November 2009
Had occasion yesterday to traverse a busy roundabout, in the rush hour. So.
A multi-lane road bridge over the motorway. Roundabout immediately off one end. Slip roads from on/off Mway onto roundabout. Busy "A" road onto roundabout. "Quiet" road also onto roundabout. At other end of bridge traffic-lights control slip-road access, and access along the very busy road on the bridge. 200 yards along the busy road from the bridge is another traffic-light controlled junction.
So, it's all very busy with big lorries, cars, vans, you name it. Traffic is solid both ways on the 100 yds of the bridge between the roundabout and the traffic lights at the other end of the bridge. The slip road off the motorway onto the roundabout is solid. Traffic is backed up solid on the A road leading onto the roundabout. The roundabout itself is packed solid. Nothing can get off the roundabout onto the motorway or onto the busy A because it's obstructed by the heavy traffic stationary on the roundabout. The traffic lights at the other end of the bridge obstruct traffic flow that way. At the other end of the bridge, traffic is backed up on the "off" slip road, and segmented by the short stretch of road before the next traffic-light controlled junction.
Well, I came up the "quiet" road, wanting to go across the roundabout, and over the bridge, through the two further junctions, and on. Every time the lights change, 100 yards of traffic moves - traffic roars off the motorway, and onto the roundabout; it also roars off the bridge and onto the roundabout, and attempts to roar off the busy A onto the roundabout. Then there's a huge jam again. It's dark. HGVs are revving their engines. There's quite a bit of bad-tempered beeping going on whenever anything moves.
What do you do?
1) Wait for the roundabout to clear (an hour or so, possibly).
2) Creep forward in the vain hope that someone lets you in (!) and you don't get your
nose bashed off..
3) Boot it, and jam yourself into a space between a couple of HGVs doing 20MPH a car
length + a gnat's whisker apart.
4) Something else.
Oh, did I say? There're road works on the "quiet" road, so you can't turn tail. Read more
When I indicate to turn left the horn blows also if hazards are switched it blows any idea where the fault lies Read more
I would guess at an iffy earth connection somewhere.
Start looking around the LH indicators.
The price for my focus was £177 last year but the best price I can get now is £288 from 2 comparison websites. My circumstances have not changed and I have full ncb. Has something happened in the past year in the industry which has caused this big price rise? May be it has something to do with the recession and they need to recoup revenue? Read more
I've just had my renewal through for my 2002 156 2.4JTD from Esure. The premium has risen to £448 (actually £523 when paid monthly, which I do). I seem to recall last year's premium was £375-odd.
Trawling the comparison websites didn't show anything less than £430. A 'saving' of £18 isn't enough to make me switch.
So, I tried LV on their website. Premium came in at £390, BUT biggy for me was the total cost of paying monthly - a total of £412.
So, I've saved £111, whilst maintaining the same level of cover. Result.
my old faithful renault espace 2.1 diesel, is misfiring when I start it from cold. Blue smoke from exhaust but not oil smoke. No problem through the summer months but as soon as the temperature drops or it's damp the problem starts. Takes a while before it stops misfiring, usually after a couple of miles. Any ideas please. Can't afford a new car. cheers Read more
It's very high mileage but will try all the simple options first. Is the cold start advance option tricky to adjust/replace? I noticed today that the misfiring stopped after only a couple of minutes on tick-over. Cheers
This is an intermittent problem that happens when i try to unlock the car from the outside. i can hear the mechanisms working but when i try to open the door it is still locked. Climbed through the boot and tried to open all doors from the inside and they all opened except for the drivers door, after about 5 minutes the drivers door finally worked but while i was waiting i was fiddling with the remote trying to open the door and as i watched the locks they opened and closed 3 times and this happened everytime i tried opening with the remote. Does anyone have an idea of what the problem could be? Thanks for reading. Read more
Hello
Is there anyone that can help me?
I purchased a BRAND NEW Transit Sportvan from Snip! No naming/shaming please. We were in a hurry when we collected this van as we were trading at The Gold cup at Olton Park. Cut a long story short due to show ect when we finally washed the van and inspected it, it was two weeks later at the time of washing the paint on the rear wheel arch started to come off, revealing some sort of filler.
We then inspected the rest of the vehicle and it became apparent that the drivers door had been repaired, the two rear doors had been repaired and still needed repairing, and that the complete passengers side had been very badly repaired.
