April 2009
I currently drive a Nissan Primera SX and love the comfort and security but as I'm using it mainly for two long distance drives of around 500 miles a week I was thinking of downsizing to a smaller car and saving money on petrol. However I'm confused as to fuel consumption for motorway driving. Is it worth buying say a Yaris? Or Jazz? Or is the Primera going to be near enough matching them on fuel consumption on the motorway? I cruise between 70 and 75. From what i can gather, with the supermini's their main saving grace is urban driving rather than frugality when it comes to motorways. Any advice would be welcome! Read more
After the deluge of rain my A4 wont start and fuel gauge wont move, plenty of petrol, have checked fuses, starts runs briefly then cuts out? like no fuel? Immobilisor? was fine two days ago, Help!! Read more
Hi I have an Audi A4 1996 1.8 petrol and it to seems to have a similar prob. It had a fault when I got it of starting and then stopping straight away, but then all of a sudden it would go. I tried to trace it but being an intermittent fault made it impossible at the time. All this summer its been a peach and not played up at all. Now however that the rain is falling the problem is back! I suspect damp. I found the area where the battery sits full of water (blocked drain hole), I have a fault code 18010 low voltage at B+ and 17978 which is not listed in the book that came with the scanner, great! Also I have on the dash LCD something new this time which reads "ln l" anybody know what it means?
At the moment I have the battery on charge and trying to dry the car out a little. I have seen this fault on forums before but not got to the bottom of it. O and my fuel gauge as always been dotty.
If anyone knows what the mystery VAG code 17978 is please tell.
Apart from that its a great motor and handles well for an estate.
hi i have replaced the battery on a 206 1998 and now the car wont start ! any ideas ? Read more
My engine management light has just come on but the car is running ok, there was a slight judder before it came on, can anyone tell me what this could be. Read more
hi all, does anyone know how to remove the blower on these? it squeaks when driving! glove box comes out easily enough but i have no idea where to go from there, as the blower housing is right in front of me but theres no screws, nuts, bolts etc?
any help would be greatly appreciated
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When they say its had (they being saab dealer) loads of small tweaks from the 2003 9-3 to the 2007 9-3 are they telling porkies or not?
Im interested in a saab 93 vert (convertible)
now the 03 onwards look nice, and the wife is happy with one of them
Im liking the 07 facelift and want the improvements that go with it.
but to be truthful, there is not that many....
so my Q is
is it worth paying £20K for a 08 plate facelift with 10K miles (2.0T aero)
(2 years warranty? well that's if Saab don't go down )
or pay £11K for a 06 plate with 37K miles.
(no warranty apart from 3 month mm one)
Im leaning towards the 11K one.
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I had an 05 plate 1.9 Tdi 150 saloon (hard top). I liked it.
It has been replaced by an Audi A3. The build quality difference that people bang on about was immediately noticeable.
I had a flyer from the local Saab dealer for a new 09 plate 1.8t Linear SE soft top for £17,995. As such I would not pay 20k from a year old one, even if the higher spec/bigger engine. If that had come through sooner I might have thought about it over the Audi, but for how long I would have thought I don't know.
Also look at the motorpoint link on this site - they have (had when I looked) year old ones for the same sort of money you are indicating.
If I have a car in the autotrader, and a dealer rings me, not far in distance away.
he says he has someone interested in my car.
he will valet the car (for free, if its not sold)
wants us to take it down there and leave for the day the person is coming to see the car.
but a few Q's...
how do I stand on legal ground?
is this legal?
what happens if he bumps it.
best way to get my money.
he says he is going to make the money from finance sold to other person
(my car will sell at 16K)
and he will make a really good amount of cash from their PX.
Im happy with doing this as long as we get cash in bank.
what else do i need to know? Read more
The V5 is a meaningless bit of paper - you can sign both parts as Mickey Mouse (I have tried!) and the DVLA are quite happy.
The dealer can sign it for the seller.
I really must get around to selling one of my cars. Still not 100% sure which one but I really should get one of them away.
Can't be bothered with a private sale so faced with the options of touting cars round dealers, going to one of those "we buy your car for a pittance" outfits or maybe auction.
In the scheme of things I'm not too bothered about getting top dollar but I don't want to give the car away either.
I know suresell has worked for some people and HJ has recommended them in the past.
Anyone with other suggestions or indeed confirmation that one of these is the line of least resistance?
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an estate car is always preferable to a saloon /hatchback to most house holders/family types that have to transport sundry items for ever to tip/shop /university/DIY.
I would always keep teh estate, it worth pennies anyway. five year old car is basicallya banger, but I am hoping my 9 year old will be worth £2K next week!!!!
Had this petrol car for about 3 years now. When I got it it was running cold all the time according to the gauge and heater output, top hose getting warm very quickly, so I replaced the thermostat. It improved markedly for just a few months and went downhill again gradually.
So about a year later I replaced the thermostat again. Same thing - improved for a few months then gradually running cold again.
I am currently running with 2 modified carpet tiles blanking off most of the radiator, meaning it warms up in about 3-8 miles (instead of never) and then runs at about the right temperature mostly, but it does run hot enough for the fan to cut in regularly if I get stuck in traffic or when coming to lower speeds off the motorway. This isn't ideal, or good for the engine or my wallet.
Has anyone had similar problems and found a cure? Both replacement thermostats have been QH branded ones purchased from a major high street motor accessory store, but I can't believe identical failure patterns and times in batches that must be from separate manufacturing runs.
Alternatively does anyone know of a different thermostat which fits the CVH housing and is more reliable? Or just try a motor factors instead of the high street?
Thanks. Read more
I'll check that at the weekend then, but as that hose goes from the top of the thermostat housing across to the header tank and is only about 5mm bore, I don't see how it would get the rad and the rad top hose hot from startup in just a couple of minutes. It's a separate loop of the circuit so it can't feed into the radiator loop. The radiator does get hot from the top hose side, not the headertank one, so it isn't as if that water is somehow backflowing with a closed thermostat.
I'm not sure how you'd replace a plastic ball there anyway, wouldn't it drop out of the thermostat housing into the block? Or is the hole in the thermostat housing big enough to put it in but the hole for the feed from the block is smaller so it doesn't drop through?
Tried to open the passenger door on SWMBO's Punto t'other day; using inside handle, seems now to have gone "over centre" and the door will not open.
The push-button was down, and I assumed that it would pop up upon operating the interior door handle, but it seems to have jammed , leaving said interior handle sticking out at 90 degrees to door. It will not open from the outside with the key either.
Before I get the gas-axe or angle-grinder out (I hate working on door mechanisms!) any ideas as to how to proceed please? Read more
Roll down the window and remove the seal at the top of the door (bottom of window) and you may have enough room to be able to look down into the door. I would start there. It sounds like the locking button has been in between the open and closed position when tring to open it causing it to jam.
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You won't find much of an 04-on Focus TDCi for £3k. I tried recently and gave up.