March 2009
Hi
I came across an old post about buying an ex-lease company car for 40% of the price you might pay at a big car supermarket. I have a 2K and would like a 2006 (56) Volkswagen Polo 1.2 E. 5 door, Manual (Petrol). Any colour is fine.
I am looking for a low mileage between 10 and 18 thousand. How would I going about sorting this out? Is it possible?
If anyone knows please let me know.
Neil
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Hi,
About six months ago I was driving and suddenly the power steering went but the following day it was okay.
Yesterday, my battery light started flashing on the dashboard and today it stayed on permanently and my power steering has stopped working again, making turning very heavy (I have stopped driving it now).
The rest of the car does seem to be okay. Any ideas please why the battery light on the dash is on and why that would stop the power steering working?
Help appreciated as always! Cheers Read more
We have just bought a very nice Focus Ghia saloon.
The passenger side rear footwell is a bit wet and I was wondering if these cars suffered from the pollen filter gasket problems like the VW's.
The other thing is the car came with only one key. It is the three button type, lock, unlock and boot release. Are these keys chipped like the older fords and an arm and a leg to get duplicates for?
Thanks in advance,
Stuart Read more
Except he said rear passenger footwell - but water could probably run back?
I have a 1993 RT Turbo-D Espace (2068cc) with a frustrating problem.
The car runs the first leg of a journey with out any problem but often stalls approaching traffic lights or a round-about on the return journey. The car will start again after stalling.
The length of the journey does not seem to have much bearing on the problem but the length of the break in the middle does. For example - on a journey of 20 miles each way with a 45 to 60 minute break, the car will stall on the way back! Take the same journey with a 3-4 hour break and the car will come home with no problems. It looks as is there is a problem when the engine cools down, but does not get fully cold.
The car has new fuel and air filters, most fuel lines are new and a recently replaced injection pump. Fuel comes from a variety of filling stations. When the car runs, it is a fantastic vehicle to drive, it is becoming too stressful to use on regular journeys with a short turn-around time.
Has anyone come across this problem with an espace - a number of local mechanics have tried and not succeeded! Any help and/or suggestions greatly appreciated! Read more
Last weekend I had to remove the steering wheel including the airbag & disturb wiring around the dash & fuse board. (yes I did disconnect the Battery -ve connection) Driving the car today the airbag warning light has stayed on it lit briefly at ignition on went off and came on again. I plugged in my fault code scanner & got a DTC - code number 00588 my reader manual says 'airbag ignition circuit drivers side- N95'
I removed the airbag & column shroud & checked the inline connector & the airbag connector all looked OK. still got fault. any ideas it due a MOT next week is this a fail? Read more
I removed the airbag & steering wheel again this morning, i'm pretty sure I have not damaged the unit as the contact connector was in the correct position when I originally removed the wheel. I tested the circuit thro the clockspring & it is intact between the plug for the back of the airbag & the connector in the column shroud. I reinstalled everything & connected the battery with the ignition on - the fault is still there. (curses)
I suspect you may be right about the ECU I've already had the ABS ECU repaired sucessfully. Do you think its worth trying to erase the code I am concerned as there are dire warnings as the erase deletes what the scanner's handbook describes as freeze frame data & manufacturers enhanced data etc....
In fairness I did find a reference to positioning the connector in the Haynes after a second read of the text. Ah yes Bentley manuals I had my first one 30+ years ago for my Beetle (semi auto) & another for my Type 2 bus. I passed that on last year when I sold the bus. I got the elsawin official VW CD from ebay & the information is excellent but can take a bit of finding it is good because you can print the relevant pages for repair & it doesn't matter if they are damaged.
Thanks for the help & offers these forum are great although I have a lot of experience of car repair & electrics it's mostly older cars, & - ABS, Airbags & ECU's in general are new territory to me but I am learning ...fast!
'They stretch "as far as the eye can see," Jackson remarked at The Wall Street?s Journal ECO: nomics conference. He estimated he had some 600,000 hybrid cars "that no one wants."'
tinyurl.com/c73vdw
Interestingly, I was reading last week that you pay a premium on insurance in the States for driving a small car as they are considered unsafe.
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Honda IMA and the current model look pretty good - particularly when their aesthetics are tested against more conventional fodder.
EDIT
And the Lexus is totally conventional looking if you happen to like that sort of thing in the first place.
