December 2012
Does anyone know of any incidences of the following MOT scam ?
There has been a lot of fake MOT certificate scams. For any given vehicle a MOT certificate is being issued that may be fake, whereby either the fake MOT certificate has been issued but no MOT has actually been done or the MOT certificate has been obtained or photocopied and false information entered.
Proof of a valid test is kept online by the Vehicle & Operator Services Agency, VOSA. MOT paper certificates are no longer proof of existence of a valid MOT certificate.... Read more
Unsure whether to get a new (pre-reg) mark 6 Golf or wait for the new one. Anyone got any advice on what is best to do?
Mk6 is about £4k cheaper, due to discount, than equivalent Mk7, but will it be worth a lot less when I sell it in however many years? Read more
I can't imagine too many people have ever said to themselves 'with my own money I'm going to buy a brand new Vauxhall Vectra.' As a used buy it makes sense, but new there's so much more you could buy.
Ford and Vauxhall do give big discounts to fleet buyers but they make no difference to company car tax hence why many go for small HDi Peugeots as the cheapest options or BMW's as the 'sound long term' option....
I bought my June '07 1.8 petrol vectra estate in May 2008 with 16k on the clock. It's now at 137,000 miles and runs as sweetly as ever. It's true that clutch is juddery when cold, but you learn to compensate. It is superb on long runs, fast and frugal as well as swallowing my children, labrador and all associated clobber. It's regularly serviced (gets an oil change at 10,000) but other that that is not 'cherished'. I think it still looks great and am always pleased to be seen in it. Money is very tight right now and I feel like I am running on faith, not having the spare to change it. Historically I have done high mileages (e.g. 180k in a Montego, 145k in a Maestro), so there seems no particular logical reason for it to die under me. Has anyone else got high mileages out of this model and what problems did you find it throw up as the miles mounted?
I have replaced front coil springs, the exhaust, the ingintion pack, and the a/c condenser, but nothing for quite a while. It's very good on tyres. It is now doing a much reduced mileage (now that I've confiscated it from my wife). Interestingly I had an old shape '01 Vectra before this. Got about 95k out of it before the change - it wasn't half the car, although good enough fr me to stick with Vetcra. I'm really pleased I did. Read more
Quite right, Sam - that also applies to the Skoda Octavia and Superb, particularly the Superb estate, which manages the inevitable compromise between style and practicality better than most.
The other way of doing it is to offer both, like Volvo with the V70 (practical but not terribly stylish) and the V60 (less practical and slightly more stylish).
A warning light came up on the dash on Saturday. Not familiar with it I checked and it seems to be the particulate filter warning. The owners manual suggested driving at a motorway speed in 4th or 5th for 15 mins to clear the fault. It also states that driving for a(n unspecified) period of time could damage the catalytic convertor. The manual implies that it happens as a result of lots of short journeys, however I do a fair mix of motorway and town driving. I tried the motorway speed drive - didn't wipe the fault though.
Any suggestions as to how to fix the fault please?... Read more
to be fair some VAG cars use Adblue
but like you say for NOx reduction reasons
Hi, the immobiliser on the car is playing up since the battery was changed. How do I disable the immobiliser? Read more
I don't know if this helps but on my car, you can enter the 4 digit radio code manually which deactivates the immobiliser. You switch the ignition to the 'on' position, and hold down the c/locking button until the immobiliser LED stops flashing rapidly. You then continue to hold the button down until the number of slow flashes corrosponds to the first digit of the code. You then release the button and immediately press again and repeat the step until all 4 digits are entered. Immobiliser switches off.
Good evening all! I have a Citroen C5 and the battery appears to have given up the ghost. The car wouldn't start last week and a voltmeter showed a voltage across the battery of 11v. I got hold of a booster and the car started, took it for a 35 mile or so drive and it worked fine. I've gone to use it tonight and, after traying (and failing!) to start it, nothing happens, even the central locking's dead. I suspect it's the battery as the car has only done 13k in 5 years and for three of them was stored - I don't know if the previous owner disconnected the battery or if that's why it's dead.
Under the bonnet the battery says - 'Varta 12V L3 450/720A' however I cannot find an equivalent battery on the internet. I woudl be really grateful if anyone could help me out with which new one to order as I was expecting it to be a little more obvious!... Read more
Nice source you have provided. Accedently I found this www.carbatteriesonline.org/ and helpful also. You can take a reviews of this also.
Hi wonder if anyone can help.Ive just got the above van and it will not start when cold,1st thing i noticed is it doesnt turn over very fast,and also no glow plug light comes on at all not even for a second neither when hot or cold.
Any ideas?... Read more
Have you found out what the problem was? Was it the starter motor?
Hello. With the frosty nights, I have had to demist my windscreen. Twice in a row there has been condensation running down my windscreen and drops of water from the sunroof. All windowns and sunroof closed. I am demisting using the A/C on full with windscreen vents. I think hot air - though it may initially blow cold. My carpets are not wet so I guess there is no leak. What is causing this OR am I demisting incorrectly? Thanks for any help or advice. Read more
Hello
Why does JUST the front/side windows mist up?? Not the rear...
I bought a September 2009 Golf 1.6 tdi from approved vw dealership 8 months ago with an extended one year warranty. A warning light and loss of power was checked by dealership and diagnosed as a leaking EGR Cooler costing approx £1000 to repair. Warranty company are refusing to cover cost of repair. VW have offered a good will gesture of replacing part and 50% of labour costs. Im reliably informed that this is a common failing in the the new vw golfs. Has anyone else experienced this probelm and did they manage to get warranty or vw to cover the entire cost of repair? Read more
Remind the garage of the Sales of Goods Act they should pay all the costs and why on earth have you paid for a worthless warranty.
Has anyone had experience of the Suzuki SX4 1.6 Petrol and the Swift 1.2 Petrol. I have always had an interest in the SX4, but recently sat in both the SX4 and Swift at my local Suzuki dealer. For me a big advantage of the SX4 would be the height and ease of access but sitting in the Swift I was impressed by the quality and space of this car. Having both cars next to each other, yes there was a difference in height but not as much as I had expected.
Bringing in two other cars, the last year 2008 of the Mazda 3 hatch/ saloon and the same year 2008 Renault Megane Saloon, together with the SX4 (and perhaps the Swift as well) how would you compare these three (four) cars as cars, not considering the difference in age, and what would be your preference? I appreciate its an odd collection but they are the three I have always been looking at. Read more
Looking at the replies to mm707 on 'Whether to buy a Toyota?', many replies are commenting on the reliability of the Toyota Avensis (I would look to the saloon) as very reliable and again up to 08/09 would be another possibility - I don't know how the Toyota Avensis 08 compares with Mazda 3 saloon 08 and the Renault Megane Saloon 08? Does anyone have any experience of the three cars?
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There is no such thing as an MOT certificate these days. All you get is a sheet of plain A4 paper with the deatils of the garage etc.
The details of the MOT are held electronically. All you have to do is visit this site www.gov.uk/check-mot-status enter your details and in an instant you have confirmation about the vehicles MOT status....