June 2009
Anyone running one of these? Particularly interested in petrols and reliability.
Any known problems surfaced yet?
This will be my retirement car.
Thanks
TMS Read more
Need to replace the bushes in rear suspension and have been quoted several prices
Cheapest £15.00 inc for a pair from motor factors to £25.00 each for unipart ones,
which to use Unipart (are better?) or cheap ones from factors ?
Are these bushes hard to fit ? Read more
Go for the Unipart ones - they tend to use the same supplier as OE - especially as they used to supply all the Rover spares - I know, I work there!!!
Hope this helps
omegea gearbox changing down gears at low speeds(around 15-20 mph) and not going into 5 gear engine running very hot over 50moh,
also i have noticed that petrol consumption has gone up.
can anyone help what to do
have taken it to a couple of garages but they havent the tec to deal with Read more
cheers guys for all the advice i have found a second hand gearbox (just in case) for £350 delivered does this sound right
So, a while ago I sought ideas about what sort of car I could get for my 2nd mid life crisis (Parkinson's diagnosis)
I had my own outrageous suggestion, like a Porsche Cayman, and roomers made some helpful suggestions. However, last night I had an epiphany.
I decided that, rather than buy a hooligan on wheels which I am unlikely to get the best out of at my age, condition and with blunted reflexes, I would buy a car that simply drover better than my sponge on wheels (a.k.a. C4 Picasso) and would give me fun within my own limits of capability.
I have decided to buy a "crisis? what crisis? it's only Parkinson's, pull yourself together" car. It is a Golf 1.4TSI SE DSG or the GT 160 DSG version. Not sure if the GT is worth the extra money over the SE. I test drove on dual cariiageway and twisty country lanes, and it was enough car for me to handle. A bit of a sporty ride, enough go pedal power, enough handling and also economical and practical. If I get a good trade in on the Sponge on wheels/cost to change......it's a deal! Read more
Good stuff...treat yourself.
I had my last mid life crisis 2 years ago at 32 and bought a 2002 XK8, Im going to have another mid life crisis in a couple of years and get an xfr.......life's too short not to enjoy it.
So, back from my first ever visit to a motor race. How was it? Brilliant!
I fell in love with the Corvettes. The noise they make! Everytime they came round the track, the noise made me look in the sky for a WW11 fighter plane. The noise was primordial and visceral. The crowd loved them. I understand this year was the last one they will appear in. I was astonished also by how quiet the diesel cars were, and to be honest, they were not so exciting to behold.
I enjoyed standng at the bottom of the Mulsanne straight where they braked hard for the sharp r/h bend but still managed to overtake slower mortals within a fag paper distance of the bend.
I never want to see a Merguez sausage again! There wasn't much in the way of eye candy, and I think the ladies would feel the same way. Some pretty patterns made in chain link fences using beer bottles pushed through. Impressive numbers of empty beer bottles from small groups of people who are, to this day, probably still drying out!
We were away from the track and ensconced in our farm house within an hour of race finish.
Would I go again? Yes, yes and yes. Read more
I have been twice - once in 1980ish and once about ten years ago. Can't remember who won on either occasion but who cares?
Have been to the bike 24hrs about 20 times. The bikes actually race for the whole time.
Best memories; Ducati 600 Pantas out-breaking the the works Jap 900s and overtaking them on the outside of hairpin bends.
Waking on Sunday morning to find out Team Bike were in 2nd place and gaining 2 secs. a lap...........
Camping in the woods for 5 days and still getting served in restaurants afterwards.
Did you notice that French drunks always seem to collapse into the recovery position?
Being a cheapskate, I've bought the T2 model with steel wheels. As I don't like/don't want to pay main dealer prices for alloys, I've had a look on the internet.
Being a new model, not many sites offer wheels to fit, but i've seen some from a Toyota Auris - the Snowflake design - that seem nice.
All the relevant sizes correspond (PCD, diameter etc) EXCEPT the offset.The wheels i've seen have an offset of 45, but Toyota technical helpline says the car has an offset of 39mm.
Now - is this 6mm difference crucial ? Will it affect the handling/warranty of the car ?
Will there be clearance (i think there should be), and will the original nuts fit, if there is 6mm less thread ?
Bore is 60.1 on both wheels, so I presume I'll lose 6mm of thread, and I think it may be significant.
Your thoughts please !! Read more
Toyota tell me the offset is 39mm for both steel and alloy wheels on the 2009 verso
8v Estate disc front, drum rear, 89000miles, handbrake 4 clicks to fully on.
