May 2020
Hi.
I'm looking to buy a second hand car and found an ideal candidate - that is 700 miles away (yes, we are still talking UK). Obviously I cannot view the vehicle prior to possible purchase but have received numerous pics and description, and the car would need transporting to me in any case, so the seller is suggesting we use payment via Adyen.... Read more
In March this year I was involved in a fairly nasty car crash and then assaulted by the driver of the offending vehicle, resulting in a stay in hospital. The driver also drove off without leaving any details after the incident.
The good news is the whole incident was captured on my dash cam and the police were informed on the day along with my insurance. All the repairs have been competed on my car and my insurers are perusing it as 100% non fault on my behalf. I have also had to pay my excess and lost money having to take time off work due to the injuries sustained from the whole affair.
The police have since caught up with the car, however, the owner of the vehicle was not the person who was driving that day when the crash and assault happened. The car owners excuse to police is that his friend took the car keys without his knowledge after a house party, the cars owner is also refusing to give his friends details to the police (presumably because his friend has no insurance). It should be noted the cars rightful has fully comp insurance.
The police are still dealing with the incident and at no point did the owner of the vehicle report it as stolen and he has made no attempt to contact his insurance since the incident even though his insurance have chased him multiple times. I am also pursuing the incident through motor legal protection too.
My question is does anyone have any experience of what the outcome of this could be? I’m concerned that this whole situation could leave me out of pocket.
To anyone who has had similar experiences to this I would be grateful to hear how you got on. Read more
"Take the driver to court and he will soon contact his insurance company if he is going to be out of pocket"
He can't because the "driver" is unidentified....
Often said it but I’m a bit James May when it comes to cars. I respect powerful top of the range metal but I love simple poverty spec models that offer simple transport without needless complexity.
It’s hard to find these days but in the past some cars were as spartan as a horse and cart. A simple box on wheels with a steering wheel, some seats, a roof and a basic engine. It served a purpose and did so cheaply without fuss, usually.
I’m fortunate enough to have been in the motor trade in the 90’s and had the pleasure of experiencing true poverty spec joy. I loved the old trade yard at our site where all the older cars from every other branch came to await their next owner or the crusher.
Cars I loved but many found a bit odd...
Austin Metro 1.0 City/City X - Utterly spartan and had an engine from the 50’s but fun, cheap and surprisingly solid compared to rivals. Always started too but typically left a trail of oil everywhere they went.
Rover Metro 1.1C - As above but much better suspension, engine and gearbox. Still just as spartan inside though.
Citroen AX 1.0 pre facelift - Egg crate interior but fun to drive and cost buttons to run. Surprisingly robust and comfortable too.
VW Polo (the bread van) - Tiny, spartan 3dr estate. Highly practical and simplicity itself. These lasted for ages and are quite sought after today. A bit rubbish to drive but as simple cheap family transport they were great.
VW - Actually pretty much any poverty spec VW had appeal. Even the big Passat could be had with no equipment at all. A friends family had a big orange Passat estate when we were growing up that they had for decades. I loved that car for some reason.
Volvo 240 DL Estate - A large box on wheels with only power steering and nothing else. These are still to be found around the world serving as every day transport.
Vauxhall Cavalier Mk III L - Flogged loads of these. All they tended to come with was central locking, in fact there was a cheaper base model that had absolutely nothing. This is what the fleet market wanted in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s,utter simplicity. I ran one a 1.4 boggo base model for a while, I sold it at 93,000 miles then took it back in part ex at 120k and ran it again for a while. Great, cheap and simple. All you needed and nothing much to go wrong.
Fiat Panda 1986 Fire - A box, a (very good) little engine and a steering wheel. The seats were more deckchair like but were surprisingly comfortable. These were as simple as it gets and by far the best ultra cheap car at the time. Far better than the 2CV, 126 or any eastern Block offerings.
Bedford Rascal - Loved these weird little vans. No space was wasted and they were scary fun to drive. Very reliable too.
Honda Acty Van - A Tiny 550cc two cylinder engine with 30bhp from memory made these very entertaining on the road. Getting past 40mph was a battle.
