February 2010
So. I've had my Mazda 6 a year now, and it is a very nice car.
However, it drinks like a fish and I'm a bit bored of sticking well over a hundred quid of fuel in it every month just to toodle around town delivering children and getting to work and back. I never get more than 275 miles out of a 65 pound fill, which is a bit galling after getting the best part of 450 miles out of a tank of diesel (around town too) when I had my FIAT Stilo Multiwagon.
I am strongly considering getting shot in favour of something more economical. I do mostly short urban runs, and I've decided it's going to have to be a diesel. It also has to be an automatic, and most crucially of all, must not cost any more to buy than I can get for my 6, which is in the region of £4.5-5K. It also needs to be at least a Golf sized car, and it has to have ISOFIX and a minimum 4-star NCAP rating. It should also be no more expensive to insure and tax than the 6.
What I am finding is that I will have to buy something older and with higher mileage than my 6 (a 2006 55 reg 2.0 petrol with a paltry 33k on the clock). And there's not much in the way of attractive diesel autos in this price range.
I don't want to have to travel the country to buy something, and I have spotted locally to me a 2002 (02) Golf 1.9TDi 100 which suits my wish list and budget. The car has over 60k on the clock, but full history apparently. A bit further away from home is a similar 52 plate with a bit over 50k on it and priced at the same level.
But, I have concerns.
Mainly, am I letting myself in for constant repair costs at this age and mileage? If so, I'd be a fool to let go of the reliable Mazda. At 8 years old, compared to my 4-year old 6, is the prospective saving on fuel a fool's mission? I really get the impression that my Mazda won't present me with a repair bill for years to come.
I know everyone is going to scream "Octavia", and this is the model I favour to fulfill this brief, but I can not find one within budget and within a reasonable distance of home. I've spotted one in the North West, but I don't want to take time out to travel. I'm also wary of DSG boxes at an advanced age, even though I'm quite happy with the one in our Touran. The one I've spotted oop north, however, is a Mk1 with old-fashioned TC auto box. I think I'd prefer that.
So, any sagacious advice out there? Any obvious options I'm missing? Any left field suggestions? Or any personal experiences of TDi Golfs and Octavias wt this age? I favour Japanese models and VAG cars, the latter because I've had quite a few of them in the last 7 years and they have proven their worth to me, and also there's a very good VW specialist indie less than 2 miles from me. Diesel auto Japs are non-existent at this price point, however.
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Hi can anyone help please, my 07 1.6 LX Focus is great but just the other week i opened the hatch up and saw just under the black elastic strap on the black felt area on the left hand side (underneath the empty socket for a boot light) water droplets, i then pushed my hand higher up the felt and underneath the plastic which houses the hinge for the parcel shelf and it was damp.
After heavy rain it isn't soaking but just feels damp, a hell of a frustrating issue as other than this the car is ok. The service reception told me that the 3rd rear brake light fills with water and then runs round and down, think she was a little mixed up there.
I unscrewed the two screws that fix the rear LH side light clusters in place, I couldn't remove the lens but saw a load of dead leaf and grime trapped underneath the black plastic strip which houses the two screws, any one help please.
thanks to anyone out there.
{Post edited. I'm sure you didn't mean to SHOUT!} Read more
I have found that my 2009 Focus is having the same problem....have you solved yours yet and if so how
Many thanks...
Hi does anyone no the tappet clearance for my astra van, its got the 1700cc diesel isuzu engine in ti the is shimmed, many thanks Read more
Hi All, Does anybody know if the setting is the same for a Z17DTL?
Hi Guys.
First post on honest john.
looking for a little bit of independatnt advice.
Got myself a 1.6 ford focus zetec X reg. Nothing special just a family run around.
64K genuine mileage just had a full service.
At the service they changed the front brakes and the front right shock. (apparently the shock had leaked onto the brake causing unusual brake wear??
Anyway. Since the work was done everytime I press the brake it knocks. The noise is intermittent. When i took it back to the garage a week after the service it was gone and they couldnt find anything. But now its back with vengance. Its a fairly loud knock/click when you press the break. I can even do 30 mph press the brake ten times and it goes click ten times. Im pretty sure its on the suspension as its doing it going over small bumps now aswell.
Ive had a good look cant find anything obviously wrong. could be the drop link arm (but that was changed 18months ago) or some strut bushes? but nothing is obviously loose when i put it over a pit.
