December 2009
Hi
I was having a bit of steering wheel vibration at 60-65mph, so took the car to get the wheeels balanced. However since this has been done the vibrations is harsher and comes in at around 50mph now.
Should I take the car back to the garage that done the balancing or will there be an underlying problem? The car drive, brakes, corners etc all fine with no noises or clunks so I dont think there is any probs with my steering or suspension.
Cheers
Flatcap Read more
Being a bit nostalgic here, but did anyone own / drive an Innocenti mini ?
Were they any good ?
I suspect I like the car as my first car was a Fiat 127 (similar in size and shape). Read more
Anybody know why BL went to the trouble and expense of developing the Metro? By
then Innocenti had gone bankrupt and they could have just taken over production.
Too obvious. Being BL, they had to spend about a decade starting and stopping their own supermini projects (9X, ADO74, ADO88) before the Metro eventually saw the light of day.
Currently run a 130K miles 1.9Tdi 5 year old Fabia Elegance which I've had from new and it?s brilliant but it?s corroding and it?s got 130K on it! My wife runs an Aygo. Not much more to say about that.... Work 1.6 Focus Zetec may necessitate sale of Fabia. Need to replace Aygo to compensate for loss of Fabia power/kit. Principal user will be my wife using it for a 40mile dual carriageway/town commute, but may also be used at weekends for 100 mile motorway trips or bendy back road blasts. Options are:
Nearly new Fiat Panda 100HP
Pros: Same power as Fabia, tight handling, small to wash, cheap to buy, low insurance for what it is, similar size/lightness to Aygo, feels better built than Aygo, built in Bluetooth, climate control, 6 speed box, looks good, young image
Cons: Inherent fear of Fiat reliability/rust/build quality, no heated seats, parking sensors or cruise control, harsh bouncy ride, miniscule fuel tank/poorer mpg, tax, poor NCAP rating, very small boot.
Nearly new Mazda 2 1.5 Sport
Pros: cheap to run, cruise control, good build, should be reliable, good handling reports (not been for test drive yet), looks a bit "younger" than the Bora, interior a bit more imaginative than Panda.
Cons: dearest to buy here, no heated seats/parking sensors, is it worth the extra cash?
5 year old Bora Highline 1.9Tdi 130 (40K miles ? have known owners from new)
Pros: VW build/reliability, should last another 100K, large boot for holidays, leather, 6 speed box, cruise, parking sensors, 130bhp, diesel performance delivery, heated sports seats, probably best crash protection here, high class image.
Cons: Will it be rusting in another 5 years? long back doors in car parks, possibly higher insurance, staid looks and possibly equally staid handling, harder to keep clean because of dark colour and complex alloys, resale prospects of a 140K 10 year old car. Expensive to repair if it goes wrong, and there?s a lot of kit that could go wrong....
Question is, which to go for..... Wife finds Fabia heavy to operate, Bora might be just as heavy, but it?s got all the kit and it?s solid. Personally find the Fabia?s handling dull and on the soft side (used to have a 1996 Fiesta) so Panda may be better from that point of view, and it puts a big smile on your face just looking at it never mind driving it, but it just lacks cruise control and the centre console looks like an upended brick and lacks storage cubbies....but would that really matter if it was effectively a go-cart with a shell on it?....Do go-carts make good dual-carriageway commuters? Is dull handling much fun on back roads? Then there?s the economy to consider.... dependability..... space.... practicality.... fun...... image..... safety...... handling..... See the problem? I?ve not really seen many of any of these three on the road which makes me wonder. Should I be considering a used Octavia L+K estate instead? But then it looks dull and the handling will be just the same as the Bora and everyone?s got one.... Or a Golf Highline? Somebody help! There?s got to be someone with opinions on this out there.
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Baz
Thanks for that. Sounds like a fun car the Panda. Don?t mind understeer ? you tended to get it in the Fiesta on wet roads at 80...again possibly down to narrow tyres. Great in snow though. Don?t like roll though ? Fabia has more than enough of that for my liking. Wansn?t mad keen on quite such a harsh ride as the 100HP though. Apparently you can get different springs for them. Anyone tried this? I like this concept of ?feels faster than it really is?. Wouldn?t take too kindly to 40s mpg after the Fabia. Jerking might not be too much of a problem. Try buying a smallish car with a biggish engine (Fabia) Jerks happen....
Workshop
Roughly what percentage of Pandas would you get in for faults rather than regular servicing? What?s the most common fault? Is the boot a big/regular job? Expensive? Mods didn?t really cross my mind until I came on here. I would be tempted to try it if I wasn?t scared of the rust... In addition, a standard Fabia isn?t quite the same to look at as the 100HP! 500 to me is in the same (out of range) league as the ?new? Mini and the ?new? Beetle. As someone once pointed out, they?ve departed completely from their original purpose i.e. low cost motoring to the masses. Posh and a status symbol now if you ask me. Wouldn?t say no to a JCW Mini though if someone was to give me one! Fully agree regarding Panda over 500.
