July 2009
Yet another one of those "what car should I buy?" threads, but here goes anyway;
MIL wants a new car, and is coming out of a 2004 Fiesta. She's got her heart set on the new Fiesta or Ka. The prices are too high for the father-in-law, who arrived at my place last night with a brochure for the Nissan Pixo (a foul thing by all accounts). So the brief is it has to be super-cheap to buy (<£8500) and run for the FIL, and has to be reasonably stylish and comfortable for the MIL.
In addition to the Ka/Fiesta, I've told her to have a look at the following - Hyundai i20 / i30
and Toyota Aygo (and clones)
Are there any others they should be looking at? Any great deals to be had?
TIA, from Bruce - a hard put upon son-in-law! Read more
Hi,
the engine diagnostic warning light has come on on my peugeot 406 R plate (72,000) yesterday ,since this happened the engine has cut out twice when I try to drive away or when I put any lights on and try to drive the car cuts out but turn the lights off the car drives but is very sluggish in 1st and 2nd gear .The warning light only come on now and then does anyone know of a common cause for this fault (with an easy fix) change the plugs or do i have to take it to somebody with diagnostic equipment?
any help with this would be much appreciated.
thanks Ian. Read more
Has OpelVauxhall been sold yet?
What is happening to Saab, Isuzu and other car companies owned by GM such as Daewoo Read more
Another reason for cold feet over the Magna deal is the handing over of the IPR of the platforms etc (I believe). But the Chinese deal does not protect the European factories the same.
Still a bit of a worry and potential mess.
I have excessive wear on front tyres. Outside of nearside front and inside of offside front.
Dealer has checked tracking and alighnment 4 times. says everything is correct. One side of tyre almost bald other side 4 millimetres at 15000 miles. I do not go off road except on a caravan site. The steering wheel is slightly to the right in a straight line. i bought the car at 12 months old . It was a Mitsubishi management car. It has full Mitsubishi service history.
Help please.
Hamer Read more
I don't have specific knowledge of the Shogun but had a lot of problems in the 90s and early 2000s with Maverick/Terrano 2 front tyre wear and wheel alignment.
I suspect the dealer has not carried out a a full 4 wheel alignment check and recommend that you have this done by a reliable independent and have the necessary adjustments made.
Not cheap but if you keep the car for a few years it will be cheaper than buying new tyres.
I mean decent looking ones that aren't hidden behind plastic covers. You see them on vans, where they look fine, but on cars you only seem to get grotty ones with covers, or alloys.
Are there any new cars available with cover-less steel wheels? And why aren't they generally available - are they just trying to get us to shell out for more expensive alloys? Read more
hmm. I think that large diameter alloy wheels necessarily have to be made more accurately than steel wheels of a smaller diameter designed to fit on the same car. But that has precisely nothing to do with the ride quality. Many manufacturers seem to consider it desirable to sell cars with wheels that seem to be set up for the track, at the expense of ride quality and suspension life. I'm not sure many buyers really realise the compromises they make by buying this stuff. Anyone who drives a car fast enough on public roads to benefit from the handling improvements 'on the limit' should not have a licence.
I recently changed my cam belt as the last one unfortunately snapped. However, since doing this, the engine has a louder 'ticking' noise. Timing marks looked dead on. Anyone know if it can be 'fine tuned' to within one tooth on the belt safely? Pretty sure that valves\pistons are correct but should I re-do them or the belt? Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks Read more
did you check if any of the valves are bent. if not you have been very lucky
No connection with any firms mentioned - other than as a customer!
I went to Germany yesterday with a work colleague, for some shopping. Stansted to Hahn for £32 return, hand luggage one way, checked in case coming back. Ryanair flights on time out and back. Check in and security very speedy even during the early morning rush at Stansted. Passport control and baggage very quick on the way back - 40 minutes from touchdown to driving away from the mid-stay cark park!
I had booked a group B hire car at Hahn and was expecting a Corsa, Fiesta, Fox/Polo. Booking direct with the Majors was expensive (£50+) and I got one for £45 with Budget but thru Holiday Autos. Got to the desk and was pleasanyly suprised to be given a 118d BMW. Booking with Holiday Autos gives one the option to buy top-up CDW, from insuranc4carhire for £4.50. This is expensive compared with their annual rate of £49 but way cheaper tham the £10/day rates charged by the majors for their own insurance.
