February 2009
Hi,
I have found a car on ebay which i have won the aution on - the plates on the car read "LH02 ---" but the car is currently on a private plate. The seller says that he has the V5 docs and the car is as described.
Make/model details removed - as its a general question really.
I am a complete novice where it comes to cars and am very nervous of buying a car privately - I have a friend who knows cars who will come to collect the car with me so Im not too worried but dont know what I need to look out for.
The guy says he will change the plates back "when I collect and sign the log book" - My question is, I guess this isnt an instant change, so how can I drive the car home if the plates are going to be changed? Will I be able to insure? Also, what do I need to look for when buying a used car? It is an MX5 2002 1.8 -
Thanks for any advice
Ross
Read more
Hi chaps, if anyone has seen my recent posts I've been having some minor grief deciding what to replace my ailing Rover 75 with, well I've solved the problem by buying a Rover 75. I now feel quite content, it's low mileage (24 thou') and was only £2K ... may not be the greatest deal in the world but the dealer is sound - anyway, to the point, he's offered me 3 months dealer warranty and reckons I can get a further 15 months (15 for the price of 12) for £150 through a firm called WMS, it will be what they call their 4* policy and seems reasonable, does anyone have any experience of them please ? Regards Roger Read more
ON ANY old car (such as a Rover 75) any afterarket warranty will be not much use, except as expensive toilet paper.
I can see the logic in getting a warranty on a 3 to 5 year old car from a well known company, but on a 8+ year old car just a waste of time....
theres a stretch of road near me , farmers cake it in mud year round , not just a splash here n there but its properly caked in mud
they stuck a couple of childlike homemade "mud on road " signs on the verge , so doe that make it okay ? are they allowed to just filthy up the road all they want
is it worth me complaining about it and who should i complain to , id like to see the worst of it cleaned up now n then
{Dropped make model selection. It's not compulsory to select one in discussion. Selecting a category is sufficient enough for you to be able to post} Read more
Yeah and it covers up that spray on mud you buy in a can.
How rude.
I have read how safe and well packaged this little car is but I don't understand why anyone would choose one over an Aygo/ C1 etc. It is much more expensive and doesn't have that nice utilitarian image like the Aygo based trio or the FIAT Panda. Also despite having the same engine, the performance figures are well down on an Aygo which is (from my recollection) capable of around a ton and 0-60 in about 12.5 secs. The iQ figures for the manual are about 15 secs and 93 mph. Is it a heavier car? What would you choose? Read more
I expect for those people who want to show themselves off as being "green", but still have a bit of money behind them, the IQ would be the perfect car, as it screams "look how green I am", but also screams "I'm richer than you, because you've got an Aygo and I've got an IQ!"
Since 4x4s are unfashionable at the moment, I wonder if cars like the Mito/500/IQ will be the new type of car which those in suburbia who have to keep up with the Joneses will splash out on.
Hi,
My wife and I have remote door keys for our 3 year old Getz [recently purchased]. We like the car very much but have an odd problem which is that, due to the press button being on the side of the key, it sometimes gets accidentally pressed when it is in my wife's bag and when this is being moved around but it also occasionally happens to me when I accidentally press the button when putting the key in my pocket. Often we do not realise the button has been accidentally pressed until we return to the car to find it unlocked! We do not want to take the battery out of the key but is there something else we could do to eliminate this problem? We have spoken to our local dealer, to Halfords and to a local key agent without success.
Regards
John Read more
My Hyundai locks itself again in 30s ,if unlocked and not then entered. The Getz does not automatically re-lock.
Hello. I Have recently changed a number plate festoon light bulb ,which i had the side lights on at the time i created a short and side lights went out ,ok a fuse i thought had gone but when checking the fuses ,as left and right side had gone out the fuses were ok, i still have no side lights all bulbs working as the park position is ok. can someone confirm the fuse numbers or can it be a light switch problem. comments please. Read more
Hello. Spot on i was convinced i had checked it, but i have just come home from work and i went out with torch and yes it is that fuse 2 minute job 10p . this has been a week long headache. many thanks to you.john
Hi All
Thinking about buying a nearly new supermini for SWMBO (either a Yaris or Sirion). The non-metallic red is generally a few hundred cheaper than metallic. We like red, so this isn't a problem.
But SWMBO keeps her cars for 10 years, and we used to have an old red Polo which faded quite a lot over the years. Does non-metallic red on new cars still fade over, say, a 10 year period? If so, we'll pay the extra to go metallic.