Nissan Micra K11 1.0L - Didn’t even have wheel trims. No equipment at all but what it did have was a revvy wee 1.0 twin cam motor, a fantastic 5 speed gearbox and a great chassis. These never went wrong and always raised a smile.
Ford Sierra L - Again another big car with absolutely nothing on it. Big, simple, reliable and comfortable. Best with the ancient 1.6 Pinto under the hood as it would run and run if it had regular fresh oil or the ancient Peugeot 2.3 diesel that was impossible to kill. Taxi drivers loved them for their simplicity.
Ford Orion Classic - Pals folks bought one new. It was a special edition that was cheaper than the L and had absolutely nothing on it except a sunroof. OHV 1300 motor came from the Iron Age but it was comfy and never went wrong. They kept it til the backside rusted out of it.
Ford Granada Mk II/Mk III 2.5D Taxi - Utterly spartan model for taxi operators. Only comes with power steering and central locking. Huge inside the Mk III but still utterly spartan and tough.
Mercedes 190D 2.0 - Built like a tank and costly to buy despite wind down windows, rock hard seats and no spec at all. But it could do a million miles with ease.
Mercedes 123 series E240D - As above only bigger and slower. A legend in the taxi trade.
Ford Ka - I loved these and the more basic the better. PAS was a bonus but you were having too much fun driving it to notice the spartan spec.
Mazda MX5 1.6 Mk I - Early cars had nothing on them at all. It was about driving and not about gadgets. A fantastic thing but just as spartan as the MGB and Lotus Elan’s etc it was emulating.
To be honest most European firms in the 80’s and early 90’s had utterly basic models available right up to large saloons and estates. “Essence of motoring” as the great man says. All you need and nothing more. I suppose today’s examples would be the base model Fiat Panda and Dacia Sandero which are both cars I rate.
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To put FB's £40 of extras into context, sublime to the frankly ridiculous, that MB estate i mentioned earlier, was a year '93 E320 estate, in the full history file was the original bill of sale, basic car £31000, extras came to a cool £19000, i didn't add up what the original owner spent on servicing and repairs over the next 10 or 12 years but no bill was less than £500 and the worse was £3000 (aircon failure which failed again) and various in between, must have been knocking on £25k of repair bills, a friday car from day one, don't worry though the two MB dealers used never failed to charge for screen wash and other minor things to inflate the already eye watering bills...we definately need a face palm smiley here.
A whole boat load of money GB. My brother went off Mercs big time during their flirtation with 'cost engineering'. Failures you wouldn't expect from more mainstream makers made his last E class a total disaster, including 4 turbos! Regarding the screen wash scam. I always topped it up prior to a service. Sure enough when collecting the car there was a half empty bottle of screen wash in the footwell with a note saying compliments of the management. It always came as a shock when I told them to remove the £5 charge for screen wash. I asked how on earth they managed to get half a bottle in a tank that was filled that morning prior to the service. It always got taken off the bill. Some of those service managers should her gone to RADA, the act of surprise and indignation that they would possibly try to wring more money out of me was worth viewing. Beeky Chastards I think is the phrase. Cheers Concrete
My local Esso garage is showing a "Headline Price" up on the display column as £1.119
I filled with Esso Synergy Supreme (99 Ron) as it is just a few pence more expensive AS A RULE... Read more
Yeah, that's always been a bugbear of mine Andy. Sometomes you don't know until you lift the pump handle and it appears on the screen.
By law they are supposed to show the price on the pump display/facia all the time, so you don't have to lifet the handle to find out. They should be reported if this isn't the case.
My 20 year old niece was on the way home from work (care home) last night and was stopped by the police for alleged speeding (34 in 30). Single police officer, no white band on his helmet.
They asked for her details which she tried to provide through a slightly open window because of social distancing but they insisted she got out of the car and sit in their car. She tried to pass them her driving licence and insurance certificate. ... Read more
Well done Zippy. They should report it to colleagues to be aware of this. These imposters will repeatedly offend, they get too much of a kick from their activities, so he will do it again until caught. Get you niece to put some details on social media so her friends can be made aware of the danger. My daughter and her colleague only happened upon their offender in the act purely by chance, but they nicked him right enough. And he lost his vehicle too.
