January 2009
Buying my car taxes over the phone recently I was prompted to enter a competition to win a Seat Leon they were giving away monthly. This was a free draw.I'm sure many of you also entered as there was no mention of any ties. A totally free option at the end of the call.
Several weeks later I received gumph in the post from Seat. A pure marketing ploy that I found irritating that no mention was made during the call that my details were to be passed on to a third party without my permission. Doublely so, as this is a government department.
In future if the DVLA run any "competitions" they must provide in their message a warning that entering will or will not generate third party land fill dropping through your letter box. This is not done at present, so beware before you enter. Read more
Following a full service (32k) at a Citroen garage, fuel consumption has increased from 54 MPG combined to barely 49 MPG, the car has been back and tested on their electronic tester, hey averaged out the car's 49.9 MPG (within their reange). C02 is OK and no problems found. and have no idea why it has dropped. Has anyone else had the same problem ?
Shouting amended - I also guess you meant to say that fuel consumption has increased rather than dropped so I've changed that Read more
Maybe your tyre pressures were high and they lowered them during the service causing a bit more drag, or maybe they over adjusted your handbrake causing it to bind.
I thought my handbrake had siezed on my 53 reg car as I couldnt steer car-(as if I had no power steering) but if i turn engine on and off it sorts its self out- and is fine,any one else have this problem? Read more
Hi,
I have an ongoing problem with my car. It's a 1.6 8 valve Vauxhall Astra Automatic (2002).
Last year the car started to cut out when approaching a junction or roundabout, when the revs would drop to under 1 thousand then the revs would completely cut out and the car would stall.
In the end the fault was traced to a faulty EGR (Exhaust Gas Recycle) valve. Essentially, this valve is supposed to close when the car slows to keep the revs high. Now this valve failed in February 2008, after much going back & forth (with Vauxhall) the problem was traced to this EGR valve. Once the valve was replaced the problem was fixed.
The exact same problem recurred in October 2008, the valve was replaced under warranty and everything was fine.
Unfortunately, the same issue has started to happen again, and I am 100% sure it is the EGR vavle again.
The mechanic at Vauxhall mentioned that it could be an issue with my ECU that was causing the EGR valve to fail. My question is whether it is feasible for the ECU to cause the EGR valve to fail over time?
Any help on getting to the root cause of this issue is much appreciated, as this is becoming a very frustrating problem. Read more
Thanks Andrew - much appreciated.
The Vauxhall technician said that they couldn't blank the EGR on my car as it is an automatic. Can I ask them to do the same job and do you know where I can find any further information?
Many thanks in advance!
I have had loads of things done to the car in the last couple of months, but still to our frustration still not right. A recon engine has been fitted. Established that the injectors needed replacing and have had four new ones fitted. The car still smokes heavily but only under load. When idling it is fine but drive off and it fills the street up. I have been told that the turbo may have gone but it seems fine when I drive it. It sounds and seems to work normally.
shouting silenced and some paraphrasing Read more
Thanks for such a quick reply.
I have not done the work, my bro inlaw did. as far as i'm aware there all on. I have a RHY engine dont know if that has a intercooler.
I'm not sure what else i'm suppose to mention apart from the problems were having.
Regards
Could anybody help me, I'm trying to get my hands on a 2008 vw passat drivers handbook. Any ideas? Read more
A Volkswagen dealer......
Don't be silly they're too busy applying their make up to sell anything
Came back to the car the other day to find some so-and-so had left a large dent in the door. Have been told it needs a new skin and quoted £650 for the repair. With a £150 excess I would be claiming £500 from my insurer but losing a "life" on my protected NCB.
I presume that even though the percentage NCB is protected the premium will go up for the next three years because of the claim and we are about to put a our 17 year old daughter on to the ploicy as a learner.
Does anyone have any idea whether I would be better off in the long run if I paid the full cost of the repair myself and avoided an insurance claim? Read more
>>What do you think?
If your car is only worth a 'monkey' surely you would be better off saving
money by only insuring it Third Party (Fire+Theft) rather than Fully Comprehensive with Protected No
Claims.
Its actually cheaper to insure fully comp that TPFT, dont ask why. I like fully comp as you get leagl cover and windscreen chip repair. Knocking off protection saves nearly 70 pound with my current insurer.
What I wanted to know is if you damage a third party, do you lose you NCB or is that only when you claim for damage to the insured vehicle on the policy?
Hi all,
My indicators, wipers, heater blower and heated window switch have all stopped working at the same time. The hazard lights still work but I get nothing at all from the stalk. As well as everything failing, when I first turn the ignition on, the digital display flashes everything its got, on and off for about 20 seconds.
It is a T reg 1.8 Sport Passat. Anyone got an idea of what the problem might be?
Thanks! Read more
All the functions you mention are all seperately fused but are fed from the X Contact Relief Relay in position 2 in the micro central relay carrier behind the drivers storage compartment. If this relay fails all the things you mention will fail to power up fuses S2, S224, S225, S226 and S227. will not have power. Regards Peter
The brake pedal on my Avensis (1.8 petrol) is quite spongy and requires a firm press for the brakes to respond. The car stops okay in an emergency but it's quite unnerving at times in traffic. The car had just 6k on the clock when I bought it from a Toyota dealer at 18 months old and was used as a demonstrator sitting for long periods on the forecourt. The dealer maintains that the brakes are fine but every other car I've driven had a firm pedal that responds with a light touch. If I bled the brakes/changed the fluid would this make a difference?
Cheers Read more
Hi - I bought a second hand Rover 214 and the clutch made a bit of a noise when in 1st and 2nd - but was ok after 3rd gear - it now feels as its slipping a bit again in the first 3 gears and also makes a little noise now like a pressure release sound - do you think its time to change the whole clutch assembly?
Thanks Read more
Browse
From the replies it seems it might just be a coincidence. The leaflets arrived about 5 weeks after I taxed and entered the comp.
I have never owned a Seat or requested any brochures of their cars. Strange.
The only connection was this comp. Hence the post.