January 2009

carnie104b

Hi!, I just got my VW Passat back from a 50K service and change of cambelt, water pump etc... the dealership has been at me for a couple of years now to change the brake fluid.

Does anyone have any views on this as I am not sure whether this is just another rip off scheme from manuacturers to get more dosh!!

Any comments would be welcomed.

{made non make/model specific as several makes/models are being discussed. Have included OP's car details in main post though for reference.} Read more

Avant

This was a discussion worth resurrecting, but not if it gets personal. Thread closed.

DanG

Need to get a medium sized van. Looking for something that's practical, but also stylish, quick and comfortable.

Something 2 - 3 years old, low mileage and with the more powerful (diesel) engine option. Preferably a tiptronic auto box for all the city driving. I like the Merc Vito, but also the VW Transporter. Which is bigger, the VW looks it?

In the terms of reliability, residual value and fuel efficiency, which comes out on top? Which would people chose if presented with two identical spec vans from the different manufactures?

Thanks
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Martin Devon

Vito no good. Thrown together piece of carp. I know you haven't asked..........BUT........I have owned from new, a Renault Master long wheelbase medium roof van, (you can still stand up in it) and have given it hell from 2002. I am a Building contractor and the thing is permanently loaded up to the gunwhales and has been, up 'till now, perfectly reliable and goes very well. VERY very well on the rare occasion I have unloaded it. Not 'sexy' like the Transporter, but hey! be different.

OK......sorry...MD

yorksroyal

I have a new shape Mazda 6 TS2 2.0d, which I bought new in late March 2008. It has done about 10,000 miles in that time, and in mid December the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) light came on. I read the handbook which said it needed a long high speed run to clear the filter. In the 3 weeks since then it has covered over 600 miles on motorways on long runs and the light went out, which I assumed meant it had 'self-cleaned'. Yet on Sunday, the light suddenly came on but flashing and the 'check engine' light also came on, and the car had gone into 'limp mode' (which means I have no turbo) so it has gone to the garage, where they say it needs an oil change, filter change and the DPF system regenerated (at a cost of £250+).

They also said the service record computer on the car said this had happened before and a dealer had 'wiped the computer', even though I have never taken it to a dealer before. The long and short is that they won't do it under warranty (not exactly sure why, hoping to find out when I collect the car today), and when I rung Mazda UK to ask them about this they had no record of my car existing, and my VIN number was registered to a different registration number.

Has anyone else had to deal with this? How should I go about trying to get this covered by Mazda, as I can't afford the DPF system to crash every 10,000 miles / 9 months and cost me £250+? It would seem to me that this perfectly fits the description of 'not fit for purpose', so who should I complain to if I don't get a satisfactory reply from Mazda UK? Trading Standards? Read more

ducky

hi i changed the brake pads on my mazda 6 2.0d sport140bhp 2008 then when i drove of down the road the engine management light came on.then i turn the car off and it was of for about 8miles then s topped the car and when i got back in it came on again now it still on.is this anything to do with me changin the pads or sumthing els.the car has 72.000mils.

allan doc

I am thinking of purchasing a Citreon Van which is taxed till end of Feb 09 and Mot'd till 07 Feb 09. Could i still tax the vehicle woth only 14 days valid MOT left or would i have to get the van MOT'd. It will be insured before i try and tax it Read more

Hamsafar

BP, I agree is used to be like this until recently, but I just renewed mine online last month on the 7th of the month before. It didn't used to be that way.

dean

Help we are coming to the end of our tether.We got the fiesta 1.4 tdci 3 years ago with approx 25,000 on the clock ran lovely for the first 2 1/2 years.We had wheel bearing done at 30,000 miles then water pump shortly after.A bit of the air con unit fell off last year.Then the fun began.In July 08 we developed an intermittent ticking which went when the engine warmed up.Then we started to get diesel fumes in the car.Went to two garages one said number 3 injector had gone the other said all the seals needed replacing.Had the seals replaced with the brushes/bushes and returned with a distinct lack of power.Could just get up to 70mph ticked over ok no smell of fumes but nowhere near the same amount of power.Cut a long story short car has been back and forth up to 15 times since.Its been on the ford diagnostic machine which shows no faults.The manifold cover was checked.It has been off the road since October after its last trip to the garage when they told me they had taken the injectors off to get them tested ( ? can the siemens system be tested) to be told all four injectors needed replacing.When I got it back the last time it could only just do 30mph with foot flat to floor on accelarator and it kept stalling never done that before.We have been told lots of waffle over the last few months.It has supposed to have had the exhaust cut in half to test the pressure,ecu checked and fuel pump flow.Two of the injectors have been taken out again and the spray was ok.Someone told us the injectors need coding on the siemens and one guy said not.Totally confused don't know where to go now.We have got to pick it up tomorrow after it's latest 6wk stint at the garage still unroadworthy.Mechanic now thinks could be injector pump but needs taking off and testing.Might still not be that.Please can somebody help. Read more

