March 2009
Hi,
Over a month ago I purchased a car from a main dealer that had had a private plate on it. The dealer thought they had removed it, but shortly before picking it up they phoned me to say there had been an error and the private plate was still on the car. I told them I wasn't interested in buying the car until they had sorted the admin out. A couple of weeks later they called to say all sorted, now with new plate and they taxed it. When I picked it up they didn't have the documents because they were at the DVLA. 6 weeks later I hear nothing, so phone the DVLA, who say the car has not had its plates changed - despite the fact that I'm driving around with the new plates and with a tax disc with the new reg number. Sounds like a mess up somewhere. I called the dealer, who knows nothing and says they did all the paperwork, hence why I have a tax disc. The DVLA asked what office the dealer dealt with, and I provided the details - they are investigating.
There is now scam here - this was a merc main dealer, so just cockup, not conspiracy. However, I'm now worried about if I should actually be driving the car. Has anyone any experience of these matters? Read more
when you trade in ya old car at a dealers do the dealers just send them off to auction or could you just go and buy one from them ? Read more
The bigger dealer groups won't even use trade buyers, these days, as they have a fear of protecting themselves from any underhand 'cash' bonuses to staff, etc.
Plus the deals they get creating branded sections, within an uction, quite often means they achieve excellent returns & minimal expenses, in accounting for the sale, transport, preparation & of course, no come backs!
VB
hi my little fiesta has a problem.When you start her she revs very low and some times stalls,when you put down the excelerator she revs iraticly.She seems to drive not bad.
sorry forgot to ad she is a 1997 1.25 auto.Can any one help please Read more
Has the car been serviced up to schedule? What are the plugs and air filter like?
The engine management on modern cars is quite complicated. There are parts that need cleaning or replacement from time to time. When servicing has been neglected it shows up first in symptoms like erratic idling.
What you should do depends on the history of your car. If it has no service history you need to run it past a sympathetic mechanic who knows the model or is generally very competent. Such people are not always easy to find. Simply going to a garage and asking for a 'service' will cost money but may not get you anywhere. Good luck.
Although I've been driving for over 20 years, I'm a numpty when it comes to insurance claims - never had one until now, so I'd be indebted to anyone who could advise on some questions I've got here.
The situation is this - last year I reversed out of a car park space and bumped another car parked to the rear of me. Although not expecting any damage based on the relative lightness of the bump, nonetheless, I was relieved to see that none was apparent to either vehicle. The owner of the other vehicle had been walking towards his car at the time and, when I commented that all seemed well, he disagreed, saying that hidden damage to a car like his "would cost hundreds". So I took some pics with my phone (with his permission, although he was very aggressive, so much so, I felt threatened) and we exchanged details. I phoned my insurance company, gave them the incident details to advise them that there might be a claim from the other owner. They sent me a claim form which I didn't use as there was no damage to my car related to this incident. Sure enough, the other driver made his claim against my insurance - I don't know what the details or amounts are. It wouldn't surprise me if he'd said he was sat in the vehicle at the time & claimed whiplash.
Subsequently, my insurance asked me for an account of the incident, which I gave them in writing. They then asked for the pictures I'd taken so I sent those via email. Now, months later, I've had a letter from a firm of insurance investigators who want to interview me as soon as possible. This worries me because it seems like my insurance company is disputing the claim - the guy knows where I live and his aggression has already scared me. He also seemed quite streetwise and I wonder what sort of repercussion could come my way should his claim not be accepted. By the same token, if there IS something dodgy, then I'd be against it being accepted - aside from not supporting fraud or dodginess, I don't want to fork out the excess. Has anyone else had a similar experience - what did you do, what was the outcome? What do these investigators do exactly (and why do I have to make free time for them during the working day.....scrap that, it might mean I save paying the excess although that's still a loss of some holiday time)?
Secondly, (apologies that this is so long) - my insurance quote has just come in for the renewal. The premium shot up from 380 to 700 but the broker has found an alternative at 440 with same low excess and NCD (protected). So I take it I'm free to shop around even though this claim hasn't been settled yet?
Finally, what's the general view on getting fully comp, protected NCB, etc at premuims of 400 a year when your old banger is only worth about twice that? If something happened to my car, surely even the lightest repair would result in a write off.....although I suppose the best I could hope for is a low category so I could buy it off them. It's a 1.6 jap saloon with just under 90K mileage - actually cheaper to buy than the more economical smaller old bangers but not as popular and therefore more likely to be scrapped?
Thanks for wading through all that! :) Read more
I carry a disposable film camera plus digital. One might work adequately:) The only time I needed a camera, I happened to have a polaroid (1980) which was useful. Another technology outmoded I fear.
hello there, i was wandering if anybody could me, my friend recently purchased an imported honday prelude 2.2 si vtec, very nice car, but unfortunatly we've discovered it still has the limiter on it?! does anybody know how to remove this little problem? or would he have to replace the ECU and remap it? any help would be gratefully recieved. Read more
As I passed a spy van yesterday, the word "tax" appeared in its otherwise covered back window. My car is properly taxed, and I can only think that the camera picked up on the old tax disc still displayed on the windscreen alongside the new disc on the dashboard (fully visible from outside). This has prompted me to check out regulations; the extract below may be of interest. I now wait to see whether I was caught and whether they will be zealous/petty enough to prosecute me for failing to meet the statutory requirements to the letter. Less than an hour later, the discs were seen by two traffic wardens, who passed no comment.
Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 2742
The Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002
(3) Each such licence shall be fixed to the vehicle in a holder sufficient to protect the licence from the weather to which it would otherwise be exposed.
