May 2010
I bought a classic 80s motor recently. Now with a car of this age you take everthing with a pinch of salt. I judged the car on merit and am overall happy with it. It is in prime condition, nearly show standard and I paid a fair sum for it. The service book has a series of stamps from the past three or four years from the supplying classic dealer. I got some cock and bull about the car being serivced by them and then sold to them when the owner decided to sell it. I wasnt that fussed, as I say, judged the car on merit and there were plenty of othe reciepts for years prior. Stamps in books are just that, stamps in books, especially from little independants. They dont prove much so I certainly didn't buy the car for this reason.
However, I found the email address of the previous owner in the docs so dropped him a line. Thought he might like to know his cherished motor had gone to a good home. We had a good chat. Good news - the guy was a genuine enthusiast and had done a load of work and everything sounds nice. But then I ask about the services. Nope, he never even knew the dealer and sold it to them on ebay. He had never had it serviced there and said the book hadnt been stamped in his ownership. He said he'd go on the record to confirm that if necessary.... Read more
Hi, I have bought one of those all in one, voltage + Metal + stud, detectors and was hoping it would allow me to drill more safely into walls etc. However when I run it across most parts of walls inside the house it seems to flash and beep intermitedly which is making it impossible to drill anywhere. Can anyone advise whether I am using this wrong? Should I only avoid drilling in areas where there is a continuous buzzing noise? Thanks for any help. Read more
I've an old Black & Decker one. It works, though I'm not always confident about the results and always breathe a sigh of relief when the hole is drilled and I'm not electrocuted or water spurts out. I was particularly pleased at our old house when I managed to trace an electrical cable that defied logic and ran diagonally up a wall.
Not sure about this, but I suspect that they may be thrown by metal foil that backs plasterboard that is used these days.
After reading some old posts here about spark plugs snapping when extracted i am getting very worried as my service is due.I have checked that there has been no water in the plug bays and there is none .But if i take my car to a sevice centre and the dreaded happens what will my legal standing be if the spark plugs snap and they want a hefty bill to sort it out.
Can i mention this befor hand or am i just pushing up costs.... Read more
I can think of two possible solutions......
Bearing in mind your use of the phrase "service centre" the first is to use a decent garage known to be honest and competent (not necessarily a franchised dealer). Do you have any Ford-driving aquaintances who have a good local mechanic?...
Here is a temporary pic of a bike engine - taken on our travels.
1) Name the bike... Read more
I could just do with one of those for local runs... It did remind me of the Arrow/Leader engine Tom, with the twin pipes.
Please can you tell me If replacing the 4 glowplugs on my Mondeo is a easy task to complete myself as I have only ever replaced spark plugs on previous cars.I know my way around my socket set but am nervy about replacing the glow plugs.Any help or tips would really be great.Thankyou Shanice. Read more
Thankyou both so much .. advice heeded .. Shanice.
Just wondered if anyone had any idea how much it would cost for MOT, service and new clutch. I think MOT and service is £129. Read more
I'm looking for a caravan tug that will hold our two dogs. I won't be doing more than 5,000 miles a year in it.
I've seen an '06 Beemer, as above, advertised at £10,995 with 127,000 miles on the clock.
Parkers has them at £17,000 with 40,000 miles.
Knowing HJ's mantra about high miles do you think that this could be a worthy purchase and are there any issues I should watch for?
Andy Read more
You would be better with a E class petrol if you are only going to do 5k a year.They certainly last longer if German taxis are anything to go by.
My Audi has just developed a rupture to a flexy joint in one of it's cats. Audi say that the whole cat must be replaced at £1100 + fitting! I've read plenty about aftermarket cats (typically £100 each) but, apart from being shorter lived than OE parts, is there a downside - particularly for cars whose value approaches the part cost? Also, any advice on which aftermarket brand to use? Read more
Yes, I think you're right. Thanks to the other guys as well - helped to clarify in my mind. Actually, apart from not lasting as long, I've heard very few things against aftermarket cats.
Hi there,
A few months back travelling on a motorway I had to slow down fairly sharply as traffic ahead was breaking for a broken down vehicle.... Read more
Rear end shunts with no frontal damage are (almost) always the fault of the car behind.
It gets more complicated when there is more than one car involved but "knock-for-knock" (which doesn't really exist any more - the insurance industry talks about split liability) would be totally inappopriate in this case as you were not responsible for the accident in any event - assuming that there was no damage to the front of your car....
Up until a year ago I had an old Nissan terrano. When I sold the car I obviously cancelled my insurance and received the cancellation note stating as such. Last month I received a renewal notice for the insurance of the vehicle. It transpires that having thought I had cancelled the insurance policy a member of the insurance team had reactivated the policy and withdrawn £400 from my bank account without my knowledge. The insurers state that this was a clerical error. They have reimbursed me and offered the modest amount of £80 as compensation. I am somewhat appalled that the protocols and procedures of the insurance company allow for this to happen; especially that money can be withdrawn from my bank account. I appreciate that had I reviewed my bank account more diligently then I might have been aware of what was happening. What are my options? Read more
It depends on the terms of the original contract but the chances are that if you gave them a card of any kind they have a "continuous mandate" which is almost impossible to kill off without theeir consent without replacing the card and if you gave them your bank details via a direct debit then their only obligation is to refund any charges they should not have made.
As they seem to have worked within the rules and it seems you have been refunded in full and received some measure of compensation for the inconvenience it is very unlikely you can take this any further.
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Falsely adding a service history is fraud and Trading Standards may take the case up. Reporting the case should not affect your right to keep the vehicle. Whether you would be compensated in any way would depend if the stamps materially affected the value of the vehicle - you seem to suggest it would not have.
Under the circumstances you probably should report it - even if it only means having Trading Standards look at the case might dissuade the garage from undertaking similar little "tricks" in future.