September 2009
My Mondeo estate will need four tyres soon. As some of you will know I do a fairly hefty mileage to some relatively far flung places and with a load on mostly. I have never bought winter tyres though in all my years of hithering and thithering. It just occured to me that if I were to try them that half past Octoberish when I guess my tyres will be due would be an ideal time to do it.
I know some of you are fans of winter rubber. Who's for and who's agin and would those in favour recommend any particular makes ? Read more
Motorlogix broker BMW prices look very tempting but a small catch seems to be that you have to sign the order form before they tell you which dealer it will come from. Potentially I could have to travel to the Outer Hebrides to collect the car or pay for delivery. Has any one any experience of the dealers they are likely to use? Any feedback on using them? Read more
Thanks, I'll saddle up the old nag and try the A46 for size.
I'm looking for a 3 year old car roughly the size of a Focus Estate. I'll use it to transport my disabled wife, so the passenger seat needs to be at standard height and the boot length needs to be around 1m long to fit an electric wheelchair in. A low lip would be good too as the wheelchair is heavy.
Problem is, the Focus is too expensive for me :-( can anyone recommend an alternative that would be less than £5,500 with reasonable miles (say 40k).
Don't mid Petrol or Diesel, Manual or Auto, Black or Pink. Read more
How about a Mitsubishi Lancer Estate? A bit leftfield but 2005-2006 seem incredibly low priced vs Focus, generally low mileage, reliable (you'd assume) and I think they look nice too
My dad has a Corolla estate having had a succession of your typical heroic war-horse Volvo wagons. He thinks the Toyota is fantastic.
Current 2nd car is a 2000 Mazda 323 1.5, with 87,000 miles which we have had for 2 years and and do 2000 miles per year in
Unfortunatly the 1.5 engine is a tadslow and are thinking about replacing it in the next 12 to 18 months car currently have about £1,000 plus part exchange value, any idea of a suitable replacement bearing in mind the following
(1) Fuel economy between 40 to 50 mpg
(2) Co2 emmisions of not more 160g/km
(3) Car insurance group maximum 8
(4) If possible room to fit two bikes in back.
Read more
Thanks for the replies, will probably allow 1st car to become 2nd car in a couple of years time when it has 160K to 170K on the clock. Mazda is a good car just needs better performance.
With regards to purchase price the Mazda was between £2k & £3k and has only cost just under £800 in repairs, servicing & MOt's in the last 2 years.
Is there anyone on here like the people who have answered posts on here who ARE excellent chrysler mechanics, who live in the north, and are willing to work on my voyager? ~As poeple at the dealerships the mechanics seem to be completely useless. The amount of people on here who have got no where at the dealers and then found the answer here, is incrediblr. Im willing to pay whatever the rates are, then at least i'd know it would be done properly and right-- for example Merlin tec--has ALL the answers, well it seems to me he has_ and there are lots of others also.
If there is anyone as I have a few gremlins that need sorting, otherwise i'm gonna part ex it and get a newer one....with less gremlins.
Bradleigh
if people don't want to post, you can mail me
brad@switchnetsys.com
Thanks for reading Read more
Ha, thank you. I wish that was always the case but then I would get nailed to a cross as that's what happen the last person that was perfect.
As I was driving the engine cut out and would not start, there were no problems prior. I have checked the fuel pump (ok) plugs are wet with fuel after turning over, TDC sensor has been changed fuel cut off switch changed. The coil pack is on top of the rocker cover and is the next thing I am looking at, there is a yellow spark (should it be blue) I?m not convinced it is the coil pack as the engine will not even fire as I thought it would at least splutter. The only thing I did notice when I first checked it was the water level in the header tank was fairly low, there is no water in the oil or cylinders and the engine temperature was indicating normal with no change in performance(is there a engine cut off if the water level gets to low) any thing else I can check before I have to get the ecu read
thanks
Read more
Hi did you manage to solve the problem with your car? as i think i have the same fault with mine
I have Vw Golf cl tdi 1.8 1996 ,
When driving the car 1st , 2nd , 3rd is great but going into 4th and 5th and low speed between 35mph to 50mph the car then starts to shudder , If you but you foot down on the accelerator (more power) it goes away .
