January 2010
Does anyone know how to remove this message appearing? Help/advice would be much appreciated. Read more
Just been out in the the Yorkshire rain and returned with the van covered in the remains of road salt.
Washed straight off (and underneath) though as it does so readily when wet - and that without an end on the hose due to it splitting in the cold weather.
Worth it? Maybe. It feels better, psychologically, anyway ;-)
How about you? Read more
...Anybody want a cat?...
Only if it would kill the one belonging to my neighbour which uses the boot of the CC3 as a stage.
I have been reflecting on the positive aspects of motoring in the UK - contrasted with elsewhere. Massive efforts have been made to allow the motorist to be mobile - regulations, cameras regulating the speed of idiots - and allowing regular motorists to drive normally - and so on. The much maligned Heath And Safety - risk assessments - underpinning and enhancing our life experiences.
I regularly see a Gent I knew around 10yrs ago. At that time he was driving a Landcruiser and was fit, young looking - and a decade younger than me.
Now, I see him moving along the outer ring road, heading in towards the City - he`s wearing an all enveloping cape that covers him from the neck down - and the working parts of his powered wheelchair - just leaving the wheels exposed.
He looks incredibly vulnerable as he takes the spray and rain - but the City is only 10 minutes or so away and on arrival he will have free access, where risk assessments will have taken place at every establishment he enters.
Perhaps he was able to keep motoring until recently - or maybe still does due to great thought, commitment and resources being deployed - from car conversions to financial help.
Contrast that with my second home in a small City in the Philippines. Total disregard for disability - all city pavements being raised - not even a single ramp. It`s not about money - it`s the prevailing mindset that it doesn`t matter.
I have a friend who owns a small bakery and a small engine drives a dough machine. The exhaust puffs out straight onto the bread - while a 2` addition to the pipe would redirect it.
You can see where Heath and Safety regulations come from when you consider that, as it was the same here a few decades back and car manufacturers thought nothing of harm to drivers or others in car design. Traffic just chokes the streets in Tacloban and it`s a free for all.
It`s pretty good, motoring in the UK - although the `negative feeding` personalities of many people cause the generation of tabloid rubbish that is eagerly lapped up as `truth`
The question is - can a 100 post thread be generated that`s entirely positive about UK motoring?
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Cracking winter ride today - 90 mile round trip, A class rurals, dual and some town work. Weather was sun, snow and spray - tucked up into a BMW Rallye2 suit - Alt Berg Boots, and heated grips kept me warm, ABS servo brakes kept me safe, a superb engine and chassis kept the endorphins spinning - superb trip, naughty speeds on the dual kept my protestant guilt glands working...sweet.
I have recently bought a petrol 1L 2001 vauxhall corsa C with 64,000 miles for £1200. I was just wandering if anyone knew roughly how many miles i will get out of it and what the mpg is like, becuase i will be doing around 20,000 miles a year for commuting to work and such. any feedback would be great cheers Read more
40 mpg should be easy if engine is in good fettle
have the oil and filter changed straight away irrespective of what you were told by the seller
keep your oil level topped up at least weekly as these engines dont hold much to begin with
keep your eye open for the oil pressure switch at the left front leaking as they often do
basically keep the thing maintained and it will serve you well
It's an interesting one that Teves sensor.
From reading back on your posts HJ VW and VOSA have said that this is not a safety issue as they only deal with faults that come on suddenly and are likely to cause death or injury.
I'd be interested to hear how they compare this sensor with the Toyota faults.
From what I can make out this sensor is far more likely to fail without warning than the faulty pedal which Toyota claim is a gradual failure and I'm inclined to believe that. So, from a layman's perspective the first of their two criteria would appear to more closely match the Teves fault than the CTS one.
As for likelihood of causing death, well I'm inclined to think that both are in the realms of the very unlikely without significant driver negligence. In the case of the pedal the fault will have most likely given fair warning first, and any semi-alert driver should be able to compensate. In the case of the sensor, it seems to me that it is possible that this could catch a driver out if he's driving on the edge of the available traction and the ESP fails to activate when expected, or worse half-way through a marginal manouvre. Both, therefore I would have thought would have a theoretical, though unlikely chance of harming a responsible and aware driver.
