December 2010
I have recently bought one of the last of the old-cam chain- uprated engined ka. Very nice but its only doing 35 mpg. Exactly same use as a 2004 model i had before with 100007 miles on it which did 46 all the time. It runs perfectly , done 35000 and not driven hard. Mixed use. Hope its not normal! Thank you. Jonathon Read more
Hi all, first post hopefully put it in the right place.
I'm in Central Scotland and we have a rear private car park servicing 3 blocks of flats which sit around 3 edges of the car park (the 4th sits on the edge of industrial complex)
We all have assigned parking bays with some extra bays for visitors etc. The problem is one of our new neighbours has taken to parking outwith any of the bays and is blocking our exit from our spot more often than not. We are generally parked in a bay with a car either side of us. The neighbour parks their car side on (we face driver side of offending vehicle in rear view) with only a cars width between us we have on a few occasions been forced to leave the car as unable to negotiate leaving the space without damaging other vehicles.
I spoke to the guy today in the car park as no one ever answers the door when we knock it and advised him of this, he was completely dissinterested and quite categorically told me they would not be parking elsewhere and continued to park in the same spot.
My question is, what can I do regarding this?
Read more
I used to have similar issues when I lived in Essex. I would advise against blocking in with your car, because you are likely to get damage to your car and you won't be able to prove who did it.
As we were all council tenants, the council helped to deal with my problem (evenutally). If its a private block the management company might be easier to deal with (you might even be a shareholder if its run by the residents). I know of one blocks where the residents have put up a few signs and bought themselves a wheelclamp - not that expensive and easy enough to organise if there is enough of you who share the same problem. Disadvantage is that it might take a bit of time though....
Having just bouught this 130PD PAssat I am bogged down in the oil saga. All a bit new to me as the old Passat 20V petrol just used tripleR synthetic and has always been fine. Suddenly I am faced with having to get a very specific grade of oil. I have researched my local autofactors and am looking at about £50 for 5L of comma or similar, but on fleabay I can get 5L of Quantum longlife 3 507 for £32. Is this stuff any good? Sure it must be if it meets the VW spec but just checking to see who uses it Read more
Quantum 3 Longlife sourced from Jorily Skoda in Barnsley for £31 inc courier cost. Can't find cheaper than that anywhere else
With the rather depressing news that petrol and diesel prices are reaching a record high plus the addition of duty and vat rise due in January do you think the motoring public should take a leaf out of the students book and lobby the government ?
Those drivers who live in rural areas have no option but to use their cars as no viable public transport is available so I know from personal experiance that this is hitting all motorists hard.... Read more
My belief is that we lost a lot of our feeling of a socieity under the thatcher regime and new labour followed this on.The French people haven't lost this yet and are prepared to battle for their rigthts.There will never be a perfect system all most people want in my opinion is fairness.
hi i bought a car from a dealer and part exed my old bmw 735 towards the cost. a day later he rings me and says there is a gearbox fault with yours so i would like my car back and you can have yours. he didnt take mine for a test drive before so that is his fault! he turned the engine on so any fault would have shown on the computer straight away.
can he ask for this car back or is it legally mine? ... Read more
Hi Pixie, something similar happened to me in the mid seventies. I think the law is still similar now as then. I part exchanged a car for another in good faith, as I was not aware of any faults. The dealer called and asked me to return the 'new' car as my 'old' car had a blown head gasket. I went to see him and the car. Luckily I had replaced a tyre 2 days before the trade in and the mileage was recorded on the bill. In those 2 days I only did about 40 miles to work and back. At the dealers the odometer revealed that the car had covered nearly 780 miles. Obviously someone at the dealers had taken the car for a weekend and thrashed it throughly. Presented with this the dealer backed off. Check your mileage and if you were not aware of a fault, stick to your guns. Good luck. Concrete
How to make the vehicle understand the current consumption is less than that for a normal H4 incandescent light bulb. When fitted, the replacement H4 LED does not work, as the car circuitry folds back and does not allow any current to flow, even thougth the 12V is present. Read more
If 12v and and earth are present then the LED bulb should illuminate although you may have a bulb out indicator come on. Are you sure the bulb you have is road legal. As the physical source of the light is different the beam is not formed properly by the reflector. Have you tested the bulb directly from the battery. Rgerads Peter
Is it me or does there appear to be an increasing number of people who post once, then disappear without so much as a by-your-leave? Read more
Apart from anything else, it's nice to have the 'conclusion' or the 'fix' reported for others that might be searching for the same symptoms at a later date.
Will some kind person please tell me how to view a thread I posted yesterday and any answers fothcoming! I am a member of other Forums and don't have any trouble. Natuarlly it will be necessary to do it via Email (or I wouldn't have the problem!) and a nice simple step by step please.
harolddeutsch @talktalk.net Read more
Thanks PeterEA, I found it as you suggested.
have to replace heater matrix onthis car at a quick glance it looks to me as a dash
out job or perhaps a removal of glove box compartment should suffice any feed back... Read more
If I recall,these can be removed without dash removal.take out glove box and I think it slides sideways.hth
Hi Guys,
This relates to a my car which ended up rearended and written off, when stuck in a queue and rearended by another car at about 55MPH. The other party has admitted full liability, and so have retained my NCB and have the excess back.
From the date of the accident to recieving the insurance cheque, approx 2 month's passed due to the lax attitude of the insurance company. (Had to make an official compliant).
This question is about the costs I can claim for, and how can loss of use be calculated for a expensive car.
I was given a hire car for 2 days, though returned it as it was powerful and with no tactical feedback so felt it was dangerous to drive as had no idea of the road surface. The insurance companies legal division, seemed to be entirely focused on supplying replacement vehicles which is not honest to me. Hardly suprising as I found out they would have charged over £300 per day (discounted over 2 months), or about £20K for 2 months for the car I was given.
I did not claim whiplash, as it cleared up after 3 days or so.
I cannot claim for time, as did not lose any busines despite spending 3-4 days sorting things out.
I have coalated the taxis, train and tube fares which is about £800.
The legal company has stated I cannot claim for both loss of use and travel expenses, my problem with that is:-
a) I have not been able to do what I would normally have done, using the car on the weekends or late when it is impossible to get taxis/transportation.
b) The travel expenses are for the weekdays.
I have also been told for loss of use I can claim £10 per day, which is hardly fair for a car which costs about £2500 to maintain a year in the past few years and has a depreciation of £2000 a year.
Read more
i was involved in a similar collision, firstly you are entitled to hire a like for like vehicle,they will usually find you a bmw or mercedes, they supplied me an 's'class. you can claim for any and all out of pocket expenses providing you can prove your loss,they may squirm at first but keep pushing and do not be put off by the thought of going to court, if you have your proof they will give in before this, also threaten to engage a ;no win no fee solicitor, they will rather deal diect with you else they end up paying you anyway and then all of your solicitors costs !!! do not give in


It might just be the unusually cold weather. It wouldn't be unusual to see a difference of at least 5 mpg between summer and winter - due to the richer fuel/air mixture and more sitting waiting for it to de-ice/de-mist.
Maybe wait until the weather warms up before worrying too much...
Would be worth checking fluid levels and tyre pressures too if you haven't already.
Tim