April 2009
Just bought a BMW 318SE Auto petrol from a Car supermarket in west London. When car is idle .. below 1,000 rpm I could hear a kind of clunky or diesel sound coming from the engine. the car does have a full service history.
Here is a link to a picture of where I think the sound originates from
www.flickr.com/photos/opensystems/3469178852/sizes.../ Read more
Hi all,
This is my first post on a motoring forum so forgive any ignorance.
I've recently bought an 06 (56) Fiesta 1.25 style and I have to say I'm very happy with it in general. Its done 20k miles and just had its second service.
What is slightly annoying/worrying me though is the slight rattle I hear from the engine when accelerating hard. I hear it most often when moving up from 50mph-75mph in 4th and 5th, or whenever I really put my foot down.
Now is this just normal engine noise/vibration or does it hint at something else being wrong?
To describe the sound its like a very light rattle, like a nut is shaking or something.
Interestingly I used to get a similar sound from my 1998 (s reg) 1.25 fiesta that had done 92k miles - hence why I am a bit worried about this one.
Would appreciate any advice.
Thanks Read more
"British car production fell 51.3 percent year-on-year in March as falling demand forced manufacturers to cut output sharply, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said on Friday.
"The number of cars produced in March was 61,829. Of those, 46,458 were for export, down 52.6 percent on the year, and 15,371 were for the domestic market, a fall of more than 47.2 percent."
uk.reuters.com/article/motoringNews/idUKLNE53N02O2...4
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They are not alone. GM is closing all of its U.S. plants for 2 months due to high inventory/ low sales volume. Current joke is that after getting so much government assistance they will change their name to Government Motors.
Hi.
I'm trying to find out what constitutes an 'equivalent quality' car when your own is written off by another party - entirely their fault. Have been dealing directly with the 3rd party insurance as it was hoped this would make it easier to settle.
The car is an almost 10 year old Rover 400, well maintained with full service history, and receipts to prove recent belt change, new clutch, and new pas pump. It was a rare model (though I know that doesn't make it priceless) with a factory green leather interior and hatch spoiler, and specifically a 5 door diesel.
The problem is we can't find another one the same anywhere, let alone locally. In the local area, there are only half a dozen Rover 400's of the same age and type - but not of the same spec or mileage.
Insurance have offered £1475 for the car (already having raised that from £1100) and claim that is top book price, but I can't see how it can be replaced like for like (or equivalent) for that money. For a start I don't want an older car, and to have a newer car means looking at a Rover 45 - which obviously are higher priced than Rover 400's - though I still haven't found the same spec in a 45.
The latest trick the insurance have now tried is to send a cheque for the value of the car, plus the 2 weeks vehicle hire I'm due. So now I can't cash the cheque for the vehicle hire costs without accepting their valuation of the car! It specifically says in the letter that cashing the cheque is acceptance of their offer.
The accident happened 4 weeks ago now.
On top of that, the other driver also took out the garden wall at the same time, and despite sending an estimate as requested for the cost of repair, that's not been paid out either.
I've just spoken to the Ombudsman helpline for advice, but I've been told that they only deal with disputes between you and your own insurance not somebody elses. She did suggest that I cash the cheque and still dispute it, until I told her what it said in the letter. So then she said didn't have anything else to say. Very poor.
So - what now? Suggestions gratefully accepted!
Thanks.
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You should have been clearer if you only want one type of opinion :-)
By any definition this offer is very generous and you should take the cheque. Depending on the extent of the damage you could consider repairing the car with the payout after negotiating ownership from the insurance company.
Hi folks,
I've got a 1999 Toyota Corolla (automatic), very low milelage@50K, nothing really wrong with it except the usual stuff with cars in this class.
Anyway, my daily commute to work is a good 110 miles round-trip and my beef with the car is the non-existent cabin insulation. At motorway speeds, it becomes an ordeal for the senses!
Has anyone used aftermarket sound-proofing products like one from Noise Killers?
www.noisekiller.co.uk/sound_proofing_vehicles_04.p...p
What kind of improvement can one generally expect?
50% reduction in road noise etc? More? Less?
Thanks for any input on this!
Cheers.
Daniel Read more
no
stick some proper quality car mats on the floor
make sure you have a bit of wilton over the beize mat in the boot
consider some wadding in the rear side quarters if you can get some in
trouble with putting sound proofing under a bonnet is unless its factory they can fall down with the heat and start a fire
Just seeing another thread on clutches has made me think about how people misuse a clutch because in the words of alan sugar
"they aint got a ***** clue
Theres a hill near me and half way up is a cross roads too,every morning without fail theres a crash of some sorts there,i go out of my way to avoid this junction,
why?
Because people of today have no clutch control,specifically women im afraid,they come up to the junction are frightened to death of stopping and so try to keep the car rolling,they pull their front ends out see a car coming from either side and then to capitulate the problem they boot the accelerator,all this does is give them wheel spin and the vehicle bearing down on them has nowhere to go but to hit them/
I advocate that all new pupils should be able to demonstrate to a driving test examiner that they can do clutch control.
