August 2009
Now I have seen everything. We went to Belvoir Castle for the day, and it took us ages to get away because a huge peacock fell in love with my car and wouldn't move. I kid you not. The attendant said he had been cuddling up to the car for the whole two hours we were in the castle. He wasn't posturing or doing any other form of competing. He was cuddling, and - if he did but know it - admiring his own reflection. The car is indigo, but in the sunshine it really was peacock blue. Easy mistake.
Kind of restores my faith in birds. For the last ten months an angry robin has been attacking my Nissan Qashqai and using it as his lavatory.
Very odd question, but have any of you got other bird meets car stories - apart from roadkill reports?
Ever pondering,
Ali
PS is there anywhere to post photos? I have pics! Read more
I'm after a small second car, for use on small school run, pootling, and occasional works trips when the family volvo in use by him indoors. Budget - less than 2k. I want really cheap to run, good reliability, no rust. My favorite car of all time was my F reg Polo - TBH I'm used to crappy cars and the v50 drives me mad with stupid computers warnings all the time, and its a garage job to change a headlight bulb, so I want back to basics, no frills, sod all to go wrong.
I've seen a low mile FSH 106 but its well overpriced (think they might come down), was thinking ford KA MK2 but the rust issue puts me off. I've had polo's and metro's in the past, not having a micra, but that kind of thing. Am I far off with a 1.1 106? Bit underpowered for the occasional M40 trip but I've done it before...mostly it will be small runs....
Cheers Guys Read more
Ah well, the guy with the pug came down a fair bit, and it turned out it had a full main dealer SH with the last service being last month. One genuine lady owner from new, 29k on the clock. Its erm - pristine is the only word, and its now sat outside :). Thanks everyone for your input. xx
I have had my 00 1.8 pug estate for 3 years.
When starting from cold I have always had a quite loud high pitched whine which disappears quite quickly , say 5mins, after it warms up. It is orse in cold weather.
Very worrying.
I had everything checked out by Peugeot main dealer when a new cambelt was fitted last year. They could find nothing wrong they say , but by the time they moved the car into the workshop the noise had stopped anyway I guess.
Is this peculiar to petrol engine pugs?
Is it common?
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The time has sadly come when I must say farewell to a car which has slowly rusted away during the course of the last 11 years - due to inactivity and neglect. It has been SORN'd for the past five years.
I would really like to break the car for spares - it's worth far more in bits than as a 'going concern' - but that will probably leave it looking like a turkey four days after Christmas Day :-)
Is the price of scrap metal still high enough for a scrappie to collect a bare shell FOC? I could argue that I'm doing them a favor by removing most of the non-metallic parts for them!
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I did ask the
women about them once.....
Proof - if such be needed - that women do not possess the "that'll come in useful sometime" gene :-)
Hi again,
Between the odometer and the revs counter, below the red STOP light, there is a trapezium shaped window. The left hand side of this window lights up the ENGINE and AIR BAG icons, (which are illuminated briefly during ignition). But The right hand side doesn't display anything. Is the light (or fuse) out ? Which icons/info is diplayed there ?
Thanks as always in davance. Read more
Hi guys,
My fiancee recently had her Fiesta serviced and the only "red" advisory was the outside of the passenger side tyre was at 1.6mm tread so obviously needs replacing.
Now the outside of the drivers side tyre was an "amber" advisory (forget the depth) so will also need replacing eventually...
So my query is, is it ok to just replace the one tyre now and do the other later when it really needs doing? Or should we just get both done together?
It seems a waste to replace a tyre that still has life left in it but I wasn't sure if tyres should be replaced in pairs or not.
Thanks for your help. Read more
Maybe lots of roundabouts where you live?
Hell yes, three just between my house and the main road... (500m).
Cheers for the great advice guys. Will get the back tyres swapped to the front, replace the "red" and the "amber" tyre and new ones on the back.
Get tracking checked and corrected as necessary.
One of the compelling arguments for them is that the machine can't have had an argument with his wife in the morning!
www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6058498/Driver...l Read more
If it ever does happen, then I predict a big increase in cycling and other activities where you actually get to drive the vehicle yourself.
