November 2009
A bit different, this one.
tinyurl.com/l23l64
Ted Read more
my son is having problems selectecting gears on his fiesta 1.25 zetec t reg it sometimes goes into gears 1 and 2 but very difficult to select anything else , have tried it with car running but no better we had a new clutch and slave cylinder fitted about 1 month ago was fine but just started playing up today any ideas ??
{Moves to Technical Matters} Read more
the linkage to gearbox might have moved
1 minute fix on a ramp
take it back
"The Dutch government approved a bill on Friday that will implement a new per-kilometer-tax on drivers. Beginning in 2012 the law will abolish current road taxes and sales taxes for automobiles, cutting the cost of a new car by 25 percent, in favor of the pro-rated distance tax.
Drivers will be charged 0.03 euros per kilometer (7 cents US per mile) in an attempt to reduce traffic jams fatal accidents and carbon emissions.
The tax will increase every year until 2018, when it will cost 6.7 cents per kilometer to drive in Holland."
www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4893141,00.html
Scary stuff if you ask me. Lets hope it never makes it over here. Completely pointless and we already have a perfect tax in place - fuel duty. Read more
attempt to reduce traffic jams fatal accidents and carbon emissions.
As soon as I see that carbon emissions phrase I know my wallet is about to get hit! Maybe its only Holland at the minute but our greedy government must be looking closely at this scheme.
Over the years I have always kept a check on fuel consumption of my car based on trip mileage and brim to brim fuel usage. I continue to do that now with a 16 month old Jazz which I have just bought with about 6,000 miles on the clock. When I filled up today I worked out the fuel consumption as 44.2 compared to the computer read out of 51.1.
Can anyone comment on the accuracy of the fuel meter reading in a Jazz. Is this just par for the course? Read more
Trading Standards raided our village garage the other week - there have been some suspiciously cheap deals to pull the punters in on non-fuel lines as well.
Hi
Can anyone tell me if its easy to change a radiator on a 206 diesel with air con?
Do I have to take the bumper off to get at it?
Thank you for any help.
Read more
I found it very, very annoyingly difficult. Everything seemed to be in the way of everything else. And I dented the new radiator putting it in. I probably did it wrong too.
I recently bought a second hand 2009 Ford Focus. It has got keyless entry (i.e. the doors unlock when you approach the vehicle without needing to use the remote or the physical key. It does not have keyless ignition). It worked perfectly. Then one day I was using the spare key and because I didn't put it into the ignition in time the alarm went off. I cancelled the alarm using the spare key. Ever since this incident the keyless entry no longer works. I have tried the reset/program new key mechanisms as described in the user hand book (which is one of the worst written documents I've ever experienced). I can still use the remote function of the key, and its got great range, so I know that the battery in my key is good.
Does anybody have any idea how I can get the keyless entry working again? I'm sure it just needs resetting somehow but I've tried everything over the last couple of weeks and I'm at my wits end :-(
Thanks in advance
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hi all i have a Vauxhall Vectra B facelift 2.0tdi diesel i went to work and car was fine i left work and started my car up and it was rough on idle speed and when i reved it up it sound like a bag of nails and wanted to stall i got it home in limp mode any ideas what it could be Read more
mass air flow meter the new one was faulty and its in the garage having a new one fitted
Readers who have seen my single other post to this forum, will know that I am reluctantly in the market to buy a replacement car. But having been stung once and now feeling decidely hard up, I would appreciate your assistance on what, when, where from and how. My budget is £15k unless I was to opt for contract hire.
What should I buy? I have driven fairly large 4x4s for the past few years. Hard to justify but partly because I use them as 'skip trucks' to carry endless amounts of junk and I like the driving position. Before that I always had Audi (A4s then an A6) or Mercedes (E320) estates. We've recently moved to the city but, having test-driven several, I can't get used to driving something the size of a Golf or smaller. Not fond of smaller 4x4s either.
When should I buy it? I've been scouring the market for a decent secondhand buy (up to 3 years old/40k miles) since the summer but prices appear to have got carried away. I can't afford to buy another Disco 3 and why would I buy say an out of warranty 3 year old Volvo XC90 for 85% of the price of a deeply discounted new one? I read that HJ thinks the next couple of weeks is the best time to buy secondhand before prices go up again in time for expected demand in January.
Where from? I've avoided private sales and hit the forecourts of franchised dealers, often asking about any non franchise PXs they have to dispose of or cars that were coming up to their sell by dates. No joy. Low stocks and high prices. Took myself off to BCA Blackbushe one day. A real eye-opener but pretty much everything was achieving 100% clean price or better for mid to poor quality and high mileage stock.
How should I buy it? I looked into the scrappage scheme, having been offered a friend's qualifying cast off that needed £400 to get it through it's MoT. The figures didn't stack up though on anything larger than a basic spec petrol or diesel Golf S. Anything bigger and I could negotiate a higher discount as a retail customer with no trade-in, certainly among the 'premier' manufacturer brands. Lastly, cash (earning me only 2% a year) or business contract hire thinking about future depreciation from current heady market heights?
Many thanks
bazomis Read more
You like 4x4's and nothing wrong with that so do i and many others too, as a bonus owning one annoys the hell out of some people for some unfathomable reason so do get another:-)
But maybe from a franchised dealer.
HJ has just road tested next years Hyundai Santa Fe, so have a nose there, and check out his CbyC guide above for the current very similar model.
Your budget should get you a decent example of of a top of range Limited auto, which will still likely have 3 years unlimited mileage warranty left on it.
Surprisingly capable motor, not a small 4x4 by any stretch, friend has one nice motor.
Been a while since my last posting but been a busy 11 months in the Toyota garage.
Got pulled over for speeding last night (turned down the offer of a fixed penalty as dubious evidence) however this is not what my posting is about.
Took my insurance and license to the local police station at lunch time and the helpful lady behind the counter after doing the paperwork pointed out that my license expires in January 2010 and commented on how many people miss the fact that the photo id type of license have an expiry date ...... I never knew this!!
Did a quick survey in the office and found 2 people that also didnt know.
Check your licenses now ....... If Im stating the obvious and you all know then sorry to have disturbed you Read more
Which of course we all have to pay for
Hi, I'm looking at a used alfa 147 1.9JTD. I've found one I love - but it's a Cat D. I understand this means repairable damage but am unsure whether to go ahead with the sale. The guy wasn't going to tell me it was Cat D until I asked! I've not bought a used car before, only new. Do I offer less than market value or walk away? How do I find out exactly what damage there was to the car - will the log book tell me? Read more
Check out www.alfaowner.com usually loads of well cared for, enthusiast owned cars on there to choose from (prob mine incuded but haven't decided as a nice 159 has caught my eye . . . . . . . .)


Ould cynic that I am
that should be an Olympic sport
way
way ahead of beach vollyball