This morning I went to a dealer to look at a suitable trailer for moving my old car around the country. I already had something in mind for size and length but was rather thrown when the dealership owner insisted that he would not be able to let me drive away with any of the trailers I was thinking of buying unless I had a suitable vehicle. He says - and I can't see any advantage for him in saying this - that if I buy a trailer weighing 600kg itself but plated to carry 2500kg I cannot drive the 600kg empty trailer home unless I have a vehicle rated for the full 2500kg rather than the 1500kg-rated car I had in mind for the trip home. This was news to me since I had always assumed it was the actual weight being towed that counted and not the potential weight the trailer could carry. I had ultimately thought to tow a trailer and light car having a combined weight of about 1300kg but the most suitable trailer is plated at 2500kg which means only a limited number of 4x4s could be used legally. It is possible to ask the trailer manufacture to plate the trailer down in weight terms but this could make the trailer hard to sell later. This was in Leicester where the dealer claimed the local police had an officer dealing specifically with trailer regulations and offences. Is all this correct because I can't see it on the Department for Transport trailer info on its website? Read more

I see that in the HJ column of the DT there's a query about turning off daytime running lights on a Golf. In his reply HJ states that these "do not dazzle".

I call cobblers on that. Driving into Brussels this AM, there was a light to medium mist. The number of VAG vehicles relying on their "daytime" lights was quite scary. Presumably their drivers have got the lights set to "auto" and are too dumb to override this when conditions demand, i.e. when in misty conditions with a sky just bright enough to trip the light sensor. Very dumb indeed in mist since these daytime lights don't have rear counterparts - a massive oversight IMHO. The conditions were sufficiently misty to make it very obvious that rear lights were a "must", rendering those vehicles with them off invisible at range.

What was very noticable was how the "daytime" LED lights (designed to be easily visible in bright sunlight) appeared considerably brighter than the headlights/foglights on other vehicles (which are designed to not dazzle at night), bearing a strong similarity to main beams from the POV of the poor prune in front (me in this case). I eventually had to resort to the dipping mirror after having my eyeballs roasted for the umpteenth time by one of these idiots running up behind.

I am now firmly of the opinion that these things are more trouble than they're worth. Read more

My son has a problem with the brakes on a Citroen C3. They were dragging and overheating on a run. He has replaced the front discs and pads. After adjusting the rear shoes the brakes were still dragging so he attempted to bleed the system by pressurising the master cylinder but could not get any fluid out of the bleed nipples, front or back. Bear in mind I am passing this info on, but I can get more if required. Thanks for any help in anticipation. Read more

Right here goes:

I bought a car from a dealer on 14/10/2006 it was a mere 2.5 years old. I signed the paperwork for the V5 (which I never personally received after). The car had 12 months tax - becomes important.

At this time I had two cars including the new one. The old one had to be scrapped which it was a couple of weeks later. The company doing this asked my mum for some more paper work (I was only 19 still at home student) of which she gave them. Now she gave them the documents for both cars instead of just the old one. I never had the new one in my hand ever or saw it. This lead to (on paper anyway) both cars being issued a destruction certificate (crushed/cubed). However my new car has never been cubed but my old car had been.

The problem did not come to my attention until the tax ran out and I needed to re-tax. The police stopped me - but were ok and made me aware of the problem and let me carry on. The garage where I bought seemed to be rude and defensive and my mum contacted the scrap yard with no luck.

Over the past 2 years (from when tax ran out - as were unaware of the problem till then) we have sent several letters to the DVLA with little luck.

Finally, this month the vehicle was inspected and VIN numbers checked at the Nottingham office. I rang on the 26/10/09 to check progress they said it passed V5 on way shortly, after having an argument with another DVLA member.

However, today I get a call from the guy dealing with it saying the vehicle has been flooded and is in bad condition and therefore unroad worthy, I will not be getting my V5. I must say this car has never ever been flooded and is absolute nonsense! He said he was just referring to the report given. I believe this has been said due to my argument with a college.

Therefore, I had the inspection officer contact me who said the car was not flooded but it possibly could have been but the reason the car was not allowed a V5 was because it has taken 3 years to get this 'sorted'. Now I explained that wasn?t what I was told and she said she could so nothing because a certificate of destruction was issued??? Conflicting stories!

I must point out it was apparently flooded whilst in my possession. But if this was the case I would have an insurance claim (which I never have had and I am fully comp).

I have just come off the phone to them, initially they said when it was inspected it was flooded (but she only checked VIN numbers nothing else which I would assume be needed to test flooding as there were no signs). When I asked the guy and questioned it they changed their mind to it being flooded hence why it was scrapped back in 2006 ? which never happened hence why I have the car! Now they are saying it has taken too long to sort out to issue V5, so one thing after another not to issue the log book. But I say again if the car were flooded I would have claimed on the insurance only being 2.5 years old and worth £6-7k.

Needless to say I am waiting to hear back, what can I do?

Basically: Mum scrapped my car - not licensed to do so. But fault lays with scrap yard surely?

How do I get V5?

The scrap yard should match vehicles to V5 (reg doc) before scrapping which they did not do? Are they responsible for the error and it?s court action I need to take?

I am really needing to sell car and need sound expert advice?

Many Thanks For Your Time

James Street

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Hi,

I'm on the verge of buying a 2002 Jeep Cherokee 4.7 V8 overland that has had an LPG conversion and need some advice. I need a bigger car as I have a kid on the way and as I can't really afford an X3 or X5 at the moment and I really can't stand estates, this seems like a good option as a luxury cruiser with good spec and reasonable MPG / price.

My knowledge of LPG conversions is pretty limited....I know that a multi-point sequential is essential for this model (which it has) and I'll need to use a flashlube but that's about it!

What do I need to ask / look out for when buying and would I maybe be wiser to get something like a Saab estate (however boring) as they seem to be the best thing available for around £5 - £6k? I will soon find out who fitted the LPG system, what type t is and all that and will base my decision on this.

Any experiences / knowledge would be appreciated cos the last thing I want is to be driving a new born around in something dangerous or unreliable!

Thanks,

Aliray

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