June 2020

Just a nobody

The automatic MOT extensions are coming to an end on 31 July.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-mots-for-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-due-from-30-march-2020 Read more

RT

Oh botheration! Car will be 3 years old first week of August, serviced regularly to keep 5 year warranty active, I was rather hoping on a 6 month delay and to combine next service and MOT at a reduced price with dealer. Waste of a morning for me!

At least there is some notice time so I've been able to book the MOT with the franchise dealer who regularly services the car, in preference to a local unknown who may well discount the MOT price to find faults that don't exist....

piuzzo_steve

Hello all.

A few years ago this forum recommended we buy a Peugeot 108 and it’s been excellent. Therefore, I thought I’d get your feedback and suggestions as we add another car to our family.

Some background; I used to have a large enough company car for family use. COVID-19 has recently cost me my job and car so we need something big enough for family use (the 108 with a 2.4 family, dog and two small bikes is stressful to pack let alone drive!).

My wife likes the higher driving position of an SUV and my previous x-trail worked well.

Our ideal car would be a Qashqui but with a budget of £8-9k options are limited / come out aged or with high mileage.

We have seen several Dacia Dusters with our budget and surprisingly my wife likes them when we looked around a forecourt yesterday.

Many are 1.5 diesels. Due to our low mileage (currently) I’m concerned after being bitten badly with a Peugeot engined Fiesta TDCi’s injectors,ERG and DPF. Are the Dacia diesels suitable for potential longer term 5-10m mileage or should I head towards petrol?

Any other feedback on the Duster’s which seem incredible value? We’re not expecting the refinement of a Qashqui obviously!

We also like the look of Peugeot 2008 (preferably 1.2 puretech petrol) and a few come within budget but they didn’t seem to offer the same value.

The only petrol, low usb mileage / aged Qashqui we have found has the twin cam Renault engine which I have read can be troublesome. The fact that it’s considerably cheaper than others raises my eyebrows www.evanshalshaw.com/search/details/nissan/qashqai.../

We live in semi-rural Northamptonshire for ideas red usage.

Many thanks in advance.
Read more

badbusdriver

Expanding the search to estate cars has brought up this which was recommended as ‘basic bang for buck’ by a colleague. Any good ? - I haven’t noticed any around but can see that for the money it’s spacious (not as big as a Duster) and low mileage. Equivalent models from other makes seem more expensive ....

...

joe4u

Why the dvla does not change the mot dates accordingly?
Until the dvla keeps showing the old, and wrong dates there will be uncertainty and confusion.
Joe Read more

AntF

The existing MOT certificate was extended for 6 months from it's original expiry date. At the end of this period the car will need an MOT which will be valid for a further 12 months. What makes you think it would be any less?
The expiry date on the DVLA website for any existing MOT will get 6 months added a few days before it would have expired, up to the end of July. I guess it is done this way as the end of this extension period was unknown when it started.
This is my understanding of the situation.

Warning

My car service is overdue. I do very low mileage 2,000 miles p.a.

I would have booked it in, if is was n't for the virus, but wonder how safe it is taking the car to the garage?... Read more

sammy1

Sorry but if you read the original post OP lives with a vulnerable person so after 3 months of lock down I would have thought the answer was obvious! 2000 miles and contemplating an oil change do you really think people need to ask? As to his last post I am sorry but I dread to think what his main dealer is using for washer fluid.

Stitchy360

So I own a Ford Focus mk1 (truly the bane of my life) the problem started as my Speedo dropping to zero (nothing else only the Speedo). Then it happened again but my miles went to dash dash dash then blank, but when I started the car again it appeared fine. After a couple of weeks of the Speedo being fine then it started to play up again and now my abs light has come on. Now the abs light comes on and goes off whenever it likes. Checked the car for codes and none have been found. So decided new speed sensor, we got it fitted and figured problem solved. Nope. The Speedo hasn’t dropped to zero but it is very jumpy, usually ok at lower speeds but anything over 40 and it starts jumping. And also the abs light is still coming off and on when it pleases.

So we decided to jack the car, wheels off checked abs sensor seemed fine. Decided to change gear box oil. Took the car a run and abs light went off but Speedo kept jumping. Then when I switched my headlights on the radio turned off. When I tried to get it to do it again it the lights came on and the radio stayed on.

Sorry for rambling but anyone have any ideas? I’m planning on buying a new car anyway but I still need to keep this running for a couple of months. All thoughts and ideas welcome! Read more

injection doc

when you jack it up check the latteral movement on the driveshafts where they come out the gearbox.

early fords were prone to diff bearings wearing, often diagnosed by a wavering speedo that may or may not stop working when going round a sharp bend and ABS lights coming on at random....

