February 2010
Hi
I live in England and am looking at buying a Mitsubishi Outlander. I spooted a main dealer in Autotrader who has some 12month old models at good prices, so good it would be worth a cheap flight and driving it back and still saving nearly 2k.
Has anyone done this before? Got any advice or are there any pitfalls?
Thanks. Read more
bmw the car has broken down have bought a new battery but when connecting it up the points keep sparking and i cant leave it connected any help would be greatful thanks Read more
You have't connected it up the wrong way round have you? If so, even though its right now it could have burnt out the alternator diodes and possibly other things as well.
side lights don't work on right hand side, all other lights work. Have checked fuses and also the switch contacts (as per some previous threads ive seen) but still dont work. contacts were blackened but I have cleaned them. Any ideas? Read more
All you need to do is run a wire from the working Left side to the missing supply wire on the right side.Job done.Sorry,can't remember the wire colour code.hth
Evening all
I'm sure this is a quick answer if you know anything about cars...which of course I don't!
My MX5 had new discs and pads last year, has been parked up more or less since September with only a few runs out. Took it out yesterday and it seems like the drivers side brake is sticking on - funny smell, wheel hot.
I've arranged to take it to a local garage tomorrow but was wondering what may be causing it - I'm hoping a bit of lubrication will be the fix, but could it be more serious, i.e. expensive?
Would appreciate if anyone could give me an idea of what to expect it to be before I go to the garage.
TIA
Lee
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I take it you are talking about the rear brake? This is not surprising really considering it is not driven often. It will most likely fix itself after a decent drive, simply reversing the car will often solve the problem.
It shouldn't cost you much at a garage, I'd say £50 at the most, unless something really serious has happened, which is unlikely.
To prevent it happening in future, when parking the car for long periods, do not use the handbrake but leave it in gear.
Has anyone used Just MOTs?
If you book and pay 60 days in advance, it is only £19!
www.justmots.eu/ Read more
The council MOT test centres also do testing only - no repairing.
My engine oil was changed yesterday but its about 4mm above the max mark. It was 8mm above but I drained some out today though its still 4mm above. Does this matter? I've driven it a few miles and there don't appear to be any problems. Read more
Diesels used to blacken the oil very quickly because of the high soot level in combustion, but as they are improving in efficiency the oil is staying cleaner longer. The Perkins diesels I drove in years past needed an oil change every 2,000 miles!, if you left it much longer nothing came out when you removed the sump plug, I used to pour half a pint of diesel into the engine just before changes so the oil would run out.
Petrol engines are cleaner burning, not because they are more efficient but because the fuel is much more refined and therefore cleaner, as the engine wears the oil can get dirty quicker so it can if the engine is running over rich, so I wouldn't set to much store by it.
Back to your original problem, there is not much likelyhood of petrol getting into the sump so I think it must just have been a checking error.
I was a passenger in my friends passat and noticed a judder when braking ,also the abs light was appearing on and off through most of the journey .any thoughts anyone thanks . Martink Read more
Yep, It will almost certainly be a damaged reluctor ring or abs sensor. In some instances this can be an indication that a wheel bearing is about to go pop.
I was looking around the web and there are a few up and comming ultra low emission cars due to come out (none of that hybrid not so green carp).
However, these makers have been saying this for over three years now so what is going on ?
For example :-
The Loremo car www.loremo.com
Axon Automotive www.axonautomotive.com
These are just two examples but if you look at their press section's, you will see that they are just going to car shows and showing the cars off while getting a few more rewards.
Why not do some real work and get them on the road ?
It is almost as if these makers are being paid off NOT to produce ultra efficient cars.
{Links amended so they'll work} Read more
In the US,GM supplied a retirement community with electric cars at at very reduced price as part of an advertizing campaign-these vehicles were supposed to have a range of 100-150 miles.The pensioners started to complain that the batteries were going flat after less than 50 miles.GM investigated and found that the pensioners were making full use of the available torque, driving foot flat to the floor and turning on the A/C.
Just remember that the UK market is very skewed-more than 70% of new cars are bought by firms who have little incentive to get economic cars but buy ones to keep their employees happy.
My sister is looking for an suv like this for her growing family. It seems great value in auto guise and the engine spec looks fantastic with 194bhp and 322 lb ft from only a 2.2. Only thing that stops me pointing her in its direction would be crazy depreciation as John and Autocar (only journos I take heed of) really rate it.
Will this thing nosedive in value? Read more
Saw a new shape Hyundai Sonata diesel taxi yesterday at some traffic lights. Sounded very quiet and refined moving off.
There's been some garage talk recently, and as HJ himself hasn't mentioned it on the forum (yet), here's the news item for those that have missed it:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/item.htm?id=36204 Read more
Browse
Thanks for the quick replies already :-)
The cars are pre-reg 2009 so probably done just before the end of the year to make up their numbers, so they only have 10miles on the clock.
It's is a long way for sure which is why I'm really putting out feelers for feedback as it's not something I'd thought of doing before, but the dealers in England can't get close from I can see and unfortunatley I can't make use of scrappage deals as my current cars isn't old enough.