The car was, frankly, a bit odd! I was given a block of black plastic, the size of a small match box, with three buttons on it. I guessed the metal key blade appeared when one of the buttons was pressed, but it didn't! Went back to the desk and was told the car was 'keyless'. Went down to the car park, found the car and spent 5 minutes trying to see how the system worked. Finally found a small receptacle in the dash into which they fitted. Inserted it and then pressed it an and it locked in and turned on the ignition. Press a dash mounted start button and all was well. Drove off and stopped at a set of traffic lights and after about 5 seconds the engine stopped. Panic! Pressed the clutch and the engine re-started and away we went - an introduction to BMW's stop start system. I think the engine can be made to keep running when parked by putting the handbrake on!?
The car was an odd spec. Heated seats but with fabric not leather, only speedo, RPM and fuel gauges, no temp gauge. Steel wheels with Korean Hankook tyres, surely they aren't original eqipment on any BMW? Traction control and a very nice diesel engine (Turbo?) The 6 speed gearbox was awful, very baulky and hard to engage gears when moving. Very economical, did 60 miles on 10.5 litres of fuel including some M Way work with no speed limit.
Overall a good day out, the deal was that we saved over £500, vis a vis the UK price, on my colleagues small stinky cigarillos! The car was a suprise, for a £45 hire charge but I wouldn't spend my own money on a BMW 1 series!
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My close cousin works in Germany, and most people at his company as compay cars take Audi4 1.9/Mondeo 2.0tdci. BMW 3 was taken off as option due to no interest from staff. Higher managers get E-Class/A6.
Bought a Alfa 156 1.8 TS, it is a great car but needed its cam belt doing so booked it nto a local garage, it went in doing 30mpg around town came out doing 22
The garage deny they did the timing wrong
The car runs great, no flat spots.
I do not drive it hard and use the air con only occasionally/rarely
Anyone with ideas what it may be?
Car is a 2003 model reg in 2003 Read more
In December 2008, I sold on a vehicle which I had only owned for a short while.
Today, I have been contacted by the buyer who informed me that the vehicle was recently HPI'ed, and the check had comeback reporting that the vehicle had been scrapped in 2000 and had outstanding finance from 2006!
Obviously, I was very concerned by this and so this evening have carried out my own checks against the vehicle.
The more detailed of the two checks that I've carried out reveals the reported issues relate to the vehicle VIN... and fortunately the part detailing the outstanding finance gives the name of a model of caravan for 'description'.
The vehicle I sold was a motorcycle... and one that appears to have been a parallel import when it was first registered, and only the last six digits of the VIN (chassis) number were given to DVLA.
Further investigation reveals that this is quite often a normal practice when it comes to parallel imports.
Anyway... the bike is obviously alive and well in 2009, and the issues flagged up by the vehicle check link to a caravan which just happens to have the same chassis number as that stated for the bike.
So... what do I advise the bikes current owner to do as the best course of action?
A quick google of the net reveals HPI aren't exactly that forthcoming when it comes to updating their records when they're wrong, and the new owner is rightfully concerned that he will not be able to sell the bike in the future all the time it's wrongly flagged up in this way.
TIA for any advice received. :-) Read more
Just tell him to do the same as yourself - get and keep a full HPI printout showing their errors.
As it isn't your vehicle any more tell the buyer to write to HPI demanding a correction ISTR they are required to keep accurate data under the data protection act (although is that for people rather than objects?).
just got the car of a mate it is highe milaged done 150,000 i have flushed the engine i have changed the oil on the car and filterit is only smoking a bit is the anything i can put in the oil 2 help it stop smoking a bit if not it looks like another engine when the engine is running it sounds verry quiet and revs up verry well any advise please Read more
I was not suggesting 20w/50 but a 10w/40 should be alright-the clearances at that milage should not cause problems.
Browse
Why not convince him instead to take yer m-i-l to see two cars? One a brand new little 'un, and the other a nearly-new example of the bigger size she really wants, one which also has the advantage of having been run in for her.