Benet

I have a 2010 Auris 1.3 petrol which suffers from loss of oil. I believe this is related to the black soot on the inside of the exhaust pipe, (this was corroborated by another Auris owner on this Forum.) In every other way the car is fine. But regularly topping up the oil is a nuisance. Now (as mentioned in another thread) I have recently paid a deposit on a 2016 Verso 1.8 petrol (approx 30k miles) and I did find the exhaust pipe was a bit black inside, though better than the Auris. I assumed it would be OK, but it was blacker than some of the other Verso's we looked at.

But I have just now looked at the exhaust pipe on our 17 yr old Honda Stream - spotless. This is causing some slight buyer's remorse. It would be annoying, to say nothing more, if the Verso is burning as much oil as the Auris when it reaches the same age. ... Read more

concrete

Sounds wonderful. Unfortunately I am already committed to another luck bringing organisation. The Church of the Holy Mackerel. Services every Sunday at 5am sharp at the Serpentine in Hyde Park. Don't forget to bring your lucky elephants foot and a copy of David icke's latest pearls of wisdom. See you there.

Cheers Concrete Read more

thunderbird

How do you make Sandawana Oil? Do you have to squeeze them raw or perhaps extract the oil by cooking.

Are they that rare, never seen one....

mondeoman2013

Hi,

I saved the old wheels when I scrapped my old w210 estate. They are fitted with 3 almost new tyres 215/55/16. The wheels themselves are pretty ropey.... Read more

Lifeofbrian

So, my 89 year old father needs a ignition key re coding for his Peugeot Partner 2009, so he took it to a dealer and they told him that because the key is not a genuine one that it would be risky to recode this key as it may make both keys not work again? So they quoted him £200 for two new keys.

I'm no expert but it sounds like nonsense, what do you guys think? Read more

Gibbo_Wirral

There's a locksmith on the Peugeot forums who will cut and code Peugeot keys for over half that price.

If you have the key PIN code card that came with the car you can get a blank key online and then find someone local with Peugeot Planet to code it to your car....

SLO76

I remember fondly wandering through the old trade yard at my work sniffing round all the old rot buckets (or cars with character as I called them) which came and went daily. I loved taking in and selling cheap cars, I liked the sort of people who bought them. They were more often than not car people and wise to the utter waste of money the things are. Good conversation was had and an easy sale done if the car was reasonable plus you knew they weren’t coming back to haunt you in most cases. I’d refuse to sell to anyone I regarded as unrealistic.

In those days (late 90’s) cars a decade or so old were rusty and aged. Buying one was a gamble, a bit of fun. You could be lucky or you could expire in a cloud of steam the next day, every journey was an adventure and they did all look like a true banger with crusty arches and wonky electrics. It was also an eye opener how fast things had moved with 1994 Mondeo’s, Rover R8’s seemingly a light year beyond an 1984 Sierra, Montego or Cavalier. I don’t think things have moved as quickly today with cars dating circa 2010 still pretty modern.

We often sold end of life cars to Glaswegians heading to Blackpool on holiday. All they cared about was did I think it would make it. At £300 if it lasted a week they were happy, they’d get £50-£100 scrapping it when (or if) they returned. It was a wee adventure holiday.

Today it’s not so much fun. I’ve several old cars in the family and among friends which are solid, don’t look their age and provide utterly reliable transport. Brother in laws 19yr old Civic is the best example. It’s largely rust free, cost £550 about 3yrs ago and never goes wrong. It would sell for £500 easy enough today.

I remember the true motoring horrors of old Lada’s, Yugo’s and early Hyundai’s all thanks to the Proton franchise we had alongside our Mitsubishi dealership. Folks today have no idea what a genuinely bad car is. Why anyone bought an FSO Polonez I’ve no idea. Awful doesn’t cut it.

I miss the truly awful cars, the bangers and the just downright bad. Today selling cars is easy, it’s all down to finance. Cars are all generally good so buy what you like but real talent came from flogging a 6yr old Montego estate that had been resprayed twice to hide the rot and the best finance available was 20% APR plus. An old Lada with holes in the wings was a challenge even at £300 and it was a nightmare trying to convince someone behind the wheel of an early Kia or Hyundai which were all horrid to drive.

I’ve an unhealthy fondness for awful cars. The sort no one wants. On that note, anyone got a Proton Persona they fancy selling? Read more

Steveieb

One of my work colleagues drove a Moskvich home from Moscow at the end of his posting. He told us about the solid Russian engineering and 19 piece tool kit but had to eat his words when the car caught alight when left on the car park.
What UK consumers didn't realise was that all export cars were checked over and repaired before being shipped to Uk importers Satra Motors in Bridlington. Foreign buyers in Moscow were allowed to go to a compound and choose a car which had everything working and this often took all morning.

I spoke to a Lada dealer and he said that Satra Motors were brilliant to deal with and never turned down a warranty request.

An early Which report identified leaking brake unions and sloppy steering joints on the Moskvich whih had to be repaired at the dealers before sale.