November 2008
Some of you may remember my indecision related dilemma ? Thing is, I/we have three cars at present and we only really need two. None of them are worth a great deal of money and so thankfully for now it's not a case of needing to sell one to raise cash but it still seems a bit daft having three cars.
Car 1- is a four year old Ford Ka mainly used by 'er indoors although I don't mind nicking it sometimes for town work. She commutes about 40 miles a day round trip and is quite fond of it but wouldn't mind a bigger car if that was the best solution.
Car 2 - is a 6 year old Ford Mondeo 2.0 diesel Ghia X Estate which I have used for work for nearly 4 years. It has over 150k on it and my annual mileage exceeds 40k. Never had any problems with it and I really like it. It is however, worth buttons because of its mileage.
Car 3 - is a 2003 Vauxhall Signum 2.2 petrol Design which I bought in the Summer on a bit of a whim to replace the Mondeo because it looked like a bit of a bargain. Bought it with 33k on it and have already run it up to 45k. Remarkably economical as discussed elsewhere and I quite like it. Lovely, smooth as chocolate engine and fairly toy laden.
SWMBO wouldn't care which one she had. She just wants wheels. I have to admit that I prefer the Mondeo but it is getting long in the tooth. If I sell the Mondy, I'll get very little for it. If I sell the Ka, we end up with two large cars, if I sell the Signum I'll take a bit of a hit on my expenditure and I'll end up back where I started.......
So my questions are -
Should I just keep all three and have the advantage of a "spare" ( don't "need" the money at present )
Should I sell the Signum and accept that it was a rash purchase and just be happy with whatever it raises.
Or should I sell the Ka because it might be the easiest to sell ?
Or is it time to sell my beloved Mondy ?
Or am I living in Cloud Cuckoo Land by believing that any of them would sell at the moment ?
Any other suggestions or insults welcome.......
;-) Read more
02 diesel mondeo. Had new clutch, flywheel etc fitted about 5 months ago. Car goes fine for up to 1000 miles. Then will not change gear at all with engine running. Turn engine off, leave between 10 mins and 24hours, car works fine. replaced pipe, master cylinder. Master cylinder 4 weeks ago. has been fine. just failed again. any ideas Read more
Not an expert on this but..
Did they do the slave cylinder? (ie the one you get to when you seperate the gearbox from the engine). Maybe air in slave cylinder or slave cylinder worn.
Normally replaced when clutch, flywheel etc are done.
Maybe sucking in air ? Check all hydraulic joints are tight and re bleed line?
If the leak is in slave cylinder (pipes not tight) then whole thing will have to come out...
Normally have 1 years part and labour on this type of work, so could you take it back to the place which did it?
Around 4am I was woken by hearing the milkman in our road - the funny thing is, I think the last time we had a milkman around our way was around 10 years ago.
Well, obviously I was a bit dozy and it wasn't the milkman. When I went out at 8.00 I found some so-and-so had nicked my door heated mirror glass. They did it carefully, left no damage nor any broken bits and just took the glass leaving two electrical connectors hanging there - so I guess it was needed as a replacement.
I've thought about getting up at 04.00 tomorrow and nicking someone else's - no, of course not, but I'm a bit peeved about it. It looks like GSF do them for £25 + VAT and others for a bit less.
The job was too neat to be the work of a regular toe-rag and either the recession is biting hard and he can't afford a new one himself or I'll find it on eBay tomorrow.
I won't be reporting it to the police either as I haven't got 2 hours to waste in a phone queue.
Grrrr!
On reflection - made vehicle non-specific. Read more
Good old GSF - Brixton branch.
I phoned them at 09.30 and the bloke said he might have one, took a look and said he was out of stock - but they would have a delivery at 1pm today and could I wait that long. He took my number and phoned me back at 1.05pm.
By 2pm I had fitted it myself on the GSF forecourt after paying the sum of £21.74.
VW Audi must have a specialist manufacturing branch in Asia (LOL) as the box it came in clearly said "Made in Taiwan".
