September 2021
Does anyone know what, if any, the minimum fill / fuel delivery is at the pump with the main petrol forecourts are? BP, Esso, Shell.
£5 / £10, 2L / 5L?... Read more
On the Service Schedule for our 2008 (A94F) - EB2ADTS/EU63 1200 3 CYL PETROL under 'Authorised Engine Oils' it says...
00W20 B71 2010 (C5) - 00W30 B71 2312 (C1C2)... Read more
What a lot of faff, why bother buying into silly designs like this in the first place, as daft as BMW making Diesels with the timing cahin at the back of the engine, better off owning simpler proven engineering.
Its not as if these companies are known for extending warranties in case of failure for these designs on properly serviced cars, say to 10 years or 100,000 miles, which Toyota have done mutliple times when weaknesses in their designs have manifested.
Hi all, What is the most realiable automatic gearbox ? For car after year 2010 , also cvt or automatic gearbox is more reliable please tell me some brands and models or cars ... thanks.
I’ll wager he hasn’t had to deal with many of them beyond the occasional low mileage Polo. Ask any VW specialist however and they’ll be advising caution, especially with the dry clutch variant in lower power VW’s. Yes they do require fluid changes on schedule and missing this would cut lifespan but there’s loads of cases of properly maintained cars with ruined gearboxes. Ask any dealer or group buyer at auction and you’ll hear how wary they are of them. I’ve stood and watched perfectly nice Golfs and polos with DSG boxes fail to sell through the ring as dealers don’t want the hassle. If they do sell they do so for well below book money. My local VW dealer typically refuses to sell any beyond 5yrs of age. Later versions will no doubt be more robust but I simply don’t trust dual clutch gearboxes. DSG and Powershift have tarnished the reputation for me and the trade are rightly wary. I wouldn’t buy one nor would I advise anyone else to do so. The three golden words of of used car buying are ‘keep it simple’ and a highly complex twin clutch automated manual gearbox is as far from this as it’s possible to get.
The problem I suspect is that a lot of (uninformed) car owners wrongly buy cars with dual clutch gearboxes thinking they work similarly to 'traditional' TC auto boxes except that they achieve quicker gearchanges and get better mpg.
DSG type gearboxes are still manuals and still have clutches than can be worn out relatively quickly, rather like a standard manua gearboxl. That people edge forward in heavy traffic or reverse up steep slopes very regularly means their clutch pack will likely wear far more quickly than the equivalent in a TC auto box....
Hi,
Still looking at options and have never driven the Mazda 1.8 petrol before. There are a couple of decent cars locally with this engine fitted?... Read more
Never had any issues with any Mazda engine I’ve owned or sold. I do know a couple of cases of slightly excessive oil use on Mk II Ford Focus 1.8’s with the same Mazda L series motor but they still keep going with regular top-ups. I’ve personally owned a 3 1.6 petrol, Mk II 6 2.0 petrol, a Mk II MX5 1.8 and a Ford Mondeo 1.8 petrol all with similar basic engine designs and not had a moments bother with any of them. The Mazda 6 was an excellent big car that drove well and was surprisingly decent on fuel.
I’m pondering getting some rust proofing applied to the underside of my mk2 MX5. It’s just had its MOT (and passed) but the friendly chap at the local garage said if I want to preserve it, then he would recommend some protection (contrary to my initial thought, he wasn’t trying to sell it- this garage is a small local which just does servicing).
Does anyone have any advice or experience? Is it worth it in a car only worth a couple of grand? I’ve had a quote for what seems a comprehensive job for £500 locally (removing plastic trim, cleaning, inspecting, treatment and coating). Read more
Good point.
No...
Any signs of panic buying of fuel where you are?
I noticed my local Shell filling station had Out-Of-Use signs on half of its fuel nozzles yesterday. Today, on the way back from Southampton, I needed to fill up with petrol. I did see a couple of filling stations with some cars queuing out onto the road and all looked to be busy. The one I stopped at had all its pumps working, but fortunately I didn't have to queue. It was a lot busier than usual though and they had 3 tills open where there's usually only one at that time of day.... Read more
motorists have finally had enough of 'Insulate Britian' and taken matters into their own hands and dragged the 'protestors' out of the road.
Youngrovergirl and myself have been invited and have booked our booster jabs.
I'll see what reaction I have this time.. Read more
Letter in this week - Covid jab again for us oldies - this will be #9 - we have been Covid free!
Of the 4 households in the immediate family there are14 (including us 2 oldies)...
Looking at buying a Leaf from a dealership at the other end of the country and can't travel to pick it up, so doing as a distance sale. Obviously this comes with pros and cons that I've carefully considered.
I intend to mitigate some cons by getting a competant pre-purchase inspection on the vehicle - but have read some comments online about AA/RAC inspections being a total waste of time and carried out by staff who commonly miss issues. Given it's an EV and so there are other priorities to inspect vs. an ICE vehicle, this is a concern.
So two questions:
1) What are your experiences of using AA/RAC/other organisations with pre-purchase inspections?
2) Are there reputable EV-specialists that could come and do this inspection instead? Read more
Hi,
If the car is under 3 years old and has been serviced correctly, then you have little to worry about.
The UK wide manufacturer warranty can still be applied.
Do EV cars have a battery function like IPhones which tells you the battery’s health?
If so, it will be worth asking for this information.
I am not sure what the cut off would be, but assuming anything less than 80% battery health would be a reason to avoid as EV car as that means you have lost a 1/5th or more of its manufacturer charge potential.
Also ask the dealer questions in writing such as has the car been in an accident? Has it had any body repairs? What are the tyre tread depths?
Hi all,
I'm looking at getting my 2nd approved used from Audi, no issues with the first one but worried about the 2nd (not yet finalised).... Read more
My recollection is that when ex-rental has come up over the years that the consensus was that they could be good buys. Any second hand car is a risk.
The Pug 207SW I keep rabbiting on about has Peugeot number plates, was bought from a Pug dealer and was first registered to the dormant company that Pug uses for its lease or rental cars. I got it at 8 months and 13K miles old; it had very few signs of abuse, but for a small but surprisingly deep gash inside the driver's side window. I have no idea how that could have arisen, but like an unusual birthmark it could provide a unique feature if a stolen car had to be identified :-)
I've been doing bangernomics for a while, and have presided over the demise of five cars now, and not one of them was scrapped due to 'piston ring wear' - which is what everyone tells me you need to get the oil changed to prevent, so I'm thinking why bother changing the oil?
2 of them were head gasket going... Read more
Most of the cars I have scrapped have been due to timing belt failure, especially when they are over 10 years old
Can't be any less than that, because every so often I fetch mower petrol in a 5-litre can, but only buy £3 or £4 worth.