January 2010
Hi guys, i'm looking to get another car in the not so distant future and i just have a thing for the really sporty looking coupe's at the moment, i was going to buy my brothers toyota Celica 2.0 GT but i decided against it for a number of reasons...but i was just wondering if you had any suggestions as to what to look for in and around the price range i mention, another i was looking at was the Hyundia coupe 2.0 52 plate onwards because of the newer shape and i probably could pick a 52 plate up for around 3 k....so any other Coupe's perhaps i might be overlooking that are good reliable cars in the main??? Read more
I have a 1990 Eclipse 1300cc ford escort. One of my brake stop lights is not working. I tried 3 bulbs still no joy.
The brake light bulb has two elements in it and the rear side light works, although the brake stop nlight does not ?
Any ideas guys
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Check the black wiring connector where it is attached to the lampholder .You may find poor connections and/or corrosion.A very common problem on these old Escorts.hth
I would like to find out how old the tryes are on my 1960 Morris Minor - purchased in 2009.
The markings on the sidewall are:-
Firestone F560
145 R14 76s
E2(in a circle) 02 87209
17995 BR BDE 4345-6
WA JP D3 J T 0204
The make and tyre size are fairly obvious, but what does the rest of it mean?
Does anyone know where I can buy 145 x 14 tyres? I have searched the various online suppliers without any luck, plenty of 155s but no 145s.
Any ideas please? Read more
Date codes on tyres are always on a plate screwed into the mould - for obvious reasons. Look for the outline of the plate around the characters and the two screw imprints which show where the plate was secured.
Really horrible cheapo tyres have the brand name on a plate so "Tiger grips" can become "Nankongs" for the sake of 5 minutes' work with a screwdriver.
Most tyre date codes seem to be xxy where x = week number and y = last digit of year.
659.
I supopose this should really be in "unusual sightings" but perhaps deserves a discussion of its own.
Driving back from Llandovery to Carmarthen last night, came up behind a very tidy Porsche 356; silver hard-top, in mint condition, and a rare enough beast on a fine day never mind a damp Friday evening in January; but this one had one particular distinguishing feature, it was wearing L-plates.
I've never been lucky enough to even sit in such an exotic car never mind learn to drive in one. I'd guess it was father teaching son. Kudos to Dad for allowing his son to learn in a car which by all accounts isn't the easiest of animals to control; can't help thinking though that many subsequent vehicles which the lad drives after he passes his test might prove a trifle mundane!
Which brings me to the question; did any of you learn to drive in a car which might today, or even then, be considered a trifle unusual? Read more
I remember at the age of 15 having my first drive in a Sunbeam Talbot 90 convertable. Private land, racing round a cricket field in/out of the boundary markers! A bit of a handful, but great fun.
Hi guys,
I dont know if I've posted this message in the right place. Hope I have!
Anyhoo, my mums car has been written off by the insurance company because its not economical to repair. They've offered just over 2000 for the car or 1600 if we keep the car.
My dad wants to keep the car and get it fixed cos he and my mum love the car... (dont know why...) and the repair guy has quoted about 300-400 to fix it.
What Im not sure about is how do we go about getting the car back on the road after we get the settlement from the insurance company. Can you check if ive got the whole procedure right or there other things I need to get done...
OK, we get the money from insurance company and then we get the car fixed, have to take it to MOT and then get the VIC done and then the car will be back on the road legally?
What actually happens to the car documents/dvla things once the insurance company says the car is a "total loss"?
Will insurance companies still insure the car? and does this whole procedure affect the road tax on the car?
Hope this message makes sense. Any clarification on the matter would be appreciated!
Thanx, :) Read more
depends what category the insurance class it as
cat d just repair it and drive it
cat c and the insurer should take your log book off you
you can then carry on driving the car if you wish if its still taxed but you wont be able to tax it without going through a vic check,once done
you then need to reapply for your log book but once you have the vic certificate you can go to your local dvla office fill in a v62 and v10 and tax the car as you wait
dont worry about the insurance,just stay with the same company and obviously declare you have made a claim in the last 5 years
(some vosa vic stations demand a new mot, some dont ,so ring your local one you intend using to clarify their position on this one)
ps sometimes insurance companies are very lax and forget to add the vic marker to the system,the easiest way to check this is at the
www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/application?
it will confirm a marker near the bottom on the car details held>>
Hi all,
Looking to buy 2005/55 320D se with 61k miles with 1 previous owner before present.
I am worried about the reply to my question about service history, as follows
"Since I have had the car, I did a yearly service.
I did not follow BMW's recommended service plan.
I felt there was no need and was a bit time
consuming and costly to follow their service plan."
I am now in two moods, head & heart, with my head saying beware due to past problems with turbo, but as it has had a yearly service would this be OK?
