May 2009
Hi
I saw an interesting (well, terrifying) article on Fifth Gear on Dave this morning. They crashed a 10-year-old Espace head-on into a new Espace ? each vehicle doing 35MPH
Worryingly, the damage to the 10-year-old one was concluded as ?would probably not be survivable by the driver?.
The new one survived extremely well.
2 cars hitting each other head-on, each doing 35MPH ? is that the equivalent of a 70MPH impact into a stationary object? They did not say this on the show (unless I missed it)
Thanks,
Read more
We moan enough so here is my experience today. My front wipers have not been very efficent leaving marks on the windscreen everytime it rains. So I went to buy some today from this shop for £14.50 and they are a very good quality a lot better than cheap pound shop things which were on before.
They asked if I wanted them fitting for £2.99 I have done this before and it can be tricky so I said yes, so they fitted them however they would not go on my existing arms. The fitter then came back with all kinds of connectors and finally fitted them, it took him half an hour in total. I was impressed with the lengths he went through to fit them.
Now I wonder if a local motor factor would have offered the same service and have been cheaper but the thing about Halfords is you know what services they offer and you know what is stock. Read more
They asked if I wanted them fitting for £2.99
My Ford franchised dealer fits them free. The blades (genuine Ford) are within a few pence of (and sometimes cheaper than) Halfords price for either Bosch or Halfords own brand.
Noticed some water marks appearing at the top of the A pillar trim in the Golf after heavy rain, accompanied by a generally damp, musty smell inside the car.
It didn't take long to work out the sunroof drain holes were blocked, and I've cleared the two "nipple" outlets at the base of the A-pillars. After a teaspoon of sludge, was teased out of each, both are now pouring clear water when a small quantity is added directly to the sunroof guttering. I'm confident these are clear.
There are apparently two more on the rear corners of the roof, which are hidden inside the mechanism. I'm told they come out underneath somewhere behind the rear wheels, but there is no sign. Can anyone help?
Just in case I have no joy with this, can anyone tell me how the A-pillar trim comes off these cars?
Cheers
DP
Read more
Well, despite the torrential rain this weekend, the headlining and pillars have stayed dry. The musty smell has dissipated too. Opening the front doors in heavy rain saw both sunroof drains trickling steadily.
Hopefully it will stay that way.
Hi,
I recently changed my drivers side wheel bearing after the previous one disintegrated. The problem i have is that the caliper bracket is scraping the disc (on the outside of the disc, closest to the wheel). I am pretty sure that the new bearing is correctly seated and i cannot figure out why on earth this should be happening? I am very close to taking the dremel and grinding the offending part of the caliper bracket but am unsure if this is the best way forward.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Read more
Forgot to mention that the bearings were actually pressed using an arbour at the local garage grrrrr.
A uk company has launched an electric C1 but its £16800 ! They reckon its good for 60 mph & 60-70 miles on a charge. A charge in a 13 amp houshold plug estimated at approx .90p per charge.
So if you could manage 60 miles a day for 266 working days in the year for 5 years it would cost approx £1197 in Electric!
A petrol one would cost £5425 in unleaded over 5 years doing the same journey, so you would save £4225.00 in 5 years but the car costs £10550.00 more to buy! & you end up with a car that has limited travel. So will electric ever become an atractive proposition ? I wonder how much it will cost in repairs or cells when they fail as the vehicle gets older.
Now it will save £35 per year road tax so its another £175 saving & it would save over 6K congestion charges if you were in central London & some parking charges may be free if its electric so it almost balances with the cost so has the cost been set to the savings it makes ? funny that! & as for the emissions well they come from the power station instead!
crave.cnet.co.uk/cartech/0,250000513,49302184,00.h...m Read more
I wonder what the conversion company does with all those lovely little three-cylinder 1 litre 68bhp petrol engines, or do they buy the cars less engines from Citroen?
Thanks for help the help in the car buying saga so far. One final twist though.
Ditched the idea of the Avensis, went back to our original idea of the Focus (helped by the good reports from you guys)
Saw and test drove a really nice 55 plate 1.6 TDCi Ghia Saloon in Panther black. (43K miles, one owner, years MOT and 6 months tax). It drove really really nicely, smooth quiet, no obvious signs of abuse, braked well and straight, clutch and gears a delight, a/c icy cold, cabin nice and tidy, seats still felt nice and firm, good tyres with loads of life in them. SWMBO also thought it was the business.