We then took the vehicle back to snip and asked them to replace it for a new one of the same spec. they refused to do this and insisted we had to have it repaired, after 6 weeks of them having our van and me insisting we wanted a replacement vehicle. They then decided that they would offer me a Full refund or a repair and gave me 5 days to decided after taking 6 weeks to come to that decision. I asked them to confirm how they were going to repair the vehicle and they refused to confirm what they were going to do telling me it is none of my business that is between them and ford warranty.
To repair this vehicle to as new standard the complete rear passengers side panel would need to be replaced however they would not confirm. We searched for a new van but due to the fact we had a good deal on ours it was going to cost us another £5000 to replace our van like for like. I asked ford if they would be able to help me out with the cost of a new van and they refused basically telling me take your full refund and go away. I explained what we do and that we do car shows all year and that we are Ford RS owners club members ect and they still refused.
We haven?t had a van for 7 weeks and ford will not give us a curtsey vehicle as warranty will not pay for one and we have been backed into a corner and have to have the van repaired.
We confirm that we are willing to have the vehicle repaired but NOT at snip so we collected the van and took it to another ford dealership in Oswestry. As a warranty claim had already been made they had a copy of snip paint path which confirmed all they were going to do is rub the passengers side down and fill it with filler and the same with the rear doors.
As this infringes the terms of a new vehicle they officially are not allowed to do this however ford warranty had agreed to it. We are now back to square one as the other dealership have confirmed the only way to repair it is to remove the panels which would mean cutting seals which again infringes the terms of a new vehicle. So ford have now decided that they need to send someone out to inspect the van which is what I asked them to do 7 weeks ago.
We are now back to square one and still without a vehicle.....
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Read the OP;he bought the van cheap!
i did read it
and i would have rejected it at every tin of filler opened
If I'm passing, I will be sure to fill up here:
tinyurl.com/yzhln4w
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Does anyone remember the 24Hr petrol pumps back in the 70's I can remember them in remote parts of Scotland and they were operated by inserting a 1 pound note into a slide system to dispense I would guess back then a gallon of fuel. I can remember an essential part of family holidays being a supply of new crisp notes as these were far more acceptable to the machine.
Morning all,
We may possibly need to look for a seven seater car in the near future due to a potential change in circumstances. Blimey, is that sentence vague, or what?
Anyhow, I don't really want a 'full-time' seven seater as seats six and seven would only be used occasionally so my mind is drifting towards a Zafira. I've had a gander at the c-b-c, but would love to hear of any real-life experiences. We'd be looking at a diesel, I think preferably with an automatic gearbox, because I'm lazy!
Ta in advance. Read more
I bought a Zafira Ecoflex in August and have found it an excellent car with no problems.
To date the car has done 10000km (6000miles!!) and is fast, smooth, comfortable and quiet and the build quality etc seems 100%. The mileage is about 4000 on motorway and the rest shopping and short trips etc all on single carraigeway roads. I dont know how much air con affects mpg but 2000 miles was in Germany etc at 36.5 degrees so full aircon on 24/7. The computer average is showing 52.3mpg which I think is pretty reasonable. Mind you the cruise control certainly helps a lot in giving better economy and is brilliant for say driving in a 30 limit - set the cruise and you know you wont drift over the limit and get a ticket. All in all very pleased and have no probs in recommending.
As some of you know, I'm selling our old Espace at the moment, and it's turning out to be a real trial of my patience.
I had the car on ebay which turned out to be total waste of my time and money. I had a lot of questions asked, all of which were already answered in my listing, and a number of people offering me other cars as a swap. Most of the cars offered as a swap were worth considerably more then the Espace, tempting offers but too good to be straight I thought.
The car's also on Autotrader, and I've had several no shows and a few tyre kickers turn up.
This weekend set the seal on it though, I had someone phone up at 7 on Friday evening, asking to see the car that evening. I asked if he could come on Saturday morning as it was getting on in the evening and my daughter was ill. Would be buyer assured me he would be there within half an hour for a quick look and if he liked the car he'd make a decision there and then. At 9 that night there was a knocking on the door, and WBB was there, with two "mates" demanding to see the car. One test drive and 30 minutes of talking he was still there - he offered me the selling price in cash there and then, but said he didn't have the time to sort out the V5, could I post it to him next day please if he texted me his address? Needless to say the answer was a definite No. He wasn't happy about this and repeatedly showed me a bundle of cash, saying he needed to take the car that evening. Eventually he got the message, promised to call me next morning, and left with his cash. Needless to say he's not called back.
