May 2012
So I sold my focus, wrote a geniune ad, now the buyer has rung me twice regarding problems he's now found with the car. He came today with his mechanic to pick it up, money is safe in my bank account, and the mechanic took it for a drive, he said there was an issue with the wheel bearings, so while on the drive we took it to two garages who test drove it and stated there were no wheel bearing problems. He's now rang me to say the brakes were juddery on the way home. He's not asking for any compensation for it, but he's just ringing me to tell me the problems. I have a feeling he's going to ask for compensation for the issues.
What legal recourse does he have over this? I thought buying privately was basically caveat emptor, since both he and his mechanic had test drives. Read more
After Honest John's campaign to show up the nonsense that is the EU's MPG figures, one assumes that any manufacturer that uses these figures without putting in a disclaimer in their advertising is at the very least guilty under the Trades Descriptions Act and at worst is lying? They are clearly well aware that the claimed figures in many cases are unachieveable.
Having said that both my last Lexus IS250 and my current Skoda Yeti do pretty much what it says on the tin, 31.8 for the Lexus and 47 for my 140bhp TDI Yeti. Read more
MPG numbers have suffered the same fate as GCSE grades.
Correct, every new model or update has better "official" figures than its predecessor whereas in the real world they achieve about the same mpg....
2001, 115k miles.
Just failed MOT emissions test, due to high CO at idle. A complete surprise as the car seems to run well.... Read more
I think I'd change the oil and stick it back in, it was only a marginal fail.
Changing to LPG for the above car which has only done 44500m over last 7 yrs.local garage selling LPG at 66p pl, m/way at j5 m18 1/2 m away at 74p.
Cost to change is £1395.00 all in with free 2yrs servicing on LPG system and a full 70l tank of LPG to start me off.
Had LPG B4 on a RAV 4 which was sold with 185,000m on the clock and still going good in 2008 when LPG was only 36p pl.
Any mbr had similar experience with LPG changes pl
MAGJP Read more
The French cars don't take well to LPG from my observations
This is mainly due to their soft valve seats
If you do go ahead with the conversion; make sure you have a 'valvesaver' profuct fitted such as flashlube
My S-I-L's car was a peugeot and had flashlube and the engine was trashed after about 15k miles on LPG. Just something to consider
Hi all, i am thinking of having a go at changing my rear brake pads on my ford focus.The back brakes are drum brakes .I am not a mechanic but have got tools and fancy having a go at changing the drum off and if needs be changing the pads. I am looking for any tips advice or links with pictures on the job ,cheers from nearly honest John :) . Read more
Early Focii recommended you removed the drum by undoing the back-plate fixings to avoid disturbing the wheel bearing. Does that not still apply?
Not that it did mine any harm when I removed the washer that was gouging a groove into the drum. I'd bought it from a main dealer and found I couldn't reach the fixings by the recommended method due to ABS.
The Saxo starts ok and engine revs up no problem,the fun starts when starting to move off and the engine stalls.
On checking the glow plugs( through battery charger ) one was found to be faulty no reading, after replacing it with a good old one the problem had disappeared good result.... Read more
The Saxo starts ok and engine revs up no problem,the fun starts when starting to move off and the engine stalls.
On checking the glow plugs( through battery charger ) one was found to be faulty no reading, after replacing it with a good old one the problem had disappeared good result....
Hello, i've just brought this car its got only 60000 miles on it and is in really good condition. The problem with it is that when im driving it and put my foot down to overtake the car revs straight to around 4000 revsbut doesnt gain speed. Could this be a problem with the clutch, like for example is it just worn or does it require adjustment ? I did a stool test which it passed, i put the car in gear with handbrake engaged and lifted off the clutch and it stalled Read more
Certainly sounds as though the clutch is slipping, you should be able to hear the revs increasing with out the speed going up. Check to see if there is any free play on the clutch pedal, can you lift it up or is it against the stop? If there is play and its engaging in the normal position, you need a new clutch I'm afraid. If you drive carefully so that it doesn' t slip it could last a long time but the more it slips the quicker it will wear.
The clutch is more likely to slip at speed than stationary firstly because you have more torque at higher revs and I believe that the centrifugal force on a rapidly rotating clutch encourages it to slip.
When moving off, I have always kept my foot on the footbrake just as you would with the handbrake on a hill start in a manual car.
As we all know, whoever programs the ECU restricts the throttle until the brakes are off.... Read more
Hello,
I'm considering replacing my 54 plate Nissan Almera in a few months. The sole reason is to squeeze more miles out of my money. My Almera costs around £65 to fill the tank and I can eek out around 460 - 480 miles per tank.... Read more
It has been said on this site very often. You don't change cars to save money. There are lots of reasons to change a car, but you will rarely save the amount of money it will cost you to change.
You are driving 20,000 miles a year at about 44mpg I work it out to be. Buying a diesel for only £5,000 (an addiitonal £1,500) will get you something that does no more than say 55mpg - lets say 60mpg. So.......
I was just wondering if someone could give me some advise on my chances in small claims court.
In March 2009 I bought a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe for £16000 and in this time we have driven 20000 miles. Altogether the car has done 26500 miles.... Read more
Hi Tony, unfortunately I'm going to have to say what I always do ........ it's entirely up to the court to decide upon the circumstances in question & the only way a customer will discover how the law impacts on his particular circumstances is to go legal.
From http://www.oft.gov.uk/business-advice/treating-customers-fairly/sogahome/glossary...
As long as the advert didn't lie or mislead, such as by saying "mechanically perfect" or "mint condition" then there is no recourse. What is more, if he inspected/tested it and especially if he had a professional inspect it, then he has even fewer legs to stand on with respect to claims about things which would have been apparent in the inspection if they existsed at the time of sale.