August 2009

andrew85

Hi I have two puntos both from the same year, one has a two button fob that i have to use or car wont start, the other does not. why is this?
the two button fob is broken, can i get it to work without this?
thanks Read more

eric d. k.

when trying to start the car the switch interlock operated by the gear shift lever in 'Park' sometimes does not operate and gear lever has to be pressed further forward. Can this switch be easily adjusted and where is it? Read more

oilrag

Well... If you would like to roll vicariously in a little grease and rust - here`s a little quiz ;-)

1)
Name the vehicle
Age of vehicle
location

www.oilrag.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rusty1.jpg

2)
same again
www.oilrag.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rusty3.jpg

3)
Don`t look at this if you don`t like grease.. ;-)

Cars two and three have had the same subframe treatment - how long before car three looks like car two? (apart from the brake lines)

www.oilrag.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rusty2.jpg

Regards


(tyres degreased) Read more

oilrag

Pic 1)
No votes for the scrapyard then? as you know, I`m often roaming around there like a vulture looking for the odd eyeball or scrap of liver that might be recirculated..

That would have been the wrong answer.

This was a double cab 4x4 pickup (55 reg) and carefully parked in a distant corner of a car park - no doubt to avoid accidental damage.

I put my head underneath - and oh dear... words almost fail me.

The entire ladder chassis was a sea of rust and the nuts looked as though they were mild steel and had been suspended in the sea at Bridlington on a bit of string, these last 4 years. The nuts were so bad that they were actually starting to lose definition due to the severe rusting.
Then there was the body seams underneath and even the flat surfaces.

Contrasted against that was a gleaming upper body that someone seemed to have spent hours polishing and waxing the paint...

The Mk2 Puntos

Pic2
This had one coat of waterproof (Castrol CL grease) around 5 years ago (02 reg) and the subframe still shows evidence of its rustproofing qualities in it`s 8th year.

pic3
That`s the 55 reg Multijet Punto van - same age as the 4x4.
I greased that up when brand new - a couple of months short of 4 years ago. Now just done again, but not really required as I noticed too late... but once up on ramps and 3 pots of Castrol CL waterproof grease to hand...

I can`t help reflecting on that pickup - I`m sure that the chassis and in particular the nuts protection from rust is really substandard for vehicles deployed into countries with salted roads. To be in the state they were in after four winters - those nuts must have been virtually bare steel on the surface..
It looked as though the vehicle would be a scrapper in a few more years.

That said - best not to name it...

judethebold

I have 4 0r 5 k to spend and want either a diesel estate or a SUV. must be comfortable for lots of driving and economical, I'd also want to get 6 years out of it. what would you buy? Read more

TheOilBurner

V70 D5. It'd be older and higher mileage, but 6 years should be no real problem.

Mapmaker

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6004402/Tory-polit...l

Whilst I do not condone driving whilst drunk, nor driving on the wrong side of the road, nor the injuries caused to the other party, I am not sure that the world is improved by sending her - expensively - to gaol.

A good dose of community service and some counselling I think.
Read more

tintin01

It's interesting that some posters mention that she didn't intend to hurt anyone else. This reminds me a bit of those cases where someone hits someone very hard, they fall to the pavement and are killed. It wasn't their intention to kill the person but they didn't take any steps not to kill or seriously hurt them, either. When you do something that serious - a heavy blow to the head, or drive at speed the wrong way down a road, then you have made a choice to do something that has the possiblity of having a very unfortunate outcome. Lots of people get depressed/suicidal, but it was her choice to act in this particular way. A fair sentence in my view.

RaineMan


I got an e-mail from a friend in Humpenden, Herts this morning. He said they were researching producing electricity from hi-tech speed humps. I e-mailed him back to say that the town could be self sufficient for its power as there are so many speed humps in the area!

I checked my calander to ensure, it is not April 1st. It is not. Has anyone else heard about this or is it an August silly season news item? Read more

helicopter

Pah ....Belching cows - Rubbish.... Everyone knows that cows produce methane from the end that doesn't munch the turnips.-- what does it matter what end it comes from anyway.

