March 2022
Hi All,
First of all let me say thanks to everyone who took the time to answer a query I posted about a year ago, the replies were much appreciated.... Read more
As a new Granddad with twins, thoughts are turning to an MPV with 7 or 8 seats and some comfort for outings. Looking for advice please. Budget of £10 to £12k. Looking for reliability and reasonable maintenance costs. Future mileage will be 8 to 10k per year. Previous Previa experience and loved it. Thoughts on an imported Estima? Put off by pictures of switches and head unit software in Japanese. But Estima imports look like amazing value. Too good to be true? Thanks in anticipation!! Graham Read more
Too good to be true.?....well, No...and I can speak as very happy Estima owner for six years.
They really are as good as they sound and provide many bangs for your bucks....
Hi
My son has just spent £3000 on an 09 plate mini cooper (1.6). It has done around 60k miles. He has noticed that there is a bit of blue smoke coming out of his exhaust when he accelerates. I believe that it is likely to be piston rings or something similar, which ive been told is an expensive fix!... Read more
Saw some talk of adding catch cans to the crankcase ventilation path.
Shouldn't hurt, though if its got EGR as well it'll only stop some of the muck.
Hi all,
Probably been asked thousands of times but I'll ask again. I'm in the market for a diesel Merc and noticed that there's a lot of high mileage ones out there and was wondering if 100k miles with full service still has plenty of life left? Is there anything that I should be concerned about these days on a high mileage car? Was a time that 100k was avoided.... Read more
I had a low mileage diesel Vaneo which is the van adaptation of the A class. It was wheelchair accessible and was the worst car I've owned for reliability. Sensors going, UJs etc. The cost of MB spares is quite high. To replace a camshaft sensor required taking a good part of the engine apart as it was so inaccessible. I don't know whether that impression is valid with the C class but I'd never buy another.
Our sons 19 year old Corolla went into Toyota for recall work this week. I was loaned a brand new Toyota Aygo for the day, which was ideal, as have been pondering a small city car as a runabout. As a lover of small cars generally, I was mightily impressed with just how good modern ones are. This one had everything I could possibly need, air con, climate, dab radio, Bluetooth, Android pairing , reversing camera etc etc. The 3 cylinder engine pulled nicely, with a very agreeable sporty sound, nice slick gearbox, well damped ride, decent handling, safe rather than ultimately sporty. But a lot of fun. At speed, nice and refined, quieter than our focus, easily held 70mph, absolutely fine .Fuel consumption was amazing, a mixture of town, A roads, motorway gave an indicated 60mpg without really trying! I was sorry to give it back and could easily live with this day to day Obviously it is a small car but as a runabout, it does seem to negate any argument to go electric, given its price, competence and running costs as a city car. Recommended! Read more
There will be an Aygo in my driveway on Monday!
It's 4+ years old & 30K and is being kept in my driveway for a couple of days until a granddaughter's birthday on Wednesday....
I apologise in advance as this may seem a very simple question to most.
I've just had my 2 year old MG HS car serviced at an MG dealership and on looking at the garage's invoice notice that the engine oil they used is 5/30W. The handbook states that the oil should have been 0W/20.... Read more
Hi, I appreciate your post is now over 2years old however my in-laws had their MG serviced at their local garage and they used the same oil that you have stated MG used and a month later they need a new engine, having spoken to an MG approved dealership they have said that MG have never used that oil in services but I have seen it now on a couple of threads and I wondered if you had had any issues following yours?
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I wanted to put a car for sale, but they want £36.95 for the basic feature for two weeks or £46 for 3 weeks. There is no refund if it does not sell. The advertising costs seem steep to me. If it sells, then I suppose it is fine, but there is no refund, if it does not sell.
I don't know if it will sell in two weeks.... Read more
Forgot to add, If you get anywhere close to £2.5k for the Zafira you will have done well.
That’s it’s ceiling , You would sell it quickly at £1.5k, within 2 weeks at £2k
The mileage is not really a concern at this age, what sells old Zafira’s is 7 seats and 12 months MOT
Wife and I split our time between UK, Spain and Thailand, and have a car in each country. Right now I am in Thailand and, on a bit of a whim, decided to get rid of my old Toyota Vios and order a new Toyota Yaris. The car is being built right now and I will be collecting before the end of the month.
Now this model of Yaris has a compression ratio of 13.5:1 - unusually high for petrol. I am wondering which is the best grade of fuel to use for maximum power and smooth running from the engine. The dealer claims the fuels are "all the same" as far as the engine is concerned - which I don't believe. We have available: 95 petrol (£1/L). 95 gasohol (90p), 91 gasohol (80p) E10 and E20 (70p/L).... Read more
I'll be interested in your results - but wouldn't expect any Yaris to benefit significantly from using a higher octane fuel - other than a GR2 Yaris of course which I believe is quite a different animal.
Hello
I have a Skoda Fabia that is nearly 5 years old. I got an email from the dealership saying that the cambelt was due to be replaced. The car has done 34,000 miles.... Read more
I also have a Fabia of the same age - a 4 cylinder 1.2. Bought in October 2019 it got about 6 months of normal usage before being more or less laid up during the pandemic and after. I was wholly working at home from March 2020 until June 21.
It's a VAG recommendation on these that, irrespective of mileage, the cambelt is replaced at 5 years. An 'upsell' for the job at approx £500 was delivered when I picked it up after its service in October last year. The mileage then was approx 36,000. The cambelt does not drive the waterpump which is said to be at the other end of the block. ...
I am wondering if anyone has ever imported a Japanese car without using one of the various import companies?
The reason I ask is a friend wants to import a car and taking into account all the costs, duty and taxes worked it out at £825 quid to get it from the Japanese dealership over to the UK, conversion work (minimal) and on the road including MOT (provided it has no failures).
Of the 4 car import companies he has had quotes from they all want £2000 plus to get it from Japan and into the UK including conversions and MOT, so effectively a nice £1k plus profit.
If anyone has first hand experience of the process and what to do/not to do then please reply with how you went about it.
Thank you for any help Read more
I was looking at buying a used Japanese import. However, the internal condition varies. The seats always look a bit worn out.
It is better to buy a car from a specialist importer. You can view the car. Some of cars have console displays in Japanese. I noted in one or two model, people have fitted after market radios. However, if they are not changeable, then it is something you have to live with........
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Thanks for all the replies, they're much appreciated.