August 2016
Hi guys - i'm looking for a little bit of advice. Somebody drove into yesterday evening, damaging the entire side of my precious VW Scirocco. Luckily he as admitted liability and its now in the hands of his insurers to fix.
Unfortunately I've been stung in this situation before - many years ago somebody reversed into my MK1 MX5. There was a small bit of cosmetic damage to the bumper however it was classed as a write off - uneconomical to repair.... Read more
For various reasons my daily driver is heading into semi-retirement. Purchase price is more than an issue than running costs as do a very low annual mileage. Coming back from looking at a Ford Focus I saw the above car for sale. It has only had two owners from new (first till first MOT!) and then the current owner. It has a full srevice history and has done about 90,000. miles.
I did not have much time but a quick look around suggested everything was in order. My question is could it be a good buy or just a money pit? Read more
Elderly Mercedes CLKs are great value, I bought a thirteen year old CLK320 two years ago and have done 20,000 miles without incident and I can easily get 35mpg on a run. The CLK was recommended by this years Motoring Which as a good second hand buy.
Hey, i'm looking at getting a budget convertible for my next car and was considering a 2004/2005 Cooper/ Cooper S convertible. Does anyone have any advice on what to look out for, or any suggestions on other cars I might consider? Looking to spend up to £5k and ideally something that will pretty reliable.
... Read more
I've heard that engine called the "B M Trouble U" many times for being unreliable and a big oil drinker.
I've had my Fiesta Ecoboost 140 for 6 months and have covered 5000 kms, this is my second one, the previous one being the Ecoboost 125 in which I covered 35000 trouble free kms? The car is everythingn you say, even if it is a little thirsty. I can't better 6 litres/100kms, not quite 50mpg in mixed driving, even on 98 Octane. No Shell garages in my area, rural South
West France.
Ford certainly deserve the awards for the engine, it is as smooth as my 911 (stolen) and actually sounds not unlike one, half a flat 6 perhaps?
Thanks for an interesting column, much better than Top Gear!!
Regards,
Read more
I am thinking about buying a used Golf Mk 5 petrol manual highish mileage.
... Read more
Whatever you agree with the sales department ask for it in writing and read the writing through carefully. It might put a dampener on your sale, but save you a lot of grief.
I have a Fiat 500L I bought from the Car People on a 15 plate. It ticks over at 1250rpn with the air con on and 1000rpm without. The Car People say there is a soft where fault and take it back to fiat as it's still under warranty. Fiat say it's normal, I don't think it is, anyone any ideas. Read more
The rev rise at first seems counterintuitive - any aircon effect I've noticed on my cars has been a slight drop. It would irritate me if it rose. However I think mss1tw has hit the nail on the head in terms of how the 500 deals with the power issue and the rev rise may be normal in this instance.
I've done a couple of minutes googling and there are indirect references on Fiat sites to 500 and other Fiat diesels reving higher at idle when aircon is engaged. None suggests its a problem but they don't go into much detail - one suggests the software adapts to your driving style and settles down after a few weeks. Sounds unlikely to me though....
My car seems to be consuming Engine Oil (5w 30 Semi Synth) quite quick, I topped up exactly a month ago to the Max level. In 1 month it has come to the Min mark.
There are no obvious signs of a leak. I made sure I was on level ground when i checked on both occasions.... Read more
Would an exhaust emissions test, reveal if oil is being burnt? & how much..
(A local garage charges £5 for one of these.)
Anygood to you...pics half way down
www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/38161-pcv-valv.../
Cheers
Liam
ps mine is 1.1 petrol, 19 years old...doesn't burn any oil at all.. 99k, 12,000 miles a year. ...
4th August 2016
I bought a van outright for just under £8,000 just over 12 months ago from a garage called STRATA VEHICLE SOLUTIONS LTD in Wednesbury in the West Midlands. All was ok until 2 weeks ago a couple of guys called at my house working for Peak Collections ltd, I was not at home so they managed to get my phone number and called me to inform me that they were working on behalf of peugeot financial services and that £7500 was still outstanding on the vehicle. At the time I bought it I did do a basic hpi check to ensure it had'nt been stolen, written off...etc but crucially I did'nt do the outstanding finance check as I was buying from a large company that had been around since 1985.... Read more
This is already in the Motoring section.
4th August 2016
I bought a van outright for just under £8,000 just over 12 months ago from a garage called STRATA VEHICLE SOLUTIONS LTD in Wednesbury in the West Midlands. All was ok until 2 weeks ago a couple of guys called at my house working for Peak Collections ltd, I was not at home so they managed to get my phone number and called me to inform me that they were working on behalf of peugeot financial services and that £7500 was still outstanding on the vehicle. At the time I bought it I did do a basic hpi check to ensure it had'nt been stolen, written off...etc but crucially I did'nt do the outstanding finance check as I was buying from a large company that had been around since 1985.... Read more
Yes, or legal cover as part of your house insurance, or maybe legal cover as part of Trade Union membership? I often have legal cover but forget I paid the £12 or so annual fee....
I've started getting a grinding sound coming from the front passenger side of my car when coasting and the occasional knocking sound when changing gears. As soon as the clutch or accelerator is pressed the sound goes away. This came about all of a sudden a couple of days ago after pulling away from a junction. I've taken it to a garage since then where they couldn't hear or see anything wrong with it though. From what I've read it sounds like it may be the input shaft bearing but I don't have any knowledge on the matter. Has anyone experienced anything similar or have any ideas as to what it may be? Read more
I've had some pretty horific noises come from wheel bearings,
One sounded like a cat being stabbed!...
Browse
Hi Anna,
maybe a temporary upload site
like www.tiikoni.com/tis/upload/
and then you post the link here eg
www.tiikoni.com/tis/view/?id=531fbef
Cheers
Liam