September 2011
My tan coloured leather seats are starting to look a bit grubby as the Car is 7 years old, can anyone recommend any products for cleaning them?
Thanks in advance. Read more
This afternoon I was driving down Sidney road Walton on Thames (not so far away from HJ's home)
I ran over a speed hump and the front suspension collapsed.... Read more
I think a cheaper option is just to grow up with diesel engines. I quite like the earthy nature of a good diesel.
I agree with reservations, 4 cylinder Diesels sound like hell, 6 or more cylinder and 2 strokes especially can sound wonderful.
4 cylinder engines of all fuels in proper cars are the result of politicians grabbing money through fuel taxation, they should join politicians in the scrap yard.
Although central locking is working, boot handle seems disengaged, first how do I get the boot open, two, how do I fix the lock, thanks in anticipation. Read more
Our two year old Picanto has developed a starting problem. First start of the day there is rarely a problem but after that it some times takes six or seven attempts. It is very intermittent. Once started it runs perfectly. It has been doing this for about the last 1000 miles in all weathers but mainlywhen it's dry. Due to go in for second service soon so hope they can sort it. Read more
Should be under warranty. Make sure it is formally reported so that you can refer back if something happens in the future.
Q.
We live next door to a car repair garage. My drive is parked over and blocked numerous times a day by the garage owner, customers and delivery vans. He also has cars parked on the road for weeks and months on end that never move. We have asked him so many times not to block our drive. During the last argument he denied blocking my drive (but I have plenty of photos) and threatened us with a war. The council say it is a police matter so we called them. They have been round and spoken to him which stopped him blocking our drive for a week, now we are back to square one again. The police have told us that we can phone them when our drive is blocked but they won't come out as it is not a priority. We've told them there is no point phoning them because the cars blocking our drive will be gone by the time they get there. The owner of the garage said its our fault for moving next to garage! We've been here a lot longer than he has. Any advice on what we can do please before I resort to something stupid!!! Read more
Make a complaint to planning, see if you can get your neighbours on board. If the council receive one complaint they are likely ot to take any notice, if they get three or four or more then they are much more likely to act.
You can get an injuction, although not sure of the costs, been told aroud £500, there are various net lawyers who claim they can do it for less...
Hi, my car Turbo is damaged and costs £1000 to fix it. it is a second hand car and I have spent a lot on it already for repairs. my car warranty company inspected the turbo and said it is damaged due to oil flow interruption to the turbo and since it is not a mechanical failure, they won't pay for it. I recently paid £1400 for head gasket repair and the garage did a poor job and they failed to check the Turbo and I started getting whining noise from the car while driving the car after repair, but they said nothing wrong with what they have done and after driving for around 200 miles Turbo failed and the noise was because of the Turbo. the garage is failing to accept responsibility saying no fault has occurred in what they fixed.
I bought the car for £3600 less than two years back from a dealer and spent nearly £3000 for repairs so far (clutch and dual mass flywheel, head gasket and timing belt and other miscellaneous repairs). I would like to know how much my car is worth now. is it worth selling it after fixing it or just selling it as it is? if I want to sell as it is, how can I do that, because it is not in a driveable state? it is Ford Focus 2003 diesel car and mileage is 71K. I am moving abroad after six months and don't want to make huge investment on another car right now and the problem is if I buy another cheap used car, there is no guarantee that will be a reliable one either, I may have to pay more for repairs if that turns out to be bad and don't want to make the situation worse. Read more
If you can drive it at all, take it to webuyanycar.com. They won't drive it, they just send them to auction on a transporter.It,s up to you if you want to declare the fault, they won't declare it to the auction.
Buyer beware.
Just had two new tyres fitted. A fairly pleasant experience using one of the "we come to you " companies.
It struck me how different the tread pattens were new to old.... Read more
Why don't all cars look the same? They all do the same job.
Just back from the USA where we hired the cheapest car we could get, which turned out to be a brand new Chevy (Daewoo) Aveo. It was so new it had no number plates - just a temporary DMV 30-day licence in the window. But it turns out it's perfectly legal to drive there for the first month with no plates.
It had one feature I've not come across before - you only had to "blip" the key momentarily to the Start position, then release, but the starter motor kept cranking until the engine caught. Do cars here now do that? I haven't driven a new car for several years.... Read more
Yes, it's quite common now, especially with cars that have (quite needlessly unless they have keyless entry) a separate starter button. SWMBO's first Mini had a normal key-start but the last three have had the separate button which you just press once.
I had a Mercedes B-class where the same thing happened with a key as with your hired Aveo. With a key it's quite a convenient feature....
Since a garage replaced the thermostat the engine loses coolant significantly though no sign of drips can be seen. The reservoir float sinks to the low position and requires 3/4 pint to return to correct level. Before the replacement, virtually no coolant loss was ever experienced. However, the temperature gauge never rises above vertical (normal position). Any connexion?? Read more
Check the radiator for either have fins blocked so air passage is blocked - or leaking fins...evidenced by anti freeze stains. V common on older BMWs I believe.
Good morning I am a new member,
... Read more
Carburettors don't come much simpler than SUs, and it's unlikely that there's anything wrong with it. Based on what you describe I'd say the problem is the fuel itself. Petrol goes stale after a while. This is because the lighter parts of the fuel evaporate leaving the heavier liquid that does not burn. Only gases burn. Liquids and solids do not. They merely provide a source off of which comes vapour. It's that vapour that burns, and so I think your problem lies here. Also 93RON fuel is low octane and not really suitable for your engine. I'd try draining your fuel tank and refilling with 98RON fresh fuel. I'm sure you'll see an improvement.
ok thanks daveyjp, will give it a go!