Any advise much appreciated.
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my 03 tdci 130 mondeos fuel filter pipes might be crossed, the middle outlet on the filter, with the arrow pointing out, has a hose coming from the tank, the outer outlet, with arrow pointing in, is going to the fuel rail. I had an identical mondeo with the opposite, and it drives perfectly, this one has the glow plug light flashing, and is hard to start, even when i do manage to start it, it drives well, but underpowered. I will change the fuel filter and add some injector cleaner to it, but would the hoses being on the wrong way cause these symptoms? Also do these models have glowplugs? If so could this be the problem? Read more
They definitely should be the other way round and some filters have a one way valve in which would cause the problems you are having due to low fuel rail pressure. it's a wonder it runs at all. They do have glow plugs but they very rarely give problems.
Can anyone help?
I've recently had my 55 plate 2.2 diesel engined accord serviced by a Honda main dealer, who first over filled it with oil and then when I asked them to drain it to the correct level, left it half way between min and max!
Anyway, anticipating the need for a top up soon, I'm trying to establish what oil to use. According to the service record, they used "0W30 Castrol FS." I've bought some "0W30 Castrol SLX Professional Powerflow." Does anyone know whether these 2 oils are compatable? I've checked with the same Honda garage that serviced my car and they don't seem to know!!! Needless to say I'll be using another garage for the next service!
Any help appreciated.
Thanks. Read more
The Castrol website is acting the goat at the minute so can't check, but I guess that "FS" is the lazy abbreviation for full synthetic and not an oil type.
The recommended oil for the i-ctdi according my bumf is 0W30 Castrol Edge (synthetic). I use Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel 0W40 from Costco, because it's a lot cheaper at £23 for 4l. and meets the spec.
I'm pretty sure SLX is synthetic, possibly long life and can't see why mixing it when topping up should be a problem.
This follows on from the Honda Jazz thread on whether or not Honda Jazzes deteriorate badly after 6 or 7 years.
The bigger issue which is thrown up here is "What cars don't deteriorate badly after 6 or 7 years?"
Or, to put it another way, most reliability statistics, at least those that are based on fairly accurate and representative data (i.e. those that compare cars of the same age), seem to be based on fairly new cars.
I'm thinking in particular of Which? (cars up to two years old, iirc) and JD Power (basically 3 year old cars) and ADAC (cars up to 6 years old sorted by year).
The implication of HJ's comment that sparked the Honda Jazz thread was that Jazzes held up very well for 6 or 7 years, and then deteriorated very suddenly. And for all I know, there may be cars that hold up well for 3 years, and then fall apart. And there may be other cars which are not particularly impressive for the first few years of their lives, but actually do better than other cars once they get to the 10 year mark. In other words, different models of cars may have very different 'deterioration graphs'.
So - is there any evidence of which particular models of cars hold up particularly well after the 7 year mark? Or is that impossible to measure, because too much depends on the TLC/abuse they have received in their early years? Read more
I'm thinking Morris Minor Citroen 2CV Beetle Land-Rover as the primary examples; interestingly three of
those four make up a sizeable chunk of the tax exempt vehicles still in daily
use as opposed to show condition classics.
Of those mentioned I suspect that the vast majority have had a lot of work done on them, replacement body panels, welding, etc... very few will be totally original at that age. In fact (though annecdotal) I took the Maxi to a Moggie rally last year, there were over 100 of them, but only two were in "original" state (and they were rusty as heck), the rest, when you asked the owners, had had a fair bit of work done to them to make them look like they did.
I still feel that its how the car has been kept by the previous owner(s) that decides how long a car will last... for instance my Maxi is over 30 years old, but in extremely good (original!) condition... but its only done 52k and was (and is) garaged all its life!
Been with the AA over 20 years now they offered last year relay for £12.00 extra i have roadside & complimetary home start.
This year the letter came they want roadside £59.00 relay £55.00 £114.00 total
I just phoned them up to see what they can do or take off relay they offered the lot for £70.00 or roadside for £39.00! still inc complimentary homestart.......
This is on the 0161 332 1789 number and press the number that you want to leave the AA this gets you straight through to a human being rather than the automated voice telling you there is a high volume of calls been sat there on the free phone number for 7 mins!
So moral of the story people don't accept there stupid offer and see what better offer you can get.!
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"Same with the RAC it's the individual that's covered not the motor."
Both the AA and RAC default to specific vehicle cover, single or joint person cover are premium paid options.
www.theaa.com/breakdown-cover/uk-breakdown/view-pe...o
www.rac.co.uk/uk-breakdown/
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Volvo C70?
Im currently on the look out for a good one in the same price braket as you and you get a lot of car for your money. T5 is monsterously quick, but the 2.4 T is more than adequeate.
Saab 9-3 Aero?