Cheers Concrete
Just wondering, as a self emplyed car trader, who is very low level, when i put in my accounts, what am i allowed to claim for in regard to vehicles? Of course i understand re anything i need to do to any vehicle, but, myself, i travel 15 miles too and from work and if i need to come home for anything double that....just wondering whats allowed? Read more
i do use a van, what can i claim? i always use a van
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As a middle aged family man I like a good dad mobile which to me is a large estate car, preferably of blue collar descent. But who built the best estate cars in your opinion?
Ford has made some great estates over the years. The Sierra 2.8 V6 Ghia 4x4 was a nice big barge. The Granada Mk II 2.8 Ghia again drive well and had tonnes of space. The Mondeo Mk I and Mk I facelift were all great especially the V6’s. The Focus Mk I was a joy to drive yet practical and the Mk II largely the same if a bit less interesting to look at. The late Scorpio estate was a great big slush-mobile too in V6 spec. They didn’t forget the driver with ST versions of the Focus from Mk III onward.
Volvo has to be a front runner with tough as old boots legends like the 240 and 740 that were capable of interstellar mileages. The later 850 combined this with BMW beating handling and spirited 5cyl 20v performance especially the T5 which is now worth a fortune in good order. Later cars became a bit too complex and reliability failed under Ford but today’s examples look great inside and out thanks to the Chinese effectively giving Swedish engineers a blank cheque. Not sure I like the complexity though, I prefer my old basic wagons.
BMW has to be in there too with some great drivers cars. Most were compromised for space in order to allow complex suspension setups that favoured driver over payload but the 3 and 5series routings have always been great cars. Reliability again fell with later models over complex and weak on longevity but they still drive great.
Peugeot can’t be missed out either since they made the sweet handling 306 and 405, the comfortable and tough 406 and the Africa conquering 504 and 505. Later cars have been miserable sadly.
Mercedes could be my front runner as they built two of the best made cars ever, the 123 and 124 series E classes. Both felt like they were hewn from granite and proved capable of million mile plus service at the hands of taxi drivers across the world. The 123 series E300 auto diesel estate is probably the toughest car ever made, no wonder with all of 88bhp from it’s low revving 3.0 engine.
Toyota has to feature too again purely from durability sake. The Carina was another 500k plus survivor the Carina E was even better. The Avensis was a bit dated but again it was just as tough. The Auris hybrid is all over the place on taxi plates and the Camry estate would outlast most of us when bought new. Tough and simple. I own one myself, it’s a decade old yet looks and drives like a two year old.
VAG has to be mentioned too mostly because of the outstanding longevity and drivability of the old 1.9 PD TDi motors. A Golf Mk IV, Passat, Skoda Octavia, Superb A4 or A6 so equipped would easily sail past 500,000 miles and still go like the clappers.
To me I think the Volvo 850 T5 manual wins it. Just as tough as any other Volvo but it handled well and could pulverise most hot hatches of the era yet it was still a refined and comfortable thing to sit in. The Touring cars of the time served to make you looked like daddy cool too. This is to me the best estate car ever made with the Mercedes 123 series E230 auto coming next.
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If memory serves, the current Astra estate had more boot capacity than the recently deleted Insignia estate, which may have been another nail in the latters coffin.
Certainly the case with the previous generation.
Sometimes a so-called sports car is in fact nothing like. Performance cars exist to gather headline praise and to bolster the image of the rest of the range. Usually it’s done well (Peugeot 405 Mi 16, 205 GTi, 306 GTi 6, Nissan Primera ZX, R21 Turbo, Focus/Fiesta ST, BMW M3/M5) but often in the past manufacturers have sadly put in too little effort. What are the least sporty sports cars you have owned or driven? Here are some I’ve experienced that served no purpose other than to look good in showrooms but were rightly panned by owners and critics alike.
Nissan Bluebird ZX Turbo - Utterly drab to drive. Numb steering, bouncy ride and felt nothing like the 135bhp it supposedly had. The cheaper 2.0i was a better car.
