April 2009
Hi Guys,
Cant find anything in the searches on this.
I'm thinking of buying a car from a private trader, and it looks good (although im no mechanic). I asked the man if the car was HPI clear and got the reply "err, not sure".
Is there any way of finding out from HPI whether he has actually carried out a test on the vehicle? For example if I phoned them (theyre closed atm) or if my insurance company phoned them, could they disclose whether this person has filed for a check on this car?
I realise I could just do the check myself and pay the £40 odd pounds, but am a lowly uni student looking to save money wherever I can.
Thanks Read more
Who cares. That's irrelevant and not what I'm asking.
It's extremely relevant actually. If you buy from a trader and it turns out that a finance company has an interest in it, generally speaking the lender will accept you're in the clear as an "innocent purchaser" and go after the dealer.
If you buy privately, you are likely to be put to more proof of innocent purchaser status. By definition, if you had your suspicions but did nothing about it you would not get title and the lender could repossess it.
Additionally, if it turns out he's stolen it, you're up the creek whether it's on finance or not.
Start by asking the vendor if it's on finance - it it is, contact the lender yourself and make sure the loan/HP is paid off. Otherwise either HPI it or find another.
In our village we have recently had a new set of traffic lights installed and as part of these, there seems to be various sensors pole mounted before you reach the lights.
Yesterday I queried one aspect of these with the council, namely the split time on them between one light going amber to red, and the other going red to amber which may result in a couple of drivers meeting if they both go through on amber.
Anyway attached is a reply I received which impresses me as it would seem that these lights are totally controlled by traffic!
X Cross has the most up to date traffic signal system it is possible to install in the United Kingdom, having a microprocessor at its heart. It uses a technology called MOVA (Microprocessor Optimised Vehicle Actuation) which uses the detectors (8 off) at the site to continuously learn the traffic patterns and queues which occur at the junction. As such there are no defined timings installed as there would be at a traditional set of signals, instead the detectors measure both the speed of approach of vehicles and the queue lengths and looking at all three approaches adjust each individually and continuously to optimise the traffic through the junction. In this way there are savings in the time which would normally be lost by changing from approach to approach every 90 secs whether required or not as happened in the past. This time is then given to the heaviest traffic flows.
There are also detectors which measure whether there are vehicles waiting to make a right turn into X Street and if so then the Right turn filter arrow is used as and when required, but again it is only called if there are more than 2 vehicles waiting.
Because of the above the only conflict can be caused by drivers failing to observe the signals and going through either red/amber or amber depending on which approach they are on. As you can see it is not possible to just go out and add time into any particular part of the sequence as that would remove the ability of the microprocessor to make the most efficient use of the available time. Read more
Lovely...
Young Peter O'Lachlan in my copy.....
There's beautiful girls here, oh never you mind,
With beautiful shapes nature never designed,
and lovely complexions all roses and cream.
and O'Lachlin remarked with regard to the same.
'That if at those roses you chanced for to pick,
the colours would all come away on your lips.'
So I'll wait for the wild rose that's waiting for me,
where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.
Ted
BR music section.
The return spring in the near side rear seat release (on top of seat back) has come adrift along with the plastic piece that you pull up to release the seat. There doesnt seem to be any way into the mechanism without pulling all the upholstery of the seat back which I have no desire to do. Does anybody have any idea how to get into these catch mechanisms.
many thanks Read more
Does anyone know what RPM the turbo comes in at? Read more
If its diesel, around 2000 rpm, if its petrol - sorry, don't know.
{It is a diesel - just looked at previous posting history and edited the header}
Oh dear, the end is nigh. DVLA have now given me a 3 year licence 'cos of my Parkinson's. Seems like the end of the road, although I keep hoping I have Parkinson's Light, rather than heavy. Situation will be reviewed close to the end of three years.
My dream of a Cayman or SLK as a real mid life crisis car is on hold due to the fact that I handed my notice in at work the day after I got back from my month in N/Zealand. So, no income to mitigate the outlay for the jam jar, other than my miserable stipend know as "a pension".
So, the C4 Picasso is still the voiture de nos jour. And there is the rub, the cruelest part of the whole situation!
By the way, new rules now dictate that although I can continue to drive, I am not permitted to drive mini buses nor anything above 3.5 tons.
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Tack, I agree with Jonathan, the thing with DLA and MA is that they are there to help make your life easier, and also help others around you have more time to help you. Certainly in our case they have allowed me to be with Jennie far more than I could have without them... You've paid your taxes, so now its payback time.
I'd also reccomend (if you haven't already) joining a forum that is dedicated to Parkinsons as they will be able to help you far more than you would believe!
I traded my Picasso in 2 weeks ago & sent the yellow part of the V5C off to the DVLA (by recorded delivery !) to notify them of the change of ownnership. They say to allow 4 weeks for them to send conformation that they have received it and have ammended their records, but as i hadn't heard from them & am about to go on holiday i thought i would phone and check that it had been done. The phone was answered within a few seconds, and a very pleasant helpful operative confirmed that they had received my letter and that they had recorded the changes on the system confirming that i was no longer liable for the vehicle and was able to tell me the date the letter was being sent to me. An excellent service from them IMHO ! Read more
Another pat on the back for the DVLA.
The reg document for my new CC3 arrived within three days of my taking delivery of the car.
Then a few weeks later another letter confirming the change of ownership of my part-ex had been registered and the car was no longer my legal responsibility.
"You might like to keep this letter," it said.
Given the various strokes and scams some people try to pull, I think I will.
For the last 30 + years i have checked the oil level on the 20 + cars i have owned with the car on level ground and with the engine cold, ie in the morning before its been started.
However the handbook for my Ceed states that you should run the engine to normal working temperature, switch it off, wait 5 minutes then check the oil level on the dipstick.
Anyone got ideas why they say to do it that way ? Read more
......... dipsticks that show full on one side and empty on
the other.
I don't understand the logic of that. Mine seems to cover all eventualities by having maximum and minimum marks.
With my Focus now dead, its galling that i cant even trade it in for the £2000. Its half a year too young and i've only had it seven months... With the wife pregnant and no car the £2000 off a new car would of been a fantastic incentive to buy a new car. It looks like i'll have to stick with the bangernomics :( Read more
Agreed IIH. I don't earn that much but have managed to put aside about £300 a month for a couple of years. I don't buy many gadgets and generally don't spend much on booze/entertainment etc, though it's far from a monastic lifestyle! Anyway, it was a very conscious decision to put the money aside. It sounds small-fry but I ran up £500 on a credit card when I was 21ish and it taught me a valuable lesson so my mortgage is my only debt, and a fairly crippling one at that but I'm certainly not complaining.
Think I've been a bit dim not thinking about selling a banger to someone for them to get the 2k. Obvious innit.
Anyway, saw another gold CC3 t'other day in Godstone, roof down, looked very smart indeed ;)
Now it's off to fix my folks' computer ... again ...
R
Trawling the web looking for information on aircraft radial engines, I came across the link below -a very neat installation of a nine-cylinder radial, and a rather early example of front wheel drive. (Lots of leg room by the look of it!) Any ideas on the horsepower?
P.
tinyurl.com/c52a3j
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Hi all,
Long time no see!
What a fantastic little car!
Have you seen the 'brute' of a police car that is also on this website too though?
Browse
All I can say is that having dealt with Chinese manufacturing companies as part of my former automotive R&D job, I found them to be of the highest integrity and professionalism. Your statement "The Crashworthiness (or not) of Chinese cars is legendary." is pure sensationalism. I prefer things to be described accurately, not sensationalised.