September 2009
Surely it's a bit much for two very large and well known insurance companies - I'm sure you know the ones I mean - to be advertising their products on TV on the basis that "We are not on comparison websites" is a virtue. The message seems to be that although you can't so easily then compare their offerings to their rivals', they are honest and will always give you their best price straight away and it will be the best anyway." Really?
I know this means that they don't pay commission to the site (though that is not made clear in the ads) but there is no guarantee that the consequent (small) saving will be passed to the customer.
Am I wrong to be cynical? Read more
Had a diagnostic performed and it came back with crankshaft sensor failure.
Googling this suggests that the USUAL sympotms are vehicle cuts out when hot and can only be restarted after cooling for a few hours. However this is the EXACT OPPOSITE for my vehicle ie cuts out cold - runs fine when hot.
Can this be right? Read more
Thread re-titled as it was too long. Original thread said "YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST = Ford & Poss Vauxhall to". smokie
Hello, yesterday a bloke in the car park Got chatting about my car initially, then buying a new small car for wife and daughters as a run around, but wanted a 5 year warranty backed by manufacturer. I told him that we'd always bought as he was aware, Ford/Vauxhall or German cars = Mercedes/Audi, but seriously considering Hyundai because of the 5 year warranty.
He told me to wait a few weeks, and Ford wll in the very near future announce a 5 year manufacturer backed warranty on their smaller cars, eg, most likley the new Ka, Fiesta, poss the Fusion, then the new Focus This will go head to head with the likes of Hyundia as Fords have lost out big time to this manufacture. Surveys suggest that its the 5 year warranty that is moving them away from the likes of Ford.
Obviously he could no confirm the source, or whether this will happen this week, next week or next year. The person that told him is reliable he told me.
HJ, you carry a lot of weight i mooring journalism, could you follow through please?
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Hi
Having a warranty across the range is not a viable option as you mentioned, ie costs for the bigger, higher end models and their gadgets.
I've contacted Ford HQ - person i spoke with could not confirm or deny rumours.
About 6 weeks ago I bought a new set of wire wheels for my old Sunbeam Alpine. These need to have inner tubes fitted, which I also bought from the same company. A local branch of a well known national tyre fitters said they could do the work, so they fitted tyres and my tubes to the new wheels.
I was in France about a month later and had a puncture on the motorway, which seems to be due to a failure of the tube rather than the tyre. When I took it back to the fitters, the manager refused to look at the wheel as apparently they "never touched wire wheels", because of the difficulties associated with fitting tubes. By the time I returned with my receipt to prove it was his staff who had done the work, he had obviously asked around and found that his lot were responsible and so offered to fit a new tube (which I would have to provide) free of charge.
My concern is that if one tube can go pop due to poor fitting, what's to stop one of my other wheels doing the same, with potentially disastrous consequences? I'd rather take all four wheels to another firm with more experience in tube fitting, but this will obviously cost money. Do I have a case against the company who originally did the fitting? Is the branch manager just trying to cover his own back?
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... I consulted the wheel manufacturers regarding suitable tyres and they said these would be fine with the tubes....
Good, so when you get a puncture why is it the fault of the tyre fitter or manufacturer?
Is not the most likely explanation that you simply ran over a nail?
The tyres on my CC3 were new with the car when I bought it in March.
If I'd got a puncture a week later, I wouldn't be getting on to Ford or Dunlop.
In my last post I posed a head or heart question. Head has won.
Now I have a three way shot out for the replacement and I am looking for any opinions/advice. My bangernomics used to be finely tuned (I even took a summer job at 20 driving for an auction house to get the inside tips!). Time has moved on and in the last five years I haven't bought anything older than a year....
The criteria is to be a second car, suitable for trips from North Cambridgeshire to Norwich, Nottingham and South London for family visits, big enough for trips to the tip with bits of trees, the occasional trip to the DIY centre and similar non-exciting journeys.
There are two of us and a dog but currently no little people (and therefore they are at least 9 months away). We have a month old i10 (excellent little car!) for the quick and simple local journeys. I don't want to spend more than £4-5k and would rather pay 4 as it gives 1 for work the car may need (or the holiday fund if nothing needed), but will not buy Ford, French or Fiat... I think it will do little more than 5,000 miles a year.
I want something a little bit more individual. Our Mazda 323 was mainstream but relatively rare as was the Saab (when I first bought it). Therefore no Ford Mundaneo's.
The three cars I am looking at are a Subaru Legacy (2.0), Skoda Suberb (1.8T) and Vauxhall Signum (2.2 Direct petrol). All 2003(ish), between 60 and 70k and have a FSH.
Car-by-car on HJ says I should consider in the order above, bangernomics suggests actually that order should be reversed for ease/cost of parts/servicing etc.
