January 2010
It's moving towards that time when I think about car changing again - takes me about a year to actually decide and get the deal done. I'm at the start of the process.
Always the gentleman, I canvassed Mrs Dipstick's views. Unexpectedly she had some input, and has said she's "seen a little buzzy car, can we have one of those?"
Many long evenings of drawn out questionings about where and when the "buzzy car" was seen, with a bright light in her eyes and my best Poirot moustache on, has finally whittled it down to what she means - a Daihatsu Copen.
Good Lord. I like the idea of the folding top, but unfortunately there seems to be some sort of vehicle attached to it.
Anybody got one or driven one of these cute but seemingly impractical tiny cars? Read more
Hi guys my first post and i have bit of a dilemma!!
Recently i was involved in an Road Traffic Accident and to cut a long story short it was the other guys fault, his insurance company have admitted liability so they suggested i go and get a quote for my car to be fixed and get it faxed through to them by the body repair shop!!....now i have a T reg Hyundai Lantra which has only done 80k is in pristine condition and runs like a dream ...old but my pride and joy!! now what needs replacing is the rear door skin which i have just been informed by the body shop that it could technically be more than what the cars book price is worth!!...so the insurance company will more than likely say it's beyond economical repair ...blah...blah...blah......but for me to replace this car with something as reliable with as low milage and condition ...i'd at least be looking at 2k...when in reality the 6 or 7 hundred pound repair is probably more than the car is worth (book price)...so i haven't had any feedback from the body shop or the third parties insurance company as to whether they'll deem it a write off or they'll repair it at the given quote from the garage BUT...what sort of out come can i expect here guys in your extensive knowledgeable experience?...will i get near to the 2k what the condition and milage dictate the car is worth to me or will i get screwed on this by the insurance company with some useless payout of around the book price?
Cheers spidermonkey. Read more
my mother in law had the same issue...
driving a D reg ford escort 1.4 Bravo and got ramed from the back.
bend exhaust and rear bumper split, and tail light smashed.
other driver admitted driving to fast, he lost it on flood water and skidded in to the rear of the car.
the insurance company in the first instance wanted to write the car off,
but as my MIL had owned the car from new and it only had 43k on the clock with a full ford service history, in the 10years shes'd owned it....
of course the main dealer prices plus labour and paint shop rates would have written the car off.
she found a local garage willing to fit 2nd hand or pattern part to the escort to reduce the price, and the insurance company agreed to the new payout...job done....
paul.
The fuse controlling the sidelights has blown, and only discovered this last night.
The headlights are OK, but when I hit the brake pedal, with the ignition switched off, the brake lights work and the rear fog light comes on at the same time
I have a towing bracket and wonder if the associated wiring or relays are the problem.
I'd be grateful for any assistance. Read more
Do both bulbs light up at full brightness? If not its probably a bad earth as mentioned in the last post
I have taken a look at the previous posts about engine hesitation and i seem to think mine is slightly different,
Im certainly not a car expert and im trying to figure out what is causing the following problem.
When my car is damp (not cold as when we had the snow it ran fine strangely!) or hasnt been run for a day the car starts to hesitate when accelarating. After the car is run though it works fine until the car sits for maybe a day without being used at which it hesitates again, i have had a load of issues with this car already and ive done a bit of research but dont have any conclusive answers.
Can anyone help?
Through research it could possibly be apparently, the idling module,throttle control or the fuel pump...
It happend when coming down the sliproad the other day so was quite interesting to say the least! Read more
Hi Madf,
Just to let you know i think the leads are pretty new as are the plugs, didnt find much dirt or signs of damp or even wear around them.
do you have any other ideas?
cheers!
I know I have seen discussion on here in the past about somone who will take your car requirements and source a suitable vehicle. Can anyone point me at the details of someone offering such a service please?
Would also like some idea of fees and whether they operate at all prices or just at the more expensive end of the market.
We live in Surrey (GU/KT - near several luminaries of this board...) Read more
Thanks - that was the one I couldn't remember!
On the motorway, we drive much too close to the car in front. Even on almost empty roads cars can commonly be observed driving convoy 1 car length apart.
Driving closer than 6-12 car lengths distance at any speed on the motorway provably causes tailbacks[1]. Kills people in (completely avoidable) "accidents" -- they're not accidents, but socially we write them off as such.
It stops other people merging efficiently onto the road. It severely hampers overtaking. It restricts ability to change lanes for upcoming exits and it promotes risk taking.
