January 2010
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
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.
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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.
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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!!
The clutch pedal is a be squeaky. How do i solve this? Is it a case of oiling the pedal inside the cabin or is it more likely to go via the cable into the engine bay? Read more
I had all 4 tyres replaced on my car couple of months ago. Last night I took it back to the garage which replaced the tyres because car was quite jittery. They thought it was balancing so took off both tyres and passenger side tyre was almost bald from inside. So I got front tyres replaced.
I've noticed car has been making a strange noise every time I go over the hump and the sound comes from passenger side front tyre.
What you reckon the issue is? I asked the guy who replaced the tyres for me and he said it could be "bushes". I did a bit of googling last night and it could be ball joint? I don't have a clue. Please help because I want to sort this out ASAP, don't want these tyres to go soon either.
Wanted to bring Vectra to work this morning but car just won't move. It seemed as if the handbrake was on so I locked and unlocked handbrake few times but without any luck.
To top it all I forgot my badminton kit in Vectra because then I had to bring Mazda to work. I had a bad start to the day today. :( Read more
My corsa had an MOT advisory stating that the NSF droplink had play in it and also the tyre was worn on its inner edge. I assume the droplink problem was the cause of the uneven tyre wear - the OSF tyre was fine.
My wife owns a R registered Ford Fiesta Ghia with only 50,000 miles on the clock. Excellent car and she does not want to scrap it out!! BUT ...... it keeps filling up with water!!! It seems that a design fault on this model means that water that goes down the gully in front of the windscreen cannot get out via the drain holes and when heavy rain is experienced overflows into the car soaking the front carpets.
Has anyone else had this happen and is there a cure out there?
Pete Read more
A good starting point would for you to do a forum search.
To give you a start
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=20...9
Hi, MOT is due soon and i see the number plate lights are out, it looks as if it's two bulbs but how do i gain access to change them?
Thanks Geoffm Read more
Sorry, been away for a few days hence late reply,
Can't find the handbook now!!!!!!!!!
SQ
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Thanks - that was the one I couldn't remember!