I bought a 57 plate 2.0 tdci 140ps mondeo edge from national dealer in December. I notified them within days of taking it away that it had cut out when coming to a slowdown at a roundabout. It was agreed that they would look at it when it went in to have a scratch repainted that had already been agreed.
They said they couldn't find anything wrong but it has done it 7 times in all now and when it cuts out the steering locks of course, very disconcerting and in my opinion dangerous. It is with them again and they called me yesterday asking for more details! When I asked if they had taken it to a Ford service dealer as promised they told me they had been asking lots of people who they knew!
How do I stand legally with this, I am very wary of driving the car as it stands, in fact I don't think I should be driving it. Can I ask for my money back or for a replacement car?
Thanks Read more

Hi, my stepmum drives a 1999 Peugeot 206 1.9D which has a faulty indicator stalk. Sometimes the indicators come on when she switches on the ignition and sometimes all the indicators flash when she indicates left.
I said i would source a replacement stalk for her from a breakers or off ebay but the mechanic that she has used for years and trusts has told her a second hand stalk is of no use as they need to be replaced as a whole unit which needs to be coded for the immobilser.
Does anyone if this is correct??

Cheers
Jon Read more

Yesterday I needed to join the M4 westbound at J11. The junction here is built above the motorway, and is currently the subject of a massive re-construction project.

At the westbound entry slip, the left lane of the slip road is currently coned off just past the entry, meaning everyone has to merge in to the right lane. There are often two lanes of traffic jostling for the single lane on the slip road at the moment.

As I indicated left to join the slip road down form the roadworks at the roundabout, I noted that the three cars in front of me were battling for two spaces, the two in the right lane did not seem to want the other car to merge. So I held off the throttle a bit to give myself a bit more space in front of me whilst they sorted it out.

As this happened, a purple X-Trail tore up my left flank and swerved in front of me, taking my safety margin and forcing me to dab the brakes, as he had to brake to slow down, thus avoiding rear-ending the car in front.

Annoyed, I blasted the horn, and immediately after this the sound of a screaming airhorn came from behind me as an HGV struggled to avoid rear ending me.

The guy in the X-Trial was by now glaring at me in his mirror, and I pointed at him, then behind me at the lorry to indicate that he had caused the near miss.

This enraged the X-Trial driver, who I could see turning red even in his rear view mirror.

He joined the M4, then deliberately slowed up to encourage me to pass him, which I did. Whilst I was doing so, he wound down his window and leant out, giving me the full coffee beans and screaming abuse of some kind. Once I was past him, he turned on his beam and tailgated me for a good half mile, during which time I was wishing I had a handsfree phone and could dial 999. I also considered pulling off in to Reading Services, but was worried that he would follow.

So, I found two HGVs in the left lane, and pulled in between them (it was a big enough gap, I didn't cause either truck any difficulty here). X-Trail man then blasted past me and went off on his way, but for a final finale managed to point down at my car as he went past, mouthing something I couldn't make out but it appeared he was pointing at my number plate, and I presume he was intending to memorise it and look out for me in future. Happily, I was on my way to change cars, so that was the last time I was to drive that car.

I had my 5 year old son in the back seat, who was fortunately oblivious to all this.

OK, I shouldn?t have tootled him quite so melodiously (or at all) when he cut me up. But heavens. I was really terrified (more for my son's safety of course more than anything), and I just couldn't believe the guy's anger and willingness to put us all in danger. More than once.

Visions of Kenneth Noye danced in my head.

Am I getting too sensitive or was I justifiably shaken by this?

Perhaps in the original incident he was having trouble getting between me and the lorry behind me. But if that?s the case, he should have backed off and merged in behind the lorry.
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Looking if any Backroomers have by any chance an old Honda CB750 at the back of their garage (or under a tarpaulin in the garden).

Looking to buy an engine, but a complete bike is no problem. It's for a classic race bike project.

Thanks. Read more

Something interesting happened a few threads down when a discussion on 'Car Leasing Sites' was started by dezz.

HJ invited comments on a company called Ling's Cars and about thirty comments were made by Ling's customers, many of whom, like me, registered on this website for the first time. A couple of commenters 'got the hump' and HJ also felt he had 'got enough' comments, so the thread was locked.


This statement by Jack_K is fundamentally incorrect correct. What I posted was "People have been recommending www.lingscars.com . Ling Valentine certainly recommends herself. If anyone has had dealings with Ling then I'd appreciate feedback, by e-mail with the sender's snail mail address to letters@honestjohn.co.uk (I won't pick it up from the Backroom)." How much clearer could I have been? I definitely did not ask for responses in The Backroom. Since then I've had multiple e-mails without addresses, so double the work. And the Backroom has been swamped with responses. HJ.



Now, any normal web-savvy business or site would love to have new members sign up and make comments about something they feel passionate about. They would absolutely kill to have them referred by another website for free - most have to pay thousands of pounds to Google and the like for the privilege.

The idea that you would shut comments on a thread at the behest of two or three 'long term' commenters is positively feudal in web terms. Is this symptomatic of the fact that many in the motor trade are 'lightyears' behind when it comes to the internet? Read more