August 2020
I’ve been looking for a 1 year old Civic with a relative this week. The panel fit, particularly the rear bumper, on some of the ones I’ve looked at has been pretty atrocious. Have I just been unlucky? Not a patch on my own German car. Read more
Hi,
I'm currently looking to buy new tyres for my Fiesta.... Read more
Hi,
I'm currently looking to buy new tyres for my Fiesta....
I am interested in buying an apparently well looked-after 2002 Ford Focus which is currently untaxed (in the UK), so can't test drive extensively. The current owner has replaced the clutch, cam belt and brake shoes. The brakes don't feel very effective - the (private) seller says this may be because the brake shoes are new, or just a "different car, different feel" situation. It passed an MOT in July with no major or brake-related issues, and the brake shoes were apparently replaced prior to that. I gather from research there may be air in the system - could it be a "bedding in" type issue? What is the likely worst-case scenario in terms of cost to fix if there is a problem? Would this issue put you off buying it at a reasonable price?
Many thanks,... Read more
If it’s less than £500 , then it’s got to be worth a punt . If it passed an mot with no majors , then I can’t see it being much of a problem. It’s only the corrosion at the rear end that finishes these off.The recent MoT result can only be encouraging.
Especially if no corrosion advisories. I felt it worth spending £100 on two occasions (March 2017 and March 2020) on some welding at the rear to keep our X reg Focus on the road. ...
It looks like the government is starting to look at lane keep technology as an accepted safety feature, and not just what is seen by some as a toy. At the moment, if the car doesn't feel hands on the wheel it will disable the lane keep system until the driver takes over again, maybe any potential changes will allow that feature to be switched off.
Most of these require only two very simple changes to the 100% driverless technology - human joystick control for up to (say) 10mph only, human voice recognition and override- in which case the human becomes accountable for the consequences (eg parking infringements).
I recently used the website to ask 'HJ' a question about our very low annual mileage, about 2500 pa and probably less this year due to lockdown and whether I should have a full annual service or just get the dealer to do an oil change. the car is 5 years old in November, has had a full service every year since new and has just over 12700 miles on it.
The response I got was less than informative imho and consisted of 'modern service schedules take account of this low mileage ownership'! Er, no they dont, they anticipate you'll be doing anything between 7500 to 15000 miles per year. So the reply was a waste of time.... Read more
Thanks. Didn't know that. Makes sense, though I dunno if it applies to the Honda Accord since I havn't seen any reference to it so far.
I wonder how fragile all this junk is, since it was necessary to be pretty rough with it to bore through all the coke.
I may need to deliver some control equipment to Italy later this year, (i.e. before 31st Dec./the end of the Brexit "transition period") by road in my own van.
This being the case I will be driving via Switzerland and would appreciate the red-tape requirements needed to satisfy the Swiss customs please, (if anyone has prior knowledge of this procedure and would be kind enough to share)?... Read more
Have you read through the Swiss web pages?
According to another motoring website, Volvo has stopped selling diesel XC-40 models.
I know that internal combustion engines are on their way out, but having developed the Diesel engine and given that they use the same motor in other models, it seems a strange decision.
The petrol engines are thirsty, the PHEV also looks thirsty and has a poor electric range and the electric model is almost £60k, which is bonkers!
Plenty of other manufacturers are offering petrol, diesel or electric/PHEV on similar SUVs, so all in all, their decision looks rather premature to me. Not much there to tempt a high mileage motorist, for whom diesel is likely still the correct choice. Read more
Everyone to their own but I have (at least for another week or two - but that’s another story!) a 2017 V40 D2 R design auto and have driven a mk 2 focus 1.6 auto.
Whilst most of my criticism of the Ford relates to the auto box that is perhaps the worst car I have ever driven. ...
Hello!
Sorry for the length of post! So someone hit my car while parked and just drove off, it was all caught on CCTV. I rang my insurance explained it all and the girl said it was a write off without even sending someone to look at it. To the point where she told me I should empty the car and someone will collect it. I said I'd consider buying the car back so she cancelled the collection, carried on my insurance and said the valuers will call me in a couple of days.... Read more
I think it's criminal the way insurance companies write off cars so easily. There's surely a con going on there like HJ exposed about the replacement hire car scam where accident companies hounded owners to take a vehicle without explaining the full consequences.
A few years back, that david beckham crashed his 2 month old top of the line Audi Q7. It was written off as uneconomical to repair. Yes, it had some front end damage but not the thick end of 85 grand's worth. The car was sold through Copart for about 58 thousand, repaired and put back on the road....
Possibly one for elekie&a/c :-)
I think I've read somewhere that the 12v socket, by the handbrake, can be changed from being always on (regardless of ignition being on) or coming on with the ignition. I seem to remember it was moving a fuse from one position to another.... Read more
When I go on my travels I use the always on 12v socket in the boot of my Skoda Superb mkII to run a coolbox via an inline "SPLIT CHARGE RELAY PCT VOLTON ZR1220". Coolbox turns on a few seconds after starting and likewise goes off a few seconds after turning the engine off. It would be easy to use something like the above to change the socket so that it's not always on.
A new model that must have been through hundreds of hours of testing sets on fire. Starting to show you just how well tested these cars are. Electric is the future, you could really be burning up the road in more ways than one. Hope no one is charging theirs in the garage check your insurance policy. Read more
We ordered a new Ford Kuga PHEV ST-Line. We added a towbar, boot liner and mud guards to the order. The towbar was fitted
by an approved third party for £630. The deposit for the car was £635.46. Invoive number 67480. On the day we were due to
collect the vehicle, registration ML70 LNM, we were told that Ford Motor Co. would not allow handover due to an outstanding
recall relating to the EV battery. No timeline was provided for the fix to be applied to UK cars. We were offered two other diesel
models by the dealership, Evans Halshaw, Altrincham, WA14 5LZ. We turned them down as we wanted a hybrid vehicle. We
later cancelled the order due to the inability of Ford to provide a date for the fault resolution. The dealership understood our
reason and refunded the deposit in full but would not refund the towbar cost. We took back the our trade in car that was part of
the deal. We escalated to Ford Customer Relationship Service who, after emails. Facebook exchanges and telephone
conversations have only offered Ford Vouchers for £600.00 valid for only 12 months. We have reject the offer and want a cash
refund. Who can help us recover the money?
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Only issues I know of is oil dilution on the 1.5 Turbo which I think has been cured with software update, which you would have to check on before buying, main dealer told me of this when I looked at one, even though its been known of for some time, mostly caused by not driving very far very often.
doesn't happen on the 1.0 turbo, which appears to be as good as the older engines, I know 2 people who have them and seem pleased with them so far, with economy as good as Honda state, though I`m not so sure being driven in my area which isn't known for economy ie very hilly...