August 2009
After a recent accident with my bikes on the roof of my car, decided to eitehr buy a van or MPV to transport the bikes. It will also be used for camping equipment so do not want to move from carrying bikes on the roof to carrying on the rear.
Whilst Van would be most obvious with regard to carrying, was wondering if there was a Galaxy sized car that had fold flat seats into floor area. I know Vauxhall have that mid range MPV with fold flat seats, not sure if next size up, any cars have this. Would prefer a car as I wont feel I am taking a step back in the comfort levels.
Thanks Read more
Hello all,
I am looking at buying a 2005 1.4tdi VW Polo with 47,000 miles on the clock. According to the handbook it did 30,000 miles in 1 year with 1 lady keeper, then a following 17k with another female keeper.
It's only had 1 service though - done at 30,000 miles. The garage said they will service the car and MOT it if I want to buy the car. I assume the cambelt will need changing in approx 13k miles time?
Should I be wary of this service record or am I nitpicking? I thought a car needed a service at every 10k miles/1 year which ever comes first.
Many thanks in advance for any replies, they'll be greatly appreciated as I'm a bit of a beginner when it comes to cars.
:) Read more
I wouldn`t touch it with a bargepole Steve. There are plenty of cars..
You might find one where the owner has been caring enough to pay for an interim oil and filter change .
No evidence offered in support of my view that it`s better ;-)
It`s been a good move though for the first two owners, saving money on oil changes...
Evening/Morning all
Thinking about changing cars again and wanted some opinions and advice...
Due to illness, my better half is unlikely to be able to drive again. We currently have a 55 Citroen C4 Coupe and an 04 Mazda MX5. We bought an 08 Dog and as he's getting bigger he's getting too big for the boot of the c4. There's comedy value in having him sat next to me in the MX5 but that leaves my good lady at home.
Given the costs of insuring, taxing, servicing and maintaining two cars I've been thinking about replacing them both with one car. But what would fit the bill.
Well the subject line probably gives it away but I quite fancy chopping them both in for a V70 D5 SE auto around 05-06 plate. Huge, comfortable and something I've always quite liked after my dad's 760GLE way back in the day.
I've read what I can on the interwebs about the car and it seems pretty solid (CBC checked too).
The car I'm interested in is at a local independent which comes with a 90 full warranty that I can upgrade to two years RAC warranty - am tempted to do this, have got policy to read detail.
Soooooo. Am I nuts? should I stick to the two cars (won't use MX5 much and C4 no aircon is really getting on my nerves), what should I watch out for when buying and finally (deep breath) what else could I look at that has an equally nice interior (light leather) and isn't a mondeo.
Thanks as ever
Lee
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I spend 12hrs a day in the cars, sat in body armour and trousers out of the Victorian age. Without aircon, it can become very unpleasant...(the fan alone doesn't penetrate the body armour)
Around 13 years ago, the job paid EXTRA to disable/remove the air con from patrol cars. They decided that cars fitted with aircon were far too extravagant for mere uniform officers :)
Wish to change oil and filter, can anyone let me know best type of oil, how much I need? Best type of filter. (Service book mislaid during house move!) Read more
Try here:
www.commaoil.com/
I use my local motor factors for filters.
I am aware that early versions of the 2001-2006 Almera suffered from chain stretch. Does this issue also affect the 95-00 petrol model?
{header amended - no need to SHOUT!} Read more
Thanks folks - that confirms my thoughts - would be an expensive job on a 1998 car....
A friend wants a four seat cabriolet for around 5k ish - I have no idea where to start. Any ideas please?
shouting moderated Read more
Many thanks for all responses - looking into this the conv. cost so much more than the same saloon - amazing - I think a cossetted Audi 80/A4 is the way forward........
just seen the bmw 'we make joy' ad on telly, i liked most of the cars but the actual ad just seemed to be a bit woolly and naff. what has happened to proper telly ads? Read more
Firefox latst version - the last link worked ok - must have been half asleep this morning.
Just had a call from my ex-wife. She is staying in our daughter's house while the daughter is away with husband and nippers.
A neighbour told her the car seemed to be open. One of the doors was on the latch, and they are all unlocked. It's an Audi A3 diesel, five years old or so. I don't know the car myself.
How does she lock the car without the keys or fob? Can one operate the central locking from inside and then shut the door? The car is in a side street in Holloway, not the sort of place you want to leave your car unlocked.
Can anyone suggest anything? Read more
? The car is in a side
street in Holloway not the sort of place you want to leave your car unlocked.