Sunday morning another buyer turned up - looked over the car, started the engine, seemed happy, asked for a test drive, and showed me an insurance cert. I went with him - quite a shock. He pulled the car onto the main road, went a few yards along and without warning slammed the brakes on. "Brakes aren't very good are they" he said. Just pulling back onto our road he suddenly swung the wheel, swinging the car into middle of the road. "Steering pulls really bad" was his comment this time. I told him to stop the car outside our house and as soon as he got out took the keys back. He asked me for my best price - having been expecting this I quoted the price on the ad, to which he replied "you're ***** joking, brakes are shot, steering's *****, I'll give you £300. I told him I wasn't going to move far on the price, to which he replied "I've only got £350 on me, take it or leave it". I left it.
Anyhow, that sums up the selling experience so far. I've sold quite a few cars in my time, but I've never encountered anything like this. If this really is typical of car buyers today then people in the trade - I bought the new Espace from a dealer incidentally - do have my sympathy.
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occupational hazard meeting idiots who know more than me
just brunt them out and always find a reason not to go for a test drive if you think they are timewasters
book people to a time via autotrader firm but friendly
i still think that if it wont sell in autotrader theres something wrong with the price, or your advert
put it this way you either want an espace type vehicle at such and such price or you dont so you look in autotrader not mr patels dirty side window as a buyer
if it was a fiesta/corsa type first car then mr patel is ok and very cheap too
I've had my (51) Focus 1.6 Zetec Petrol Hatch for 6.5 years and 67000 trouble free miles.
I paid 7.5k at auction and have had NO problems with it, regular serving and replacement consumables, and never let me down.
It's still going well but I fancy something with more space in the back and fancy a Mondeo Estate, but not sure whether to go for petrol or diesel.
I've had a car for about 25 years and always had petrol , so a bit wary of change.
I'm not a performance freak, more interested in reliability.
I'm loking to spend about 5k cash, and will be looking at private / auction / ebabay , rather than traders.
So, I guess the fuel costs will be a few hundred less per year if I risk a diesel but what are the downsides ?
What could I get for 5k ?
I tend to use car as workhorse with all kinds of rubbish in the back , so don't fancy leather interiors etc, no ghia specs thanks.
Any suggestions ? Read more
I've had a 51 Mondeo 2litre petrol GhiaX Estate for the past couple of years and about 30,000mls. Bought needing a pair of tyres, drivers side spring (common) and a service. With that work completed it has been 100% reliable with just a wheel bearing and another pair of tyres routinely required over the 30,000mls. The only other niggly issue has been the failure of the in-dash 6-CD player (again common problem)
It has proved a comfortable, safe and rewarding car for my local runs as well as mile munching when we have been on longer runs.... like 1000mls plus in a week towing a boat to/fro and around Scotland.
Space for passengers is good, our teenage girls and their friends love the very roomy rear seat/legroom space. Loadspace with seat up or down is great. We've moved house with it twice and it's amazing to unpack at the other end and see what looks like a vanful of gear pile out of it. Last month I collected a 3.05m kitchen worktop length from the builders merchant and the guy looked at the Mondeo and said you'll have to get a van or trailer... we've never got one in a car before... it went inside with 2" (oops met/imp mixing) to spare.
The leather trim is actually an advantage with heavy use at is is far more easy to wipe/vac clean than cloth.
For me the driving position and seat shape are exceptional for such a modest car. All the controls fall to hand very easily and I'm still amused by the cupholder that unfolds from seemingly just a button on the console.
A small negative of my model is the 17" wheels with 50 series tyres... they give an over firm ride on country roads and decent tyres are expensive for what is a middle range family car.
A big negative for me though is the heavy fuel consumption of the 2lit petrol estate. On normal local village road runs of 20 miles max starting from cold plus some town my consumption averages about 30.5mpg. Thrash it and you only drop to 29.5... go easy and it will rarely top 31mpg. The only time I've ever seen a decent 36mpg or so is when doing several hundred miles on the motorway in 5th.
For that reason it has been up for change for a while and when I drop on a deal it'll go in favour of a diesel.
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That's much bigger, and not so bad IME!