(4) The licence shall be exhibited on the vehicle -
(a) in the case of an invalid vehicle, tricycle or bicycle, other than in a case specified in sub-paragraph (b) or (c) of this paragraph, on the near side of the vehicle; (b) in the case of a bicycle drawing a side-car or to which a side-car is attached, on the near side of the handlebars of the bicycle or on the near side of the side-car; (c) in the case of any vehicle fitted with a glass windscreen in front of the driver extending across the vehicle to its near side, on or adjacent to the near side of the windscreen; (d) in the case of any other vehicle -
(i) if the vehicle is fitted with a driver's cab containing a near side window, on that window; or (ii) on the near side of the vehicle in front of the driver's seat and not less than 760 mm and not more than 1.8 metres above the surface of the road.
(5) In each case referred to in paragraph (4), the licence shall be so exhibited that all the particulars on the licence are clearly visible in daylight from the near side of the road.
______________________________________________
At:
www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2002/20022742.htm#6 Read more
Going back to the OP, I'm with BB on this, it seems a lot of fuss over nothing, just a thread to have a dig at the authorities, perhaps... and like him I can't understand why the OP didn't have time in the previous 288 hours to replace the disc....
20 hulks and remnants will be sold at prices expected to range from £200 to £4,000 at an auction in April,
tinyurl.com/c33pmh Read more
even heat is a waste of time because the thread has gone with the nut
happy days----------not
give me modern anyday
Like a nice 2005 1.2 petrol Corsa for example bb. Or the sweet-as-a-nut, externally and internally tidy, very slightly smoky recent 1.8 petrol Mondeo that a cousin-in-law is scrapping because it has failed the MoT on emissions, probably oil contamination, rings it is suggested... something murky in its past no doubt. Modern is OK if it's looked after properly from new. And so was old, in its fashion. But those examples were always rare and still are. Best you can hope for is something that does the job fairly reliably without costing a fortune. It was like that then too.
:o}
Scientists have developed a polyurethane coating that mends its own scratches with the help of sunlight.
The material can repair itself in less than an hour when exposed to ultraviolet radiation.
The US researchers believe it could be used in packaging, clothing and biomedical products as well as on vehicles.
tinyurl.com/d85a68
Read more
The use of a hair dryer on some plastic car parts help in returning to
an approximation of the original shape.
To use my own car as an example, for escort with body coulored bumpers, there is a crack in the rear bumper from a shopping trolly, had to use bumperfill on that and repaint.
Ford escort van's and posibly base model cars, grey plastic bumpers, apear to be the same plastic as my old nova, I got that to pop back into shape just by pointing a heat gun at it.
Now surely with the right primer they could paint those grey bumpers? Then in the event of a minor bump it would just need to be heated up to regain it's original shape.
Its a question to which I do think there is a definitive answer, but I would welcome your thoughts.
For the average owner ( a 12k car new, lets assume no finance to factor in), on a reasonably average income, doing 10k a year including their 45 min / 15 mile stop start commute over the potholes and speed bumps of Britain, at which point does it make most sense to change a car.
I previously owned a 1996 Mondeo from 1997- 2003 and found the last 2 years quite expensive in terms of wear and tear .
In 2003 I purchased a new corolla, and have been pleased with its reliabily to date( incidently find myself needing a garage visit for seized door lock/ stubborn bulb connector I cannot access)
Its probably worth no more than ? £4.5k now, so has depreciated £8K, and cost about £2.5k in servicing/tax/tyres/brakes.
Question is, is the likely increased cost of ownership over the next 4-5 years sufficiently offset by the lower depreciation? is the increased risk and inconveinience of garage visits worth the extra outlay for a new warranted vehicle?
the downside for me of long term ownership are the irritations of more frequent repairs to continue driving what is for most of our relationship an 'older car', plus a bit of boredom.
However, the overall financial picture is imprtant, as I do not want to spend my 'retire pot' on cars
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I've had a new car ( well new to me anyway ) for about 8 months. It's younger, faster, possibly looks nicer, has done a fraction of the mileage of my old one and so on. I still have my old car too. Strange thing is, I still prefer my old one. I'm quite comfortable with being accused of being a bit odd though......
Been watching Red Riding on Channel 4.
What is the car Sean Bean's character drives in the first episode, set in 1974? It's a big white convertible. I think it's a Peugeot 504 Convertible, but it sounds very throaty and V8 ish.
Here's a clip. Lots of rude words, so (hopefully) the link is a cut and paste one.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXyQqFREnQo&feature=related
Thanks
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Some more data on the Interceptor convertible, all from the Autocar road test of October 1974.
Price inc taxes: £9,800. For comparison, an Aston V8 auto was £11,500, an RR Corniche convertible £16,300, a Merc 350 SL £7,000 and a BMW 3.0 CSi £7,700.
Top speed 128mph
0-60: 7.6s
0-100: 20.0s
50-70 (kickdown): 4.3s
80-100 (top): 7.3s
Test average consumption, 12.5mpg
This is with the detuned (low compression) 440cui / 7,212cc motor with SAE net outputs of 285bhp and 385 ft-lb.
Incidentally, this is still more NET power and torque than the old 383 cui / 6.3 litre V8. That had a claimed 330bhp and 425 ft-lb, but those were Chrysler's GROSS figures (i.e. engine running without silencers, alternator, water pump and other ancilliaries). In SAE net terms the old V8 was around 260bhp / 350 ft-lb.
The 440 Jensens were a bit slower largely because they were around 180 kg heavier (1,800kg kerb weight) -- the equivalent of carring two extra adult passengers.
Browse
It seems odd that the car is taxed and insured on plates which appear not to be assigned to it by DVLA?