The Mrs thinks the Signum looks like the sort of car her 6 year old school kids would draw - and she has a point. The Skoda like a stretched Passat but the Subaru "interesting".
Does anyone have any experience or advice to offer? All gratefully received.
(Edit to correct the title - my t button is sticking) Read more
Answer to the noisy question.
It is fine if cruising at 70, no louder than the Saab but not as hushed as the Audi.
At 77 it starts getting louder, but I would never go any higher as that would be illegal... I suspect if you did and as you went up the rev range it would become louder.
It is much quieter around town than the Diesel Saab ever was.
I think the outback uses different tyres and in my experience that is the thing that creates the noise these days.
Curious as to whether others have ever suffered dents to offside rear door panel caused by stones.
I was crawling in heavy traffic on dual carriage (outside lane) last week when massive bang. When I got home I've got a nice 5 pence piece sized dent and a few minor scratches on read door panel. I reckon if it'd hit the window it would've smashed for sure. I was a bit suspicious that someone had thrown a stone at the car, as traffic on both sides of carriageway moving fairly slowly. Any thoughts anyone ?
Also anyone tries any of the diy products to remove dents etc.
Cheers.
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I think birds drop stones on traffic!
Seriously, I've been hit by stones when there's been nothing else around. No idea where they come from.
I have seen some advertising gimmicks in my time, but this one sure takes some beating!
www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/item.htm?id=15169s Read more
>>>Remember in the fifties Castrol supplied free posters to suit your car<<<
But this is the naughties ndbw and the incorrect oil can mess with some engines BIG TIME!
Hi
I have just agreed to part-ex my existing Vauxhall Omega as part of the purchase for my new car (for very little money - but I wasn't expecting much). I have all the necessary documents etc but the VO5 does carry my old address as I never got it changed when I moved to my current address 4 years ago.
I know if this was a scrappage scheme transaction I would most likely lose out as they have to be whiter than white, but this isn't under the scheme - it's a straightforward part ex where it will be pushed thru the local auctioneers.
Is the dealer likely to be worried about this? It does have my name on the VO5, just a previous address (which my parents still live at, incidentally). Read more
VO5 is a brand of shampoo, isn't it?
I think you mean V5, the Vehicle Registration Document.
(pedant mode off)
Modern cars now have safety airbags mounted in the steering wheel. Some models have it on the passenger side and also in the side of the front seats.
For this post i want to know if it dangerous to use seat covers on seats with side airbags fitted in seats.
Watching a program on one of the discovery channels where they buy a write off cars, repair it and then sell it. I think it is called wreck rescue. In one episode they were replacing a side airbag. They had a upholster to come in and stitch up the seat cover on the side. The presenter said that the stitching around the airbag area is weak so that they can break easily when the airbag is deployed. This makes sense.
My friend is a taxi driver and drives a 55reg avensis which has side airbags. Him like some other taxi drivers have an imitiation leather (pvc?) seats covers made and fitted on top of existing seat covers. They are a tight fit. Easy to wipe off stains etc. I asked him if the stitching around the side airbags are weak enough to break if the airbag is deployed? Remember the airbag now has to go through two covers.
Where does he stand regarding insurance etc? If the stitching is strong and there is a side impact then what?
The seat covers bought from halfords/argos etc tend to be of cloth and a loose fit and probably split when the airbag goes bang.
Have any of you had seat covers fitted and considered this? Read more
The talk about PVC seat covers set me thinking.....when the airbag goes off the whole seat might puff up to 3 times it's normal size, propelling you vigorously through the roof. If it was a taxi driver I presume the late night customers who have had a few lagers and a curry, would find this very amusing. ;-)
Me....I'd give the driver a extra big tip for the entertainment!
If a company can persuade you to go direct they have a MUCH bigger chance to convert you into a sale.
On comparison sites you are competing head to head with up to 50 other companies for the attention of the customer which is often price driven.
Most of what you see in price comparison is price data. If said companies appear outside the top 10 even by just £15 it might be because their deal is a whole load better. In terms of what they cover you on, how they protect your NCD or how much excess you pay etc.
Because they don't get the opportunity to outline the extra info in the results people aren't being sold the full benefits of going with a slightly more expensive provider.
Also such adverts can act as a USP to many people.
However, this doesn't stop these companies from setting up an affiliate and syndication department. They will happily provide their car insurance quote data to de-branded or "white label" partners. So you may end up getting insurance with a branded broker that is selling the same insurance package as the people who said they would never go on comparison sites.
Personally, it would be insane not to get on comparison sites in one way or another whether it is with your main brand or not. Comparison sites pull hundreds of thousands of visitors that the brand could or probably might not get increasing their reach massively online. Any affiliate manager would be sacked if they didn't investigate such channels.