February 2017
Cars ( around 2004/5 )
Honda 2.0 CRV... Read more
Hi, Im looking for some help choosing a new car. I currently drive 61 plate Honda Civic 1.4 Type S. I actually really like my car. It feels good to drive, looks sporty without verging on being a boy racer type and I love the modern style dashboard and interior. Downsides are the 1.4 is just lacking any oomph especially going up hills and it's a 3dr. It's just myself and my 9 year old daughter but I like the big boot and space for picking up friends or going away for a weekend in comfort. I mainly drive around town so a 1.6-1.8 petrol would be ideal and it must be a 5dr.
I have my Civic to trade in plus around £5-5.5k loan or £165 max monthly payment. I've been looking at the newer model Civic but the models are only 2 years newer for my budget. I went to my local Civic dealer and told the salesman my max monthly budget of £165. To my dismay he tried to push a new Civic (the one being replaced in March) for £230 a month on pcp, telling me what a good deal it was and how I would save £3000 of the list price. I just lost interest after that as he wasn't listening to me. My previous cars have been a VW polo, golf and freelander. I find the golf as bland looking now.... Read more
I think the flat spot on the Mazda is exactly where the revs are in top on most of the combined cycle - in other words it has a particular map to get good CO2 and MPG figueres on the test.
The EU combined is 55mpg which you wouldn't get out of it if you pushed it off a cliff....
So they don't change the rate for 16 years, then a huge amount. It beggars belief. Don't they realise that the returns on such investments will change over the decades, not be the same all the time? Surely he rate should be reviewed and the average return over a (say) 50 year period should be taken into account, weighted towards the most recent rates of return. My guess would be that this reflects a rate nearer to 1.5 - 2% at present at worst. Returns won't be on the floor forever (hopefully). Read more
Totally confused and annoyed. Why should I have to pay more when over the years I have already been forced to pay well in excesss of £50,000 in car insurance over the 42 years of private motoring? I have never made a claim either. I think the insurance companies along with the goverenment think us oldies are wealthy enough to fleece further.
Hi All,
Recently acquired new E Class Estate AMG Line. Is there anything to stop me putting non Mercedes MO wheels and tyres on it? Read more
Thank RobJPs, never considered that as an option- I'll give it a go.
Hello,
I'm a bit baffled with why the other party are denying responsibility for the accident I was in..can anyone give me any advice please on what to do next?? I am baffled!!... Read more
This is a common tactic in such circumstances. You need to establish who the other witnesses are, their address and where they were standing and which way they were facing. I'd wager the 'witness' knows the driver or is a friend of a friend, proving it is not so easy.
Even if you had have been signalling, only a fool would pull out - your indicator may have stuck for example. In a side road, you should always wait to see what the other driver does. ...
I got my Mondeo 5 years ago and it came with steel wheels. It needed new tyres so I got some aftermarket alloys. They are cheap wolfrace 16" alloys and seem pretty soft. I have rimmed 2 sets now on potholes here in Surrey.
... Read more
Just run the steel wheels as the odds are if you put alloys on one axle one will find a pothole sooner or later! I did used to run wider steels on the back of two cars in the late seventies/early eighties but that was quite common then. Also since we have gone from looking up the premium on a chart with seven groups vs age any modification seems to attract quite an additional premium!...
Last MOT i was told my rear springs were worn Well i do get a bit of rattling over bumps So is there any suggestions on fitting new ones Maybe without using spring compressors Any tips please charles Read more
Not without spring compressors!!
Machine mart sell a type that fir internally to the springs and are comparativly easy to use and a lot safer than other types....
Hello,
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That's a realistic offer and I doubt they'd refuse a nice easy deal at that but I'll let you in on a wee trick if they do, there's a way to help loosen the dealers purse strings. Let him or her quote you a nice juicy finance deal then after a little think tell them you'll take it if they accept £7,500 or £7,400 if you fancy being cheeky then as you go to sign up tell him you'll arrange finance yourself. They won't back out the deal but the thought of a nice finance commission is often enough to bag a decent discount from the sales manager.
