December 2020
Battery charger seems to be failing. Hit and miss output, and its charging level lights don’'t very often show. Up till now its seemed OK. No choice anyway, since it was the only one I could find when I bought it…
The metal case isn’t earthed, but that is only disturbing to foreigners. Maybe earthing the case is bad luck in Chinese Culture, attracting ghosts and such through grave association.... Read more
I've been looking for something like this to keep in the boot, and this, with the sale seems to be the cheapest I can find online. I've never heard of Audew but I've googled it and read a couple of positive reviews of this products. Would buying one be a good idea or shoi invest a bit more in a more expensive one?
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Having decided to keep a charger inh the boot in case of a flat battery I did my research
and decided upon one of these in the boot of both cars :-...
Hi all, my wifes Auris's alarm goes off, within 10 mins of locking it with the fob.
I can lock with the key blade, and have no issues, but i really don't want to keep doing this!... Read more
UPDATE! PROBLEM IS SORTED! was the bonnet sensor switch that was the issue! I disconnected it, no more issues, no lights or message on dash! When i opened bonnet before, it would still remain 'flush', it wouldn't pop up a little, which is what made me suspicious of it!
Hi as always, just out of 2nd hand warranty, my daughters Astra has this morning shown the above problem.
The central display has flickering lines, no radio function, apart from the steering wheel controls and the buttons above (parking sensor ec) have also ceased to function.... Read more
Good weather so finally got around to stripping the dash.
It was indeed the display unit. Got it out,,opened it up and spotted some verdigris on the pins of the internal main micro ribbon cable connector. Carefully disconnected the ribbon cable and cleaned both ribbon cable and connector with a fibreglass pencil. Reconnected and reinstalled it, all working fine which was a relief as I guess it would be a costly dealer diagnosis and fix....
hello all .
I'm just starting to have a look around for an odb2 scanner and was wondering does anyone have any suggestions .... Read more
I'll look into the Lexia but to be honest I was hoping for quick and easy way but if that's not possible I'll look around. I believe the battery is as old as the car so just over 3 years. I've taken it to my local garage for a battery check he said I need a new one and I may still be able to get it under 90 day warranty but looking at the exclusions I'm not so sure , however looking back I suspect the battery was crap when I bought the car but for various reasons ( I won't go into that just yet ) i never considered it would be the battery. So I'll see how it goes.
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l had my 55 plate RAV (2 litre diesel) MOT'd on Monday. Last year it went through with a couple of advisories, front discs showing signs of deterioration & rear brake pipes with signs of rust. The vehicle is regularly serviced & l hoped that it would pass, but if not no big deal, they're easily replaced. In the end it only failed on the discs, these were replaced the next day, along with pads.
But what shocked me was the number of advisories, all centred on deterioration of the underside; basically rust. Along with the aforementioned corroded brake pipes, the near & offside suspension mounting area/sill & front subframe had corroded. Not enough to fail, but having had a look under the ramp it looked pretty bad, as did most of the suspension components.... Read more
Following on from this post........................l had considered looking for a replacement motor (new year motor thread) & had narrowed it down to an Octavia, Focus or Mazda 6 estate. However, as we all know looking at possible replacements has proved impossible.
Last week l took the RAV to the local mechanic who put it up on the ramp & we both had a good look underneath. The areas highlighted at the mot, sills around the rear suspension mounting area & the front subframe, did show surface corrosion but nothing that failed the "screwdriver test" What also seemed to be contributing to possible corrosion were the step boards, where the brackets go under & up to the fixings, holding mud & such by the sills....
I was at a car park. The owner of car in front is alleging that I have caused paint scuff. I gave insurance details but denied liability.
It seems very minor.
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Thoughts Read more
I had this a while back when I was waiting in my car in a carpark and the driver reversed and claimed for the horrendous damage to her car. I was sitting in the car, did not feel an impact, and had the dashcam running. When I pointed this out she got a bit huffy and drove off. I reported it to my insurance company and sent the footage of her reversing and that alone showed the damage i was alleged to have caused..
Get yourself a good quality dashcam.
After five and a half years ownership my first MOT 'fail' As expected with i10's it was the rear discs and pads which after the fail, were replaced by me for 50 quid. Actually, five years isn't bad considering rear brakes are a weak item with these cars but my MGB has gone fifty years without needing rear brakes replacing so why do modern cars have discs all round? Read more
yes it is good - I intend to keep it a while yet - and why not at £20 RFL, 55-65 to the gallons cheap insurance bullet proof reliability, easy to park, ok to drive (for a 3 cylinder). As for future buyers being 'worried' that will be years down the road when it will be worth £1-£2k and at that stage it will sell regardless. I knew the rear brakes would be an issue at some stage they were never dangerous- just think rear discs on small cars are a daft idea!
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Hi all,
I'm wondering if anyone on this forum has any info on what the cost price of a Mazda is. I'm talking about the amount the dealer would have to cover to break even on a car. For example, at a list price of £30k, the dealer's base price, including profit, would be £24.5k. This is gross, of course, pre-VAT and other non-VAT related expenses (first year tax duty, registration fee etc.). I imagine the gross margin is around 10%, so the actual vehicle is "bought" by the dealer at around £22k. How far off am I?... Read more
You’half right, but things are not as rosy as they seem. The UK has seen a reduction of more than 50% new car registrations compared to 2019, hence reduced production. Things are not looking great for 2021, furlough is about to end.
Like I said, I’ll wait as long as it takes :-)
Looking at buying one used with a budget around 15k. thinking around 2017 2litre diesel because I do around 15 to 20,000 miles a year much on motorway and want a smaller estate for family. Any advice on engine size or model to go for appreciated for reliability and comfortable drive, I am a pretty chilled driver. I am likely to run this fforfat least 5 years upto around160k. Read more
I bought a 2 litre tfsi s-line new in 2016. I think it’s a marvellous car although I’d agree that it’s not really a small estate. I also took the plunge and went s-tronic and, so far, that has not been a problem. I gather that once they started using mineral oil in the gearbox, the problems began to diminish. I participate in an A4 owners online forum and only one regular poster has had gearbox problems.
What impressed me most when I test drove it was how smooth it is. It seems to just waft along and engine noise is barely noticeable. Other owners on the forum say the same. Load carrying space is excellent and as my sons move around different flats in London, it has been a very useful pantechnicon. And then there are the regular trips I make to the local recycling centre with garden refuse and clutter from our periodic chuck-outs of household ‘stuff’....
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Oh come on,
I've yet to find a battery charger as clever as the ctek mxs 5....