December 2009
I have noticed a number of people saying that they get their ABS to operate, even in snow.
My current car, a'98 Almera GTi, has ABS, I've had it for 3 years, and I have had it come in twice, once to test it, the second when I had to brake hard, to avoid someone.
So why do other people manage to have it come on?
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Lots of 2wd vs 4wd discussion.
Let's see your Mondeos with traction control do this ;-)
tinyurl.com/yb9wapq
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That would have been so cool ,shame about the three foot spoiler and gold wheels....
Merry Christmas to all.
Hi All
Today when riving my car I noticed LOADS of white smoke, it didnt stop all the way to or from my 10 mile trip :(
I have no over-heating, no loss of power,no loss of water, no mixing of oil and water, no irratic idleing so am confused!
Any help appreciated
Lucy Read more
Check your oil level as well next.
On the Scottish news tonight they ran a feature on why the country grinds to a halt with some snow.
As part of this they showed footage of the "old days" with bad weather and this showed:
a postman pulling a sledge full of mail over a frozen loch lomond
a full street of residents all out shovelling snow off pavements and roads
a steam train blasting its way through a snow pile up
Now OK we have got a lot more traffic , we have H&S and we have lots of wealthy lawyers but how many of this week's weather issues could have been avoided?
- everyone clears the pavement in front of their house, maybe the road as well. If neighbour elderly or infirm, do theirs as well
- rather than ignoring the "don't travel unless necessary" message, pay attention to it
- rather than blaming councils and everyone else about lack of gritting, what can you do to help? Start off with not being on the road to start with!
- so after having the weather warning, the don't travel unless necessary, why do people still go out without blankets, shovel etc ?
I just feel that we have become so entrenched in a society where we blame everyone else, we look to get money to make up for that blame and we are much happier complaining rather than doing something about it!
Rant over!!
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How much was council tax in "old days"?
With increase in population and cars, some problems do not scale up linearly but exponentially!
I also assume there was no absurd Health & Safety law at that time.
Merry Xmas.
immobilizer key chip 02 1.2 8v clio
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immobilizer chip got lost from above vehicle. does anyone know where a person could aquire a new chip to programme in or failing that a second hand ecu unit
sagem 2 plug with transponder and key any feed back greatly appreciated Reguards mickeybo Read more
Last year, I went looking at old Ford Fiesta Mk5s to buy my first car. First I went to see was a Y reg Fiesta Flight 1.3 in White, around 10,000 miles on the clock, supposed to be 1 previous owner, an old guy.
The salesman started the engine with the bonnet open, let me have a quick look at the car. Then I test drove it. It drove like new, as a car with only 10,000 miles on it should do. But the interior appeared to be in poor condition. Glovebox wouldn't shut properly. Seats were quite worn. Overall the car seemed decent.
The problem was the paperwork - only had 2 or 3 MOTs out of 5 it should have had, if I recall correctly. Logbook was missing. Owner's handbook was missing. No original invoice from when the old guy bought the car new. There were some "receipts", just scribbles on scrappy bits of paper. The trader claimed these were from the previous owner. Now, keeping all this in mind...this car was actually advertised as having a "full service history"!
I did do an AA data check on this car, cost me £30 or something silly, it checked out OK. Being as foolish as I was, not having a clue what I was doing, I paid the seller a £50 deposit. I was so excited about finally getting a car, that I just I didn't put much thought into the lack of paperwork until later. Yes, I know, very dumb. After a week of arguing with the seller, he refunded the deposit, but only after I threatened him with the police!
So why did I threaten him with the police? Well here comes the 'dodgy' bit, in my opinion. This seller has a forecourt with probably something like 20 cars at any one time. All of them are quite old, but all low miles - in the region of 10,000-20,000 miles. And this guy is snip - given your nickname not so hard to identify from the detail! Now, when on the phone disputing the lack of paperwork, I actually questioned the mileage on the car. This is when he got very aggressive with me, seemed to be very much insulted that I suggested he was winding back the odometers on his cars!
So, that was that. So then I went to visit another trader. This time a 2003 Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.25. This car was mint inside and out. The paperwork was all there - logbook, manual, all expected documents. But the problem this time was the salesman. He couldn't stop repeating that it had "original mats" - he mentioned it like 5 times. When I opened the bonnet to check the oil level/condition, he got all funny - "what are you doing, is that cloth clean?". He also tried on the "I've been selling cars for 20 years...blah blah blah..." crap.
So, he left us with the car (me and my mother). You would think he left us with it because he wanted us to check it out. But no, he locked it, and then walked off back to the office. So, we went inside, and I asked for a test drive.
He continued with his hesitant attitude, saying "Well, we get quite a few time wasters sometimes, so we require a deposit before a test drive.". At this point, my mum just said "Forget it, lets go." So we walked out. The salesman followed us, saying "You are missing out on a great deal here!!". We kept walking, and then after 1-2 minutes on another road, the salesman pulls up in a car! He winds down the window, saying "You can test drive it! You can test drive it if you want!". We were both absolutely astonished, and obviously kept on walking.
