January 2014
My TS2 1.6 diesel had a conrod go through the engine in Dec 13. The car was 3 years old in Mar 13. It has been serviced by Mazda each year but not inline with the Mazda mileages specified (Jan 11 with 10,061, Feb 12 with 24,416 and Mar 13 with 47,754). The car has been inspected by Magna Mazda in Salisbury and it needs a new engine, vacuum pump and turbo charger. I have been quoted £5,845 for all work incl labour and VAT.
Mazda have said they will not help with the cost of repair because the car was not serviced very 12,500 miles. I understand that they have a servicing policy but think they should help out because the last service was less than 12,500 miles ago and only 9 months before the failure. Changing oils, filters etc on a service only gives basic maintenance. The servicing schedule for my car would not have caused the catastrophic failure.... Read more
On a quest to buy a car I came across a pristine Jag S type, but silly me I forgot to ask about the warranty position before travelling to view it. I guess I must still be basking in previous victories won under the SOGA. Never again.
I was really about to shake hands when the dealer said that there is no warranty at all. I clarified it with him and he meant that if the car blew up the day after I bought it he would have NO LIABILITY whatever, however warranties are available on the open market etc etc. If the dealer recognises himself here NO HARD FEELINGS EH LAD.... Read more
Thinking of reverting to Honda. Probably end up with a new Jazz (next model with DSG) but would rather have the Legend. 25 mpg, but we only do 5-6000 a year. Might as well waft along in comfort, wuth the occasional open throttle. Howver, SWMBO sees things differently(:
does my car have a dual mass flywheel or single one?
as I have a high bite point now but was wondering if I need to replace flywheel or not?... Read more
You need to quote the engine code from the ID label in the Spare Wheel bay like ALK. They fitted two different DMF versions around that time. Regards Peter
I'm looking for a car to suit country roads (rural south devon) that occasionally flood. I do a fair bit of motorway driving too, and need the capacity to transport 3 passengers (all over 6ft), a golden retriever and luggage. There are a lot of cars I simply cannot drive due to the lack of allowance for long legs. Not very safe if you've got knees lodged round the steering wheel. I'd forgotten how difficult finding a car is. I don't fit in C3 picasso's, Honda CR-V, Mitsubishi sport models. The new Mazda 4x4 type is great, with the seat right back, but too pricey. I'm looking to spend 8-10K max. Read more
second the berlingo multispace/partner tepee suggestion.
Also worth checking out the Fiat Doblo which is gnerally cheaper to buy than the Berlingo/Partners and has a even larger boot....
I am a small car dealer, and intended to buy some cars at BCA Blackbushe
Over a 2 day period the cars I had saved to bid on have risen by around 12%... Read more
I thought it was widely known the BCA buyer and seller fees plus complusary add on's had made buying a car for anyone other than the major buying groups expensive?
Generally, what you save from the risk of buying at auction, you spend on fees back to the auction house....
Been doing some pre-test drive questions with a dealer (before I drive 70 miles to test drive the car).
... Read more
There is a thread lower down where I was discussing it. Looking like I'm going like for like and getting a C Class Executive SE, although I'm still toying with upgrading to an E-Class Coupe, which my bank balance won't thank me for!
i did not fit clips when i replaced vacuum hoses as rac man said i didn't need them. now i am thinking that if they are not needed why did vw/ford fit them? Read more
thanks for the reply. car is 15 years old now and hoses starting to fail so replacing them with silicone. have replaced a couple of the hoses on the intake/evap side and a couple of the smaller hoses on the right of the v6 engine above the themostat switches.
i think i still have an air leak somewhere as i have a hunting/rough idle problem. which is ok for a while when i clear the fault codes but comes back a couple of days later
Hi All,
I really need some help. My car seems to be suffering at the minute and I have a feeling what may be causing it but dont know how to resolve it. Basically I have a ford mondeo 2.0 zetec 2001 petrol. I put some water in the radiator tank yesterday as it was running low. I then went on a drive for about 15 minutes and I could hear the radiator fan going berzerk, funny knocking noises where coming from the engine, my car war starting to over heat which was then causing my car to stall everytime I went to slow down. I've drove the car to work this morning which takes me 10 minutes and I'm experiencing the same problem. I did have this issue on new years eve and I took it to a mechanic and he said it was the coils in my engine which he replaced. The mechanic charged me £120 and said that the problem has been sorted out. Within a hour of driving the car away from the garage, the same problem had arose again. I'm really stuck with this as I dont get paid until the end of the month, I cant get an emergency loan so I'm stuck... Read more
I think the issue may have something to do with the coolent no getting into the engine. When I initially start my car and drive for about 3-5 minutes, it runs smoothly. When the temp guage starts rising to half way, it then starts making this knocking noises when at about 2000 rpm. After driving a few more minutes the temp guage is in the red. You can hear the fans going mad. Ive even started to hear like a whistling noise when driving and continues after I've switch the engine off for a minute or so after.
As I've stated previously, I'm no mechanic but surely that must be a coolant issue?
Could I use the space saver wheel from a Honda Accord Type V which ran on 16" 205 50 R16's
On the Civic which runs on 16" 205 55 R16's as a get me home solution? Read more
Why? If the wheel sizes on the Accord 16" are the same as that on the Civic. It would only be for emergency use, to avoid the dreaded foam repair kit
I have used the find a car facility on HJ,s website and noted the online brokers results appear usually towards the top of the page ( because of the advertised price)
I wonder does anyone know if these online car buying site that appear are regulated or members of any retail type organisation. ?... Read more
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I would press the dealer to at least remove the sump and check the state of the big end (particularly on the con rod that failed) and main bearings. If the failure was caused by low/sludgy oil it will be pretty obvious by the state of the bearing(s). It's a few hours job to remove the sump , oil pump, bearings caps etc. The engine doesn't have to come out.
I think you need to determoine if the rod failed because of a defect in the rod itself (Mazda are then liable) or bearing seizure caused by poor lubrication. If it's the latter I don't think you have much of a case IMHO....