There is a small play in the steering but that's not it and the CV joints are fine and also the common knocks from the pedal box. but for a 10 y/o ford thats o.k and this noise is unrelated to that.
my thoughts are that when they changed the shock they disturbed a worn bush which is now wearing through. Looking for a bit of ammo to go in there with tomorrow cos it cost me £350 to get the service and work done i dont want to fork out another 100 just for a cupla bushes to be changed.
Thanks for your help.
John C Read more
A few years ago now I had a similar issue with a recently acquired Ford 1.6 Escort (X-Reg).
The recently replaced pads were not genuine Ford items and once replaced with these the knocking noise was away. Ford ones are cheap enough and don't make it worth while replacing with after-market items.
Also both shocks should have been replaced at the same time as a matter of safety. You now have one new shock and one 10year old 64k tired one. Not good news for handling and braking.
recently in this bad weather got squealing noise when very wet or cold and snowy. assumed fan belt needed tightning. at nissan service 28/01/10 reported noise. was told this noise had appeared on these vehicles recently and offered new fan belt £70+, car has only done 22,000 miles and service sheet says change belt drives every 5 years. anyway they tensioned up belt and I now get continuous screeching noise so will have to revert back to garage and possibly have new belt fitted. this seems wrong, garage can argue belt design is causing noise so cost down to me as belt is otherwise perfectly ok! if belt changed and noise still present will let you know but in view of garage comments on this noise would be interested if anyone else had this problem? Read more
The first time my wife reported this noise after a damp start up the belt was “tightened” but was no different after a few days. The second time it was also adjusted with the same effect. The third time the belt has apparently been replaced with one from a “new batch” which are apparently softer material.
To be fair the dealer has responded to all her complaints and has been willing to resolve this issue although he reports no other customer with similar problems! I have however contacted another dealer who says there is a problem with belt material and suggests the newer type of belt. Time will tell with the arrival of damp weather.
The blower control switch does not work and the heater/cooler fan runs constantly. I have read some of the previous posts on this topic but not sure that they relate to my model. My model has an Auto setting for Air con. Haynes don't seem to cover the facelifted model, so am struggling to find the Resistor pack/speed regulator on my model. Any diagrams/photos that anyone has would be helpful. When I remove the glovebox and passenger footwell carpet, all I see is the heating/cooling unit. Any help greatly appreciated Read more
If its the same blower as used by the Xantia it has two regulator transistors mounted on the motor, these can go short circuit and cause your problem. Alternativly, the fault could be with the control panel, in which case removing the single plug with the thin lead from the motor should stop it, if not it will be the transistors.
On the Xantia it is acessed via the trim panel underneath the glovebox, two plugs and three screws, easy to remove.
The Engine Warning Light came on a couple of days ago, so put my Zafira in to the garage. Have just got the car back and they say that a fault code of P0400 Critical System Malfunction 2 was showing when plugged in to their computer.
The garage have advised speaking to a Vauxhall Dealer and finding out more info on the code.
Can anyone advise what this code means and will it be an expensive/difficult job to put right?? Read more
hi
the fault code is for the gas recirculating valve and the valve will have to be changed after some more testing
hi, theres a slight clicking noise coming from around the timing belt area which comes and goes.it isnt too noticable whilst driving but you can hear it quite clearly if you're looking under the bonnet....the car has done 108,000 miles,any ideas? Read more
yes i thought it was strange for it to have no cover on.its quite close to the water pump (i had a new one last week as it was leaking quite badly) i'll mention about the alternator belt tensioner aswell when i take it in thanks
I have two lights on at all times when the car is running (136 diesel)
One is the engine check light & the other shows the car skidding
Have purchased a reader and the codes are P2009 & P0664
P2009 Intake Manifold Runner Control Circuit Low (Bank 1
P0664 Intake Manifold Tuning Valve Control Circuit Low (Bank 2)
Can anyone explain what these are & what I need to do
The car runs fine & the only difference I noticed since these came on (at the same time) is when the wheel slips in frost or snow the engine does not cut down on power as previous.
Any help would be appreciated
Regards
Mich
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I reckon on 1 BSOD per year per machine at home with a mix of XP Home and Vista HP. >>
The BSOD reported here is caused by the XP update. Same update for Vista and Win7 causes no reported problems.
As for frequency of BSODs, I get none on XP and Win7 machines but I get a TCPIP related one frequently on one Vista PC when on HTTPS websites, which is caused by a known glitch in Agnitum Outpost firewall on that PC (according to their support forums, Agnitum have known about the problem for more than 6 months), but are unable to fix.
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Sounds like the company will not be breaking mileage down into business and private, in which case I think you'll be paying tax on all you fuel bought on the card through your PAYE?
I would check if I were you, how the company processes the data.