Leaving a significant gap (12 car lengths?), in almost all situations has a demonstrable positive impact on the everyone's pace, safety and independance of movement.
When questioned guilty drivers responses range from denial at one extreme, to self fulfilling prophesies of what the "numpty drivers" will get up to with an extra 8 car lengths of space all around them.
The roots of our reasoning range from learned ignorance, indifference and lack of skill to misguided attempts at efficiency, self appointed policing and aggression.
How do you convince a nation that in all circumstances leaving a gap of 6-12+ car lengths (erring on the side of larger gap wherever it's not absurdly excessive) instantly raises average speeds, evaporates traffic jams, reduces fatalaties & generally makes driving more efficent and thus more pleasurable for everyone involved?
I for one write self righteous monologues to captive audiences. ;-)
[1] Google for the RAC foundation's research into tailgating & phantom traffic jams. The same google result will give many many informative, balanced and well reasoned arguments supporting the very significant increase in average distance from the car in front i put forward above.
No research i can find has come to the conclusion we drive with enough distance between cars already, or that we should decrease gaps to improve speed, safety or throughput / capacity.
Read more
One thing to watch out for though: if you're Making Progress in Lane 1 and
looking ahead for trucks it's possible to miss the dark blue Polo with one tail
lamp out and doing barely 50 which gets lost against the Blackpool Illuminations >>
In Scotland, that'll be the Nissan Note or Renault Modus. And since we poor sods in the East of Scotland aren't within 30 miles of a motorway (if you can call the M8 that), it'll be those holding us up on what 60mph roads we've got by doing 25 - 30 in their "I'm flat out" Notes/Moduses.
Why do lorry drivers think it's OK to park, on the wrong side of the road, with head lights on?
The Highway Code says you MUST switch your lights off.
Read more
I was actually commenting on mail vans collecting from post boxes not the delivery boys who are going to be delivering for TNT and City Link in the future when they strike once too often and ruin a once reputable company.
I recently bought a fiesta 1.25 zetec 97, am i right in thinking it has a timing chain not a belt? Also the engine sounds a bit tic tok would best describe it and it seems to come from the timing belt area, any suggestions? Read more
Belt with a 100k or 10yr life.
There was a minor tensioner? change in early 97 - Gates list 2 different Belts!
hi all, new to this sight and it looks like you may be the last people who can help.
car, which is a 1.9tid, is suffering from loss of power, also the instrument cluster is going crazy. when i'm stationary its reading 80mph, when i'm going 20mph it's reading 100mph, it doesn't rest at 0mph even when ignition is off. no warning lights have come on. Saab dealership ran a diagnostic test on it showing no faults although they charged me accordingly for the test and told me the cluster was obviously faulty. Read more
Hi !
As for the loss of power, have you tried to put a full tank off "good" diesel and
then try some accelerations, with the engine warm ?
As for the other issue, I am experiencing the same speedometer problem with my 2005 9-3 Tid.
It had it before. Even when stoped it had a 30 km/ reading. This hapened for no aparent reason.
took it to the dealer, they have done some resets and it was fine for about 2 months. one day, for no reason, I got a 10 km error and after a few weeks it increased to 20km, as it is at the present moment. Have you tried to disconnect the (-) cable from the battery for about 15 minutes and then connect it again ?
Please report if you find any solution.
Regards
Dave
Colleague has a petrol 2 litre RAV4, will be 3 years old in March, and just had diagnosed that the clutch and water pump need to be replaced and she is getting this done under warranty (car has done 19k miles !)
I am thinking, are these chain or belt, if belt what is the time limit for changes, is it something she should get them to do whilst the water pump is getting done anyway?
Ta. Read more
Just checked car by car, its a chain so no point in trying to change a belt!!
Browse
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Thanks for all the input folks. I think we've knocked the Copen off the list, the killer being there's no suitcase room so that would mean two cars, or hiring one for every break and holiday, which isn't really a sensible option.
Not sure it's my kind of thing anyway, so that's a relief.
When we wheel the trolley out of the supermarket Mrs D will hesitate by every single silver car (ours being silver), whether it's a Mini or a Landcruiser, and I think I can work this to my advantage.
Given that she always prefers the tiniest and greenest of cars but is startlingly unfamiliar with any of them, I fully intend to get a Royce, ideally a Phantom. I'll tell her it's the latest thing to save the environment, and if she takes the tv off standby for a week she'll have paid for it. I'm pretty sure this will work.