April 2009
I put my car in for an mot at the end of Feb... the garage has now had it for nearly over 6 weeks!! They tell me that the emitions are too high, but dont seem to have a clue how to fix it or how long it will take. I'm not sure if they are having a laugh or this is a hard thing to sort out.
i rellay need my car back by easter, but they never seem to return my calls... advice please!! what should i do?? Read more
Following on from my thread where I found out that the value of my dad's Z4 has continued falling like a rock over the last 6 months despite it hitting it's 5th birthday:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=73357
I was wondering, will this trend continue? Surely there must be some slow down in it's rate of depreciation by now?
If I drepciated the car to nothing over the next 5 years then it would be about £150 depreciation a month and I doubt very much that this car will drop to scrap value only in 5 years.
So, can someone in the know give me a clue as to what the depreciation will carry on doing over the next 12 - 24 months? Let's say hypotheticaly that I paid £150 towards depreciation on the car for 24 months (£3,600) would I likely find that I'm in negative equity in 2 years?
I'm after a new motor and if I can persuade my dad (who seems pretty much on board with the idea) and then get my mam won around then it looks like a little family lease deal will be possible. The same questions are hanging around the possibility of leasing his CLK (2005 CLK 270 CDI Avantgarde) but I think that I would be looking at at least £200 per month depreciation on that?
For anyone who's curious, the reason that he's on board with this very favourable (to me) idea is that he wants a new car but having lost a total of about £35K depreciation on the cars in the last 5 years he has no desire to sell them on for a dealership to make a profit and would rather see them stay in the family. Naturally I'm all in favour of this. :-)
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With careful choice of a well designed and built car - no built in rust traps/no major design faults/no disintegrating wiring - it is possible for a well maintained modern car to do 250,000 miles and last 20 years - easily.
When a 10 year old Lexus LS400 with 100k miles (list price £50k) and fsh is available under £3k - taxed and tested- you realise what a money destroying machine the car industry is...
(not that 23mpg is affordable but at least VED is not £400)..
Erin Dors has decided we must change her car. She has a Citroen C3 1400 Sensodrive, and thereby is the trouble. She doesn't like the gearchange ( and I admit to not liking it either ) It's not like a regular auto, it holds back between changes, much as if you were pushing a clutch in. It doesn't creep on tickover and hill starts are an aquired art. She won't use manual mode .... doesn't grasp the use of the paddles.
So, a normal auto about £5k is what we want.
Two contenders are a Sirion (3 friends have them ) or a Getz ( also 1 friend with one.)
All the owners swear by them ( never at them ) so either might be a good choice.
Any BRs with experience of either of these in auto form?
Ted Read more
i"ve had most problems that i read on these pages, underheating for 18 months, glowplug light comming on car cutting out,excessive noise from clutch,broken springs,reverse lights not working, windows steaming up badly, new turbo at 59k, new starter at 90k,new clutch at 133k.I used to think i was just unlucky until i started readig some other peoples problems and found they had the same. My cars a taxi so maybe i"ve just had my problems sooner. Anyway i found most of the answers to my problems on these pages. I must admit when my cars going well i like driving it, just wish a new problem didnt arise every six months.Anyway i managed to fix most of the problems myself apart from the turbo (still under warranty) just, And the clutch,i wanted to try it,but the weather was rubbish,so i stuck it in a garage. Anyway would just like to say thanks to all who have posted views as i"ve found some of them to be right on the mark.Especially the guy that discoverd these cars had two thermostats,that problem drove me nuts... Read more
The problem with the glow plug light comming on and causing the car to cut out all the time, turned out for me to be the crankshaft sensor, When i took it out it was usually coverd in fine metal shavimgs and dust from the clutch,because this sensor sits in the bellhousing and is magnetic thats why i found the fine metal shavings and dust attrcted to it. Once i cleaned the sensor it was usually fine for weeks or months,i found the best stuff to use was methelated spirits. Its the dust and shavings from the flywheel and clutch that give you this problem, ive just got a new ford dual mas flywheel and clutch fitted last week,once the gearbox is removed its amazing how much powder {dust} comes out. No wonder these cars have problems, although ive replaced the clutch and cleaned out the gearbox i dare say i"ll get the same problem further down the line,as theres no way of getting thee dust out without removing the gearbox. I would strongly recommend to anyone who has the glow plug light comming on to clean this sensor first as i have done this for a few other drivers with the same problem and it has always worked so far. To replace the sensor with a new one cost £28 to buy from ford. Thats better than taking youre car to ford and getting told you need a new injector or theres gunge in youre tank and trying to charge you a fortune as they have with some of the guys cars i"ve replaced this part on.
