June 2009
Anyone know how to get the headlight alarm buzzer working? It used to work then stopped for some reason. It should sound when you leave your lights on and open the drivers door. The little "pin" button on the inside of the drivers door seems to press in and out freely..any ideas? Read more
My home town in north Essex like many others has had an influx of Polish residents many of whom brought their cars over with them.
I'm curious to know if their cars need to be re-registered on UK plates after a certain period of time?
Would the vehicle need to be MOT'd to UK standard and if so when would a new MOT fall due?
Could a Polish car on Polish plates get a road fund licence in the UK?
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X type estate 2.2 diesel auto SE.
We wanted something larger and considered Octavia, A4, A6, Legacy all estates.
Wife didn't want an Octavia, Legacy wasn't auto, A4 and A6 were both multitronic autos and both the revised A4 and A6 are too new for there to be much choice and spec of those available was pretty low rent.
So we looked at the Jag, very few and far between (only three within 100 miles of home and one of those had sold) but a local dealer was advertising one which looked the part.
One owner, 8 months old, 8,500 miles. SE spec so not much it doesn't have and sensible 17 inch wheels and softer suspension.
Only driven it from the dealership home but it's much quieter than the A3 and just wafts along. 70mph is about 1800 rpm.
Just need to RTFM now to learn all about it!
More reports as the miles stack up - I'll be doing about 1,000 next week so that should be a good test.
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To answer some questions raised:
Stu - car was on for £21,999. 10% off forecourt price wasn't difficult to get, plus years tax, service and a full tank. List price is nearly £30k, but heavy discounts on list are easily found.
Pedal box is tight - with the auto it's not an issue, but I could see me having a problem with a manual.
Never considered BMW - the interior of the 3 doesn't seem to offer much more space over the A3. The old A4 had the same problem, new one is slightly better.
Does anyone know if the Exeo will be sold as an estate?
Thanks
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I know what you mean. I'll probably need to replace my wife's car in the next year or two. I'm currently toying with getting rid of her Seat Ibiza diesel, keeping my Octavia estate for driving to work and back - it runs perfectly acceptably on biodiesel which I can get for between 70p & 90p per litre - and making the new one a family petrol estate.
I want a Legacy, wife doesn't like them and so we're off into the realms of new Citroen C5, Mazda 6, Exeo maybe the Insignia, Honda Accord etc. I just don't know! That's why I opted out of the company car scheme and bought the Octavia I had under it, I just couldn't be bothered to make a decision!
I'm about to renew the rear pads on my Golf. Is it necessary to buy a special tool to rewind the pistons or is there a cheaper way? Read more
Get the right tools and don't bodge. Without the piston winder you stand to cause damage to the piston or the dust boot.
Keep the pedal locked down whilst you retract the pistons and expell the fluid via the bleed nipple. Forcing dirty fluid back through the ABS unit is unwise. Then bleed the brakes and top up the fluid.
659.
The +ve battery terminal was furring up.
I went to clean the fur build-up off & noticed there was a coating of like a Red Oxide underneath.
It didn't come off easily, I had to scrape it off with screwdriver, file & sandpaper.
I have never seen this Red Oxide like build-up before on this car or any other car.
Looks like a chemical reaction of some sort has happened.
Previously I did coat battery terminals with Vaseline (petroleum jelly)
I haven't seen this before.
Any ideas what has happened & what this Red Oxide like coating is ?? Read more
If your terminal is brass or plated brass it's likely that the zinc has reacted
and left a copper rich surface (brass is an alloy of copper and zinc). Not
a real problem as copper is conductive.
Yes, the +VE terminal now looks a golden brass colour where it reacted & I rubbed off the red oxide type coating.
Before the reaction, I think it looked silver colour (like the -VE terminal where there was no reaction).
I didn't notice any problem starting car when this thick red oxide type coating was present on +VE terminal.
If it happens again I'll check its conductivity with multimeter.
I remember seeing this video few years back. Does anyone know if it was ever used in mass production cars?
Are Mercedes or BMW using this technology?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSi6J-QK1lw
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But just think how big they then have to build speed humps to slow down the traffic!
p
I saw a car being advertised on this site at which seemed a pretty good price. They seem to be selling old lease cars, but I don't seem to be able to find any information from people who've actually bought from them.
Anyone in the backroom have any experience of dealing with them?
Thanks Read more
I've found that the engine performance goes from being crisp and sharp with a smooth delivery of power when driving in dry conditions to being almost flat at 2500 rpm when driving in the wet. The car does not deliver power smoothly and then suddenly kicks in when the revs are about 3200 rpm almost like a turbo lag. This problem then disappears after a few dry days. Read more
If i were in your position, I would get a small spray container (something like febreeze comes in), fill with water and spray into the engine bay (as a mist, not a jet!) around the coil pack / coil / HT leads area and look for any sign of electrickery jumping.
Doing it at night helps.
Ever since the M56 was opened, I've wondered about this particular feature.
Between the A556 and the M6 junctions, on the westbound track there is a small ' slip road ' leading up off the hard shoulder to a wooden ' farm ' type gate. There is also a slip on from this gate. In all my hundreds of trips up and down this stretch, I've never seen this gate open or in use.
The gate leads into a very minor lane, not important enough to have a bridge or a tunnel across the M way. Google satellite show nothing of importance down the lane, a couple of farms and a caravan storage site. The lane leads to another, equally minor, lane. It's not a spot where emergency vehicles would want to get on. I wonder if there is anything strategic buried in the fields which the Sat can't see !
Any other ones around ? What is it for ?
I'll have an explore on the bike one day.
Ted Read more
Got it!
I spotted it this afternoon on GE, but waited for your reply to confirm same. It is curious. Maybe an afterthought when they were building the thing?
Browse
i like the poles
i like the way they conduct themselves
Me too bb. Polish jokes American style seem pretty wide of the mark.
When I was minicabbing in South London got a call to the Polish Club just down from Clapham Common there. A regular punter, old gent, builder or something. He had his wife and another lady with him. They had been at some sort of big Polish hooley at the club.
He ushered them into the back of the car, an estate, and then moved back a yard and scrabbled at the rear lower quarter panel. Eventually I realised he was so unbelievably drunk that he thought they were in the front, and he was trying to get into the back like a gent. I ushered him gently into the front seat. He behaved with gentlemanly, impeccable old-style East European courtesy at all times.
I wish we were a bit more like that sometimes, I must say.