July 2019
Yesterday in the middle of the day in a respectable street in Surbiton, SW London at 12 noon our Jazz was jacked up and the exhaust was cut through and the cat was removed all in about 2 minutes. Excellent CCTV of suspects which has been passed to the Police who were very keen to follow up. The Police told me that the early Honda Jazz’s and Toyota Prius’s are being targeted by these criminals.
My wife’s distraught, she loves the Jazz it’s a 2008 CTV auto, FHSH just 52,000 miles.
Of course it would happen on a Friday afternoon, will have to wait till Monday to arrange repair.
Will need new exhaust, cat and plastic underfloor tray which was cut through.
Is there anybody in the know please who could advise whether the insurance will write the car off? My wife is desperate to have it repaired.
Thanks in anticipation.
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Hi all
I'm in the process of buying a used car from a dealership, and when I checked the car out online it had 3 MOTs last year in February, April, and November 2018. Is this normal? The car is apparently ex Motability if that makes any difference. The dealership says that they do an MOT when they receive a car with less than 6 months MOT left. That still doesn't account for the one in April though. I'm not at all experienced with buying used cars so I don't know if the dealer's claims hold up. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Read more
if it's been in stock for 9 months there must be a good reason.....
My 2013 Leon 1.4 TSi went in PX against the Superb on 01.03.2017. It had only done 30,000 miles in its 3 years 9 months and had a full Seat service history, no advisories on the MOT, about 5mm on all 4 tyres, no dents or scratches, interior unmarked and provided the 4th service was carried out by a Seat dealer it would have the benefit of the remainder of the 5 year Seat warranty....
Hi all,
This has come to be my go-to place for any car related decisions nowadays as the most knowledgable forum :) ... Read more
Afraid it was another thread where I don’t believe we ever heard what they ended up buying. I personally would advise opening up your search a bit as the Touran was never a big seller and isn’t around in huge numbers, at least not with the 1.4 TSi petrol or the 2.0 Diesel variants with manual gearboxes that I’d recommend.
The 1.6 diesel seems to be more troublesome than the 2.0 and the bigger engine copes better with full loads. The 1.2 TSi is really a bit weak for such a heavy car with a fully family onboard but for local use I imagine it would be ok. The fragile DSG automatic is best left alone when buying used.
I’d add in the Vauxhall Zafira too which is spacious, comfortable and good value used. The 1.4T SRi in particular is a good model and there’s plenty of these about. The diesels are of Fiat design and best avoided again. The Ford C-Max is a good car as long as you avoid the Powershift auto and the 1.0 Ecoboost engines and the bigger S-Max is good but again avoid the auto.
The cooling fan keeping running long after engine is turned off - about 2 min. This started happening after depollution fault for a misfiring cylinder which i got corrected after replacing ignition coil. The drive is fine now but the ran keeps running. Also the fault came along after i regased and AC compressor replaced. The AC was on for 15 min and above symptoms were seen. Are these linked issues or separate ones? Read more
Early 308s suffer with this issue and its sometimes down to a blocked heater matrix.
Try a full coolant flush first, then do a BSI reset on the electrical system. Google "BSI reset" for instructions....
Possibly one for elekie.
The fan isn't coming on on my son's 2009 Fiesta with climate. It's not running either with the climate on or when the engine gets hot. I've only checked the fuse is ok and the fan is free to turn. ... Read more
Update in case it helps anyone in the future.
Fan stopped working again this week. A sharp tap with a piece of wood got it going so thought time to find another one. A genuine Valeo one is £80+ online so I thought I'd try the scrapyard first. They had 6 Fiestas, but only one still had the fan so maybe it's a common failure. £20 later and we have a working fan....
Hi, had my i10 SE 64 plate since 2015. Loved the car so far and looked after it. However couple of weeks ago noticed oil light flashing on. Stopped immediately and it was low so topped up. Few days later it went on again so took it straight to nearest garage. They have said its burning oil and needs new engine at cost of £3k minimum. Bit of a shock as no other signs and only has 54k miles clock. Have taken to hyundai and now battling to get repaired under warranty. I got it serviced like clockwork else where and have all the paperwork. However dealership are picking all the invoices apart. Asking for clarification on oil grade even though its specified and questioning parts numbers on invoice. Luckily my garage is great and have written letters confirming what oil they use etc, given all the detailed invoices. I think although you can take car elsewhere for servicing they set the bar so high in terms of evidence you stand no chance of keeping warranty. Its even down to what make of screenwash used? Dealership dont have any empathy at all and just have the strapline 'hyundai wont accept that is in the terms and conditions'. Im not surprised by their reaction as they dont want to pay. Im challenging it as have nothing to lose, just wondering if anyone has any tips on getting them to repair as im left with a pile of metal junk in the meantime and need a car for work so time isnt on my side. Interesting garage said they have seen a similar case of engine failure in a relatively new i10 and again owners couldnt get repair on warranty so im notnholding out much hope. Read more
Interesting, Steve, and it makes a lot of sense to me. Also a good example of how 'optimising' any system can amount to choosing the best compromise among all the trade-offs.
