months ago with 26k on the clock, and have added about 3.5k since. No matter how I drive it - and I am a careful driver, I cannot get better than 25mpg. The only passengers I carry are my wife and 3 year old daughter, but most of the time it's just me. I drive a mixture of about-town and motorway/A roads.

It has gotten to the stage where whenever I see a similar Espace parked somewhere, I loiter to ask the owners what they get ! I haven't found anyone that says they get less than 32mpg at worst, and one of those was a Grand Espace. But then again, none have had an automatic.

I asked Honest John who suggested a figure of low thirties was probably more realistic, and he suggested I should also work out the consumption using the traditional pump to pump method, rather than relying on the car's computer - but I get more or less the same result.

Does anyone else out there own a 2.2 DCi Espace Auto, adn can you confirm if I am unlucky or is this the norm ? Before taking the plunge I did as much research as possible even downloading the spec sheets for my very model (the 2.2 DCI Ellen McArthur Globe edition) to chek the mpg figures. I know they are not written in stone but, still, it shouldn't be this bad - should it ??

Digressing, has anyone else found that when you have the Auto-headlight feature activated, if you drive through somewhere dark eg. a tunnel or under trees, the lights come on but then fail to go back off when you enter a normally lit area ?

PS - at a tangent - here's a tip if your seat belt alarm keeps going off - you've probably got something - even something as light as a book, on the passenger seat.

Thanks for any help ! Read more

Petrol, Expression model- This may sound stupid but is it common for these particular vehicles to have no oil dipstick? It says in the vehicle guide to check the oil either rely on what the onboard dash reading says, or check using the dipstick. I dont trust these dash board lights etc so would like to double check using the dip stick. But where there should be the "ring pull" to lift out the stick there is just a plastic sphere that seems to be a whole plastic unit, stuck fast in to area where the dipstick should be. I have messed about with it thinking it is a screw in or something but having no joy. Am I being stupid here or did they make some of these without a dipstick?? Hel[ would be appreciated! Read more