The One Show is cited as the authority That Adrian Chiles - what does he know anyway...mind you I'd believe it if the lovely Christine smiled that smile at me and said it was true.....

Bit why pour cold water on a brilliant idea.. you just stick a tube in the cows mouth as well , double the methane - ..... I tell you its a winner

Optimist

I don't want to rant or to start a rant but if you read this story

tinyurl.com/l7cro2

and note some particular features: twice the 30 speed limit when the accident occured, total familiarity with the road so aware that there would be pedestrians etc, making off and concealing afterwards (or why would the passenger be done for perverting the course of justice?), racing with the other car maybe, you can't help think three years is a bit light.

Read more

ifithelps

...is a bit light...

Certainly sounds like it.

One of the factors which may reduce the sentence is the degree of culpability of the victim.

Crossing the road at a point where pedestrians rarely do so, for example.

Even if something like that applied here, it still sounds a bit light.

Were I the victim's mother, I would be putting pressure on the CPS to appeal the sentence as overly lenient.

Hugo

A driver changed lane and drove in to the side of my December 2006 Avensis 2.0D4D Estate 37500 miles, yesterday, accepting full responsibility. All the offside panels will need replacing. Insurers have been advised.

Although my insurer has arranged an assessment of repairs, I wonder whether I would be better off asking my insurer to reimburse me for my loss (if I am entitled to do so) and trading the car in against an identical Avensis. My reason for thinking this is I assume the claim will be flagged on the HPI system so, in the event I want to trade the car in after repair, I may then receive less for it than if there had been no damage even though it would have been professionally repaired.

If a dealer were interested in my car however, as it is this morning, then I would be able to establish my loss, by comparison with other similar cars for sale.

I had not intended to replace the car, and appreciate if I keep it another 10 years say, the difference in value due to the accident will become negligible. You never know what might happen in your life however, and I would not like to end up losing money due to this accident if I decided to let it be repaired and then wanted to change it soon after.

Any advice anyone can give me on this would be greatly appreciated. Read more

Statistical outlier

I did exactly this with an accident damaged Clio a few years ago. I'd got quotes from a couple of body shops and the damage would have cost about £600 to repair. I had been planningon selling the car as a trade-in before the accident, and didn't want to delay.

The whole thing was a bit complicated as the driver that had hit me when parked had driven off without leaving details, and I'd only got his as a witness left his details. I'd found him the next day, and he'd admitted to police that it must have been him.

Anyway, turns out that there was a problem with his insurance (I never really found out what), and my insurance wouldn't play ball if I was selling the car as then there was no dmage to repair as far as they were concerned. I ended up trading the car with the £600 taken off it's value, and then engaging a legal service to recoup my loss.

I didn't have this on my insurance, so I paid £30 up front to them to go after the guy. It took about 6 months, and I had to send all sorts of information plus stump up another £40 fee for the police to release details to my lawyers, but I got my £600, plus all the fees, plus another £100 for my time from the guy. I have no idea what happened to him, but I hope he got well and truly stiffed by his insurers after he tried to wriggle at every opportunity.

pda

tinyurl.com/kn9fec

This shows that for HGV's at least, they do work.

Often in the backroom you find the lorry drivers among us defending ourselves by saying that foreign lorries have no respect for the law over here.

62 lorries were found to be illegal in some way and 48 of those were foreign.


Pat
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midlifecrisis

Graduated Fixed Penalty scheme.

Can be applied to anyone without a valid UK address. It's amazing how suddenly the means to pay can appear when the driver is told the vehicle is being impounded.

chrisinleedsuk

Having never owned a car with rear discs before I'm wondering how exactly my handbrake works as it's performance is a tad lacklustre.

I can see the usual cable pulls a short lever in an arc. Does this then operate a cam onto a reversed hydraulic piston which pushes the brake fluid trapped by a valve and forces the slave piston out? Or is there a physical metal link between the two? It has the wind-in piston return if that is relevant. Read more