June 2010
Hi all,
I hope you don't mind me asking for advice as a brand new poster! I've been googling for answers and Honest John keeps coming up so I was hoping I could ask your opinion on a couple of things.... Read more
I own a Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 16v Dynamic Sport 57' reg and have just been quoted £440 for a 36,000 mile service at my local Fiat dealer - Thames Fiat Slough. This seems fairly excessive to me, can anybody help?
Also I am worried that if I stray away from the main Fiat dealer network I will void the warranty for my car?... Read more
This really is excessive. The last warranty service I paid for on a Hyundai two years ago, which also included the cam belt change( the car was near its 50,000 mile limit), was £ 360. This is a bit rich for a glorified oil change, but dealers can be like that as, unless you're buying another car from them, they know after the warranty expires you won't be using them for servicing and want as much as they can get from you. I saved £ 150 last year on a major service on a Nissan which was post warranty by using a local idependent even though I got the usual begging letter about how important it was to use a main dealer. Same as in the autumn it will only need an oil and filter change that most reputable independents will do for £ 30.
I am thinking of buying one of these as a run around, I have noticed that it has rot on the cross member (under radiator) I want to budget for a repair.
Please Can anyone give me an approximate cost (independant garage) to supply & replacement of a front cross member ? thank you Read more
As with alot of jobs the part is relatively cheap but it takes alot of labour, I had one done about 6 years ago ( this is a common rust area on these cars but once done its good for another 10 years) and as I remember the part was about £70 and they billed 3 hours labour so I would say a good £250 minimum but they are pretty bullet proof cars so if the rest is good it may be worth the cost.
The above light comes on occasionally.
If it was the secondary air pump at fault would it come on after every cold start since the pump doesn't work (according to garage).... Read more
Dear Lucy
I hired a car at Cork Airport from Hertz over the internet in April. The car was hired for a week from 29th May till the 5th June and i did not take out any collision waiver. I had a flight on Saturday at 8.20pm and i returned the car to the car park for Hertz at about 6.30ish. I went to the Hertz desk and i told the person at the desk i was returning the car and he told me to pop the keys in the letter box at the desk. I thought nothing of it and went and got my flight. The car was NOT damaged in any way, shape or other.
This was on Saturday 5th June. Today i receive a letter from Hertz Damage/Claims Department. It provides a Vehicle damage report and it was created on the 15th June. The company is charging me:
€38 for the loss of the vehicle for 1 day in order to transport the vehicle to a repair location.
€115 to transport the vehicle to Hertz Head Office (for a supposed scratch on the bonnet)
€14.23 corrosion Protection Materials
€456.50 Body Labour
a total amount of €786.96!!!
The incident report form description states: CAR RETURN OUT OF HOURS TO THE AIRPORT OFFICE
The sketch of the Mark Damage X is a straight line on the right hand side of the bonnet however the digital pictures they have sent with the letter to me has:
A close up of a jagged 'v' shaped mark that has no sense of scale to it!
There is a photocopy of my receipt with Hertz and my signature and the print of my credit card
There is a close-up picture of the registration plate of the car which is the same as the one on the receipt
There is a close up of a polished bonnet of a renault car but once again you cannot see the registration number
At no point is the scratch of the car shown on the car with the number plate in evidence!
I returned the car at the right time in the right place on the 5th June 2010 however the Hertz Incident Report Form is dated 11th June 2010 but there is no date, time, location on the incident report form and no signature of renter .They have also written NONE where question 8 LIABILITY Do you consider yourself to blame? (?) was the answer a question mark in brackets?
Can you let me know what are my rights because i am certain that i have done nothing wrong and i am being defrauded in some way. There is no signature on the letter from Hertz except an electronic Hertz signature. There is no reference number except for the same details of the
Rental Record No: 802621024
Hertz vehicle: 08D 15857
Damage report: WEX62
There is no date of incident on the incident report form and nothing written on the location spot. Too many pieces missing of this flimsy piece of a copy of a Incident Report Form. The damage stated underneath is BONNET - no mention of scratch etc.
What can i do? Read more
I used to rent Hertz but stopped a few years ago when the Terms and Conditions changed giving the company free access to my credit card and charging €400 for a disputed minor scratch at Munich.
I've noticed they seem to have an army of people (no doubt on commmision) going over returned vehicles looking for the slightest little defect....
WE replaced gearbox on this vehicle with one from a large vauxhall
breakers. When we blead the clutch the pedal seemed ok when we
depressed pedal again it suddenely went to the floor fluid ran from under neath gearbox. We replaced fluid bearing again this bearing also burst
when clutch depressed we removed clutch to check and it appeared ok
does anyone know if there are different gearboxes for this model
can anyone shed some some light on this please
Best Recards Mickeybo Read more
If the new clutch fitted the flywheel and the gearbox fitted into the flywheel I don't see what the gearbox has to do with it.The problem is with the clutch itself you have a faulty or wrong part on the fluid side or you have assembled it incorrectly.
hi just bought a 03 renult laguna dynamique 1.8 and just noticed a screeching noise from engine when i accelarate can anyone help please Read more
Could be the alternator belt slipping.
Got the tank off my HDi to replace the knackered pump, and when the new one is put in situ, the large plastic retaining ring, (Which is a brand new dealer part.) won't screw onto the top to hold it in, it keeps slipping off the threads.
Any ideas? Read more
hi maybe the plastic threads on the tank are damaged!
A couple of weeks ago I had my car serviced at my local garage, then yesterday i parked up and with my wheels at an angle i noticed something dangling from the "suspension?" behind the wheel arch which looked like a strap.
I got down on my knees and found that it was an inspection lamp that had obviously been left there by one of the mechanics it was stuck because it had very strong magnets, coincidently my car radio has been playing up too with different things stopping working one after another now the radio has no display the steering wheel controls no longer work, it only switches off manually now and i can't try any of the setting or programming as there is no display !
So apart from the danger that this lamp could have come off at any time and i dread to think what could have happened to me or my family but i feel sure that the magnets have b*****ed my radio up ! Please can you tell me if i can prove that the lamp caused the radio faults ? and also do i report this garage to trading standards as i am quite concerned at thier incompetence ? Thanks any advice gratefully recieved. Read more
Thanks for your reply, went to the garage today, spoke to the manager he was as shocked as us and has requested that we take the car in on saturday morning so that they can see if they can fix it. Fingers crossed. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.
can anyone give me an idea of what is causing my heater/blower to default to windscreen only?
i thought it might be the direction switch, but we have swapped that out and it made no difference! any help would be appreaciated ... Read more
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This one's aimed at Lucy...and I appreciate i've left it late in this thread as the horse has bolted, the door's been closed and the stable cleaned up before I've got involved.
If someone commits a motoring misdemeanour and at the time of that offence has relevant points on their licence, then the Magistrates can take them in to account for sentencing purposes...but...surely if by the time it gets to court some points were no longer active...then they would not be available to be used for totting up purposes, because they were no longer current?...