May 2009
At the end of March I ordered a new Mazda RX8 R3 from the local Mazda dealership after taking a test drive. The dealer took all the details and completed an order form. He said that it would take about ten days to source the car (that there would be one in the correct colour at another dealership) and get it checked over.
A week or so after placing the order I recieved the V5 in the post which prompted me to phone the dealership to enquire how things were going. The car was in and they were doing the pre-road checks. A few days later I collected my first new car.
Due to problems with the gearbox\clutch, yesterday I ended up going back to the dealership to have a mechanic carry out a test drive. During the drive he let it slip that my car was in fact their showroom car, later to be their demonstrator (the one I had test driven). This was further confirmed by another staff member.
Now, to me that means that the car wasn't new, despite having only 70 miles on the clock (it was explained away as being driven up from a local(ish) compound). The salesman encouraged me to rev the engine up to the limiter on the test drive, which makes me wonder how many other potential customers did the same.
I'm waiting to hear back from the dealership as apparently everyone who is someone has been unavailable to comment. Am I being pedantic or should I have expected a new car, or is a demonstrator counted as a new car?
First time poster, long time lurker. Please be gentle with me. Read more
when should the cambelt be chaged on a Neon RT. Would you buy a car that has done 60k and has not had it changed? Read more
when you change cambelt what's involved ? ie just the belt or anything else ?
Thanks
i have an 03 astra coupe 1800, about 6 monts ago, it started backfiring.but when i turned the ignition off then on again. it started up ok , and ran ok,so i had it falt diagosed, new coil pack,then new mass air sensor, then new lamba sensor, still no luck,now it wont rev over 4,500rpm now they say i heed a new cat,but i dont want to spend more money if a new cat will not solve the problem, i an at my wits end , can any one help please Read more
take off cat and test drive,if all is well(abeit a bit noisey)then its the cat.
when cat is off shake it and if it rattles,its knackerd.
if poss you can loosen the bolts holding the cat and will let exhaust out before cat and do the same thing,just without the noise.
Hi again
Thanks for all the recent replies when we were considering a Ford Focus for SWMBO last weekend.
Bizarrely the car she's now decided she wants is a Toyota Avensis Mk2 (not much of a stretch there I know!)
I'm quite happy with this though and having discounted the 1.8 vvti due to the well documented oil consumption problems once they hit 50K or so and the 2.0 simply because it's a bit thirsty we fancy the diesel.
Test drove a clean 2.0 d4d colour collection (post-facelift 130 bhp 6 speed job) this evening 44K on an 56 plate full Toyota S/H one private owner, which had a sticker proce of £6995...not unreasonable I know)
Because we're not trading-in and paying cash, I had expected at least £400 off the asking price but after trying various negotiating tactics, nowt, nada, nothing, £6995 take it or leave it mate.
I suppose this might have been because another customer allegedly had it out earlier in the day, so there may well be a fair bit of interest in the car, but I was a wee bit disappointed in the not budging policy.
How common is this?
The car even at £6995 seems good value, there's nothing much I can nitpick over, should I just swallow my hurt pride and buy the thing?
My decision at the end of the day I know but any thoughts as always very welcome even just out of interest
cheers
Steve Read more
the second car is presumably 06 plate? >>
Stirling and Dunfermline dealers both illustrate the cars in question with 56 plates fully visible. It makes it easy then to check those reg numbers on the DVLA website.
Northumbria Police is getting rid of its £200,000 motorcycle fleet over health and safety fears.
The police force decided to sell off all the Honda and BMW bikes after deciding that officers using them were "particularly vulnerable to collision".
tinyurl.com/c8jjy4
When I read this I despair for the future.....
{edited to include a brief write up of the article, so as to make less vague} Read more
Some BBC video on the original item and other forces views
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8044881.stm
I've already tried a few things but I'm struggling to figure out what is causing my S reg fiesta 1.4 v16 zetec to misfire and hesitate under acceleration and could do with some help. Thanks in advance!
