April 2011
What sort of valuations do dealers make on cars handed back at the end of PCP deals? If the car is in good condition, can you expect the typical part ex value? My current car, which is on a personal contract, is due to be handed back at the end of August. The minimum future value is around £4000 while the trade in value is around £6000 and the private sale value a further thousand more.
I am not sure where I am going for my next car and have not been in touch with my current dealer yet. Before I do, I just want to get an idea of how these cars are valued so that I can consider other avenues should I not be happy with the dealer valuation. Read more
There are vast numbers of diesel cars on the roads and many makes/models are now only available with diesel engines. Not all of these vehicles can be being driven under 'ideal conditions'. If there were continuing problems then surely owners would be 'up-in-arms' and there would be plenty of media cover. My own straw poll has not found anyonewho has experienced a problem (many do not know what a DPF is and that their vehicle has one!). So has there been a marked improvement in DPF technology that has overcome previous problems? Finally is there any sort of league table of manufacturers problems (or lack of) with DPF's? Do any cover DPF's in their warranties and is there any correlation between engine size and DPF problems? Read more
Actually getting the engine up to operating temperature can be the real challenge. I forgot to add that the engine itself is subject to significant direct air cooling via air moving through the engine bay. This is particularly true when the coolant in the radiator circuit is cold.
The other point to note is that the temperature gauge is usually mounted in the cylinder head-which is one of the hottest parts of the engine-and the first to warm up. The actual engine block typically lags behind the head in terms of engine warm up....
i am looking at converting my bike to a trike and need to find an independant suspension setup with a diff with the input on the offside (righthand looking from behind).
ford sierra diffs appear to have a nearside input.... Read more
all sorted now. i found a bloke selling a complete kit on ebay and the ford scorpio diff fitted has the input on the correct side and the rotation is correct. the bike is a moto guzzi california ev. several evenings with the spanners and welder are planned to get the job done.
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Hi,
I was recently in my girlfriends Nissan micra and noticed a whirring/rumbling noise coming i think from the rear of the car. It seems to become noticeable at above 30mph and from what i could tell, the pitch of the sound increased with speed until it wasn't that noticeable over general cabin noise at about 70mph. I know next to nothing about cars but my first thought was that maybe it was a problem in the exhaust system. However the noise persists if while driving i asked her to take the car out of gear and free wheel for a while. If it where linked to the exhaust system wouldn't i expect it to go away once the accelerator is depressed?... Read more
Looks like it was a wheel bearing problem, thanks again for the heads up.
lucy, i posted around a year ago...id be grateful for a call 01405 766166
gary Read more
My 2005 mondeo 2.0l has an intermittent airbag flashing warning light . It is staying on longer now than it used to. Any suggestions on problem / rectification? Read more
When dealing with explosives, I wouldnt fiddle around unless you know what you are doing. Having said that, it's probably just a loose connection somewhere. The flashing should be a number of times. The number of flashes tell you what type of fault there is.
... make to the value of a car?
I am looking at a Sep '08 BMW 1 Series at a BMW dealer, mint, low mileage, full history, three owners:
Owner 1/ BMW - demonstrator
Owner 2/ Jan '09 to Feb '11
Owner 3/ Feb '11 to Apr '11 - apparently his circumstances chganged and he needed a larger car.
How much less is this worth compared to a one owner car everything else being equal?
Thanks.... Read more
Ask the dealer for the previous keeper's details so you can contact them.
I'm in process of trying to sell my CLK, it's in great condition and has very low mileage 24k, however this weekend an interested buyer performed an HPI check on it and it stated that 3 years ago it had 60k on the clock !
I've been onto www.motinfo.gov.uk and found all the old MOT info showing that the mileage on the car is accurate, but this wrong info has put the buyer off !... Read more
I just did a mileage check on a 2nd hand car I plan to purhcase. It's got 64k on the clock, and its looks tie in with the mileage. Yet, the HPI check (thru' the National Mileage Register) is showing 112,000 up to September 2008!
And the history stops there. The seller was speechless. He's now checking. The mileage showing looks like the previous owner used to go up and down the UK every day!! I hope it's a mistake cos I really love the car - drove it, looked very closely and its really nice....
My car has just started making a screeching noise on acelleration after starting up. This goes away after about half a mile. Any Ideas anyone what the problem is? Read more
Focus 1997 TDCI ??????? does not compute.But still sounds like slipping alternator/PAS/AC drive belt.
Having had my 1997 Renault Megane 2.0 RXE from new, it's time for a change. The old lady is bowing out gracefully with a bit of rust on the rear wheel arches and increasingly niggling little problems. Not worth spending much on it now as it's still going to be a 14 year old car and all's downhill now with it. I've avoided the Mk2 Megane, mainly because of reported electrical problems which mine certainly hasn't been plagued with. The new shape Megane is reputed to be a big improvement, so as I want at least comparable spec and performance as the Mk1 RXE I'm contemplating the Megane 2.0 TCE. as a replacement. Any thoughts? I'm aware that it'll probably be a higher insurance group and that the road tax is £200 (less than the old one actually.) and that it won't be economy motoring. Read more
Browse
They can't give you less than the MGFV, but they can give you more. True, they won't want to - but if they have the chance to sell you another, and (particularly) if your trade-in is one they can sell from their forecourt, they may give you something which could form the deposit on your next car.
Dealers are usually a bit more generous if you're going for the same make again from the same dealer.