January 2011
Hi all. Currently have a 58-reg 2.2 Tdci S-Max. I can't afford the finance (or fuel, to be honest) on it any more due to job circumstances so I'm selling it, paying off the finances and getting something cheaper to run for a while.
I work from home so do very few miles at present. If that changes I'll worry about changing the car again then. However I do quite a few small journies of 5 to 20 miles several times a week (with most of the family in the car) and maybe once a month a longer ones of > 100. Also 3 or 4 trips to Devon for family visits/holidays each year with roofbox and surfboard on top. Overall mileage probably well less than 10k per annum, with 70% of that being short-ish journies.... Read more
I dont do a lot of mileage as I work from home ( under 5k ) but I would like a 4/5 seater car that looks quite professional, not too dated and a bit unusual.
They must be reliable... Read more
I second the Honda Accord. I have a 2001 SE Executive. All the toys you could wish for and everything still works as new. Very reliable and looks good in saloon form.
Avoid one with an 'auto' box as they're prone to failing at the mileage you'll be looking at.
I'm changing my Volvo V70 which is high mileage and getting very expensive to keep going.
I'm going to trade it for one of the following and I don't really know which will be the most reliable, given that I will be buying it with approx 100k miles and will take this to 200k over the next 5 or 6 years. What do you peeps think?... Read more
I've had my 2003 2.0 Zafira diesel now since april 2009 but always had problems starting it when weather is cold. Lots of cranking a cough a splutter and a ploom of white smoke. It's had injector seal changed and checked, its had fuel filter done twice, spill off pipes have been done, compression tested (all ok), diagnostics been done (shows nothing), glow plugs have been changed twice and tested, glow plug control unit tested (all ok), temp sensor changed and tested. I'm out of idea's now and hoping someone can suggest something else. I'm wondering weather could be fuel pump ECU????
Help Me Please!!!! Read more
Hi all,
I do regular trips from Cambridge to Bristol (about 190 miles) and noticed towards the tail end of my journey last night that the handbrake light was dimly lit; looking at the manual this would suggest that the brake fluid needs checking - but a few quick Googles reveal that this could be a sympton of a bigger problem.... Read more
Managed to do this in the early hours of this morning - not great lighting but enough to take a look at what was there; must say that the fluid looks pretty full to me!
Started the car up, and the light is still dimly lit when the handbrake is off - so perhaps it is wiring? Is there anything else that the light could be asking me to check?
Hi all hope someone can help me with this one. I have a 1995 mrk3 golf estate. Driving home one night my oil light starts to flash and i loose rev counter and speedo on my dash , then suddenly it all goes back to normal. Couple of days later the problem is back and it eventually drained the battery. Thought it was a faulty dash so i managed to get my hands on a new dash.Plugged it in and the problem was still there. Brought it to a company who specialise in car electrics and after a couple of days said two wires behind the fuse bow had rubbed together causing a short circuit, problen solved i thuoght. Car was fine for a couple of months then recently driving one day on comes the oil light and total loss of the rev counter and speedo. drove it untill the complete dash failed and the car cut out due to battery going flat. When it happens my fan heater and window wipers run slow. After recharging my battery attemped the journey home only to find that about a mile from my house when i took off from a set of traffic lights and was above 20 mph everything started to work again only to fail once i was at traffic lights. Have checked all the wires around fuse box and in the engine. This one is driving me mad Please Help.Steve Read more
Hi there thanks for the reply to my problem. Just one question would a bad earth cause all these problems.Like cause the oil light to flash and loss of rev and speedo on the dash. But i will follow your advise and take a good look around the engine and all the relivent earth leads. Thanks elekie&a/c doctor
I have a 1998 Honda CRV on an 'S' Plate. I have owned the car for 2 years and it has served me well. Let me down twice - once due to the battery (original !) failing - the second time due to battery again (another rubbish halfords part).
The car has a dented rear door (bad - but cosmetic) where I backed it into the wall at home (don't ask!). and 2 very minor rust spots, which have been corrosion treated. It is comfortable to drive (I'm a big guy), and has so far passed each MOT without issue. I have it serviced locally and do minor work myself - but the car came with a comprehensive honda service history when I bought the car, and had been pampered by it's previous owners.... Read more
Bazza's right - an old diesel "might" be ok but very costly if you end up replacing some or all of injectors, dmf, clutch. I'd keep the CRV, sounds a good one, carry out the necessary work and it will still be worth £1,000 in 3 years time.
...
Hi,
My 2003 fiesta with 160K on the clock had recently developed (after lots of town driving) a loud knock the rear on speed bumps/potholes and a bouncy ride eminating from the rear. Still on the original shocks, one is visibly leaking oil, so i have bought 2 new ones to replace the rear pair which will hopefully solve my problem and they are an easy DIY fix.
Anyway, I'm sure i saw on TV a few years ago about a garage that had a special ramp like they can do laser wheel alignment on (mine were 3mm out last tyre change btw) but it did a computer test of shock absorber efficiency per wheel by an electronic bounce test and gave a % figure per wheel, anyone haerd of this or a garage that does it? Just after testing the front ones.
Graham. Read more
All Spanish ITV (Mot) testing stations do this test as standard, the big difference however is that they are merely testing centres, and do not carry out repairs. No ulterior motives finding faults, a far fairer system I think.
I've a 2000 Focus, with a 1.8 TDdi Endura Di engine. I've to replace the engine. Got a secong hand engine, which I can get with it's injector pump still attached. Can I put the injector pump that's came out of my car onto the replacement engine without needing to recode the pump? Will this work?
If I change the replacement engines pump with mine, do the injectors need to be swapped to?... Read more
Use the original pump from the blown engine.This is the easiest solution.The injectors are not coded on these.If it was running ok on the original injectors,then it may be a good option to swap them also.hth
Hi, I wonder if any one has any idea what is causing my focus to shake when driving over 60 mph. The shaking is felt through the seat/body and not the steering wheel, it makes driving higher than 70mph unbearable. The shaking will stop if i take my foot off the accelerator or put my foot down on the clutch. I have had the wheels balanced but that has not reduced it. On my last MOT it failed originally on the offside front spring coil not correctly located and i have had an advisory stating "Front Suspension weakened but no possibility of the body or a component fouling a road wheel" Could it be a problem with the suspension or something else.... Read more
I experienced exactly the same symptoms on a Mondeo, the vibration got progressively worse over a 2 year period, and gradually maniested itself a lower speeds, during this proof it passed mot's!
I eventually found the fault to be an inner CV joint, it was in a very sad state when I eventually changed it. The car had passed the MOT's because the joint was hidden by an engine undertray and the fault was not evident when not being driven, and testers do not remove undertrays to inspect inner joints.
Browse
IMHO £5K is a reasonable price to pay for a car. There are plenty of buggies out there at that sort of price that will still give several years of sterling service, and any modest repair bills are more than offset by the minimal depreciation, and the reduced capital outlay that could have been usefully spent on christmas presents and hot lunches. We do not all run company cars.
My Saab 95 2.2TID Estate was £4K two years ago, and although somewhat agricultural to the ears on startup is a faithful servant, comfortable, spacious and gives 38 mpg on the back lanes and up to 42 mpg on the motorway provided not pressed to illegal velocities