January 2012
I have been offered a 2005 Mini One 1.6 petrol on a 2005 plate with just 12,500 miles on the clock. Owner is 2nd registered keeper, 64 years old and has owned the vehicle as a second car for all but a year of it's life. Mileage is 100% genuine and has been verified. Car serviced every 12 months at main dealer.
The car is like new but should I fear such a low mileage? Read more
“Don’t listen to fast music in your car; it’ll make you drive faster.”
“Leave your car in third gear in a 30 limit; it’ll be easier to hear the engine, and so you’ll instinctively know when you’re speeding.”
“Stop making up your own speed limits. It doesn’t matter where you are: if you can’t see a speed limit sign at any point, drive at 30mph until you see one. It’s safer.”
“You should never stop looking for pedestrians. I even look under trucks and buses!”
“If you’ve got to drive somewhere you’ve never driven before, try to go at least once before you really need to go – just so you’re not lost or rushing when you get there.”
Where's the machine gun? Read more
Stop making up your own speed limits. It doesn’t matter where you are: if you can’t see a speed limit sign at any point, drive at 30mph until you see one. It’s safer
But what if i then discover the road is 40mph? Surely i cant speed up? It wont be safe!!...
Hi, Some times when I try to start my mazda rx8 it just wont turn over and the engine wont crank. I turn the key and I hear a single click noise. However if I turn the key back and forwards a few times it eventually starts. Some times it starts no problem and other times I just get that single click noise and have to keep turning the key back and forwards till it catches and starts. I suspect this is a starter motor problem, anyone else confirm this or is it something else? Read more
www.teentrack.co.uk vehicle tracking for teenagers. good idea or not? is it peace of mind or big brother tactics? Read more
Tend to agree with too badbusdriver. There is no right or wrong in this situation. As I said, you know your own children hopefully,and if like you, brave enough to give them some responsibility for their own behaviour the rewards can be trmendous. Being too risk averse is not doing anyone any good, within reason. All boils down to circumstances and they can alter cases. If you have developed a good relationship with your children I see no harm in broaching the subject of either a car recorder tracker or a mobile tracker and having a discusion about them.
Cheers Concrete
Elsewhere on the forum, there’s a long, but interesting topic about windows misting up - www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=94027
In it, CaptainKephart suggested that it could be caused by “polish” used glass in showroom valeting treatments. That was very useful for me. I’m used to being able to wipe condensation away, if only for a few seconds. On my latest car, wiping just seemed to spread it out in clusters. The car had been valeted and, sure enough, cleaning the glass inside (with Windowlene) got rid of the problem.
That leads me on to something else. The leather steering wheel feels hard and slippery. In those instances where it’s useful to be able to spin the wheel with the heel of your hand, you can’t do it. I’m now beginning to wonder if the wheel has been “treated” too.
Any suggestions on how I can remove the “treatment” or otherwise soften up the leather so it has a bit of grip? I’ve tried washing, meths and, latterly, Windowlene with little success.... Read more
you wil no doubt say I'm humourless
Well thats one way of saying it i suppose....
Hiya Folks.
I own a Chrysler Voyager SE (1999) and I am having a nightmare with the power locks.... Read more
Hi Garry402
Did you solve the problem?...
I have been spoiled by having a '99 Mondeo estate 2.0 petrol which has been AMAZINGLY reliable despite neglect and abuse, is currently still going strong at 152k miles and returns 40-42mpg on a run. I have a lot of trust in this car, but the bodywork is going and I am faced with an imminent situation:
I will have to do 450+ miles every week, and
I HAVE (advisedly) to spend £4k-£6k on a car (I must tie-up this amount of money as a justifiable expense).
The travelling situation is likely to continue for between 1 and 5 years. But the tying-up the money situation hopefully only about a year or two.
After the travelling situation ends, my mileage will revert to something low like 7k per annum, and I will be happy to run a banger (for local duties) alongside a cheapish classic (for automotive interest).
After the tying-up situation ends, I could revert to running a series of £650 1999 Mondeos...!
So on the one hand it would be nice to have had a low-depreciating car and get a good chunk of my money back.
Buying an OLD car which is currently worth £4k is the obvious way to try to avoid depreciation, but this purchase has to appear justifiable on sensible/reliability logic grounds, not on "fancied something flash/classic" grounds. So it's probably going to have to be something on a registration letter between about 05 and 58.
I suppose I could just about stretch justifiability to something like a pre-1996 Mercedes diesel estate, but the ones in my price-range already seem to have over 200k miles on them, and they're not THAT economical. (Hmm- -perhaps could run on old veg oil from the local takeaways?)
And fuel economy can play a big part in the overall equation:
26k miles pa at 40mpg is approx £3900pa; at 60mpg is approx £2600pa, so if I can get a car that will do nigh-on 60mpg, I'll be saving myself £1300 a year anyway, and the longer the tying-up situation persisted, the more (fuel) money I'd save...... Read more
Just a reminder that fitting LPG to a new car will probably invalidate any warranty.
My 2p..buy a big old comfy MB estate and have that converted as MB is reportedly especially compatible with LPG. ...
Some manufacturers have brilliant ideas that on one else cottons on to. Just wondering about ones other than this:-
The Saab 99 had that key-between-the-seats design to prevent leg injuries from sharp-edged keys sticking out of dashboards. Read more
Bilboman mentioned headlamp wipers. Going back a few years I owned a Renault 12 for a couple of years. It had slightly concave headlamp lenses - I did wonder why a couple of times. It was only when I bought an Avenger or something and had to spend the odd few minutes cleaning the headlamps that I realised that I never had to clean them on the old Renault. Aerodynamics I suppose.
Eric Morecambe drove a Rolls-Royce, but Ernie Wise drove a Saab. So too did Ian Botham, Raymond Baxter and Queen Beatrix of Holland. All over the world, from intellectuals to farmers, people loved Saabs for their shape, safety and sheer character.
Just wondering who drives what today? Read more
Sally Burton had an xjs v12 convertible, Mr B had a very old MG,(our clients in switzerland) but can't remember the model. Peter Ustinov had a maserati that went on fire just up the road from us.
hi all
i was wondering if anyone in tis area knows or recommneds a good garage for mot/servicing... Read more
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