Still not much on the Mazda or Bora... anyone?
The queueing for fuel thread reminded me of a problem I had many years ago. I had a Renault 4 which would often misfire, and in freezing temperatures would not run.
The misfire was caused by water in the fuel, and when a slug of water froze in the pipe from the tank to the pump, no go!
It took me a long time to figure out how the water was getting into the tank. The fuel filler was a short length of metal pipe which was attached to a rubber pipe to the tank, the pipe clip corroded, the pump nozzle pushed the rubber pipe away from the metal stub, (it still refuelled normally), but water thrown up by the back wheel could get into the pipe to the tank.
Any other confusing problems? Read more
well armstrong sid the prake pedal operates in a different way to the clutch & the pressure load point is normally mounted on the axis line of the pivot & the brakes servo operated whereas the cluch pedal normally has a pull action used right at the top of the pedal for maximum leverage to make the clutch as light & cotrollable as possible hence the weakness.
There were one or two vehicles out there that did have a brake pedal weakness but very rare & normally will only snap or bend in a serious accident! designed that way to reduce leg injuries.
I'm getting a new car at the end of the month :-)))
My old car has gone away, thankfully, and i've got the use of a Focus for a couple of weeks. I want to arrange short term breakdown/recovery, as I have a couple of important trips to make
Who do the team recommend ? I'm guessing I'm going to have to take out a 12 month contract then cancel it, so I want to avoid anybody who makes this difficult . Read more
AA covers you not the car so if you leave it at 12 months cover and your in someone else's car you can get them out to that to get you on your way, plus if you have a accident they tow the car away plus many other benfits and not a bad price really.
Been with them for 20 years a tow truck will cost hell of a lot more.
Need to take a car to the scrapper and have a few questions I'd be grateful for advice on...
Roughly what can you expect to be paid these days? Does it vary with make/model/age? (Car is '93 Golf GTi.) Would a specialist pay more?
Is it legal to drive an MoT failure directly to the scrappy? Does it need to be booked in first?
Thanks Read more
>>>>>>>>>preview.tinyurl.com/yhabf57
oh not as a death-trap or rip-off; just make it legal and sellable as a spares or repair
Please forgive if this has been discussed at length before (i have searched but no recent threads found)
We are thinking of getting some in-car dvd players for the children as it looks like we'll be doing a number of family roadtrips in 2010.
I was wondering what sort of experience any of you family-burdened BRers have had.
There seems to be some quite good deals around at the mo with dual screen models for around GBP100.
One question is how does the use of these things effect driver (and passenger) safety and what about the effect on travel-sick prone kids. (sorry - that'll be 2 questions then)
Any other thoughts or considerations would be appreciated.
Duncan.
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No, people. I am not a program. But if you find it right to edit it's your decision. I was just looking for info about the device for cars and came across your article. Sorry
My vote goes to the beligerant so and so in a Skoda on the M6 roadworks Friday night. They sat in the middle lane through the roadworks at 45. The left lane was clear. They didn't move across. Several cars came up behind them and had to go into the outer lane to get by. Then a lorry sat on their bumper for several miles, they finally moved over. As soon as the lorry went past they moved back into the middle lane even though they weren't overtaking anything on the inside lane! They were dawdling along and I wondered whether to undertake or not as I was just sitting in the inside lane but I assumed as they were so utterly ignorant they'd probably crash into me if I did so.
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"Really? I would expect backroomers to be among the more aware and considerate drivers out there"
It would be nice to think so, but I think from attitudes and comments there are more FLOC's than any other driver in here!
But I am not asking people to describe their style and/or justify it to me. If people do it to themselves, really honestly, they may just be a bit more aware !!!
For the record, I make a point of being in the inside lane more than any other, but I am no mimser or dawdler !
Yep, the report talks about both their plans for world domination and falling reputation in the US.
A teenage relative of mine has informed me that the word mimser is well out-of-date. He tells me that all the young cool dudes now refer to slinkers and slinking. Read more
.......... daughters (13 and
16) ........... say slinkers went out about 100 years ago.
Where did they learn that? History lesson or from a great-grandparent?
:-D
Browse
Years ago when I owned my Ford Capri, at one time, I was convinced that I had a wheel balance problem. I took the car to about three different tyre places to have the wheels balanced on the car, but the problem was still there.
So, in desperation, I took it to my local garage. They carried out a thorough inspection of the suspension and steering joints and came to the conclusion the problem was being caused by wear in the track control arm bushes.
These were duly changed and, the garage were right, the problem disappeared!