So after that mess, we decided to goto a main Ford dealer. Eventually bought a new '08 reg Ford Ka! Yes, quite a change from what I was looking at before. Never intended to buy brand new, but thats the way it worked out in the end. The buying experience was completed with no problems. Aftersales service is something else, but I won't go off-topic and this thread is already lengthly enough as it is. I don't regret what I ended up doing.
Anyone else had similar experiences? Read more
It is the obsession with mileage in this country which keeps sharks like this in business. People will pay more for a shonky car with no history and 20,000 miles on the odometer than a straight one with a proven history documenting a cost-no-object approach to maintenance by careful owners, but with 80,000 miles on the clock.
Based on my (limited) experience selling cars privately, a lot of people don't do any more than glance at the service history. When we sold our Scenic, I put all the invoices and receipts for everything together, neatly paper-clipped in chronological order, in a nice plastic folder to go with the stamped service book. The buyer who handed me nearly 6 grand for the car didn't even open it. Had a similar experience selling a Polo and a Mazda MX-5.
Well done to the OP for walking away, but the fact these traders are still in business proves that many don't. It's why I don't care that the VW tech who services our Golf on a cash in hand basis doesn't stamp the book. The car is maintained to the absolute highest standard, but I can't prove it. Experience tells me I won't need to.
Hi my corsas temperature seems to rise quite a long way towards red when left idling or in traffic. Once moving temp sits bang in middle of gauge and you can see needle moving slightly as stat opens. the fan cuts in but its over 100 degrees by then. could it be a faulty fan switch. Thanks for any replies. Read more
The switch for the fan is on the radiator of course. If it doesn't go near the red on the gauge when stuck in traffic before fan cuts in and doesn't overheat with all levels up to the mark I'd not worry really. Just under 90 degrees on the gauge is usual for a Vauxhall when on the move but gauges aren't particularly accurate on most cars.
With the onset of winter weather clutch judder started on my 2008 model pre SEAT owned Altea XL 1.9Tdi at about 8K. The dealership will fit a new clutch on warranty after Christmas. Major work at this mileage is not a good start. I am dreading the problems which may follow this work, broken parts, missing fixings, rattles, exhaust leaks and OBD2 faults. I know from experience that even with a good technician on the job I will be very lucky if I get only one additional defect after the work. I had seriously thought of getting rid of this vehicle. Read more
What are the symptoms of your clutch judder?
My Altea XL seems to judder when pulling away in first , most noticeably from cold but most of the other time there is no problem?
pls help i think my xantia should be pulling and towing better than what it is at the moment.
its an estate 1.9 turbo diesel,120.000 miles on the clock and in the time ive owned its been serviced,timing belt and auxillary belt been done too.i dont abuse it and like to keep ontop with maintenance ect.
last night i was asked to tow my fathers mazda to his house(flat battery) about a 2 mile journey and my xantia seemed to stuggle to me?could only get into 3rd and 30 mph. i know these cars are renowned for towing caravans etc so was a little worried?
if any one could give me any advice it would be greatly appreciated!
oh and read on here regarding taking up slack on the accelorator cable as it joins the pump in the engine bay,i noticed when i had the accelorator pedal full depressed inside the engine i could still move the metal arm another half inch so ive altered this and now dont have as much play in the cable,probably be able to get 90 to 100mph now not my usual 75mph.
dont know if this would help with my towing problem?
oh and also when going uphill it similary doesnt have the power it should,seem to have to drop it down and rev alot harder?but hopefully adjusting the accelorator will help this?
sorry to waffle on just trying to give as much info as poss.
thanks and merry christmas!!! Read more
Probable turbo failure, if loss of power. One of the typical early symptoms of a turbocharger problem is a hazy blue smoke being emitted from the exhaust tailpipe whilst the engine is ticking over.
My sister, who is currently in Australia 'finding herself' and plans to spend atleast another two years travelling, has asked me to sell her Vitara. She doesnt want to leave the car standing around for another two years - its already sat for 7 months although battery has been kept charged and its been moved about and stored with handbrake off.
Firstly, what is it worth? It is a 2001 Y reg 1600 in black, 60k, service history up until she went away but its due a service ( not done as it was gonna sit there unused ), it has no MOT or tax at the moment although its in very good shape mechanically.
Is it worth getting it taxed and tested or sell as it is? Im 90% sure it will sail through its MOT as it usually does and the tax is 90 odd quid for 6 months, id also get it serviced if I did those things.
It has been registered to me now so I can sign it over and the sale wont look so dodgy :-)
Other question, is there a good time to sell a 4x4 or a better time than January in general? Read more
MoT car (much easier sold with a new ticket) - price it well above your minimum and then "give them" 6 mths RFL or split it with them paying half!!!
Browse
I used to think similarly but driving for a whole week in very icy conditions, I've changed my view. I've found that the benefit of being able to maintain steering inputs under braking on ice (deliberately harsh braking on quiet icy back-roads), outweigh any dis-advantages I falsely believed ABS had. I don't think I'd want to be without it now. Having said that, it's suprising how much grip and braking is possible even on surfaces that are difficult to stand up on.