January 2009
Watching this on TV, want to describe a scenario.
Police following a newish Honda Civic driven by a young bloke. Driving carefully but the plate is coming up as "Not found" on the computer. They suspect the car is stolen, especially as it was just reported for bilking.
They flick the lights on and as he pulls onto the hard shoulder they pull in front and stamp the brakes on. He nearly goes into the back of them. Before the car's stopped the policeman's out and running over to the car, reaches in and pulls out the keys and then tries to pull the driver out while screaming "You're under arrest" etc.
Driver somewhat surprised by this, gives the policeman a shove back. Bearing in mind this is on the hard shoulder the policeman is a bit scared and gets even more abusive, dragging him out while putting him in an armlock. Escorted and elbowed into the police car.
Turns out it's a clerical error and on top of that, the petrol station was lying. His card wouldn't work in their machine, so he left the card, his name, and address and promised to come back. Barely out of the place when they called the police.
He's a bit upset and even more so when the police dole out a £30 penalty. No apology. Am I missing something here? I'd have been demanding a copy of the tape and making a formal complaint.
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I need a big family estate - to replace our fantastic Avensis est which at 10 years old and 150,000 is starting to feel its age.
The Toyota has been great and I would buy another except that Drive the Deal is doing 08 Vectra 1.8 Life est with 18K for the above price.
This seems like an extraordinary bargain. However, are they any good?
I am very keen on reliable cars, that are quiet to drive on motorway, cheap to run, and safe.
Will the 1.8 engine do the job, ot will it be worked too hard? Will it fall apart - I've read enough Vx posts on here to frighten me - although they seem to be for the diesels.
I wouldn't normally consider a Vectra, but at this price it seems rude not to.
Other obvious choices are Mondeo estate (petrol) Mazda 6 petrol.
We are family with a canoe to carry/ bikes on the back etc, so need some space.
Any advice, gratefully received, thanks Read more
Sorry I should have TradeSales in Slough - not DTD? Does that make any difference
to a possible purchase?
Haven't bought from DTD, but I have bought from TradeSales (2008) and it was a good experience. Car was a Mitsubishi, and the TradeSales guy seemed to know a lot more about it than the local Mitsubishi dealer!
Recently I have noticed that whilst driving, the temperature guage needle is very slightly higher than normal i.e. instead of being exactly between min and max it is slightly higher up. Also I have noticed whitish smoke from the exhaust although I am still not sure whether this is normal and just caused by the hot exhaust gases (water) condensing on the cooler outside air.
The coolant level in the reservoir does tend to drop slightly over say 2-3 months.
Any advice is welcome. Read more
For peace of mind take your car for the sniff test, they test for hydrocarbons in the coolant this will tell you if a headgasket problem.
Also if thats ok maybe try a new thermostat they can stick etc.
We are plagued by the late night tearing around these quiet streets by a vehicle with very loud exhaust. Finally got the number yesterday- car contained the obligatory 4 young men with baseball caps speeding up to 50 then screeching to almost halting at the next junction. Interesting thing is that DVLA lists it as having been unlicensed since last February and being a different colour to the one it is now. The engine capacity indicates it's a 16 year old hot hatch- a prime candidate for crushing. They could even be stolen plates. I told the police, but my suspicion is that they'll do nothing about it and I'll eventually see the same occupants driving the same way around here again. This is a thread requiring long term follow up. Read more
- or another TWOCing.
...that blows no good!
Are there any experts out there who can say whether this scenario is possible....
(sorry if it's a familiar tale to some...)
HGV driver is banned for 2 years, drink driving. He says he can't find his licence, but really it's hidden.
Ban expires, so he produces the old licence, and goes back to work driving HGVs.
I think I'm right in saying that after a 2 year ban for DD you'll never get insured for an HGV for at least 10 years?
HGVs are dangerous enough without having a dangerous clown driving them.
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Because in UK both parts are required. If you produce a licence on the spot when asked for it and it has 6 points on it (say) you are less likely to get a talking to than if it is clean. A week later when you produce it at a police station all they are interested in is the validity and currency. The points are irrelevant and moment for getting grief about them was a week ago. The man noting the details isn't bothered.