Interestingly i sell quite a few small autos to women for the very reason they cant get their heads round gear /clutch slip /hand to gear to steering wheel control
i am not looking to start an argument on women drivers by the way,i am just putting my point of view forward from day to day fact Read more
I don't think it's necessarily effective for hill starts though.
What's the point of a system that lets you call up and edit a message, then tells you you're too late?
I have a problem with the electrical rise and fall facility on driver and passenger seat. Although there is a live feed to both motors and when the raise and lower switch is pressed the motor clicks and tries to operate, there is no movement on the drive spindle on either seat. This fault occurred at the same time on both seats and may possibly have been caused by my wife hoovering under the seats. However I have checked thoroughly underneath and can find no trace of any broken connection and as the motor attempts to drive and there is not a blown fuse in the circuit it appears that in some way the drive has been locked. It did occur to me that there might be some form of locking device that works in conjunction with the other safety locks which operate in the event of an accident.
I have spoken to 2 main dealers and 2 auto electricians who have not come up against this problem and have no idea what could cause it.
I would be grateful for any suggestions.
{edited to remove all the ">" symbols and to make use of the full width of the text box and not just two 3rds of it} Read more
sorry no
if you have the seat upturned and can see the mechanicals but cannot see what is wrong theres not a lot i can add
have you tried powering the seat with some bits of wire from a car battery? while upturned
be careful mind keep your fingers clear (i nearly cut my head off last week locking a car with a blipper and for some stupid reason sticking my head through the window not realising the blipper shut the windows too) i survived,the window stopped,good ole vauxhall
By Tues evening next week I am expecting to be redundant. Bad timing, as I go on a cruise for 10 days on Wed evening... Nevertheless, I am seriously considering taking the opportunity to visit the US for a few weeks in June, starting in Chicago at the Blues Festival. So, where to go after that?
I've scanned over the maps, and, working pretty much solely on whether I've heard of a place or not, created some outline itineraries, all heading vaguely south from Chicago and ending up back there. The long route goes like this:
Chicago - Kansas City - Smoky Hills - Salina - Dodge City - Wichita - Oklahoma City - Tulsa - Hot Springs - Little Rock - Lafayette - Baton Rouge - New Orleans - Biloxi - Hattiesburg - Tupelo - Jackson - Mobile - Birmingham - Chattanooga - Great Smoky Mts -
Nashville - Memphis - Lexington - Indianapolis - Chicago
That's around 4600 miles, which will be in the cheapest car I can get, using campsites and cheap motels for overnights and eating from trash cans :-) There are shorter alternatives, which broadly omit extremes (Dodge City, Biloxi etc)
Does anyone with knowledge of the area have any thoughts on the route, any must-sees or must-avoids? Read more
Whatever you do, go to Memphis, have a huge meal at your local Waffle House, then head straight for Graceland! Absolutely a must-see; bring plenty of money for CDs, t-shirts and other tacky Elvis souvenirs. If you were to do Memphis, I'd also recommend Tupelo, Miss.--Elvis' hometown, where you can see the shotgun shack he lived in as a child. Tupelo is about 90 minutes southeast of Memphis, and it's as Southern as you can get (culturally, not geographically). I've done all of the above and loved it.
I purchased a second-hand component from a breaker - about £50 including postage. The part was supplied with a three month guarantee.
I had specified clearly by original Web request/e-mail/telephone what was required,and retain records.
The component that they sent was not the correct one.
They sent another component when I told them. This was the correct one, but unserviceable. Not I have two parts, one incorrect but OK, one correct but U/S.
I have now decided to buy a new component, rather than wait about for more wrong/US ones to be sent. I want to return the one(s) they have already sent.
The breaker wants me to pay for return post, as well as a 25% "restocking charge", for the faulty component.
I do not think this is right - the component is faulty, so there should not be a "re-stocking charge" - they should not sell it to someone else. As they guarantee the part, why should I pay postage?
I have not yet asked them what to do about the wrong (but good) part they sent.
What should I do? Read more
most breakers who do a service by post that sells second hand goods tell you
you will be responsible for the return of faulty goods postage
There was no mention of this in my contacts with them.
This component is U/S due to being worn out. It is not a "gone off" issue.
Hi all,
Got a set of 18" 10 spoke alloys, just over a year old. One of them has a patch of corrosion under what appears to be a lacquer or plastic layer.
Is it worth just picking the coating off and then keeping on top of the corrosion as I can see it spreading if I just leave it as is.
The lacquer doesn't coat the spokes themselves, just the outer rim.
Thanks,
Read more
I bought the car 2nd hand last year (4 years old) but had the new wheels put on as part of the deal - the last set were corroded really badly.
I'll try the dealer, see what they say.
I was hoping that by catching it early I might save having to go down the specialist restore route.
Cheers,
Browse
Cheers - this has actually worked.
:)
J