Good luck and enjoy car shopping.
Hello! I'm looking for some suggetions/ advice on where to look to sort out this problem.
On feb 15 I was driving my 2002 Nissan down an A road, about 50K/H at 8PM, when it lost power and slowly lost speed and stalled. The engine wouldnt' turn over. Tried again about 5 minutes later and the engine turned over, so attempted to move off. It went about 100M then did the same thing. No fault lights came on, there was just no response to the accelorator. At that point I"d driven about 50 miles, over 90 minutes or so.... Read more
Hi
Newbie here, long time lurker but I've encountered this and think I can suggest where to look so felt compelled to join and suggest. I've owned my Tino since 2004 (its a 2001 model) and my father in law has had his since 2007(its a 2004 facelift model).
Assuming water and oil levels are good this sounds like the immobiliser randomly immoblising rather than heat related
At first it sounded like either crank or cam sensor but they normally bring up a EML light and the car will turn over.
A dodgy immobiliser won't show a EML as the car just doesn't power up properly and specifically doesn't allow the car to turn over.
This specific fault has been on my FIL's.
His was normally randomly not starting rather than cutting out .
The Tino's have a key with the remote opener "blipper" and also the chip which is detected when you put the key in the ignition. The detection unit is inside the steering column cowl about half way down below the steering lock.
Obvious things to try are:
Change key battery
If you have a second key, try using that
If you have lots of other keys on the keyring try just using the ignition key on its own. Other keys can interfere with the signal if the chip is starting to die (does happen and you can get new keys on a certain auction site - BUT, they do then need programming)
As mad as it sounds, when it happens again, give the steering cowl a fairly strong hit with your hand (not too hard as this can crack the cowl!) and wiggle the key about in the ignition.
My FIL's turned out to be a loose connection on the immobiliser unit and giving it a tap made it work until we could get the cowl off and reseat all the electronic plugs.
You can also try getting the garage to reinitialise the key (they sometimes get confused). You can Google how to do it, but it is quite specific so probably better left to a garage.
If you do delve into the steering column - make sure the screw holes are aligned when you put the cowl back on. The screw retainer holes are near the edge of the plastic and if you get it wrong, you end up cracking the cowl.
I might be wildly off the mark so apologies if I am, but the symptom does suggest the immobliser.
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HI im after a car max budget of around 3k but ideally towards the 2,2.5k.
mileage i probably do 6/7k at the most a year. I need boot space and descent enough economy so 2litre would be out of the picture.... Read more
My shortlist of worthy motors at this money would all be normally aspirated petrol engines.
Mazda 3 1.6, Toyota Corolla 1.6, Toyota Avensis 1.8 (better on fuel than you'd think), Ford Focus 1.6 and Vauxhall Astra 1.6 are all robust and straightforward motors. I'd leave the Mondeo MK IV as the 1.6 petrol is rare and underpowered while the 2.0 petrol is thirsty. Diesels at this money will be more trouble than they're worth and will cost more to run overall. 1.8 Honda Civic is another good option but they tend to sell for more money so you'll be looking at higher miles.
Buy on condition and history above anything else but if all things were equal I'd favour the Mazda 3 which is cheap to buy, very reliable and great fun to drive. The 1.6 petrol is no ball of fire but it'll nip along well enough and it's chain driven so there's no timing belt to worry about. It uses the same suspension and floorpan as the Focus but personally I prefer Mazda's gearbox and interior. I recently sold one with 117,000 miles up and it was faultless to drive and the new owner is delighted with it to date.
The Focus is next especially with the Yamaha designed 1600 which is reliable and sweet revving. Due a timing belt at 8yrs but I'd do it earlier to be safe so budget £300-£350 for belt, tensioner and water pump when bidding on one. It's often overlooked on these and will kill the engine if it snaps.
Astra, Avensis and Corolla are all robust but bland to drive. You'll get real value with the Astra or Avensis but both are harder to sell on.
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