So yes, I would say that if one should be recalled then really so should the other -- although the cost of replacing these modules would be massively more expensive than the pedals, and if millions of cars are involved it could conceivably cause VW significant financial problems.
I have to agree though that the fact this isn't being publicised, especially given the higher apparent incidence is puzzling.
At this very moment there are 4 (four) sequential queries from different owners featuring the utra reliable Honda Civic. Has anybody ever seen a greater number for a single model? I think I recall 4 for a Peugeot 306 - no surprises there then! Read more
I always think of the old Lada dealerships as an association with tin sheds. Or the old Skoda places, in the days of the rear wheel drive models.
Locally, Toyota and VW have recently moved out of what seemed like the next step up from tin sheds - into new glass palaces.
But our local Fiat dealership - which is the biggest in the area, (including surrounding big cities)
recently morphed from a tin shed into a tin shed - (now in silver and seeming like a long metal coffin) the latter though seeming to fit a perhaps enforced corporate image - and seeming big enough for around four cars inside. The parts dept is a tacked on metal box - that has you feeling you are entering a shipping container. Metal door, metal walls and roof and no windows.
Before, you obtained parts from within the showroom and were able to chat and maintain a relationship - while looking at new models. Now you are segregated off - to the detriment of continuity.
I was thinking of the importance of first contact image - then maintaining relationships. Perhaps though, there are not many customers like me - who just buy parts after the first year from new - and as such, have seemingly been written off as `trade`at the parts counter.
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I also wanted to mention an indie parts place I know in Oxford. It's quite a big shop, but boxes of parts everywhere, stuff piled up in a seemingly haphazard way, and plenty of dust and grime about. But if you go in there and ask for a part, the guy can find it instantly. First class knowledge as well - for example my uncle went in there for brake pads for an early BMW 7 series, which they didn't carry, but they knew that the pads from some obscure early Nissan, which they did, would fit. I've also taken old parts in before and the guy has told me which car they came off before I could tell him!
Also open 7 days a week, and very reasonably priced. The decor and appearance of premises is no indicator of the level of service and knowledge you can expect.
Snake oil's been discussed in here several times before. Now it's claimed that you can save fuel just by plugging this into a cigarette lighter socket !
I won't be rushing to buy one.
tinyurl.com/yjdvggu
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Off topic, but the recent news about the 'snake oil' explosive detector shows that there will always be takers for any scam. I would suggest taking the instigator and leaving him in central Baghdad wearing a sandwich board announcing his activities...
In the icy weather, I skidded on ice and hit a kerb; now the car veers to the right and the steering wheel is slightly harder to turn anti-clockwise compared to clockwise. Pro-tyre (good guys) adjusted the wheel alignment but suggested I go elsewhere to get the "veering problem fixed" and with no visibile evidence of bent track rods etc they suggested that the knuckle joint / UJ might need replacing where the steering column joins the rack.
So I then went to a local garage where the garage inspected the car for free then said that a Hub knuckle - he didn't say if the direction of the veering implies whether it is the OSF or it is the NSF that is suspect - probably needs replacing at £400 all in but this was only 90% the probable cause.
Any coments or suggestions on where I can go (both literaly and and figuratively)would be much appreciated.
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Nothing to far out there then. I can't see how the steering column u/j could cause it to pull to one side, it could make it stiff or lumpy. How exactly does it feel, if you let go of the steering wheel does it veer off to the right or just feel lighter in that direction?
Any idea of this model will be coming to the UK? It looks very tidy: tinyurl.com/ykvqyon
It's priced less than a new Focus LX here in NZ! And strangely cheaper than the 4-door Cerato that it is based on. Quite fancy one! Read more
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1. Get in your car and shut the door.
2. Put your key in the ignition
3. Turn your ignition key to position 1
4. Push in your Odometer reset button and hold it in while holding it move the ignition key to position 2 while holding down the odometer reset button.
5. After couple of seconds of holding the button down and the key in position 2 your service light will start to blink once that happens let go of the reset button and start the car.
That should do it.