October 2009

hardingre

I have just purchased a BMW 118i from {snip, no need to name them as irrelevant to question being asked} first registered 9/07, mileage 20,000. Checking the service book properly at home the first service was carried out in April 09 after 18,000 miles. Whats more the car has a slight knocking noise from the rear nearside. There is a noticeable misfiring occasionally and petrol consumption is currently averaging 25mpg. Any comments on the service interval before I query it would be welcome.

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dominiclittlewood

Consumer champion Dominic Littlewood is back for another series of the BBC show Don't Get Done Get Dom.
Have you been treated unfairly by a company,organisation or trader? Maybe you?ve tried complaining, but feel like you?re getting nowhere ? or perhaps you don?t know where to begin?
Maybe you've been credit blacklisted through no fault of your own? Has a loan been sold on and the terms have changed leaving you out of pocket?
Dom wants to help you. Email me with details to dom@flametv.co.uk or call 0207 598 7210
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Pugugly

Hidden pending clarification that this has been OK'd by HJ etc - E-mail sent.

radhika

hi my polo 1.6 automatic 1999 abs light came on i already changed the 2 front sencer
code test shows 001 abs pump faulty
any idea
what need to do
battery terminal looks bit rusty in fuses

{subject header changed to give brief details of question being asked} Read more

radhika

how do i find the pump as well as pump connector
i mean how the pumps looks like
thank you
SQ

injection doc

Any one seen an "I've seen tom sticker" with a silhouette of head & shoulders next to it in the rear window of cars.
Any one know what it represents ??? just curious Read more

bathtub tom

I've been away!

apm

Hi all,

The mother-in-law currently drives a 2000 X Honda Accord 2.0 vtec hatch. It's in very good nick, and has been very reliable, albeit costly to maintain recently. Mileage is about 115k.

There is a little money around at the moment (house move surplus and some from us) which means she may be able to replace her Honda. She will retire in a year or two, and may not have that kind of capital again for some time.

So, we're looking for a not expensive car (up to 7k) of reasonable size (Focus ish)that will last for 10 years plus without needing major expense. Newer the better. Happy with the unfashionable.

My thoughts are that there won't be much new in the price range; sadly the Accord is just too new to be scrappage material. I'm leaning towards a nearly new Ce'ed or i30.

Ideas and thoughts very welcome!

TIA,

Alex. Read more

bintang

Cars with than origen first choice on most counts except maybe excitement.

johncyprus

My wife's Yaris diesel 40,000 miles, owned from new, is making some expensive sounding engine noises. Can anybody recommend a suitable garage/mechanic around the Surbiton/Kingston area for this work?
Thanks in anticipation Read more

johncyprus

Update- I took the car to Maypole Motors, Hook Rd, Surbiton, Surrey. They road tested it and found the fault to be simply that the plastic tray under the engine had not been secured properly by the previous outfit that had removed it whilst servicing the car some 400 miles earlier and the tray was vibrating at high speeds. I am very impressed by Maypoles, they are an honest garage and their charge was very reasonable.

vador77

what should i buy i have the choice of a celica vvti t-sport , 2001 36,000 miles with 4 service stamps £6,975

or 2003 vvti t-sport with 70,000 miles on with 6 service stamps in and £6,495

thanks

{Header changed from 'help' which is vague to say the least} Read more

ifithelps

...Civic Type R > Celica ;-)...

Ordinary Civics ride on square wheels, so I reckon a Type R must be almost in track day territory.

A Celica will be a much easier car to live with week in, week out.

Assuming the accommodation suits, which it must do, or the OP would not be considering it.

PaulTDCi

Hello.
Newbie on here. :-)
I've got a '55 Focus C-Max, 1.6TDCi with 55,000 miles on the clock.
It's presently sitting on my local Ford dealership's forecourt in need of a new engine (cut a long story short: missed a service at 24,000 miles, turbo blew up, turbo replaced, engine now irreparable due to top-end damage apparently caused by carbon build up. Arguing this one out)
Anyway, Parkers price guide put the value around £5k if it was all hunky dory. Obviously without a working engine its pretty much worthless. How much value would a brand new engine and turbo, fitted by a Ford garage add to the car?
I'll not say how much it could cost me just yet...
Cheers. Read more

DP

Re the earlier comments about such things as engine swaps being offputting to potential buyers, I'm not convinced that is automatically the case.

A properly documented engine swap wouldn't put me off as long as the work was done properly, the car drove OK, the numbers all matched the paperwork, and the seller wasn't evasive in any way. The skipped service might, as it tells a bigger story, but based on the last few cars I've sold on, most people couldn't care less. We sold our Scenic with a full documented history, with receipts for everything from parts, to services to tyres, and the buyer didn't even bother to read through it. The invoices could have been pictures of Noddy for all the attention he paid.

My brother in law has £17k worth of BMW 320d M-Sport which has just had total transmission failure requiring a new gearbox, clutch and DMF at 27,000 miles. All done under BMW Approved Used warranty scheme. This is of course documented in the service history file now. I cannot see how anyone would be put off by something like this, as long as the job's done right and everything's properly documented. A second hand engine or gearbox from an unknown source fitted by Bermondsey Dave for a monkey in cash - that would be different.

CMP

Hi,

On the M4 today I accelerated fairly hard and my BMW 320d autobox kicked down. I glanced in the rear view mirror and the unfortunate BMW 7 series following me was buried in smoke from my exhaust. I did not notice any loss of power and as I eased up the smoke went away.

Any ideas of underlying causes?

Thanks in advance.

CMP Read more

CMP

Thanks Altea Ego. You are right the Car is used mainly around town and always just dawdles along.

I'll remember to give it a very good thrashing every now and then!

Thanks again.

lilley

About six weeks ago when locking with the remote the doors immediately unlocked, every attempt produced the same result. Experiment determined that if the driver's door was locked with the key then the locks could be deadlocked with the remote and they stayed locked. After not using the car for ten days the locks decided to work correctly?? A week later the original fault returned. Then I discovered that if the front passenger door is held ajar the remote works correctly, then the passenger door can be slammed and the indicators blink to indicate deadlocking. Also the locks are reset and will work correctly until they decide to play-up yet again.

Seems to be a compute fault. There is a slight risk of leaving the car unlocked. What is the solution please?

HAL Read more

sandy56

sounds like you need a new GEM control unit.
Not cheap.