Why? Well I can't imagine we'll be allowed to drive for long after the acceptance of these cars, insurance companies will charge massive extra premiums if you have the nerve to turn your driverless car autopilot off and take charge of it yourself. Wait and see..
Me, I can't imagine a future any more depressing than having a car that drives itself, except for maybe a 30mph national speed limit! :)
Of course, the 90% of the population that see driving as a means to an end and cars like white goods will be delighted if they don't have to bother with that tiresome chore of driving anymore....
Hallo,
Just been to look at a 2000 Polo that I'm considering buying.
This might be a stupid question BUT ... it says it has a full service history, and the guy just has receipts for all the services it has had, rather than stamps in a log book.
All the receipts look bona fide, they tally with the mileage, and the services have been carried out more or less yearly.
Any cause for concern or is this perfectly normal!?
Thanks in advance!
J Read more
Thanks - good point on the forgery front!
Appreciate your tips.
Cheers, J
I leased a POLO for 2 years for my daughter.At the end of the lease, the car was in immaculate condition and had only 9000 miles on the clock. The front wheel trims were scuffed, I replaced them, the 2 year service was due, I had it done, I replaced a couple of bulbs and had paint repairs on a couple of small scuffs to the front bumper, minor and very tiny dents on the doors (hardly visible and certainly not photographable). I was confident the car would pass any inspection. At the end of the inspection I was given an estimate for £1700 plus VAT from the Inspector to 'put the car right'. I immediately took it to two garages for an independent inspection - both agreed with me the car was in good condition and had a very small amount of use - which they considered fair wear and tear. I have had leased cars for many years (including VWs) and have never, ever, had to pay back one penny in 'refurbishment'. The inspector said I needed two new tyres at the front - the VW dealer I subsequently took the car to for their opinion, disagreed and said the tyres were legal. Sensing I was in for a battle and the inspector was on a commission earning exercise - I took the car to a well known and well respecred body specialist and had every tiny imperfection taken out. On reinspection, the inspector noticed a speck of dirt inside the paint on the bumper (seriously I am not making this up) where the car had had a minor paint repair. He said they would have to redo the paintwork, insisted on new tyres for the front and new wheel trims for the back. In all I spent £1515 getting the car to their very high standards. I have just received an invoice for £134 to cover the rear wheel trims and a new front tyre!! The wheel trims at the back were very very lightly marked and the tyre was legal even according to the VW dealer. I have refused to pay it on principle. I am prepared to go to Court if I have to to defend this. Can anyone tell me how I trace the lease car so that I can see if they had the 'refurbishsment' work done, which I dont believe they did. I would love to hear from anyone with similar end of lease experiences. I have pictures, as do the other two garages I asked to give me a report. The car was collected and the man who collected it commented on its pristine condition. Read more
I run a small leasing brokerage and am pretty sure I am able to guess which leasing company has levied these charges.
Too many leasing companies have been doing artificially cheap deals over the last couple of years and have consequently lost fortunes, they are trying to do whatever they can to recoup losses. Some companies have pulled out of the vehicle leasing marketplace completely, the market is narrowing and prices are increasing.
The end-of-lease "scam" is in fact a contractual requirement, I always advise customers to put the car in good condition before returning it and if the vehicle is physically close enough I will inspect it myself. There is no onus on the leasing company to actually carry out the work for which they have charged, although I accept this is difficult to swallow.
A good idea is to imagine it is your own car and you are selling it. In order to maximise your revenue it is advisable to ensure it is in good condition.
In the dim and distant past chrome was seen as a sign of having a well spec'd car. And then for a long time having chrome (especially window surrounds) seemed to be frowned upon. Now you'd chrome the whole lot?
Just wondered about other BR's opinion... so many cars have chrome these days around the windows.
I might not have much choice for my next car!
P.S. The image may not work in the future... so it was a chrome Audi. Read more
What doesn't help either is the move to enormous corporate logos taking up half the front grille on some newer cars.
Some of these are tacky beyond belief. Heaven alone knows what this cheap, badly-made plastic is going to look like in a few years when the cars get older and have a few battle scars.
Take a look at some newer Peugeots and tell me that all that front plastic bling is necessary.
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Yes, hence the "World Wide Web".
....off to the cloakroom.