August 2012
Yes, I'm yet another victim of the dreaded APCOA parking bandits, who put a dampener on our Olympic day trip by slapping my car with £80.00 parking fine (reduced to a mere £50 if paid within 14 days)!
The story is...my partner paid for parking using details saved in his phone but he accidentally gave the number plate of his car and not mine! Could I ask whether we should pay the fine and suck it up, or contact APCOA and contest the ticket?... Read more
Hi. I have a W reg mk1 2000, 2.3 ford galaxy that cut out while driving and now it won't start. It will turn over but won't fire up. Any ideas ? Read more
hi i have had same ploblem with my ford galaxy2.3 but it turned out to be a fulty ignition lead as i could start it then i had days where it would not even give a simmer of life just dash lights on hope this helps it cost me $35 for new leads and problem fixed . i ment to say i have replaced spark plugs as well just to be safe and had the remout key re sunk as my remout key would not work at all but have spairs so they saved me the price of new plugs was $40 and $15 for the key to be done .
Good afternoon folks.
A colleague of mine decided to place an order for a new car and decided to go for an Estate SE plus 1.6 diesel 105 with a few extras. What swayed her was the VAT off deal and the lower tax - she currently owns a 53 plate Fiat JTD 115 and makes occasional trips to the south coast each year.... Read more
Based on the mileage petrol is probably the right way to go, but a VAG TFSi may not be the right petrol to choose. As unthrottled says FSI engines have hardly been trouble free.
When I went back to petrol last year all VAG cars with the new small capacity TFSi engines were off the list. For pootling round town 99% of the time I didn't need a turbo.
I can also easily get the urban mpg from the non turbo petrol in my B class.
Just a shame that European manufacturers now seem to think small cc and turbo is the way forward.
in the market for 4-5k and 7 seats
Zafira looks best imho 1.6 petrol manual...... Read more
The 1.6 is a bit pants in the Astra. It's terribly under-powered in the Zafira. You're flat out all the time to make any real progress, with the obvious fuel economy issues.
Go for the 1.8 petrol (140hp, 40 up from the 1.6), it's a more modern engine with VVT so has decent torque. Or if diesel is your thing, the 1.9CDTI-120hp is the pick of the bunch, it's the 8v engine and doesn't suffer any of the issues of the 150hp engine....
I bought this car in march 2007 and at the time was not knowledgable enough to realise there was a more serious fault than was notified to me by the vendor.Whilst road testing the car he informed that the a.b.s. warning came on occasionally and that if i turned the ign off this would clear. The car had also been fitted with a new a.b.s. ecu 4mths previously.The problem was ok for about 6mths, then it got worse.As well as the a.b.s. warning staying on longer the airbag warning and anti-pollution warning came on.After a while the a.b.s. & airbag warnings went out but the anti-pollution stayed on. Iv'e had the car in 1 garage and he whipped the diag pc on it and cleared the faults that were present.The car was fine for about 2 weeks then the faults started appearing again.Took it back & the previous faults had not been recorded despite being on for more than 30secs, the required time for the faults to be recorded.Instead the following fault codes were present:- PO500-car communication vehicle speed invalid. UO121-car communication.No communication with the esp ecu.PI351-preheating relay circuit stuck in open position.PO483-cooling intergrated into ecu open circuit or temp too high.Then took it to another garage, again no faults had been recorded, rec I take it to peugeot which I did only to be told it needed a new a.b.s. ecu which I obviously didn't believe as the faults were still there soon after a new ecu had been fitted.Started asking around and I seem to be getting the message that it is a faulty wheel sensor or a fault in one of these circuits.Any pointers woul be greatly appreciated and suggestions on how to check wheel sensors and circuits.I do know it has something to do with checking the resistance but exactly how I am not sure.Got the tackle to do it but need the knowledge.
This sounds exactly the same as is happening to my 2008 Citroen C3, which is pretty much the same car as a 307.
Over time, we have replaced an ABS sensor, both lambda sensors and now I have been advised to replace the ABS 'valve block' / ecu which is likely to cost over £1,000....