Left work lunchtime Friday, allowing time to visit friends in N Wales. Packed bags then checked car's fluids etc. Closed bonnet and noticed that tax disc expired 31/03/09!!. Can't renew on line as MoT expired same day!!
Panic call to dealer for appointment ends in arrangement to "bring it down now"! Less than an hour later I'm away with a fresh MoT. Stop at the local post office and pick up tax disc - legal again.
Fullsome thanks to local Cit repair shop, Gerald White at Kislingbury Northants, and to Bugbrooke PO for digging me out of a hole of my own making!
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I might be wrong but I don't think you can renew the tax if the MOT will not be valid when the tax starts
That's right. When I got my car, I let the MOT expire (and kept car off road) until the 1st of the month so that it covered taxing it in the previous month.
Hi, I have had a problem with my xantia smoking on start up, and lumpy running for 20sec then it settles down and drives as sweet as a nut. But if I am stuck in traffic with it idling for any length of time then accelerate I get a big cloud of smoke out of the exhaust it then clears and all is ok.i don't have to top the oil up between services so it is not burning much. I have changed the glow plugs and the injectors, I thought it might be valve stems but there is no smoke going down hill on the over run.Could it be turbo seals worn ?The smoke is bluish white and apart from that the car drives well,fuel,oil and air filters are new,there is no sludge in the oil or water and it has done 72000 miles.any pointers much appreciated.
{subject header amended to include a brief summary of question being asked} Read more
If you are worried about excessive smoking at the MOT you can use a little cheat for the test that worked for me every time. Locate the small pipe between the inlet manifold an the fuel pump, it is black rubber about 8mm dia. Pull it off from the pump, cover the spiggot with a piece of plastic bag about 1" dia, then slide the pipe back on over the plastic. This will stop the extra fuelling as the boost pressure rises and hence reduce the smoke, you will lose a lot of power but still have enough to get you to the test. As soon have you get the ticket remove the plastic!
I had to do this on mine as I had "tuned" the pump for extra power which made it go like a rocket and smoke a tad!
A colleague has been offered a 2004(ish) Merc C270CDI for a very good price from a relative.
He is keen to take up the offer, but the car is currently in the Isle of Man, and indeed registered there.
If he does buy it, how does he go about registering it in th UK?
Incidentally, is there anything he should look out for. The car is known to him and has reportedly been well looked after. Read more
IoM - if the car is low mileage I would be extra vigilant, as in what is the max speed there, cos if it's low, and with no motorways , the car has probably seen very little proper driving at optimum temperature ...
Hi there, looking for some advice.... I just put my summer tyres/wheels back on my car. But what i was wondering, are they directional or left or right sided.... I can not find any direction arrow on the side of the tyre but it looks to me, the left side tyre tread is pointing forward and the right side tyre tread is pointing back... The tyres are Michelin Energy's 195 65 15.
Any ideas
Thanks
BR Read more
There's no mention in the Michelin website that either the Energy or Energy Saver tyres are directional. tinyurl.com/6nck3n
The tread of all tyres will look different when they're fitted on a different side of the car.
I have my car serviced at my local garage who is not a BMW specialist.He dosnt have the necesary information to reset the Service Indicator.
I would appreciate any help in respect of this.
My e-mail address is mikeandjoan@sky.com
LANCSLAD Read more
you can buy a service light reset tool on ebay, for around £13. I have the same 523i and have just done mine, no probs
This is a diesel estate. Recently the rear wipers sweep when reverse gear is engaged even when the front wipers are switched off. What do I need to do please? Read more
If the wiring is wearing would this not cause it to not work rather than work when not expectd or required?
It depends. If say it's an earth wire and the electical circuit can draw an earth from somewhere else then this can play havock with the electrics.
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I've seen a 20 stone bloke with a shaved head & a cannibas leaf tattood on it! It put the wind up me.>> Preferably weighing around twenty stone with a shaved head and lots of tattoos