Nissan 300ZX Z31- A wobbling Blancmange of a car. Non turbo 3.0 auto wasn’t even fast but it really wasn’t something you wanted to hustle in anyway.
Ford Sierra XR4i 3dr - Appalling handling for a supposed top of the range sports model. High speed stability wasn’t too clever either. It was bouncy, floaty and didn’t even feel quick despite the 2.8 V6 lump.
Volvo 440 Turbo - Only had 13bhp more than the much cheaper by identical looking GLT. So low pressure it barely felt like it had a turbo but it had to be dialled down to prevent it eating the Renault gearbox. They were comfy and I admit to liking the 440 but sporty it wasn’t even in this top of the line model. Numb steering, clunky gearbox and rubbery handling. Not worth the money.
Volvo 480 Turbo - As above, not worth the money over the ES.
Audi 90/Coupe 20v - Hugely expensive things these and very very well made but Audi just couldn’t make the thing fun to drive. It was built like a tank and handled like one. Nice 5cyl warble but for the money 170bhp wasn’t enough.
Volvo 740 Turbo - Fast in a straight line but steered like the titanic and every bit of speed you’d built up was lost when you used that clunky gearbox.
Volvo 360 GLT - First attempt at a hot hatch for Volvo, an attempt to rival the Golf GTi and XR3. Cart springs at the back meant bouncy handling and woeful traction. Long throw clunky gear-change and numb steering sealed the deal. It was awful.
Rover 216 EFI Vitesse - I liked the SD3 Rovers but they were not sporty in any way shape or form. Lacked grip and traction and the engine was rough when extended. The Honda engined 213 was the far more sophisticated car for far less money.
Rover 820 Vitesse turbo - Another car I did like but they were softly sprung executive cars that had numb steering and leaned like the tower of Pisa in corners. Sporty it was not and the 2.0 petrol turbo sounded nothing like as sweet as the older 2.7 V6 Honda unit that preceded it.
MG Maestro 1.6 - Early model was a half hearted attempt to match the XR3 and Golf GTi. It was a miserable thing in every way. Badly made, unreliable and too slow. The later 2.0 injected and the MAF turbo models with the much better Montego interiors were actually quite good.
Mitsubishi 3000GT - I was horribly disappointed by my first shot in one of these. The huge steering wheel offered no feedback at all, it rolled surprisingly in corners and the driving position didn’t work for me. Too much electronic trickery from AWS to AWD and TCS, it all just numbed they driver from the road. A huge let down.
Ford Orion 1.6 EFi Ghia 1990-1992 - I loved the previous gen a Orion Ghia injection. It was never the greatest sports saloon but it was nippy and had a bit of character. Basically it was an XR3i with a boot, a touch of class and a lower insurance group. The next model was awful. Slow, noisy and bland. It was no top line sports model.
Mitsubishi Starion 2.6 Turbo - Looked cool but so very disappointing to drive. Early cars were frisky and fast with their quicker revving 2.0 177bhp turbo motor. Handling was typically Japanese of the time and a bit wooden but later cars were slower, using the Shoguns big slow revving 2.6 4cyl motor and had only 153bhp plus the steering was worse for the fatter tyres and wider track. The Nissan 200SX was a revelation by comparison.
Mitsubishi Galant 2.0 GTi - A good car but it was never sporty. Barely felt quicker than the much cheaper 2.0 GLSi and didn’t even look the part. Rolled in the corners just the same as every other model.
Peugeot 307 XSi - A huge disappointment after the fantastic 306 that preceded it. Worse in every way except crash safety and space. Utter rubbish.
Seat Ibiza 1.5 SXi - Horrid driving position, horrid gearbox, noisy engine that should’ve been great after Porsche had a hand in designing it and awful steering. Rolled like a 2CV too. It was a boat not a hot hatch. Later 1.7 model was as fast as you could go for the money but still awful.
Mitsubishi Shogun 3.5 V6 Evo - Special order only. Quick in a straight line but bounced around like any other ladder chassis off-roader of the time. Utterly pointless spoiler toting money pit thanks to its 18mpg economy.
