December 2009
This is a follow-up from my recent test-drive of the Renault Megane Coupe, 2.0 TCE - ultimately a disappointing experience.
I haven't yet driven a Scirocco but most information seems very positive - I'd appreciate some feedback from actual owners on their experiences?
thanks
Simon Read more
Well aware of the standard gospel on the recommended service interval for cam belt and pulley changes on the CX25XE engine but having recently been presented with a quote for £380 by the main dealer am wondering whether a change now is strictly justified. The last change, together with the water pump, was carried out some six years ago but the car has done only 24k miles since then all of which has been long distance work. Given that it has largely been kept in a garage and there are no visible oil leaks that might have contaminated the belt - although not easy to view - I question whether the belt and pulleys are in other than good condition and the work is necessary. Bit of a quandary though as the cav is in excellent nick and would'nt want a belt failure as safety considerations particularly at high speed also apply. Is postponing the cam belt,pulley and water pump change for another year or so a false economy or maybe a reasonable risk in view of the low stress imposed on the existing belt and pulleys. Is cam belt life inherently unpredictable or is the dealer pushing towards scrappage by upping the ante on the advisories such as the cam belt change. Read more
If your Cavalier is in excellent nick it's value is probably slowly on the rise judging by some eBay and Pistonhead cars advertised for sale recently. 4 years max is probably a good rule of thumb for aging of these older cam belts whatever mileage they've done. £380 buys you peace of mind, because if it goes bang, your car is scrap of course.
You could ask for a second opinion here www.vodc.co.uk/
or here www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f...2
Recently I was within a whisker of purchasing a lovely MX5 Roadster....unfortunately the seller realised that the £8k depreciation hit over two years would be less if the vehicle was sold when the weather warms up...although hope springs eternal!
Crying into my beer, a friend suggested a left of field alternative....a 330 Ci petrol convertible.
My main criteria is always reliability...with my small annual mileage mpg is not an issue. The downsides are increased vulnerability because of the soft top, more expensive spares, and it will be older, probably '04 with 45k miles, rather than '07 with 15k miles as per the MX5.The upside is that I could fit a towbar, and access for an elderly relative would be possible!
Any thoughts/experience of this model would be appreciated. Read more
Like some of the other replies I've not got a 330Ci but back in April I bought an '02 325 Touring...... my only regret is I didnt buy the 330 ! If you look around and buy one which has been looked after you potentially have many years of very enjoyable motoring.
It would be a lot cheaper to buy a good ex-military Combi and simply forge one of these congas or whatever they are called. You'd get a better vehicle at the end of it all too, although not as good as an unmolested basic Combi. Frankly though I can't imagine why anyone except a tree-hugging American with a large family would even want one of those although they are quite pleasant vehicles of their age and class.
the brand new model astras, what kind of gearbox do the automatic ones have?
torque converter, CVT, MMT ?
anyone know?
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I imagine this is pretty much the same box as fitted to the Vectra-C. I can confirm there is no sport button on the gearstick (whether the sport button on the dash of some models changes the gearbox programming, I have no idea). I initially missed having the sport button on my Vectra-C, but when you start to utilise the tiptronic side of the gearbox you find that it is far more functional than just having a sport button.
Good point made about the winter button Tony, I can't recall seeing one either. I would have thought there was one though. Mind you, I've only ever used the button once in all my Vauxhalls that have had auto boxes.
Some of you might have read my tongue in cheek comment about all of us paying a £60 speeding charge to lower this debt.
Have a look here.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8412720.stm
Nice little earner for the Government.
I can see the instructions now.
Come on you lot, get those tickets issued, we need the money so no mercy. Read more
To park in an obviously dangerous place is idiotic. Merely to park on double yellow lines is completely harmless and neutral.
The problem here is that people somehow confuse these two things. They are encouraged of course by local authorities whose rabid, persistent, ingenious justification of widespread theft is thus justified in the eyes of the bleating herds.
Tchah!
Gentlemen, I hope you can help me.
I put a message here at the weekend (now removed?) concerning a fault with my Mondeo.
It has been at the Ford garage since last week and they have now confirmed that it needs a new Turbo. The fault is as described by one of you. It has a motor on top of the turbo and that motor has failed. Ford cannot supply the motor alone, and so I have to buy the two together. With fitting they will charge me almost £1300. If I don't let them do the repair they intend to charge me £140 for finding the fault. Do you think this is a fair price, I did expect they would charge of course, but it seems expensive.
I am a single mother with two children, recently made redundant (lloking hard for another job!), and Christmas is coming up. One of the replies suggested that I might fit a secondhand part. Do you think this would be a good idea? When can I buy a secondhand turbo?
A garage that repairs diesel cars have quoted me £760 inc vat over the phone to do the job, using a reconditioned part. Will this be as good as the Ford part?
I am very disappointed that this has happened and I don't know what the best course of action would be. My background is in the food industry and I know nothing at all about cars, in fact I didn't even know my car had a turbo until last weekend. I have only had the car 6 months, it has only covered 67,000 miles and was a one owner car with full service records. It was owned by a man who worked for Ford, so I thought it would be a good purchase. Clearly not. Thank You. Theresa. Read more
I've posted in the thread on the Technical side...
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=81...7
Oh yes... this forum can sometimes cause locking at random.
Hi. Does anyone know how to re-programme a key fob. I had to change the battery but it does not work. If anyone can help that would be great. Read more
Does anyone know how to get the key fob working. I have put in a new battery but it won't work
Hi all
Just looking for some feedback from MX5 drivers / owners. I've decided that my rover is off to the Great Scrap Heap in the Sky. Was thinking of doing the scrappage scheme, but the maths just don't add up for me - after a weekend testdriving Mazda 2 / Suzuki Swift / Toyota Yaris, I decided that my money would actually be better off going on a used car.
So... in a bit of a departure from the supermini, I've decided that this is probably the last year till i'm 65 that i can have some motoring fun (am 31 now, gf is desperate to have kids etc), so am really looking at an MX5.
I've only heard praise said about them, but was wondering how noisy they are on the motorway? I'm guessing that they're not exactly as quiet as a tomb? Even if they are a bit roary, I bet is still puts a big grin on your face.
Any thoughts welcome - I won't need much convincing, as I'm 9/10 sold already. Read more
Wait until Spring, then prices will be higher, I reckon around 10 to 11K privately.
........... for everyday motoring?
My first two cars were 20 years old when I bought them them in 1956. The first was a 1936 Wolseley 14 and the second was a 1936 Citroën 12 which was a similar shape to the Light 15.
After I'd found out their many faults (I was young, inexperienced and naive) I didn't keep either of them for more than a few weeks. Read more
As an impecunious student in UK in 1960 I bought a 1933 Singer le-Mans. Running order, but I used the College workshops to tidy it up a bit. This was just before MOT started, but it passed when required. Nice runabout, but, after the 1962 winter, I changed it for an A40 Devon with useful extras like a heater.
Browse
I Had a 2.0 TSI for a week end good motor if a bit bland