Im looking to get rid of my KA had it 5 years now.Im looking at px it and putting that and 2k to another car.Looking for something that will be able to do a daily commute of 60 miles over the tops on M62.The Ka struggles with overtaking on the hills.
What would I expect to get in px ? Its a 2000 w with 85k bit of rust on boot and dent on drivers door not much service history although i have had it serviced while i have had it.Its in all honesty below average inside,has a CD player, 6 months tax and a couple of months MOT.I ve guessed at about 500.
Been looking at a fiesta 1.4 or 1.6 is there much difference between the 2 engines ?.Possably a micra or astra. Any suggestions ?
Many Thanks Read more
UPDATE
got rid of the Ka for a 04 focus 1.6 zetec with 47k. cost to
change was 3150.Pretty happy with deal I got.Alot better on motorway a nice car.Many thanks for posters help.
I presume the Focus is a lot quieter than the Ka? The one big fault IMO of the Ka is noise at 50mph+.
Regarding other comments, the old Ka is cheap to run, cheap to service, regularly gives me 45mpg, and is very stable. I've taken mine to 110mph on the clock and it felt fine. You can't say that of many other small cars, such as the old Micra which could wobble horribly. As far as I know most small cars are not designed to last 10 years, and if they do, it's a bonus. But you do see a lot of old Ka's about, depite rust.
Daughter lives in a flat and parks on the site, some visitors parking and open to anyone who is visinting a resident, no gates, no parking permit required. Suppose it is a bit like a supermarket car park - private but with public access.
Do vehicles parked in an area like this require tax and insurance?? Read more
"So a vehicle parked in the flats car park must be insured but does not necessarily need to be taxed."
As explained above. If the car park is not repairable at public expense then it does not require tax.
Tesco's car park although private, in that it is owned by Tesco's, is deemed a 'Public Place' because there is a general unrestricted invite for any member of the public to use the car park in order that they can use the facility of the store during opening hours.
Presumably your car park is restricted by whatever means to tenants and people visiting them. It is not open to any member of the public to park there. In which case it is not a 'Public Place'
A field used for the parking of cars during say an agricultural show just for a day and charging an entrance fee is a 'Public Place'. Because any member of the public can avail themselves of the facility on that day.
I cannot make it much clearer. As PU says. plenty of case law.
currently drive a Merc CLKW209 C320, love comfort, lots of leather, lots of toys, and blistering performance, though the CLK performance is all that sporty.
Fancy something a bit bigger, unfashionably thirsty (i do very low miles) but still lots of leather and loaded,
these look like amazing bargains...
you can get cheaper 2.8s, but heres a 3.6, can't quite believe the price!
HJs review is surprisingly good (close to BMW M5 performance).
Apart from the running costs, where's the catch?
www.stratstone.com/vehiclesearch/used/cadillac-use...e
Guy Read more
Yes TV is analogue.....You could connect to cable TV, but draging a few miles if co ax behind you might seriously affect your MPG !!! And no it wont work while you are driving, as picture goes as soon as you put car in gear .Sound stays on. Would you want to drive and watch TV at same time ??A few penalty points for that !!! CADDYMAN.
I have a 1.8 Audi A4 5v and It has about 143000 miles on it. It won't idle properly. The revs fluctuate and they drop to around 500 rpm and bounce back up to about 1500 rpm. It eventually got worse and the car wouldn't idle at all and while revving the engine at mid range and holding it, it would cut out and then go back up again. I changed the fuel filter 2 months ago which helped a bit for a while but the problem has came back full force. There's also a loud hissing noise from the petrol cap which i'm unsure about. I was thinking it may be a clogged fuel pick up or the pump has seen better days. It has me baffled. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanx. Read more
My old 1.6 A4 had both your syptoms. The hissing from the tank is, as suggested above the EVAP valve. I simply blocked of the pipe going to the tank with a clip, if you disconnect it dirty air can be drawn into the engine through the faulty valve. I never solved my idle problem but i would now suspect a faulty/dirty MAF sensor on the air intake as my own problem started soon after i fitted one of those oil soaked air filters, older and wiser now!
Browse
Thanks for the replies so far.
If the alternator is going or has gone, is it a major job to get done? I know it's hard to say, but any guide to costs please?
Is there anything else to check before replacing an alternator?
Cheers