56 Mondeo Zetec 130ps.
After finding this site I was able to successfully disable the seat belt warning gong, which had been driving me mad. Thanks for that. Now I want to know if I can disable the extra wipe it gives about 5 sec after using the wash/wipe. The wash/wipe gets the screen clean and usually the extra wipe clears away any remaining water, but in the current weather conditions, I am finding that it smears the screen badly and I have to wash/wipe again to get it clean - and then ... and so on. Anyone know a way to disable it? Read more
I would like to know if this is possible too - its a poor feature!!
Edited to take away shouting, Rob
Anyone know of such a product ? Basically I want a key ring that once a key is on it it can't be taken off. Either that or a trip to a welder. Read more
Not yet - May was the target date - due to the sudden illness of a colleague/partner may soldier on for a while.
........what would it be?
I am, of course, talking in terms of motoring. Me? Well, I'd change a few things. Off the top of my head;
-Introduce variable motorway speed-limits, between 50 & 90 mph depending on conditions.
-Include car-control (skid pan) course in driving exam.
-Free manufacturers from certain suffocating safety and emissions regulations.
-Flat-rate road fund licence.
-Tougher penalties for uninsured drivers.
-Embark on a road-building programme to bring us into the 21st century.
-Replace all speed cameras with radar speed signs and traffic police.
-Bring back fixed fuel duty, abolish escalator.
-Replace all unsightly traffic calming measures with radar speed signs.
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Only one? Tricky.....but I can do it...
Increase the fine for driving without insurance to at least £2,000, confiscate the car, and after two weeks, dismantle it and use the parts for repairing cars where appropriate, otherwise crush it.
www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/01/26/dowle_p1_goes_ele.../
I guess 'affordable' is relative to other electric sub-3s 0-60 sports cars, but anyway:
Early in 2008, former McLaren and Jordan F1 designer Jim Dowle announced that his company, JJAD, would make a bespoke two-door sports car called the P1. It has now been announced that it will be an electric sports car...
Called the P1-E, the car will hit 60mph in 2.9 seconds, thunder - quietly - on to 130mph and will cost £55,000 when it goes on sale in 2012.
Other technical details include two electric motors that together put out 290kW (389bhp) and 590lb ft of torque ? all in a car weighing only 1055kg, just 145kg more than a Lotus Elise - a lithium-ion battery pack good for a 230-mile range, and four-wheel drive.
The P1-E will be made from composite body panels over a carbon fibre and aluminium chassis. Not a bad looking lump of carbon and all, if the concept designs are anything to go by. Hint of Lancia Stratos, dash of Lamborghini Gallardo, touch of Lotus Exige. Works for us.
Dowle's take on the future of the 'leccy car? ?All the electric cars produced to date have been compromised in one way or another and most have been of little attraction to the enthusiast driver," he said.
"We decided it was time to create an affordable electric sports car that combined the advantages of conventionally-engined machines with those of electric ones, without the disadvantages of either ? in short, a drivers? car for the 21st Century.? Read more
Why are these manufacturers (these and Tesla for example) concentrating on sports cars, is it because they are still incapable of making a practical car run on batteries? They just seem to be fooling around at present.
Instead of making an electric Elise, I'd be more impressed with an electric Focus or Golf. That may actually be progress.
helo... i am hoping someone can help, i have a 1993 rover metro and want to filter the air that gets sucked in from bonnet air vent so i dont have to have exhaust fumes from other cars coming inside mine.These cars have no cabin filter so i intend to buy a cabin filter for another car and cut it to fit in the box in the engine bay where the interior fan motor is. My question is if i get desperste could i use an air filter designed for the engine air intake or would it be unsafe to breathe air filtered in this manner? Obviously a cabin pollen filter would be safe but i am having trouble finding one of suitable dimensions because they tend to be the wrong shape for my square blower intake. ...many thanks for any replies
{amended typo in header} Read more
Thanks for your reply...i will look and see if there is a rubber seal on top of the intake housing for the blower/fan motor and check its condition. If its worn it will bring in air from the engine bay i suppose and make the situation worse. I presume it should have a seal,no doubt perished by now.I do drive in a lot of heavy town traffic and am behind buses and diesels every day. Do you think a charcoal filter would filter exhaust fumes?
Browse
When did the bobby turn into the slobby? Really interesting article in today's Teleg, and see the website for all the reaction, much of it from both serving and ex-coppers.