I've had this problem for a while now, the brakes work but you have to push the pedal a long way down before anything happens! Stamping on the pedal in an emergency it stops as it should & inline but if you're just wanting to slow up a bit your foot goes down, down, down, down.... ahh, she's slowing now...
It sails through the MOT, though the testers always remark on the travel.
Last service, carried out by an independent garage, they replaced pads,shoes and flushed/bled the fluid (twice!) but the long travel remained.
I've found that before starting the engine (handbrake on) if I press the pedal down slowly until I can't push it any further, then slowly release it & repeat this 3 or 4 times, when I start the engine & drive off the brakes work the instant I touch the pedal with plenty of "feel" to them. This lasts about 60miles (2 days commute) towards the end of which the pedal travel gradually gets longer until it's back to where it started.
Also with the engine off & handbrake released if I quickly push the pedal down I hear a "clunk" noise which seems to be coming from somewhere between the rear wheels or certainly from the rear of the car.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance. Read more
i have to agree with jc2.master cyl seals.
Hi All
I have an old style 2005 Focus Flight 3 door with 63k on the clock (I have owned from new).
Last week the O/S/F suspension spring snapped, luckily only the top coil of the spring came off so no damage was done and I was able to drive it to get repaired.
The next day I took it to get a new spring fitted (I know I should have got the 2 done) but I only got the 1 side done.
Since then, there is a strange noise coming from the front of the car, it only happens when there is 1 person in the car, if there are 2 people in the car it doesnt do it.
With hindsight I realise I should definatley have got both front springs replaced and i,m presuming / hoping that this is whats causing the strange creaking / rumbling noise.
Other than this the car runs loveley, the steering / brakes are spot on.
Anyone got any thoughts?
Cheers Read more
With the front wheels off the ground check if it's the new spring that's generating the noise, otherwise check as per my previous entry.
My son has a Renault Clio Dynamique 1.2 petrol. Year 2001. mileage 67500. The engine sometimes cuts out when the car is stationary. Sometimes it just won't start , the engine turns over o.k. but won't fire. It will start with a push. It was serviced recently with new plugs, air & oil filters and new oil. I notice that the plug leads seem to be the the carbon filled type which were never the best. Apart from that it must be a fuel problem. I think that the idle speed appears to be quite low. Any suggestions?? Read more
Sounds just like a problem i had with mine give the throttle body a good clean with some Carb cleaner. I'm no expert but i managed it with out to much trouble. It made a massive difference. My throttle body was filthy.
Regards
chris
I?m currently living in Switzerland, but due to uncertainty over whether I?ll have parking place at the office long term I?m driving an aging RHD Astra on UK plates and UK insurance. The insurer knows the car is abroad long term and has jacked up the premium accordingly.
My problem is the MOT is due shortly and my UK insurer says no MOT means invalid insurance.
This means a painful roundtrip back to the UK just to get the MOT.
I don?t want to get the car registered locally as to do that it would need the local ?expertise? ? which would require changing the headlights to LHD version plus it may not get through the strict emissions rules here.
The car is probably worth only £600 ish but I don?t want to buy local car only to find I?m a train commuter.
So two questions:
Does anyone know if there is an insurer/broker that would look favourably on a car being MOT less, possibly with a safety report from a garage?
Is there any way of getting an MOT somewhere between Geneva and the UK (yes I know that?s a long shot).
Thanks
Dan
Read more
Sorry for the slow update - work gets in the way some times;
In answer to some questions
I've bought an S max locally for family driving; the Astra is just a work and back run about.
I'll find out about parking at work in the next month or two ? if I get a space I?ll buy a car locally, if not the Astra will go ? back to the UK or to the dump and I?ll be a ?pendulaire? = train commuter
The tax doesn't run out till December and the insurance runs till November, so MOT is the only issue.
You can only get Swiss insurance with Swiss plates, hence the registration info/expertise/headlights cost ? sorry that wasn?t clear.
So what I?m looking for is if there is a way of getting MOT or MOT less insurance to last till November ? if not the car has to go back for an MOT in the next few weeks.
The timings is inconvenient ? and entirely my fault for not having spotted this and done something earlier when I had time (we were back in the UK at Easter so should have done it then).
To make things worse I am too busy at work/play to get to the UK and back so SWMBO is going to have to do it solo ? hence the priority to find a peace making alternative.
Thanks for the help
Dan
Browse
A bit too early for good reliability data I think. Have you asked on xfforum?
Kevin...