I tried not to but I needed a comfortable 5 door hatchback to transport my elderly parents. The car mags told me buy a golf or audi so I could throw it round corners but locally they were about 5 or6K more for similar age milage and spec. The auris bought from a local Toyota main dealer has 2 years warranty 1 owner7k miles as new condition a 1.2 turbo engine that does 0 - 60 in 10secs 30£ tax and a very quiet smooth ride. Reliability and tons of equipment comesass standard. Please don't be angry with me!
Saw a Toyota starlet today, can’t remember the reg, but they must have stopped making them years ago, looked immaculate as well
There's one local to me that is still going - and that's one from the early 80s! Bright green, too (unmissable).
Hi everyone.
I have an 2.0 diesel ford kuga 2008. Car was running perfect till one day when driving one motorway i felt there is no power like before, i was like I have no turbo and the car was accelerating very slowly after 2000 rpm. Also a engine malfunction error came but it dessapeard after i switched off ignition. ... Read more
You might want to replace the turbo control valve. Had the same problem and could not hold a vacuum.
You might want to keep in mind that the valve can reset when it is disconected even if the engine is shut down. It will selv calbrate after the 40th engine start or you could get it conected to a scantool to initiate the learning mode....
I've owned my 09 XF 2.7D Premium Luxury since nearly new and have enjoyed totally trouble free motoring. I've never had any problems and have only ever needed to change the tyres, brakes and oil. With nearly 80k miles it still drives like new. However, I'm aware the car is getting on now, it's by far the oldest car I've ever run and arguably I'm sitting on a timebomb in that inevitably it's almost bound to play up at some stage as it gets older and older.
I'm therefore considering a 2016/17 XF 2.0D 180. That said, I'm a bit concerned about swapping my trouble free car for one with potential problems. I read in today's Autocar that the new shape XF is the lowest ranked car of its class in reliability surveys and that were many recalls including oil leaks, engine cut outs, cracked sills etc.
Is the XF 180 a reliable car and is there anything I should check for? I'm planning to buy an ex lease 40 - 50k miler at auction so won't have a warranty.
I was initially concerned about the smoothness of the 4 cylinder engine too - is it as smooth as the 6 cylinder 2.7? I've been toying with the idea of one of the last 2014 3 litre old shape XFs.
In a nutshell, do XF 180 owners think I should change my trusty old 2.7 for one? Or would I be better off getting a last of the line 3.0?
Thanks in advance Read more
Your car has served you well and I suspect it could double the mileage if maintained by the book. In your position I would keep it!
Hey I’m new to this place and don’t know all that much about cars, let alone the technical aspects. But I was lurking a few topics on these forums and saw something mentioned which got me thinking...
Is it normal that my car won’t say, boost in the high revs? For example I’m hitting the high revs of third and sometimes it feels like the car is suddenly being restricted, like there’s a serious power drop off.
I had almost just chalked it down to the design of the car or something. I never owned an engine that wasn’t N/A so what do I know, right?
But I saw these two comments in another thread (made in April 2018)...
“There were some issues with early 1.4Ts, but this appears to have been solved with a re-specified oil. Was Dexos 2, now Dexos 1 Gen 2.”
“As another poster pointed out there were problems with the new Astra turbo engines that were solved with an new oil spec and an ECU upgrade, if you do get one make sure this has been carried out.”
...and I’m thinking should I bring my car to the garage and specifically point this out to them? It wasn’t too long ago it was in for a service so I don’t want to pay for one again so soon unless there’s a good reason to.
Any help would be appreciated. Read more
Suggest you have a look on the Astra K forum for info on the 1.4T engine issue. Your GTC will be a J but the engine's the same.
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When you get a moment do check.