January 2009
Hello,
I'm thinking of changing my vehicle for a petrol Vauxhall Zafira, I have up to £3k to spend and am after opinion on best combination of engine and gearbox for reliability. Don't mind manual or automatic.
I do mostly town work but with the odd long journey. I'm a gigging musician and like the fact that the Zafira isn't that big on the outside but all the seats fold down to give me a big flat load area.
For around £2k I can get a 1.6 litre with 60-70k miles and FSH but if I spend my budget of £3k I can get a 2.2 litre with same mileage and history.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks, Chris. Read more
My little 2000 (77,000 miles) Punto recently went to the garage as it was overheating badly and some suspected damage had been done to head gasket.
Garage said it was more than that but didnt specify anything - just said it needs new engine.
I dont know much about this type of stuff - but is it worth getting a new engine for an 8 yr old punto or scrapping it and getting a new one. Rest of car is in decent condition and was working fine up till 2 weeks ago.
i found an engine on the web - 31,000 miles done, delivered to my door for £430 with 12 month warranty.
How much would i be looking at to get a new engine fitted?
Is this just a really bad idea in general.
any help would be appreciated!! Read more
I would get a second opinion by someone who knows a bit more. The headgasket went on my Rover 214 some years ago (no real surprise there!) and after chugging to a standstill on the motorway the oil light flickered when ticking over. I braved a new headgasket and radiator (cause of the headgasket!) and it ran for another 50,000 miles.
If its got very hot the oil is probably past its best or even really low and thats why the light is flashing - low pressure! It could of course be because its got too hot and the bearings are shot - in which case the engine is scrap. In which case, it may be worth fixing if you can get it done for £600 or so - you will loose a lot more on a new car and another second hand car might be dogged with hidden problems.
hi all,i;ve got a megane II 1.9 DCI. I've had it for just over 12mths. At first the m.p.g was good (41-63). But now my trip computer is only showing (28-49) urban - extra-urban.its had a full service (air,fuel filter ex..). The service light came on at one point ,it turned out to be a faulty glow plug so replaced all 4.I spoke to a mechanic and he said ,because the servive light came on the car maybe running in SAFE MODE and may need resetting.... Anyone got any idea..... Thanks Read more
Hi mate did you manage to fix your mpg fault, i have the same problem only getting 30mpg on my 1.9dci its been into renault they said its the egr valve and have since replaced it but still have the same problem, did you fix yours
I have a honda accord 1998-99 bose sound system(standard).
I cannot find ANYWHERE an adaptor that will suit my new head unit which i got for xmas.
There seems to be no problem getting an adaptor 'without a bose unit' or non-Bose systems for this car.
Thanks for your time.
Riccardo Read more
had the same problem my friend, could not find a simple plug adaptor. had to cut the wires and solder them together, unfortunely was only able to link up the 4 speakers in the door panels, left the ones in the boot and the sub (assume that what it is) unconnected. Took a few hours as there was a bit of a process of elimation finding out what wires connected to what speaker!! had to take each door panel off! to see what colour wires were leading in (as i couldnt find a wiring diagram online either)
Great though now have ipod plugged in and a bluetooth handfrees system. good luck!!!
If you had the choice, would you buy the old model Yaris or the new model?
Heard several niggles about reliability of the new car.
Read more
Decided to go for the old model, from reading user reviews of both cars.
Now - trying to find a good deal will be the tough part!
Apologies for the vague details so far but I am intrigued by the following:
My friends had an accident in France in summer. A car side swiped them on autoroute, their car somersaulted, hospitalised, holiday ruined etc. They gave statements to the police and insurance companies, as did other witnesses who stopped to this effect but all reports are now in and police have been unable to trace other driver, no CCTV etc so is going to have to go down as a claim against his own insurance.
Now this was obviously not the outcome they expected or wanted, as they had hoped to be able to claim off the other driver for compensation for injuries, time off work, etc etc.
They have now been advised, (and this is where the vagueness comes in as I am unsure as to its source), that as he was driving, his wife, his daughter and daughter's friend who were all in the car can claim against him and his insurance for the compensation.
Is this correct? Especially as they have all given written statements saying that it was caused by another car hitting them and therefore not his fault?
Anyone got any knowledge on this subject?
Read more
Thanks for all the feedback and info, I have passsed this onto my friends and I will keep you updated of any progeress.
Hi, my tensioner belt next to the cam belt broke whilst driving. I stopped immediately and barely managed to get the engine to fire up though it was quite noisy!!
I got it towed to a garage who have ahad a look and think that as the ignition will not even turn the engine over that the engine is damadged! This can happen by parts of the tensioner belt flying off underneath the cam belt and throwing the timing out. WHen the car went in it was turning over and did fire after a struggle. Now it is dead when I turn the ignition on, just ignition lights. Please can someone advise what is the likely problem? The car did not overheat or anything, the mechanic advised that he has been manually trying to turn the engine with a spanner and can not even do this!!! I have my doubts! Read more
Its probaby slipped a tooth or two, if it was still firing up you could have got away with it providing it hasn't moved further. If the engine doesn't turn over at all now, you likely have a different problem, probably electrical, if it does turn over, especially if its faster than usual, you probably have a broken cam shaft.
Over the last few days I have read in various daily papers, as well as Auto Express, articles that are saying that people who have cars on PCP deals are going to get "hammered".
With a PCP deal, you pay a smaller monthly amount compared to regular finance, but at the end of the period you need to make a "balloon" payment to keep the car. Now the reports are stating that in most cases, these balloon payments are more than the car is worth and therefore the owners are faced with paying this high amount or handing car back.
This is being written from the "how unfair on these punters is this" angle.
However, I see this from the total opposite angle. Yes, OK, it is unfortunate that the car's value has plummeted due to the current economic climate. But, I for one, would love to be able to just hand the car back knowing that I had taken advantage of lower monthly payments and that I could now go out and buy a car for money that was nearer the car's value!
Am I missing the point here or are the journalists? Read more
I was reading another forum tonight and someone posted that Honda CRVs are being handed back in large numbers all on PCP.
Thanks for all your help guys, it was fuse number 24 for me! However I guess it could be fuse numbers 1,4,14,24 or 38! However, finding the fuse box was challenging! There are two fuse boxes on the 523i. One in the boot fuses 46-70 and one in the roof of the glovebox fuses 1-45. If you ever get stuck in park and wish a quick temporary fix, lift the gear gaiter out and then the surround, you will see an aluminum lever, with foot on brake and ignition on, this lever will also release the gearbox from park, you can then check fuses at your convienence. But you have to use both hands and one foot to do this, so if you only have one arm, this could be difficult. Read more
A week before Christmas I unfortunately pranged my Volvo 480 which I brought a month earlier.
To cut a long story short i smacked it against a brick wall, bending the lower suspension arm rendering it undrivable, not to mention a new bumper, indicator lense etc is needed for repair.
As it's currently on the driveway looking unwashed & sorry for itself I've been trying to figure out what to do next, whether to get it fixed which will involved it having to be towed to the garage (which is extra money to pay out as im only TP F&T), or sell it on ebay as accident damaged?
The car is in good condition otherwise despite it could do with a wash & waxoyling too. Read more
i think it went to china in the great crush rush of the new clondike scrap afiliation society 2008/09
Browse
Have you thought of...
Spending a bit more, going to auction, buying in Motability sections - they have a good number of Zafiras, there, usually.
Or, for the budget you mention, finding a Mazda Premacy, instead?
VB