January 2014
Hello,
We are shortlisting cars at the moment and I would apprecaite views/experiences of the Hyundai i30 diesel and Seat leon 1.2 TSI. We're looking at either a nearly new i30 or a new Seat. The car will do a small number of very short trips during the week, but will get at least a couple of long-ish journeys each week, so I am thinking that this would be OK for the DPF etc on the diesel. The car will also be used to do long cross-country trips too on a monthly basis, so I want something that will also be a good relaxing long distance car.
The car we buy would be kept for a long period (current car 9 years!) so long term reliability is a concern - which would be better? Both engines have been around for a while and I don't seem to be able to find any real horror stories about either. The short journeys issue is swaying me towards the Seat (and the 0%, deposit contribution and free tech pack), but the Hyundai would be around £3k cheaper for a 6-9 month old.
I'm finding it quite difficult to split them - Seat feels new and modern, while the Hyundai feels a little bigger and for want of a better word - comfy.
I would really appreciate your views!
Thanking you in advance.... Read more
Guardian Media Group, the publisher of the Guardian, has sold its stake in Trader Media Group to Apax Partners for around £600m to bankroll its loss-making newspapers and website.
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I agree absolutely with Happy Blue about the Grauniad, as Private Eye calls it - but it's a great source of funny typos (e.g. "the bride and her broom swept down the aisle"..."the moral satin of Clinton's career").
anyone any idea what thermostat i have to buy for my car. its stuck on cold and needle sits normal when idle-ing. ive had this problem before with my astra but just not sure what thermostat i need to buy for this 1. its a december 02 vectra c 1.8 petrol.
also window wipers wont work on internitting. works ok on other settings. is this an easy fix? or do they have to be programmed? Read more
....or check on ebay.
We have water leaking into the house around a window, help please!
On the ground floor we have a window and water is gathering above the lintel and dripping down the right side of the window especially ( and the left side a little ) inside the room. Above the lintel it is very very damp and the water is "dripping down " under the paint. There is also a 6" circle of damp which has blown and is about a foot horizontally away from the lintel and about a foot off the floor. I think the two are unrelated because the 6"circle is a foot away from the lintel and I don't see how it can have tracked. The house is 1950s cavity wall and the house had cavity wall insulation done three years ago and we've had no problems before.
I suspect it's water entering the outside walls then tracking across wall ties and dripping on the lintel but surely the cavity wall insulation would prevent that ; however I think the firm that did the cavity wall insulation were naff.
If I coat the wall with non permeable paint will that stop the water coming in? Any recommendations re product?
TIA Read more
We had a similar problem, if water gathers on the lintel the recommended fix is to have a cavity tray inserted above the lintel to divert penetrating rainwater outside. The other damp patch may well be due to creep across ties, cavity insulation won't stop that and may even contribute to letting water across the cavity.
I have a V W Golf Mk 7 GT TDI unfortunately it has very noisy rear shock absorbers. V W customer services arranged for my local retailer to fit new ''improve / upgraded '' shock absorbers, unfortunately fitting the new shock absorbers has not been successful in rectifying the noise problem ( the retailer agrees ). V W customer services say nothing more can be done, I will just have to live with it.
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I must stress that this story is totally true even though it sounds like there is more to it there is certainly not.
Chap comes to my house to view my car as a gift for his daughter, likes the car and requests we put a new windscreen in it for the asking price, leaves a deposit and goes home and transfers the balance by bank transfer and arranges to collect on a date in the future. so far so good.... Read more
"'There has been much hot air in the sense that some posters have got things out of proportion.'
I disagree there - people have pointed out that is one reason what has annoyed the buyer but have always agreed that the buyer is still in the wrong."
I'm probably going to be seen as nit-picking here, Alan, but this is not accurate....
Hi there
I've had an intermittent fault where the wipers come on by themselves, go slow for two sweeps then ultra fast for three- this starts off being every now and then, gets more regular( only when it's raining) then they stay on doing the same thing until I stop and open the bonnet! If I leave the car ie parked up it's resolved when I come back and won't do it again for weeks; if I close bonnet and carry on it continues in the same manner!
Yesterday topped up washer bottle( coincidence??) and they don't work at all!
Any ideas? I'd sooner get advice before setting off down the expensive fault finding process with Audi dealers(who are very unhelpful over the phone!)
It's a bit weird so someone might of heard of same thing on similar VWs or skodas??
Cheers
Sally Read more
Hi there
Rear wiper was working but not now- I've checked fuses!
And it doesn't gave auto setting though it will go to intermittent when stationary!
Managed to get auto electrician to look at it later- fingers crossed!!
Hi can anyone help me I got a 1999 expert van I was driving and it just cut out there int getting no diesel to the fuel filter but it will start if I put diesel in the filter then cuts out again I even was pushing the manual pump on the filter but it don't pump no diesel up Read more
Engine code please,
it's around the middle of the vin,either WJY or WJZ.
My son has recently passed his test, he learnt to drive in a Fiat Grande Punto and would like one as his first car. There is one advertise in a local garage with FSH 22,000miles, £3795 (plus £125 admin fee!), but the service book shows the first service done in April 09 at 5000miles, then the next service (4th in book) is done in March 2012 at 15000miles, 10k and three years without a sevice. This was followed by a service in March 2013 at 19300miles 95th in book) So my question is, is the car worth considering?
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Thank you for the advice, I think we are not going to bother with the one I mentioned above. Though we are going to see another 08 being sold privately with FSH, 34k, family owned it since new. We have had three Uno's and a Punto (52) with no problems apart from an alternator on the Punto at 90k. If we end up not purchaing this one, will add the Yaris to our list.
The insurance group for the Fiesta 1.25 is 7/8 according to Parkers, compaired to 4/5 for the Punto 1.2....
Hi All
I need to source a heater blower motor for a 2001 Ford Focus 1.6 Ghia.... Read more
Thanks for your responses. Looking at Haynes it seems like a pretty simple procedure, so the only thing I was unsure about was whether the blower had to be aircon specific or not. Good news that it isn't.
I'm still tempted to browse Ebay, but I'll check out Euro parts and the breakers too. ...
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Thank you Avant and Skidpan - very helpful.
I had steered away from the petrol i30 becasue the 1.4 petrol does not have the torque of the 1.2 TSI, and the car weights a good 150kg more. I'm expecting that it could be a bit tiring on longer journeys, particularly if loaded up, and need lots of gear changes. Does anybody have any experience of the current i30 1.4?...