No now it isn't. Thanks for the tip off :)
Travelling on motorway at around 80, car started snaking, no trailer, lasted around 3 or 4 seconds, braked gently, and slowed to 60, all ok. This was at the end of a long run 400 miles, previously car had been wandering slightly. Turns out there was too much pressure in front drivers side tyre 35 pounds when should have been 30. Could this have been cause or should I be looking for something else? MOT 3 months ago, tyre tred ok Read more
Any problem in the steering components, rack track rod ends etc.. or a severe front impact with a kerb/speed hump can affect things. This "free play" in the steering can cause steering to wander and be affected more by ruts/grooves in the road where normally you would not feel them. If generally the steering feels a little vague, or wanders slightly all the time (needs a lot more "correction" than your used to....get it looked at by a specialist.
If you have owned car from new and sure that you have not had any wheel collisions with kerbs or speed humps, it could be something else, perhaps just very windy and exposed on that leg of the journey?.
Reduce fuel duty by 40 pence per litre
What I want is a 40 pence/litre ?average? reduction in fuel duty as a way of getting us to drive more economically. That's right; reduce the cost of fuel to encourage us to use less of it.
Cash back Motoring
This is how the ?reduction? in fuel duty would work. The pump price stays the same but 40 pence/litre of the fuel duty is set aside to fund an annual rebate of 5 pence for every mile you travel. This will be paid out on a vehicle by vehicle basis. You go to an MOT test centre and get an official mileage reading each year, which tells the Government how many miles your car has travelled, multiply that by 5 pence and that?s how much you will be refunded; cover 10,000 miles and get a cheque for £500.
This encourages us to drive economically because the price you pay for your fuel is determined by your average mpg.
Take a motorist who bought 1,000 litres of fuel in one year at a total cost of £1,000; the four scenarios below show the effect the distance he travelled had on the price he paid for the fuel (after taking account of his rebate of 5 pence for every mile travelled).
He covered 4,000 miles, averaged 18.2 mpg (4 miles/l), and got back £200, so his net fuel cost was £800. On average he paid 80 pence/litre.
He covered 8,000 miles, averaged 36.4 mpg (8 miles/l), and got back £400, so his net fuel cost was £600. On average he paid 60 pence/litre.
He covered 12,000 miles, averaged 54.6 mpg (12 miles/l), and got back £600, so his net fuel cost was £400. On average he paid 40 pence/litre.
He covered 20,000 miles, averaged 91.0 mpg (20 miles/l), and got back £1,000, so his net fuel cost was £0. On average he paid zero pence/litre; he got his fuel for free!
As your mpg increases the net price you pay per litre decreases, a strong incentive to drive more economically.
For more information go to markthake.org.uk/5-pence-the-scheme/
My Aim
My aim is to get this idea to as wide an audience as possible, the best way to do this would be through the mainstream media, but I?m not connected so I can?t do that directly. Instead what I have done is create a petition on the 10 Downing Street website; my plan is, with your help, to get enough people to sign the petition to push it to the top of the list and hope that that will get the press?s attention.
There are approximately 30 million motorists in the UK, that?s roughly 70% of the electorate and with a General Election in less than 12 months if enough of us want this scheme there is a chance we could get it, so please sign the petition.
The Petition - petitions.number10.gov.uk/FivePencePerMile/
I took the rules on writing e-petitions a little too literally so the wording of the petition may not be that user friendly, my apologies for that.
Currently to get the top position in the list will take more than 70,000 signatures, a tall order but there are 30 million UK license holders and every car owner will be better off under this scheme.
Background
At present Fuel Duty on petrol and diesel stands at 54.19 pence/litre + VAT @ 15%, which comes to 62.3185 pence/litre. The government has been raising fuel duty routinely for the last two decades (the fuel price escalator) with the aim of getting motorists to drive more economically. However, Government stats prove that the average mpg is largely unchanged at 31 mpg for petrol cars and 37 mpg for diesel over that period; so the policy has failed.
As a stealth tax Fuel Duty has been very successful; the Government estimates it will bring in approximately £25.7 billion for the 2008/09 tax year and then there is the VAT to add on top of that, it?s equivalent to taking £1,000 from every UK driving license holder and if you spend £135 per month on fuel that?s exactly what they are taking off of you.
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The OP's idea is a load of old codswollop. The more you drive, the more money they give you! Wow what an incentive to cut back your unnecessary motoring.....not.
Thankfully stupid proposals like this get filed straightaway.....under waste bin.
Browse
Be aware that most fold-flat seat MPVs means no spare wheel, and reliance on a can of gunk to get you home!