January 2021
Advice needed.... Just bought used 2009 Mazda 6 Tamura yesterday from a dealership. test drove it ect... Felt fine. Got home, took a trip to work this morning and I found it cut out in neutral twice whilst stopped at lights. Drives fine but sometimes the smell off rotten egg comes n goes which I've only noticed today. I have a six month warranty, I'm guessing this will be fixed if I take it back and just explain my concerns? Its just had a fresh Mot ect so I'm guessing this shouldn't be happening? I dunno.
Wondering if anyone can give me any advice. Read more
My car has been SORNed for a couple of years and I'm now getting it back on the road again. I've insured it, but I'm having difficulties taxing it on the gov.uk website - it says the V5 reference number is not valid, I guess because of the SORN status.
Does anyone know the best way to tax my car? I want to do it online if possible.... Read more
Please ignore the previous post - I managed to tax the car using the V5 after all.
ok so I'm currently looking into buying a cheap run around car and I've come across an 03 citroen saxo desire 1.1L for £325. The car looks in great shape and has been well looked after. The problem though is that it has no MOT and hasn't done since November 2020.
Now I've been in touch with the seller he has told me there are 3 problems with the car. 1. he has replaced the wiper motor as it wasn't working but says there must be another problem because the wipers will not run if there's any resistance. 2. he says that the rear left hand brake isn't engaging as well as it should. doesn't know why but says he can feel it. 3. there's a loose bolt connecting the drivers seat to the floor and he says it's possible the floor could be cracked but doesn't know. ... Read more
Leave it, look for another car with an MOT.
The clutch pedal has started making a squeaking noise when I press it. I've tried squirting WD40 into the hole in the floor where the pedal goes through (no idea what's under there!) but that made no difference. Any ideas anyone? Read more
Very interesting look at the VW earring advertisement on YouTubeThe clutch pedal has started making a squeaking noise when I press it. I've tried squirting WD40 into the hole in the floor where the pedal goes through (no idea what's under there!) but that made no difference. Any ideas anyone?
Ah I get it now! :-)
Hello! Please help me choose the right car. My budget is no more than £ 8000. Used car, but a reliable, economical main condition and an automatic, preferably Japanese. My very old diesel Volkswagen Lupo is completely unusable. And now I want a more comfortable car and a bigger one. I was thinking about a Lexus ct200h or Toyota Prius, but from the review I understud that a hybrid is more of a city car. And I live outside the city, I do not stand in traffic jams, I live in the suburbs, but I often drive on dirt roads and there are also intercity trips, the driving style is not hasty. Does a hybrid make sense or is a diesel better? The choice of cars is so large, and I'm at a loss, how to start the search? Read more
Mine has just expired on the warranty which is 5 yrs from new however the battery is ten years. The battery requires an annual check/service at Toyota which is approx £60 to keep this valid. Using logic of how long a car usually lasts after the warranty has expired, I am hoping the batteries are good for 15 years plus and so far hearing no issues of the older ones still in use now.
Last nights BBC documentary about the project and the man shone some but not all the facts about the project.
Essentially an engineer but with a flair for marketing he pulled off some amazing projects when at GM making them a fortune in the process.... Read more
I didn't see the documentary, but I remember watching him on TV at the time. He overused the adjective "asinine", which I had to look up. He was using it to criticise others and I came to the conclusion that he was a conman.
Filling the odd half hour browsing YouTube, I have noticed multiple clips where a sudden steering move to avoid a slow/stopped car or obstruction results in a sequence of alternating left/right swerves and a crash into the barriers.
Now it seems that stability control programs were built into ABS systems and mandatory on new cars since 2011 in Canada, 2012 in the US and 2014 in Europe. ... Read more
but the real advantage of active safety features is that they will react more quickly than the driver following unexpected events.
Agreed, though it's hard to go back to a car without.
My last car had active radar brakes. I was on a motorway junction roundabout when a car raced on to the roundabout without stopping. The car stopped and put on the hazard lights before I had got my foot to the brake pedal.
My thoughts are on buying a reliable but cheap to run car thanks to a request from a friend. Here’s an example of one of my favourite small cars. It’s a 2019 Hyundai i10 and assuming it has a full dealer history it has a manufacturer warranty until 2024 so there’s no repair costs beyond normal servicing and thus little risk.
These are perfectly capable little cars and quite pleasant to drive yet they’ll offer an easy 50mpg without the compromised reliability of an older higher mileage diesel for the same money. Something said friend had to be talked out of.
A high street bank loan for £7500 over 48mths would cost £134pcm and ultimately cost £547 in interest. Far far cheaper than a PCP on a used car which typically has an APR in the region of 10%. Another thing this friend had to talked out of.
As much as I’m a fan of bangernomics this is probably the best way to buy a cheap car when you factor in running costs. There’s no repairs to worry about for another three years at least and with 50mpg plus economy plus cheap insurance it’s probably as cheap as it gets. But the big saving comes from not taking the expensive dealer finance and instead opting for the cheaper and more flexible bank loan. This saves the best part of £1200 in interest over a typical used car PCP deal at 9.9% APR.
www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101218194893
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In that connection, it might be worth noting that the new-shape Hyundai i10 gets only a 3-star rating from Euro NCAP. The previous model (the one SLO is talking about) got 4 stars. The tests have no doubt got more stringent since that model came out in about 2014.
I’m wanting to change the standard 15 inch steel wheels on my boxer van, I’ve seen some discovery 18inch alloy wheels that I think may work. I’m wondering a few different things like will the overall weight of the wheel and tyre increase or decrease and will they fit. From my research they will be 14.4mm closer to the suspension and 36.4mm further out with being 2 inches wider. But the tyre widths will stay the same at 215 so guessing that extra wheel size won’t make much difference? The offsets are also slightly different at the steels being 68mm and the alloys being 57mm. Now is this going to effect the van in any major way or be barely noticeable?
Cheers in advance for any help. Read more
Cheers for the reply.
I’m already on modified insurance as the van has been changed to a camper van so that’s not to much of an issue.
I believe the old rims are 4 inch and the new are 6 but both will have 215 tyres on them. I’m currently running 215/70r15 and the new wheels are 215/55r18 although they would need to be replaced anyway. I know what you mean about the lower profile giving a harsher ride although they are Land Rover wheels so still have a large sidewall so hoping this doesn’t effect it to much.
The pcd of the old wheels is 5x118 and the new 5x120 I’ve seen I can get wobble bolts that will take up the 2mm difference don’t know if anyone’s used them before to success. The centre bore of the old i believe is 71.1 and the new 72.5 so should be okay I believe?
All this information is what I’ve found on the internet so hoping it is correct but do correct me if I’m wrong.
Hi,
recent cold weather and reduced use due to the lockdowns finally finished off the battery, which was the original to the car.... Read more
Usual problem on the diesel models , is the debris from the clutch and dmf accumulates on the starter pinion . This causes it not to retract properly and remain engaged to the flywheel. Unlikely to be the ignition switch .
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If you have just bought the car from a trader you have rights especially in the first 30 days and then the first 6 months. The AA have a great guide to this:-
www.theaa.com/car-buying/legal-rights