Hi Everyone
I have just joined this forum so I do apologize in advance if I have put my enquiry in the wrong section or anything else I have done wrong.
I just purchased a 2001 1.4SE A2 with 67K on the clock.
There is no service history.
I noticed when I drove away with it a tappety noise. It got a little louder and quicker as I accelerated however when I put my foot off the accelerator the tappety noise goes away.
When it is idle the tappety noise is still there however it is not very loud but you can hear it.
Is this normal?
I had a 1.4i Honda Civic before this and it did not make this noise thats why it concerned me.
The problem is that I took it to a number of independant garages but all came back with different diagnosis which is causing me a major problem as I do not know who to turn to and I do not want to end up with the same problem after paying for the work.
1. First one said the tappets need changing aswell as the camshaft
2. Second one stated the tappets only need a clean and an oil change
3. Third one said it needs a flush and oil change
4. Fourth one said the bottom end is gone so uneconomical for repair
5. Fifth one said the timing of the tappets is out of place with the camshaft so just need adjusted
6. Sixth one said the timing belt needs chaged and the tensioner belts (previous owener said its been done however I have no proof that it has been and it was something I was going to change anyway)
I have checked the oil which is fresh then again the previous owner did say it was servived in June and since then only done a few hundred miles.
As you can see I have been given a number of solutions but I really do not know anything about what they have said.
I bought the car for £2000 and the thought of major repairs is giving me a headache.
I wish I noticed the engine noise whilst checking the car but I guess I just got caught up in the excitement of purchasing my first A2 which I have been sourcing for a while.
Any help or pointers will be greatly apprecaited. Read more
Hi. Did you find an answer. I have the same problem with my A2 engine.
...
I have a choice between a new 508 SW 2.0 HDi 163 automatic and a new Passat 2.0 TDi estate DSG automatic. The Peugeot appeals to me more. However I need good reliability. Is the 508 SW a sound choice? Would the Passat prove a better option, if so, why? Thanks Read more
If it's a company car - Peugeot 508. Looks nicer, very good interior, more unusual, but will not be as economical (auto is a traditional sort)
If it's a private purchase - Passat. Residuals will be higher, more economical, dependable, less to tax, but dull interior (which is where you spend your time)
Hi all,
I bought a mk5 golf 1.9tdi a few months back and now I'm wondering if anyone knows for sure whether it can run on 100% biodiesel. I have a local company who are offering biodiesel pre-treated and delivered to my door for £1 per litre.... Read more
Thanks for that, makes a lot of sense and no, it wasn't a long post - just very interesting and informative!!
Robin the Technician - I fix, therefore I am
Does my 2002 jeep Cherokee 2.5 crd have a timing belt or chain? If belt when should this be replaced? Car has just hit 60k miles.
I have also noted a squeaking sound coming from the right hand wheel when turning at slow speeds ~20 mph. Local garage have looked at brakes, no problems at all, in excellent condition... Any ideas???
Thanks Luke Read more
Hi,
It will be a VM engine but the previous answer is wrong. It has a timing belt and it should be changed at 60,000m along with tensioner and idler pulleys....
Earlier in 2012 I purchased a Nissan Patrol GE SE 4x4 (1998), for £3K with just 74K Miles, for farm and forestry work. It has been serviced and MOT'd. It appears to be lacking power in low revs which has been diagnosed as a possible Actuator issue (also called tail-gate?), a part I have not managed to source.... Read more
The same problem used to affict the Vauxhall Omega with the BMW diesel engine, that was coased by a worn pump, there is a mod for them that puts them into cold stard mode for a few seconds until they have started but ultimately a replacement injection pump is needed, I wonder if its the same pump?
Browse
.jpg)
Rather as I suggested in reply to the first post on this thread, you've nothing to lose by writting a polite letter or E-mail to APCOA explaining that you couldn't see the bay lines because of snow which had melted by the time Jobsworth (though you won't call him that!) came along; alsop that you parked a normal distance from the other cars in the row.
Not sure about your last sentence - hopefully someone with more knowledge of that branch of the law will be along soon.