It was on for £5995 and we got it down to £5600 which seems to be well under book for that model.
He's the problem possibly: The service book is blank.
The car was previously registered to a company in Glasgow who apparently operate a large fleet a cars and commerials (Turner & Co). The chap who co owns the used car dealership told me he had phoned the company and got (over the phone) a record of when the services had been done (12, 25 and 37K) i.e. bang on the service schedule for that engine.
I've handed over a £200 deposit on the car subject to myself being able to obtain some kind of written confirmation (maybe a computer printout?) from this Turner and Co to confirm that the servicing has been carried out.
I wanted to get the backroomers general take on this. Is it at all heard of for fleets not to stamp the book but still service their vehicles? Is the previous fleet garage likely to be cooperative and give me something in writing?
The car it has to be said, looks and drives as though it's been well looked after.
Once again thanks for your continued indulgence!
Steve Read more
Ask the company for a detailed computer printout of ALL the servicing/maintenance work carried out on the car, including materials used (e.g. when tyres were changed etc.), and any warranty work carried out (of any), and then have the service book updated, stamped and signed inline with the details shown on the computer records.
Also ensure that any warranty that comes with the car is valid and whether or not it's subject to previous servicing records being up to date (not a problem is everything has been done on time and ok).
If the above is supplied and you're happy with the car then it's a done deal.
I am quite fed up of some motorcyclists' attitude!
They appear from nowhere in motorways - both from left and right sides.
The only time I see them when they zipped past me filtering lanes, then cut me suddenly and nanosecond later they are on different side.
I do ride bicycle myself but never drove a motorcycle and have no intention of doing so.
Somehow I feel driving motorcycles in motorways is sort of suicidal.
It is time when motorcyclists should be taught about "Think Cars".
Statistics say motorcyclists are 33 times more likely to be met with an accident - but I think in reality it is 500 times more!
Apologies if the post sounds controversial.
Read more
Exactly, ifithelps! (and several other posters). In my area we still get lunatic bikers but there seems to be fewerof them recently, perhaps due the unmarked police bikes or the death/serious injury toll. This morning as I waited to turn from a side road I watched a biker with passenger overtake a car through a narrow gap because of the on-coming van. I estimate the bike was doing at least 50 in a 30 limit and approaching an island about 100metres away. What was the point? It really makes my blood boil!
This one raises some interesting questions, experienced driver, new car, driving steadily, clips cyclist who later dies.
What happened next?
Read on....
tinyurl.com/pu34p9
Read more
I would just like to say what a great debate (and forum) this is. Lots of diverse opinions here and the thread hasn't got silly despite the potential. Possibly the best and most "grown up" debate on the web.
I am the delighted owner of a Fabia vrs as regular roomers will know. I am involved in the Skoda enthusiasts scene and on meets many of my friends espouse the re map cause. They spend very little money and can get supurb improvements is 180 bhp is easily attainable on my car. I have resisted on the grounds of reliability and long term durability.Also I believe a standard car will hold it's value better and be easier to sell. However I know a driving instruster who did 90k in a re mapped Vrs and I must say I'm tempted. I reckon an original vrs must be quite rare so should I leave alone? Read more
Just makes it more 'Drivable' My Master van has benefited from it enormously. Pulls like a train from 35-40 in fifth and is especially noticeable when towing a two ton trailer well loaded. I don't thrash it at all AND I do have the oil and filter changed every 5-7k.
Highly recommend Simon Coe of Upsolute.com if you do go for it.
VB regards.............MD
Met a bloke today who has had his VW Scirocco well over 20 years and uses it regularly.
Anyboby got a car they have had for years?
{Typo in header corrected} Read more
I have had my car for nearly ten years,although I should qualify that by saying there is only the bodyshell and the back seats left of the original car.
.jpg)
At the risk of getting a bit too theoretical, if the cars were on an ice road with negligible friction between tyres and road (which isn't true but please bear with me), would the 2 cases still look different?
EDIT: I mean assuming a stationary viewpoint for 35+35 and a moving viewpoint for 0+70