The car seems a bit sluggish all the time but the misfire is especially evident under heavy acceleration such as on an uphill motorway approach slip road. The car will hesitate and not increase in rev's or speed and then is will suddenly kick in and accelerate ok. The hesitation continues to be very noticeable at high speed as the power seems to drop out a bit and then kick in again.
The EML light is not on but I have had it diagnosed - no errors showed. The mechanic said it was a multiple misfire at speed so I've changed the plugs (old ones looked good), HT leads (old ones seemed to show signs of arcing although the resistance was fine), and fitted a new coil pack. I changed one thing at a time and after each change there was an improvement but the problem wasn't solved and the improvement didn't last long.
Could it be a blocked/damaged Cat from the neat fuel as the misfire has been happening a while now, or an exhaust manifold leak or a faulty lambada or engine temp sensor? Or maybe a fuel problem? Or something else altogether?
Any help really appreciated - I'm not sure what to try next and can't afford to just change everything!
Dave.
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did you get this problem sorted I appearto be haing the exact same problem with my ford fiesta and have paid for the head gasket to be fixed, the camshaft but no luck!!!
An help will be very much apprectiated
Can anyone help with the removal of the rear wheel bearing please.?
I hav it all stripped down but cant get the outer shell out. Read more
i thought so.
take the hub off and get it pressed in and out.
Sorry to be a complete girlie, however, I have a blockage in the tube leading to the driver's side windscreen washer.
When I say blockage, I can see the tube and the tube appears to be hard in the middle, like its calcified. All other washers are working fine.
How do I fix it? Can I pull the tube off and replace it? DO I fill the water thing with boiling water and hope that it melts / clears the blockage?
I know its not a major problem, but its annoying. Thanks in advance for any advice :) Read more
dont put any boiling water in for goodness sake,itll cause more damage.
the tube is non squeazable so im not suprised you cant squeaze it.
get a small pin and poke them in the washer jet holes,the ones in the bonnet.
if it dosnt clear take it to your local garage and they will blow em out with an airline for a "drink"
Me again I'm afraid with my elderly (1993) Mk3! Can anyone out there advise how you're supposed to replace the auxiliary drive belt on a Mk3 with C14SE engine and power steering??? Haynes suggests removal of the RH engine mount, but doesn't cater for the power steering variant where the pump and the mount appear to be integrated! I've tried removing the two bolts holding the 'U' shaped outer engine bearing bush, but even with the RH side of the engine jacked up on that side on a trolley jack, there just isn't sufficient room to pass the old belt out between the top of the bearing and the underside of the chassis member (nor, of course the new one in). Its a bit frustrating cos having replaced the head gasket and timing belt, it would be nice to replace this belt also - which has been on there for more miles than I can remember (and the rubber 'ribs' show signs of cracking). Any help/suggestions would be very welcome! Read more
There's a smug *** in the office I work in who is convinced this is true. He alleges you can over pay a speeding fine and avoid points on your licence. I believe there is some kind of email doing the rounds allegedly from an insider at Swindon Magistrates Court.
If your fine is say £40 and you pay £41, the 'system' has to send you back the difference by cheque but if you do not cash the refund cheque the 'system' thinks the transaction is incomplete and points will not be loaded on your licence until all financial transactions are finalised. Meantime because you have paid the fine, no further action is taken.
Please confirm the above is a load of sump sludge as I strongly believe it is, and I'll gladly tell the office bore he is completely wrong.
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Computer/IT savvy colleague of mine was having heavy grief with his bank. He managed to find a way of sending them faxes all night so as to run their machine out of paper! A result, of sorts
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It's not 'notchy'. I could live with 'notchy'. This complains at going into gear by grinding it's teeth and making loud 'cluncking' noises. When it does this I imagine rotating metal tooth gears at different speeds clashing together with all the subsequent wear. You can feel it back through the gearstick. It didn't do this on the test drive.
I'm in an RX8 owners club and have asked anyone there if they are having similar problems. Two or three have got back to me to say that they are problem free.