Cars service today - none!

Pierre our head mechanic is suspended for letting his great great Grandaughter change the oil on his motor - eze only an 11 year old girl -- sacre bleu!
Further more `e as failed in ze risk assessment of `developing conkers`. These are located in a tree across the road from our garage and we are fearful in ze anglo forum (thank you) way of them hitting us like ze doodlebug or bullet.

Pierre should have known better and will now wear his wartime helmet when crossing the road to work on ze small British Unmentionable - with ze snail shape - rust scab and seized in pluggies.

Goodnight

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Not at all bad actually. I quite like the looks, but the important thing from the user's point of view is the proportions. The tall hunched stance gives the interior a spacious feel, not entirely imaginary as there is decent rear footroom. Leather and suede upholstery and trim, heated seats with electric height adjustment on the driver's side, shiny chrome-finish wheels and many bells and whistles came for the original 18k price (phew!). Short bonnet and high floor make it feel a bit like a Transit.

It's running sweetly at 55,000 miles, distinctly better after being booted a bit on the road, but a slight fluffiness from time to time suggests that new plugs and leads might not be a bad idea. These come in cheap and expensive options, and there's a coil pack - also a bit dear - which is supposed to give a couple of extra horses. K&N air filter might be another sensible change. The car runs quietly enough, although not silently, but will only pick up its skirts and hustle along with a fair amount of foot. A zipmobile it isn't, but a couple more horses and cleaner running could reduce its thirst while sweetening its driveabilty.

It does about 24 or 25 mpg in London and about 34 on the road. Last 290-odd miles, 170 or more in London, it returned 29.25 mpg. After paying 47 quid to fill the tank I realised that the amount was a bit under ten gallons... a slight shock, that. I still haven't done a long motorway trip on cruise.

All in all I quite like the thing. Its 2 litre engine is less intrinsically refined than the Ford 16v in my other car and its soft suspension and low front end mean it can scrape its chin on the road coming off speed bumps, forcing one to mimse. As bell boy warned me, it has a lousy turning circle. It rolls more than the Ford too, but it handles all right in a working-class mid-Atlantic way. You wouldn't want to get it sideways. The nicest things about it are the controls, trim, doorhandles and so on. It's a pleasure to open a thick, solid door with a big solid chromed handle and button and climb up into it. Driving it after that, gearchange apart, is a slight let-down, but you can't have everything.

I am still unused to the higher profile it gives one on the road and the ambiguous sort of respectability it confers. Much aftermarket bling is available for it but it doesn't seem to need that. Indeed I would prefer the wheels to be anodised black or something. However it had got a bit muddy so I actually washed it by hand the other day. Am I going gaga? Read more

I have a year 2000 Boxster, which has spent its life under the main dealer and extended main dealer warrantys. Basically it hasn't wanted for anything. Its had all its stamps and checks carried out to the bodywork. So I was horrified to find rust blistering around the door catch. As my car was going into the mian dealer for its major service I asked them to look at it and file a claim. The paint hasn't broken and its clearly rusting from inside out. I also found an article in 911 & Porsche World, December 2002. which shows that their had been problems with this area and that they had changed to a soft gasket between the body and catch.The problem was noted as being prone to cars between 1998 and 2001 at random. The author Peter Morgan had had the paintwork restored under a claim agaianst Porsche's Long-Life Warranty. as my car still has a year of the warranty to run, i didn't see a problem. But i was wrong, customer services at reading have rejected the claim and say its not covered, despite their being a known problem and never getting the dealer to fit softs gaskets when it next had a service.I've asked for the reasons why in writing, basically the chap called Richard reckons anything that comes into contatc with the body ain't covered. Even though its Porsches materials and fitments. I wouldn't expect to find rust in any car , let alone a Porsche and can't understand why the claim is rejected. Does anybody else have any experience or advice, I don't intend to let this matter go lighlty, but am not sure where I can go from here, but basically it dosn't seem like the warranty that Porsche has on its body is worth the paper its written on, and theirs seem no purpose to getting the main dealer to look after the car and collect body stamp checks each year.
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I only ask following the purchase of a pot of touch-up for the CC3.

Clearly marked on the carton is a 'use by' date of December, 2009.

The paint won't go off after that, surely?

I don't think it's been stuck on the Ford dealer's shelf for years, either.

Blue de Cina only appears on the CC3 - very exclusive vehicle, you know - and the dealer had to order it in.

Incidentally, it's an 18ml twin pack of paint and lacquer and was only £8 - cheaper than the accessory shop.

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I'm looking to rent for 6 days in October. Avis gave me a great rate of 100 quid last April for the same duration, but this time they want almost 200?! The other big companies are asking similar prices. Have car hire prices risen everywhere? Is the recession being blamed? Anyone else also noticed price hikes?

The best deal I can find is to fly into France instead of Spain and get a prepaid week for 155 quid. Spain always used to be cheaper than France??! Read more