Ford Fiesta RS Turbo - Rough as a badger. Almost everything was wrong with it except for the performance. It handled, rode and steered horribly like someone had employed a twelve year old to design a hot hatch. No fluid fun like you’d get in a fast Pug or Renault of the era. The cheaper XR2i was still poor but it was better than this.
Isuzu Piazza - Supposedly high tech sports coupe with gutsy turbocharged motor and loads of toys but underneath it was based on the old T series GM platform or the Chevette as we knew it. Live rear axle and poorly sorted suspension combined with lag prone turbo power are not a good combination. The UK importer went bust shortly after. Later Lotus tweaked cars were much better but too little too late.
Fiat Punto HGT 1.8 - Top heavy family shopping trolley. The only fun to be had was from early turbocharged 1.4 versions and their mad power delivery. The bigger engine model was dull and no one bought them.
Toyota Corolla 190 - Looked like your nans shopping wagon. Went well enough and was brilliantly made but it felt and looked little different from a basic 1.4 3dr.
Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6 SR - A spoiler carrying rep mobile that was as slow as a week in the jail. 90bhp and 102mph were fine in a 1.6L but not in a supposed top of the range spirts saloon. GM should’ve waited til the 1800 injection was ready before launching this. Early cars had a habit of eating camshafts which didn’t help its image boosting brief.
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Nice one 72. It did bring a smile to my face when I think of all those who got the shock of their lives when I left them for dead. Priceless. I had a lovely Pug 406 GLX diesel which was excellent but the 1.9 PD Tdi 130 VAG diesel engine was a real humdinger!!
Cheers Concrete
The alarm on my elderly father's 2007 Scenic goes off a couple of times a day. We've tried pushing the start button 5 times to disable the internal sensor, but that doesn't stop it going off.
He isn't using the car at present as he is in a vulnerable group and isn't going out .His regular garage is closed. I have charged the battery and taken the car a spin on a couple of occasions, everything else is fine. It's just this bloomin alarm!
He lives in a good area and doesn't really need a car alarm. Can we simply remove the sounder? If so can someone explain to a stupid person (me) how to do it, ideally with pictures.
Hoping someone can help.
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Yes, you can remove the sounder, but you need to find it first . If I recall , it’s in the boot area , in the rear quarter panel . (Possibly left) . You may need to remove the light . It’s usually attached to the bodywork with a metal security bracket , which may need to be drilled out . Very likely to be a Cobra unit .
I suspect this is as much to do with firms working out creative ways to keep staff safe whilst adhereing to social distancing AND re-opening (albeit on a limited basis at first their offices and factories to re-start their businesses in readiness for a more general winding down of the lockdown measures, as it is people getting ants in their pants and going out for a drive.
It could, I suppose, also be people giving their cars an occasional exercise so the battery doesn't go flat, tyres flatspot ot brakes seize up - as long as that's done responsibly, then that's OK.
I'm sure there are some idiots doing some irresponsible things like 'going racing' down the local dual carriageway or around otherwise empty towns (I've seen a fair few out, even right at the start of the lockdown 5+ weeks ago), or complete idiots going hundreds of miles to visit the seaside in good weather.
The return of the rain in May will hopefully 'dampen down' that a bit. Read more
I live in a village and own two cars, one modern and one classic. I take it in turns to use them for authorised purposes only, i.e. shopping for food and collecting prescription medication from the pharmacy. The classic may look conspicuous on the road, but if challenged it is being used for essential travel. Old cars, like old people, benefit from regular gentle exercise.
I do feel that going out for a pleasant drive, and returning home without ever leaving the car, is perfectly safe and should never have been prohibited. The self styled experts bleat about mental health problems arising from the lockdown but a change of scene, if only from within a car, would be a morale booster and would place no-one at risk.
"...in the Jeep Club monthly?" Fnurrrr fnurrr.
The reviews I refer to are - all of them. That includes Honest John's. It ain't the best in its class by a long chalk, but it ain't bad - it does fine in most parameters. ...