dip

hello all just done four injector seals on my 06 fiesta cost £50 for kit installed myself took about 4 hours two of the injector seals where leaking fumes into the car ,took longer to take to bits to get to the injectors than to install the seals car now starts better runs like new made sure i cleaned out all the crud and oil off everything before putting back together

leighmt

I changed the batteries in my key fob for my renault megane e RT 1999 1.4.
Now the key fob wont work to turn off the immobiliser, the remote central locking doesn't work either.
Does anyone have any idea why its stopped working and what i have to do to fix it??
any help would be great!
Thanks Read more

thomp1983

i can't see any reason why it wouldn't work, it's just a simple circuit board, id ask the dealer if they can't program the fob first with the kit they have

chris

andyfr

After seeing the numerous posts about the problems with DPFs my eye was caught by a company in a magazine offering DPF deletion kits. There was no mention of legality but I assume having this modification done would be illegal.

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unthrottled

CO2 is not a regulated trace pollutant in a way that HC, CO NOX and particulates are. There are no limits on the amount of CO2 that a vehicle can produce. but if a car produces more than the maximum permitted level of CO, HC, NOx or PM, then it can't be registered on the road.

epgs1

Hi - I have just taken delivery of a new base model Jazz (01 -08 model) and am very surprised how stiff and heavy the steering feels. The stiffness is most noticable at normal driving speeds - the steering will not self centre after turning and requires quite firm correction. I have read that the steering is normaly considered to be light.

I took a test drive in a same spec vehicle yesterday and found it to be the same! Either both cars have the same fault or JAzz 1.2's have very stiff and heavy steering.

I have googled this issue and only found a few references and can't find any references here.

Could someone comment about how light/stiff their steering is?

Thanks Graham Read more

primeradriver

To the OP, you must surely have test-driven the model before you bought it? If so, you have a point of reference.

I personally think you've got used to something lighter and will get used to this car likewise.

cornelly cat

Just this morning - cold but no colder than any others recently, I got into the car, started her up and hit the air con along with the fan and heat settings. Then noticed that the air con light was slowly flashing on and off. Air con seems to be working as it cleared relatively quickly but nothing I could do short of turning off the fans would stop it flashing. can't find anything in the manual about so wondered if anyone on here could help? Read more

AlanKeys

HondaKeith, you sir are a genius! Followed your instructions and tadah!!!! Air Conditioning now working!

Thankyou so much!...

Chisser

In 2007 I was rearended by another driver who admitted liabilty but who's insurance company did not offer to repair my car or offer me a courtesy car.I was anxious not to lose my no claims bonus so I approached my Mercedes garage who put me in contact with a company who offered to get my car repaired and offer me a courtesy car which would be charged to the person who caused the accident.
However when I dropped off my car another company had hijacked the claim.They assured me I could not be held responsible for the cost of the car hire or repair unless the accident was subsequently found to be my fault (which it never has).
The repair went ahead taking some 23 days (much longer that I thought necessary) and I was lent an equivalent car for this period.
Though the other driver's company agreed to pay for the repair,they (rightfully in my view) declined to pay the £6,582.35 that the credit hire company charge for the BMW 5 series lent to me for 23 days.

They have now issued a summons against me for £7,234.23 to recover this amount.

Any advice would be welcome.I felt I was just trying to to protect my NCD as the other party had not offered to repair my car or lend me a car whilst doing so.

Is this extortion or illegal?
I am happy to name and shame if allowed to on this forum.
Jonathan
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UB123

Thank you for your reply ifithelps.

Yes you are quite right, this is a mess....