i have just bought a 2001 seat alhambra with only one key, i thought it would be simple to get a new key for it but in the handbook it says it can't be done without the key tag - which didn't come with the car...

does this mean it's impossible/ridiculously expensive to get an extra key cut? and what if i were to lose the one i have???

am a car key virgin so any advice appreciated! thankyou Read more

Hi all!
I'm after some help. My wife recently passed her driving test but only for automatic transmission cars.
She is looking at the Aygo/C1/107 and their automatic range, but sometimes they're called semi-automatic or 'tronic'(?). Does anyone know if she is permitted to drive these cars?? Best to check before buying one ;-)
Thanks for reading
B Read more

There were years where I could walk down the drive in a T shirt at -5c, get into the car and radiate my own heat - courtesy of being almost 15 stone.

Much trimming off though, under 11 stone and a decade older - I`m like one of those lizards you see coming out of the sea and seeking a hot rock.

So while the old Bond minicar when aged 16yrs and under 9 stone (funny that - so it`s more than body weight) was driven through a winter scraping ice off the inside of the screen while actually driving. The current Punto van puts out heat that has you worrying about the skin on the back of your hands. Great for current needs.

The worst I actually remember was the Maestro Clubman D - shivering wearing a coat while ticking over and trapped in a snowfall for 7 hours around 1995.

You could say `well it was direct injection and burning little fuel` but so is the van with the Multijet. That remains as hot at tickover.

Good old Rover - I remember the 1.6 petrol auto, owned prior to it being just the same.

I can remember when heaters were optional and teachers coming to school in them in the winter of 62.
Anyway, heaters have my vote for the next 9 months or so..

What have been your experiences with heaters?

Or is the term `heater` archaic and you are now immersed in the gas equivalent of a bottle of spring water? Read more

This has happened to me twice and today my dad each time an older woman in a small car (it might have been the same woman that happened to my dad not sure).

There is a small but conjested junction near me known as the four banks (there is a bank on each corner and then some). There is stop lines at each corner of the junction for the lights. However just before the stop lines the road is painted red so to act as a pedistrian crossing.

Three times now somebody has gone over the stop line (on green) but due to traffic get stuck in the middle of junction realising the lights are changing instead of clearing the junction they suddenly stop before the pedistrian crossing (even though the red man is still on and the lights still haven't changed). This means that the junction is now completly blocked and cars coming the other way have no where to go. This results in a load of beeping and the stupid car just sits there like a lemmon.

When I got stuck behind one pedistrains were even shouting at her to move. As you can see there is no stop lines, no repeater lights on the left side no reason at all to stop here unless the exit was not clear but in all cases it was.

tinyurl.com/ykldv9y

Sooner or later this is going to cause a nasty accident because the driver behind won't expect somebody to suddenly stop in a junction.




Read more

Hi,

I would like your help! This is quite a long story so i will try to keep it short. 18 months ago my cars engine stared to idle very rougly ranging from500-1500 rpm. My local garage wasn't sure what the roblem was, they replaced the Lambda hoping to resolve the issue however the problem continued. So they then replaced the throttle body, the problem stil persisted only now the car wouldn't go above 70 (i mean 60.) It turned out to be the mass airflow meter which i replaced and purchased it for £30.00 from ebay. (The previous owner had ftted an after market air filter.)
My car emissions ar now running at 10% and the on board computer tells me that when i'm idleing i'm doing 0.3 gph (i think the norm is 0.2 when idle??) Anyway another local garage suggested i replace the CAT and a engine temperature guage which i did however the problem still exits. When on the way to Cornwall (a 5 hour drive) i pulled over and left the car running for 30 seconds when the eml came on. The error code is P0170 & P0420 Please correct me if i'm wrong but does the first code relate to the fuel mx and the second to the CAT??
So i'm now left with a rather large hole in my pocket and yet my car is still running rich.
What could be the problem given what i've replaced?

Your advice would be much appreciated. Read more