May 2014

Trilogy

www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/fiat-chiefs-co...y

Always thought a Rover, Lancia, Saab merger would have made sense. All fwd in the segment below Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar etc but above the French, Ford, most Japanese and Vauxhall.... Read more

Sofa Spud

Lancia would fit well in the VW Group alongside Seat and Skoda as glorified bodybuilders, designing and building cars based on VW mechanicals and floorpans.

steve343

The car was serviced by vw at 30,000 in Jan 2014. Three weeks ago the rear brakes were grinding and one pad was found to be down to the metal whereas the other 3 had 7 mm left.
What is up with the car? The garage want to check the pressure to the rear pads. Is this something that should have been picked up during its last service. The service sheet shows all pads having 7 mm and I find it hard to believe that one pad has been shredded in 3,000 miles.
Any comments gratefully received. Read more

tommy t1968

The car was serviced by vw at 30,000 in Jan 2014. Three weeks ago the rear brakes were grinding and one pad was found to be down to the metal whereas the other 3 had 7 mm left. What is up with the car? The garage want to check the pressure to the rear pads. Is this something that should have been picked up during its last service. The service sheet shows all pads having 7 mm and I find it hard to believe that one pad has been shredded in 3,000 miles. Any comments gratefully received.


on which wheel was the pads on ? if it was the rear near side then the next question is is the car fitted with asr or esp and do you drive in a area with alot of roundabouts
if the the answer is yes to both then therein may lie the cause
the esp will apply the brake to nearside rear wheel on the roundabouts to stablise the car

if it on either of the rear wheels have your hand brake cables checked for kinks as this would cause the brakes not to release fully and wouldnt show up on brake pressure test

bananastand

When I first met my GF I had a Beachcomber, A962CPE, and I guess it's landfill now because the reg isn't on webuyanycar.

For romantic reasons we would like a 2CV, colour not important, but they seem to have well UND truly reached classic status, looking at the prices. However in Europe they are everywhere, is there an imbalance in the market waiting to be taken advantage of? Forgive me as I could have done my own research. BUT I HAVEN'T. Read more

bananastand

Thanks chaps, that made excellent reading.

parkodrive

This is the same car as my earlier post, and the remote central locking isnt working. When locking/unlocking the car with the key, all the doors lock/unlock fine, yet when Y try to use the remote, nothing happens.

I know the key and the sensor by the interior light both work as I have reprogramed the key 4 or 5 times yet it still doesnt operate the locks. I have also removed the central locking fuse (its not burnt out) from the fuse box for 10 minutes then reprogrammed the key in an effort to reset the system but this also failed. ... Read more

breadcaster

I recently acquired the same car, and the remote central locking was working for awhile. I put new batteries in the key remote but now can't get it to work at all. I have tried to follow the programming instructions but the only light (red) on the dash clock blinks continuously and I think it's related to the anti-theft system. Is this the light that's supposed to respond when programming? Thank you for your assistance.

Firmbutfair

Whilst I was walking home along the pavement in Rayleigh Road, Thundersley, SS7 3TB, shortly before noon (11:49 hrs) on 19 March 2014, walking in a southerly direction down from the brow of the hill and approaching the Woodmans Arms Pub, the vehicle pictured below, drove up behind me, and drove aggressively up and deeply onto the pavement at about 28 mph, as the road gently curves to the left, before swerving back off the pavement just before the Bus Stop outside the Woodmans' Arms, where a Family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children) were waiting for the bus, immediately after passing the very prominent road sign which shows a 'pedestrians crossing' triangle, a 'roundabout ahead' warning triangle and a rectangular 'Reduce Speed Now' sign, at a point where the kerb is lowered for a distance of about 8 to 10 metres to give vehicular access to the front hard standing/parking area outside number 387 Rayleigh Road. The rogue driver, a young, dark haired male, narrowly missed hitting me with his nearside wing mirror as the car swept past. The driver had apparently mounted the pavement because vehicles travelling up the hill in the opposite direction, were having to pull out and drive slightly over into his side of the road in order to pass a stationary trade vehicle parked half on the pavement on the opposite side of the road. As the rogue driver swept past me I reacted instantly by shouting loudly "Oi - watch where you are going matey" and as I did so I broke into a run and pursued the car down the hill past the Family of four at the bus stop and managed to take four photos. The driver left the pavement and returned to the road once he had negotiated the temporary 'hold up' and narrowly avoiding a collision with the Family of four waiting on the pavement, at the bus stop, outside the Woodmans Arms. The Family all smiled at me as I ran past and said “well done – go get him” and I was able to get four photos of the traffic stream he was in as he impatiently negotiated the traffic momentarily delaying his progress at the junction of Rayleigh Road and Daws Heath Road. I have submitted the only 'photo that clearly shows his number plate. I observed that the car was a light metallic green Peugeot Hatchback and afterwards, according to the Euro Car Parts 'Oil finder' application on their web site the vehicle with this reg number: BL51 HSD was first registered in 2001 and is a Peugeot 307 hatchback with a 1.6 litre petrol engine. From the way the driver mounted the pavement so fluently and 'at such speed' and at a point where the kerb is lowered, I would say that he has made a habit of 'cutting the corner' here whenever he fancies or whenever the traffic is heavy, on a regular basis. I would also guess that he lives locally. After crossing the junction, he sped off very briskly along the Rayleigh Road towards Hadleigh. His windows were wound right down as he drove past me and he undoubtedly heard me shouting at him. Having then almost immediately been living away from home for over 4 weeks caring for my Mother-in-Law in North Essex, I eventually reported the incident to the Police at Rayleigh Police Station on Tuesday 22 April 2014.

