April 2019
Hi guys. On parts of my car, such as the roof, the paint is very rough, thin and discoloured. I’ve tried using Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound and a polisher (as seen on a Scotty Kilmer video), but this hasn’t restored the paint work. If I simply polish the rough parts often, will this offset any chances of the roof, and other bad areas, from going rusty? Thanks Read more
I have a 3"x 4" hole in my front subframe and was wondering if i could fill it with fibre glass as it has to go for its mot soon would this pass with fibre glass? Read more
I'd say the biggest cost is the labour. New ones seem fairly cheap on that popular auction web site
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Had an interesting chat with snr sales manager at a Ford lookers branch
KA - no more factory orders available, been told to shift all stock ideally before the new 69 plate arrives
Mondeo - can still order for retail customers but the wait depends upon volume of orders as to when the factory will run a job lot of right hand drive models. Recently took and order and customer wa happy to wait an estimated 3 months, told him it might be longer. No longer able to order for fleet customers, fleets pushed towards Focus estate or Kuga
Edge - still build quality problems, significance number of customers bring them back by a year old and trade them for a Kuga or Ranger, most find them hard to live with.
Tourneo Courier - van based MPV now officially given a place in the UK market since January, dealers able to offer best finance deals on the market for this car type (shame honest John fails to provide a road test and review in the car section of his website).
Dealer expects to sell plenty more on motability with Citroen/Peugeot/Vauxhall pushing up their van Based MPV prices on the Berlingo / Rifter / Combo Life
Mustang - sales and enthusiasm starting to slow
New Focus - Petrol DPF a real headache for some customers who only do short runs, has had to buy 2 back and down size the customers into Fiesta Actives.
Fiesta active - says it’s a good car but over priced, customers struggle to justify the finance offers compared to rivals such as on the Nissan Juke, Dacia Sandero Stepway and Suzuki, says Ford need to offer a base model.
Fiesta - strong seller, strong number of customers trading from the old model to the new model despite price increases. Old model values now starting to feel pressure but still enough demand.
Cmax and grand Cmax - no more factory orders, Very little UK stock available. He is hoping Ford will offer a good finance offer on the Tourneo Connect and Tourneo Grand Connect to compensate for the loss of the models as they still get a lot of family buyers wanting a spacious car.
Galaxy and S-Max - says they still sell a few but mainly to fleet and private buyers , rare to sell one on finance. Reckons there is plenty of demand for them both, especially used when they fall around £15k level but did state they are becoming expensive vehicles especially with the new Viglante trim being pushed by Ford.
This was very much his wider concern, with Fiesta, Kuga and commercials driving bulk of sales, Ford need an offering at the lower end of market which is why he was keen to push the Tourneo Courier as a spacious alternative family car.
He stated due to the area his dealership is in, they need a vehicle finance offering that can be competitive on price.
Finally he stated for the first time in a long time, he’s concerned Ford is in trouble and can’t work out what sort of brand it wants to be.
Also had a few issues with customers wanting factory builds as they are currently only picking up cars in stock from the 3 Ford port sites , they are unable to get any additional stock from the Holland holding port due to brexit uncertainty and were hopeful Brexit would have been sorted out by now.
Says the extension until October helps no one.
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"... they should stop trying to compete with the Germans..."
Ford Europe is a German company...
Car Legal Question... Read more
After some experience with the Small Claims court you can claim the cost of parts and legitimate expense, including loss of NCD.
DO not over-inflate your claim....
Hi –
I have a Peugeot 308 Verve diesel, brought ten years ago on the scrapage scheme (09 Reg). Initially, the suspension was excellent, but just recently it has become very hard and twitchy.... Read more
Hi
I had one of these for years great cars if you maintain them properly however.......
Ok this a strange one a few weeks back when turning my key in the ignition to start the car my boot would unlock and hazards start flashing every time I started the car. This went on for a couple of days then my car died. Manage to get some one to bump start it took to Halfords to have battery tested they said it was fine. Cars been driving fine since had no issues at all then a couple of days ago the same issue arose .., boot would unlock upon starting vehicle (just to point out I wasn’t accidentally pressing boot button ) and this morning my car is dead again. Any ideas what the issue could be will be getting it looked at but wondered if any one had had a similar experiences or have any idea what it may be ...
Many thanks Read more
Modern electronics (especially cars) need a good quality steady voltage for the various modules to operate correctly. When the engine is cranked over, if the battery voltage drops below approximately 9 volts, these modules become unsteady and can throw a wobbly. The result is often something operates at random.
VW have been caught illegally selling 6700 preproduction cars to unsuspecting customers. These cars are not certified for the road and should have been crushed. Would you trust them?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/business/volkswagen-lawsuit-prototype-cars.html?fbclid=IwAR1WnNXzXhi9luICSCMTAcRI2xxh9hH7MDAqW8NN8gp8ZPT2mfVqfS2JL0s Read more
One thing to note about the new 2.0 Hybrid Corolla is that the boot across both models (it's sadly not available in the saloon, which annoys me personally as someone who would like to buy another saloon to replace my 13yo Mazda3) is smaller than the one for the 1.2T and 1.8Hybrid, as it requires more batteries and thus takes up more space below the boot area, reducing it in size. More of an issue with the hatchback than the bigger estate though I suspect.
The boot in the 2.0L hatchback is very very small and it has the battery in it, that is the normal car battery. The boot is a good bit larger on the 1.8L hatch. I understand this is because the 2.0L has something like 60% more hybrid battery and more electric motor. The 2.0L estate version has no obvious signs of being a hybrid, normal boot like the Ceed or Golf estate, if it looses out anywhere is maybe in the underfloor storage which is smaller than the others.
I have a nearly new VW Tiguan (1.4 TSI, petrol, automatic). The start/stop engine system failed to restart in heavy traffic a few weeks ago. Since then, the car has been at a VW dealership awaiting a software update. There is no estimate or indication as to when this might be fixed. The car has been off the road now for 3 weeks. Have you encountered a problem like this and such a complete lack of transparency as to when the problem might be fixed? Read more
It can't be a danger if you disable the start-stop each time you drive. They have no legal right to impound your car.
Taffed ideas - a Daihatsu Terios is OK (despite the cheapskate lack of a loadspace cover) and has a reputation for reliability but they can rust and are quite expensive secondhand despite not being sold here for 10 years. Another alternative might be a Fiat Panda 4x4 with good allseason tyres. Read more
PC, Winchester says the hill assist can't be turned off in his Fiesta.. If he refers to his manual he will see that this can be turned off its in the vehicle menu in the centre display. (Between the speedo and rev counter).
Hi all,
I was very pleased to get an Audi as I have always wanted one and got this car recently as we dont have a lot of money. But then issues started to arise. Recent work done had been vacuum valve and crank sensor replaced.... Read more
Pleased to hear the car is running ok now.
While you have the carpets up you need to check for leaks....
Browse
It will help a bit if rust is starting via stone chips and scratches, if rust has started from behind the surface then you need to investigate further (eg bubbling up around wheel arches). I don't know what mark your Escort is but many are worth some money these days so are worth working on - parts and panels are plentiful