July 2021
A caveat! For all I know these may have been in use for ages, but due to lockdown I haven't been out of my local area much so only use 1 or 2 local fuel stations.
However I am currently away in North Wales and used a Shell garage today just outside Llandudno Junction. Rather than the all familiar trigger handle you simply pressed fast flow or slow flow on the handle and it filled the tank.... Read more
Hi there
We are a family of 5 looking for a car recommendation.. we’re upgrading from a 2009 Yaris.
We have two kids in child seats (ages 4 and 1) and a 12 year old who sits between them. In the Yaris, that’s a tight fit!
We also want enough space to take camping gear - as at the moment we have to do every trip in two journeys..!
So the requirements are:
1. Enough width across the back to fit a teenager sitting between two car seats.
2. Decent luggage space.
We originally thought about an Octavia estate, but the space between two child seats seems even narrower than the Yaris (this is somewhat determined by the isofix points). The new Focus estate looks better, but we’d prefer to buy an older model as it’s more in our price range.. it would be interesting to know if the old Focus would fit the bill. In both cases we were looking at an estate as it would obviously help with the luggage question.
In terms of budget, hoping to spend around £10k, planning on something a few years old and say 30k-40k miles.
Oh - and we do about 3500 miles a year.
Any recommendations?
Thanks!
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It is that time of the year again trying to decide what to do! Present supplier Shell is telling me energy costs are going up some £250 per year If you can believe them. They give you a choice of some fixed rate tariffs which if you multiply the 12 monthly payments by the direct debit is some £636pa plus what I paid in the last 12 month. They do not readily give you the Kwh rates or the daily standing charges or indeed the total years usage in Kwh or making difficult to find. I have tried the switching sites and they are quoting a group of companies that are cheaper but not that far away from Shell
Questions Why do the comparison site want you to quote your present supplier and tariff... Read more
"""I switched from Avro earlier this year. They were late producing the final bill, late in refunding my credit balance and only paid up the £60 statutory compensation for these failures when I complained. This is supposed to be paid automatically""""
As I said earlier I switched to AVRO on the 8th Aug. It is all a revolving door is it not? Energy companies gaining and loosing customers keeping large number of people employed usually for not a lot of monetary difference but a lot of hassle and I still do not fully understand the many hundreds of tariffs and neither do half the staff employed. I rang BG having seen one of their tariffs in the mail, the chap did not have a clue....
I've been hunting for my first car (2017 VW Polo TSI Match) for a while now, but nothing suitable has come up locally. Originally I wanted to test drive before buying, but I'm now starting to think about VW's online 'click & collect' service. Does anyone here have experience of buying a used car in this way? Is there anything I should watch out for / ask before I buy? How easy is it to return the car if it turns out to be a dud for any reason? I'm super nervous about the purchase as I've not bought a car before, even though I've been driving for many years.... Read more
In my limited experience (one - Suzuki) 'Used Approved' doesn't really mean anything and is mainly a marketing tool.
The 'Used Approved' status is decided by the dealer (presumably within some sort of age/mileage criteria). The manufacturer is not involved....
I posted a few weeks ago about my interior door handle failure, I wasted by Mercedes that the handle wasn't sold separately and the whole card would be £1200 plus fitting and VAT. I found a local specialist who got me in this morning and two hours later the phone went saying the job was done, £62. The moral of this story is don't trust the big boys. Anyway I'm very pleased. Read more
the same thing almost happen to me, i am just really glad that i have a son in law that knows a lot about car repairs etc. i almost spend a fortune.
3 years ago I was hit by a driver who later admitted full liability. The issue I now have is the insurance are refusing to pay for the credit hire car I stupidly agreed to. After lots of correspondence we now have a court date for this Wednesday (14th). We have given everything they have asked for, statement, wage slips, bank statements.
The car I was driving was on my partners business motor insurance and so its my partner who is actually going to court, not me. The insurers are actually picking him up to take him to the court!!... Read more
OTOH, I spent the most boring two weeks of my life on jury service. Found out one day was wasted because the judge was playing golf!
Hello, I have a slight scraping rotational noise from the front wheels when I'm driving around built up areas it bounces off the buildings so seems louder. It's a constant scrape noise from the front wheels
This only started happening after replacing discs and pads on the front. Everything is installed correctly and grease using the proper stuff. Everything is moving smoothly. Is this scrape because the new pads need too bed in because they are all new? Bearing in mind they are mintex m1144 pads. Brakes feel brilliant other than that slight noise... Read more
Hello, I have tried bending the clip but it hasn't made any difference. I have noticed that when the caliper retaining spring in the front is installed it makes the pads drag but when the clip is removed the wheel is easier too turn. Almost as if the spring is pulling the caliper hard against the pads. Can I leave this spring off? The scraping noise has disappeared with removing the clip and driving around.
Driving south on the M6 in Lancashire yesterday. Narrow lanes for bridge repairs, very clear signage, 50mph limit, average speed cameras (visible and signposted). Very obvious reasons for the speed limit.
Obvious thing to do as a driver: keep within the speed limit. But the matrix display said that 1036 speeding tickets had been issued in the last week! How can any intelligent driver get a ticket there??? Read more
<< ... authorities, in my view, are not averse to using psychological tricks, massaging the truth ... to get people to 'comply' with their wishes, >>
You can easily understand why that approach is necessary, because a large proportion of Brits resent being told what to do, unless they can be persuaded that it is a good idea. Impressive stats may be a way to achieve that, as most people will be unable to disprove them.
Very shortly, I have to have a procedure under general anaesthetic and had a covid test yesterday, Isolate till tuesday
But SWMBO who works in the hospital is expected to work.... Read more
NHS is having to try and get back to normal working - if all the staff self isolate then there is not enough staff.
Looking for a replacement car and came across a 2019 Ford Focus Active offered by Yeovil Ford that looks to be unregistered as it still has the factory seat covers and only 5 miles on the clock. It's being sold with 36 months warranty and first MOT due in mid 2024. Any ideas why it may have been hanging around so long and would there be any problems to look out for
It’s a very good car although the raised height of the Active vs the standard Focus is not noticeable when driving; the active version does look better than the standard focus.
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“ I'd say get the best large estate car you can find and look to keep it for ten years or more.”
I’d agree but diesel won’t suit your usage and large petrol estates are relatively thin on the ground so you may need to spend a bit more to get a good one.
I just found a great car on Auto Trader:
www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202106093672845