Thanks in advance Read more
Only time will tell. Red and white seem to be about the only colours you
don't have to pay a premium for.
What colour does white fade to ? (transparent ??)
Hi all,
as previously mentioned, i have a Mk3 Golf with engine code AAM. I'm just looking through the Haynes manual as the timing belt needs replacing and I'm assessing my ability to do it!
On my engine the belt loops round the crankshaft,camshaft,passes the circular tensioner and also drives the auxilliary shaft. I think the auxilliary shaft drives the distributor so its timing is important.
Off the cranksaft are some vee belts which drive the power steering pump,alternator and water pump. The water pump is not driven off the timing belt.
Do i need to remove the crankshaft pullys in order to remove the lower timing belt covers to get at the belt?
Do i need any special service tools? eg the tensioner has two holes for a "special" adjustment tool.
Are the timing marks on the craknshaft end,cam sprocket and aux shaft obvious?
Thanks Read more
Well the job is finally done.
I got two hex bolts out of the water pump pully fairly easily but the last one was a pain. The old belt and tensioner had done about 50,000 miles and visually,looked ok. The tensioner spun freely but did have a slightly edgy feel to the bearing.
Fortunately the VW Main dealer who changed the belt first time round,helpfully painted some blobs on the teeth of the crank,cam sprocket and aux shaft so when i put the engine in tdc using the manufacturers mark on the cam sprocket,all the paint blobs lined up nicely !
Top tips for other amateur mechanics like me doing the same job,,
Make sure you have a 3/8 or 1/2 drive hex socket to fit the daft hex bolts and that it is good quality and an accurate fit.
Clean out the heads of all hex bolts before putting that socket anywhere near them.
If your engine isnt already marked up, set the engine in tdc and accurately paint blob all the cogs so that its easier to reset when you fit the new belt.
Belt tension should be max 90 degree twist mid way between the cam sprocket and aux shaft.
I have tried numerous directory sites and the Hotel's own website to find the telephone number for the Riva Hotel, Borovets, Bulgaria....but without success.
Is there anyone out there who is better at this sort of thing than me?
TIA Read more
Re the UFO "sighting" in IHAQ 275. We had a number of people on the North West coastline recently reporting one evening what they believed was a UFO out to sea.
Turned out to be a helicopter hovering over Blackpool airport waiting for its turn to land...
What's the worst bike you have ever come across? By this I mean standard bikes rather than one that has been customised (either by design or accident) or just plain old neglected.
Cheekily, (fotunately), I haven't had the pleasure of riding the one that I'd like to nominate, the Norton Commander.
Imgine the scene; early 1990's, Regents Street, London, in the run up to Christmas. It's 4.30 in the afternoon, it's wet and it's just turning dark. Visor up, making my way through the traffic I come up behind a member of the London Ambulance Service on the Norton. I have the utmost respect for the riders of the emergency services so I thought I'd follow him through the traffic and see if I could pick up any tips (NB he was not on a shout so normal riding only).
It quickly became apparent that he was struggling somewhat to cope with the heavy traffic, there was clearly a large lag in the Norton's throttle response so that when the traffic moved forward large gaps would open in front of the bike, (inevitably filled by someone in a car changing lanes) at which point the Norton's rotary was finally making power and would hurtle forward into the now rapidly shrinking gap.
The rider was having to having to anticipate when the gaps would appear, open the throttle in advance, and then balance the whole lot on the brakes when it all started to go pear shaped. Chatting to the rider at the lights he was praying that the service would ditch the Nortons before they ran out of riders...
I'd be interested to hear other people's nominations.
f2 Read more
the Dax.. nuff said (if you can call it a motorbike).
Browse
Regarding the actual registration, pretty much covered above.
What you DON'T want is to drive the car away, with anything BUT the assigned number it has NOW.
Don't take it with 'personal' number, with intention of getting it changed after you've got it home - you'll be pinged on the ANPR cameras & have lots fixed penalty fines - & more hassle!!
Do check VIN plate on car & MOT & V5 all match with the correct registration - the MOT will have been stamped by DVLA, if it was done with old registration, displayed.
& the car itself, which model is it? I'll give my input, if you ask again! Worse thing is if it's got the dogleg alloys, which WERE being replaced, under warranty/goodwill, due to severe premature corrosion.
Also a recall may have been missed, on the front foglights, if fitted - they would overheat & melt the bumper!!
Car itself should be fine!!
VB