April 2022
I see an article in news media suggesting that to ease the financial burden on people the annual MOT test could become bi-annual instead of annual - how stupid an idea is this. Better to clamp down on profiteering petrol retailers.
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I am using Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance 2 tyres on my old MK5 Golf TDI. I have been very impressed with the performance, noise and wear compared to previous brands eg Pirelli P7 Cinturato and Michelin Energy Savers. They have lots of tread left all over and are wearing evenly and are under 3 years old, but they are starting to crack on the very outer edge. The car is used daily. Is this normal? Read more
They are apparently three years old. The only tyres I ever remember getting crackly were some Goodyears as well.
The 6-year-old Avons (made in Serbia) show cracking in the sipes enough to trigger an advisory at a recent MoT. There is still about 4mm of tread. I don't think my previous Avons (made in UK I think) would have been the same. I guess formulations must evolve to cope with heavier cars and lower profiles - there's a trade-off between all the parameters.
That didn't last long.
Gone from Ssangyong website. but some left at dealers.. Read more
I had to pop in to my local SsangYong dealer this morning and the sales chap said that they are not promoting the E-Korando currently as they have had supply problems and they won't be available to order again until July/August.
They were also struggling to get demonstrators to dealers and wont be available until later in the year, but my local dealer has got one and the sales chap is using it to commute in!
Just received the monthly mailing from a Car Broker showing the discounts available on mainly German or more correctly German owned brands.
12/18 months ago £30K+ would have bought a nice 1.8 /2 litre car from a variety of Brands -... Read more
BIK does not affect private buyers - only business..
That's over 50% of the market for new cars.
I mean genuine reality. To start there was the story of how the Post Office screwed about 700 sub-postmasters (and mistresses) for thousands of missing ££, causing many to go bankrupt and a few to commit suicide. This happened because their computer system which was claimed to be tamperproof could be fiddled from head office. No-one seemed willing to accept any explanation other than hundreds of small businesspeople were petty thieves. After about 15 years management were lying all they could to maintain the status quo. Still no-one having actual blame pinned on them, but at least there has been some compensation.
To follow we got the (almost full) story about Alexei Navalny, Putin's chief opponent. After he recovered from his attempted poisoning he got together with the chap from Bellingcat and they managed to trace the movements of several guys who had been on likely flights to Siberia, and filmed a phone sting where one of them admitted many of the details. We wonder what will happen to him now :-)) That was a great moment. Millions of watchers on social media, but not enough yet to depose Vlad, sadly. Read more
Not on TV, but in the papers..
"Salvation Army Slum Landlord Halsted"...
Sunday, driving to the Gym, and at the first roundabout saw what looked like a 6 year old standing on the back seat with head and shoulders out of the car. behind daddy who was driving.
At the next roundabout, pulled alongside and politely informed driver that his child was in danger.. 40 mph limit by the way.... Read more
In the '70s, we had a board game, 'The game of life', which you played as a depiction of family life. You collected 'children' along the way and if you got too many to transport, the rules stated: 'just stuff them all on the back seat, like in real life'.
I see it's still available. I wonder if it's become more politically correct: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life
Can anyone help? I have a Vauxhall Astra 1.7 cdti 2012 diesel, which is running on 2 cylinders and is powerless.
It started to mess around a little, and I thought it needed a run up the motorway to clear the emissions, but this did not happen as it lost all power and I had difficulty in getting home. It will not rev up passed 2500 rpms and puffs out lots of black smoke before it gets hot. The temperature goes up to normal much quicker than it used to, but it does not over heat and there is no water loss. The dash symbols are “reduced engine power” and “catalytic Converter” .... Read more
Anyone done a cylinder compression test ?
Hi. I'm in the UK.
I don't have anyone to help and I'm an older lady with basic car knowledge. Please bear with me ??... Read more
Here you are, same size wheels from other marques:
www.wheelfitment.eu/car/Honda/Civic%20(2001%20-%202006).html...
Hi all,
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it has done approx 120k miles on the clock
After another mere 350 miles it will probably still have 120k, or possibly 121k miles on the clock...
While using the Goverment MOT checking site. I entered the registration number of a car I owned in the late 90s to see if it was still on the road. The make, model, colour and date first registered came up but no MOT information. Concluded vehicle had been scrapped. This seems to work with cars going back to the early 1970s. Example LXG690L, a Datsun 1200 Estate that my father had from new. So how long are vehicle records kept for and why? Read more
Earliest vehicle I can find is FUP 403H. A Bedford van I had in 1973. Records were transferred from local councils to DVLA in 1974. Don't know if this is relevant or not.
That's very relevant - active vehicles, ie those taxed in 1974 were loaded but those not in use weren't - there was/is a specific process for re-activating a vehicle that's not on DVLA.
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Excellent-exactly what I proposed earlier in thread.