Also driving 50mph plus after 30mins the glow plug light starts to flash at me until you slow down and then it stop
Apart from that the car goes really well , Can again one help solve this fault ???
Thanks Andy Read more
this is my first diesel car yes but driven lots of diesel vans and never had this fault ,but i still get the fault light flushing at me ?
Can anyone help me?
I have a 2001 toyota hiace powerbus, and when i let my foot of the accelerator you get a ticking noise from underneath the bonnet!!!
Had a look last night and could not see where it was coming from.
If you rev it sharply you can hear it , the only thing i can think of is it has a free running fan and the noise could be coming from there??
Any advice greatly recieved.
STUART.
Read more
Remove fan belt and run engine for a short time only to eliminate that, should also make things a bit quieter for homing in on the noise.
Remote possibility of exhaust escaping from slight seep in manifold gasket or even small crack in manifold, in theory should be louder under power but then with everything else getting noisier it might be drowned out.
Cam belt?
Hi All,
As expected the lack of independent witnesses and the other party giving an account from the planet Nog, my daughters insurance company (Direct Line) are offering 50/50.
My understanding is that 50/50 means that each company settles with their own client, so she will 1) Have to pay her excess in full 2) Lose some of her no claims discount 3) Incur an increase in her premium.
Is that right?
Thanks for any advice.
FTF Read more
It may save the NCB but the insurer is aware the OPs daughter has had
a prang and may load the next premium or even ask for a recalc on
the existing policy as a result.
The insurer CANNOT recalc the existing policy mid-term. The insurer and insured have entered into a contract for a fixed period of time.
When the insurance is due for renewal, the insurer can then load the premium as they see fit.
As i am just on the point of owning a modern car now I have a daughter I would like to know if anyone knows what its like when the airbags go off, do both front and side all go off together in any accident.
after having seen the video clip of the old lady giving the mercedes a clip on the nose with umbrella and setting off airbags, what happens to the car in a SLIGHT BUMP with all airbags used ?
Having been a fan of bangernomics in the past ( last uk transport 1964 herald and 1980's 205 diesel together made excellent and fun transport) a slight bump and a weekends work good as new.
Is the car interior now beyond economic repair with all those panels in pieces, how does it work?
and if repairable is this expensive ( what price safety ?)
Thanks Read more
The 'bags only deploy if the impact warrants it - typically >30mph head on/side-on impact.
As mentioned above the 'bags can and do cause injury by themselves, but they save lives, rather than reduce non-lifethreatening limb injuries by reducing chest/head/abdomen deceleration rates. This is the usual cause of death in RTA.
I've seen a case where a young lad got out of a car after a head-on smash, phoned his family to say what had happened and that he was ok, then promptly collapsed and died due to a torn aorta. An airbag may have helped, but then again you can't defy the laws of physics entirely.
On balance I'd not have my family regularly driving in either an old car, a small car, or one with inadequate airbags.
I ran a full set of Vredestein Quatrac 3 last year on my Octavia. Mainly because I drive on a lot of muddy roads, farm and forestry tracks rather than because of cold weather. 195/65 r15 cost £58 each fitted.
Fronts wore out at 12000m so not too bad. Braking, grip and steering all greatly improved under poor conditions. Deep muddy farm tracks no problem. I even went through the 9m Dalbeatie Forest rally stage after about 80 rally cars in minus 8 temp. These tyres were excellent. Fuel consumption slightly down as one would expect (55 to 52mpg) no difference in road noise. They shed deep water on roads very well.
These are not a full blown winter tyre but do bear "M+S" markings. A mid way cold weather tyre ideal for UK climate.
Downside is Vredestein not always easy to find. Try local independant.