To my great dismay the Police Officer said that they can do nothing to prevent this driver actually hitting someone in the near future nor give him any kind of warning or caution, because 'I was not actually physically injured' and because they have no ability to 'cross compare or correlate' such reports entered onto their computer system, nor to gather matching data recorded elsewhere on the Police National Computer Network. Apparently if I witness or experience anything like this again, I need to get witness statements from members of the public who can corroborate my story and back up my photographic evidence etc. The female desk officer at Rayleigh Police Station was very pleasant and understanding about my concern and added that she sees similar examples of careless, dangerous and illegal driving every week but invariably there is nothing that the Police can do unless the action is witnessed by a police patrol car and they can pursue the bad driver, and/or take down the number and thus ultimately pay a visit to the address of the 'registered keeper' to make further enquiries etc.... Read more

Firmbutfair

My first suggestion : go back to the police station, and ask to see the desk officer's superior. Ask them to give you an incident number. If they decline, insist on it.

After that point, if the driver does hit someone, then the police will have a lot of questions asked, and it will go down on someone's record that they had this reported, and did nothing about it. You may find that they will be more willing to 'have a word' with the owner/driver....

Ben 10

Just got a new gas hob and oven delivered.

Obviously I'm not legally entitled to fit myself as it has to be a GasSafe qualified fitter.... Read more

Ben 10

A Bell***.

Their customer service booked with us an engineer to call on the 19th May. On Sunday 18th. their customer service rang to cancel as their engineer was sick. Supposedly they only have one for the whole of the UK ;-)...

pullgees

I've got double skin ones on mine but I can't find them on the market anymore, places like Europarts and Camberly and even the independent suppliers are only selling single skin. Two stores showed on their computers as coming up as double skin but are actually single skin.

Looking along the edge of my old ones you can see the seam with the edges are rolled up in opposite direction-splayed. The new one is rolled downwards at the edges and is thinner than the old one as well

Are they now obsolete and changed the manufacturing process? If I have to settle for single skin one,will it do the job? Read more

Galaxy

I guess that's your answer, then.

You could always write to Ford and ask them. I've found their technical department very helpful in the past.

keith72

hi folks, i have just purchased a zafira but has no key to take off roof bars, it has number 13 on the 4 locks, would anyone have a spare key or could they point me in the right direction to obtaining one.

... Read more

keith72

yeehaa keys arrived and fit.result thanks for ebay

Piranha Teeth

First time posting to this forum. All your help would be muchly appreciated.

I've sold on my old car (Peugeot 306....12 years of faultess service) and I'm now looking at buying a good second hand Golf VI Match Edition 1.4 tsi (the 122bhp one). I was on the verge of getting one when I started looking at the problems these engines have with the timing chains. I know if the chain goes it's a rebuild or worse case...a new engine!... Read more

skidpan

Most of the cars that have suffered issues with the chain have been the twin charged versions that have been chipped and thrashed.

Make sure its been correctly serviced using the correct oils and you should be fine....

fredl

Does anyone have any experience of negotiating the service cost with a main dealer?

An acquaintance of mine said he'd ring round a couple of nearby dealers and he'd usually get some sort of discount.... Read more

daveyjp

I don't even ring round. When they quote I take off about 20%, say it is from a competitor and get them to price match. Never failed yet.

If you don't want a courtesy car ask for a discount for that too.