June 2018
Hi
I did a post earlier regarding a car under £10,000 however I've decided to increase my budget and look for something slightly bigger. 5 doors with a boot which has got to bigger than 350 litres. I only do about about 7000 miles a year so would prefer a petrol over diesel. I have had a look at a few cars, Kia Cee'd, Hyundai i30, Ford Focus etc however I am concerned about the reliability of 3 cylinder 1 litre engines after reading some posts and articles, can anyone put my mind at rest? I am planning on keeping the car a while so I will be financing it myself. Can anyone recommend anything else with model and spec - tech wise I'd like it to be upto date with newer cars so something from 2017 onwards would be better. ... Read more
Some of you may remember my mum inherited a 1962 300 sl roadster. Today was the first drive it has had since being stored for the winter. Over the winter myself and a friend converted her to EFI from mechanical injection (old bits put in box for storage). Full services done last weekend even though it had done less than 1k miles since being brought back on the road seeming as it can't do any harm. Fresh petrol in the tank and she fired in to life.
Lovely drive around the kent country side stopping at a pub on the old A20 for a spot of lunch. Many people asking about the car. Was asked by someone if I was willing to sell but seen as it's not mine I'm not in the position to sell. ... Read more
Excellent advice there from Richard W - I was thinking the same.
If the car isn't going to be sold, and you hang onto the original parts for replacing if it had to be sold, it seems to me you;ve done the right thing in updating the fuel injection. A car like that is there to be driven and enjoyed, not kept as a museum-piece. ...
Has any one found a company that can install retrofiting ASDS systems to Euro 5 DPF cars. Read more
Although I’ve been very happy with my ‘13 plate Toyota Auris for the past three years, I could do with a little more boot space. I was impressed with a recent testdrive in a ‘65 plate Cee’d 3 Sportswagon and am sorely tempted as the price to change is favourable. The downside is that the car in question is a 1.6 Euro 5 diesel and I’m not entirely clear if it would be a good move for me. I currently cover around 13500-14000 miles a year which is a little below the normally accepted suitable for diesel threshold. Monday-Friday is an 8 miles each way cross town/city commute with 30mph zones all the way. Weekends usually involve a motorway journey of around at least 10 miles each way.
Do back roomers think this is enough mileage to keep a dpf healthy?
Although I’d prefer an estate, the dealer also has a pre-reg Euro 6 Ceed 1 hatch offered at a massive discount which I might consider as the boot is larger than the Auris although doesn’t have all the toys offered in the “3” spec. Would I be better with Euro 6 if I do go diesel, or should I hang fire for a suitable petrol engined car instead? Read more
I agree - a Fabia estate would tick your boxes, but by the sound of it your Auris is a hatch (if the boot of a Ceed hatch is bigger). The Auris estate (or Touring Sports I think they call it, although it's nit deaigned to be sporty) could be one for your shortlist.
theblacksea.eu/stories/article/en/car-parts-probe
How to make more profit.... Read more
This is hardly a recent thing, we in Britain (other european countries vary) have been paying through the nose for car spare parts, (and innumerable other things), for decades.
I ran American cars now and again at one time, the cost of spare parts from the few factors who imported them here by the container-load were an eye opener, less than half the price you would expect to pay for an equivalent size of european vehicle....
The wee soft metal things that hold the collar of a new shirt to the carboard in the packaging. Always thought I should keep them but if I did I don't know where they are.
Trying to improvise replacement turn indicators from old bicycle reflectors (at top in picture below) They might not notice the colour change if both sides are the same.... Read more
Never mind the qvaality, feel the thickness.
LOL
Just been watching the I o M TT highlights and wondered how these riders (and professional race drivers) manage insurance for their everyday road vehicles?
Obviously the likes of Lewis Hamilton can afford to self insure (he may have a clean licence and full no claims but has had accidents on tracks) but insurance for public roads for some of the bikers/rally drivers/saloon car racers I'd expect to be higher than average. (Or do insurers assume greater skill and therefore lower risk?) ... Read more
"...but it certainly results in people committing offences that they would not otherwise have committed"
Bit of a strange argument. If there were no speed limits at all no speeding offences would be committed. One of the requirements of being competent to drive is being aware of the prevailing speed limit. I find it strange that many people will argue that it is perfectly safe to conduct a hands-free phone conversation but it is asking too much of them to recall what the last speed limit sign that they passed showed....
So a main dealer gives me two prices for a set of brake pads. One is a Ford part and the other Ford Motorcraft. Ford part is considerably dearer. I was told they are the same just in a different box.
What is going on here?... Read more
That’s a good honest main dealer to be honest! Most would try to sell the one with most markup.
What method would a main dealer employ to do a brake fluid change? Pressurise the system (like my Easi Bleed would) or use a vacuum to drawer the fluid out? Read more
That would depend on the make,
As pretty much all vehicles use ABS then there's a function in the diagnostics that simply runs the ABS pump so one just has to slacken any bleed nipple and let the fluid out....
I bought two new bushes for my sway bar today. One was creating a clunk. Without a doubt both will now be creating an even bigger clunk.
The reason being the only bushes listed for my car are not the bushes fitted to my car. I've owned car from new and the bushes on it are the ones the car came with.... Read more
So the dealer got back to me, and although he was unable to give me any details regarding the size of the bushes, what he did tell me explains why I had a few issues refitting the old bush and so I can assume he probably has found what I need.
You cant buy the bushes seperately. You have to buy the bar and bushes as a package, and I'd be willing to bet the bushes come pre-attached to the bar. Hence the hard plastic base to the bush, and hence the difficulty I had prying them off and the near impossible task trying to refit the bracket back over them with the bar in situ....
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