On my travels I often see council owned safety camera vans poised at the roadside ready to catch those exceeding the speed limit. I used to work for a utility company and one thing immediately jumps out at me. As these vehicles are owned and operated by a utility should they, and indeed are they, subject to compliance with the New Road and Street Works Act or by what ever act that may have replaced it? Any utility vehicle belonging to a council, gas, electricity, telephone company etc that is used in connection with any sort of work on the highway must have appropriate roadworks guarding to be compliant with the act. This means such things as "roadworks ahead" and "road narrows" signs being put out ahead of the vehicle along with cones around the work site itself. In this case the camera van itself. For the sake of the act the highway is considered to be everything between private land on one side of the road and private land on the other side. A vehicle parked in a layby or on a verge for example is still on the highway and so subject to the act. Before you ask. No! I have not been done for speeding, ever.
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A friend likes the look of these cars. I do as well but it would be a bit to small for my needs. He said that when he enquired he was told there was no automatic option. Does anyone know if this is the case? It would seem an oversight for a city car. I tried checking a couple of web sites but both were very slow and eventually hung! Read more
Thanks for the information. I passed the list of small automatics onto him. He genuinely needs an automatic as he is the worst person I have come across regarding matching engine revs to road speed, and treats a clutch as an infinitely variable drive (yearly replacement before he switched to autos). The saleman did mention the dualogic but frightened him off with his description of how it works.
My cousin has a Sedona 2.9 CRD (diesel) auto 2005, he says its really sluggish and uses too much fuel, ive suggested using Millers Diesel power (which I use,) he thinks it may be a software problem.
Any ideas you guys?, be very grateful.
Volume turned down - moved over to Tech. Read more
Is this a sudden problem, or has he just bought the car?
It is a big, heavy car with a big heavy and not especially advanced engine and a slushbox automatic. We had a Hyundai Trajet CRTD Auto that managed to get about 26mpg on average with 32mpg on a run at best. And that was a more advanced engine with only 2.0 litres. M-i-L has the new Sedona with diesel and auto and it is in the highest tax bracket I think.
So probably nothing he can do unless it is a sudden problem that has an obvious cause.
...possible?
My reverse gear is quite hard to engage sometimes (probably linkage) and occasinaly I have ended up in 4th, the car moves forward slightly (I always leave room so its never a problem) but should this be possible? I would have thought it would just stall?
I haven't put it in technical as this is a drving query as much as my car. Read more
Why do you need reverse gear for parking?
uk.youtube.com/watch?v=44Wdnq7Zm-4&NR=1
I was in Spain for a Remembrance Sunday event and the local paper reported the following changes to the application of some laws.
1. Motorists should continue to carry spare lamp bulbs but are not legally required to do so as it is recognised that on many cars a change cannot be effected at the roadside.
2. The requirement to carry some car documents (insurance) is rescinded as this information is deemed to already be in the hands of the authorities - like our MIB database. The Spanish one is updated daily and it is thought that a motorist should not be penalised for failing to produce information which the authorities already have.
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Another fact that distorts figures in Spain is the concentration of accidents into holiday periods, especially August and the frequencies of "puentes" (long weekends) commemorating some obscure local martyr, when traffic density and hence accident rates can be up to ten times higher than normal.
I'd also have to agree with earlier comments about ageing cars and emergency services not being at such a high standard as in the UK (there are four police forces and five or six separate ambulance services where I live, and with local, (50) provincial and (17)regional autonomous governments I can't begin to imagine who actually compiles any data or from which sources!
But ironies abound: Spain has the world's best organ transplant rate and donations run at about 92% in the Basque Country where I live. The marked decrease in road fatalities since points were introduced on licences two years ago actually now means that the rate of organ transplants is falling and waiting times are lengthening!
Has anyone else experienced vague steering on a Vectra?
The problem occurs in a straight line with the car wandering without moving the steering wheel. It is worse at higher speeds and when driving in darkness when the lane markings & road edges are less visible for reference. I find myself continually making slight corrections to the steering to keep the car on track. Read more
Have you checked tyre pressures,and have you checked tyres for feathering
and wear on the edges which would indicate a tracking problem might be worth having the tracking checked
New Megane Coupe sounds interesting, especially the engine.
Which engine is the test about? I couldn't find this information (which may be due to my own stupidity) Read more
I think it's the TCE 180
2.0 TCE 180 belt cam petrol 1,998cc: 132kw (180PS) at 5,500rpm, 300Nm (221 lb ft) torque at 2,250rpm.
Browse
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Oh heck stop it you lot !
This was supposed to be about taking +/- a couple of grand off the drive and into the holiday/rainy day/beer/VAT/Income tax...... fund
Now I'm on Autoblinkintrader looking at XC70 Volvo estates at £13k + and thinking they look alright.....