May 2022
My 80 year old mother in law has expressed her intention to buy a new car. She currently drives a 2015 '64' plate Ford Ka which has about 40k on the clock. She sees impending bills on the horizon - last MoT required two new tyres and a ball joint - so wants to buy a brand new car to 'avoid any big bills'... I know, I know.
She has owned Fords for as long as my better half can remember, her previous 3 cars before this Ka were......yep, all a Ka. Unfortunately for her, the Ka is no longer produced and I don't think she wishes to 'step up' to a Fiesta - too big you see.... Read more
After a period of motoring instability, swmbo’s need for a posh SUV pushing me to buy a Volvo XC60 that turned out to be a complete pup and her sudden demand to go electric when I flogged the thing to some other poor sod. I have returned to the comfort blanket of a Japanese brand. Today I purchased an immaculate, full history, low mileage 67 plate Honda HRV 1.6 DTEC SE Nav for her to melt tyres and shred brake pads in.
Sadly the Honda “approved used” stock in Ayrshire and Glasgow was in woeful condition and my attempts to negotiate a deal with a private seller on a tidy sounding blue 18 plate were unsuccessful so this car has come from a car supermarket, a place I’d typically avoid. No negotiation over price, I expected that but I absolutely flatly refused to pay the “buyers fee” these places like to add on to the invoice, it was a case of wave it or I walk, and so they did. It needs two tyres which I’m paying the difference over the cheap Chinese ditch finders they normally fit and a set of Michelins.
I was fortunate enough to see the car as it arrived, unprepared. It’s been well kept and the last owner has shelled out for a Honda boot liner and mats, a thing I like to find in a car. It has a full dealer history too, a thing I couldn’t find with any approved used Honda I looked at.
On test drive, it’s lively, reasonably comfortable, surprisingly spacious, has a typically fantastic Honda gearbox and is decently refined at the speeds we tried. It’s no hot hatch or luxury car but as an economical, practical and hopefully long lasting small family car it’ll do fine… I hope.
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Update on SWMBO’s HRV. Aside from a mild squeak from the clutch pedal, nothing to report. It goes well, it’s surprisingly practical and it’s outstanding on fuel. It’s in need of two tyres and a service shortly so I’ll finally need to dig my wallet out. A much better car than that horrible Volvo XC60 we had before.
Hi all
I'm looking at getting a used car, up to five years old, 60k miles, £25k. ... Read more
This car is just Citroen in name badge only, it is a Stellantis. https://www.stellantis.com/en
Curious statement. It suggests that the name Stellantis is going to mean anything at all to the average person (very, very doubtful), and also that the average person is going to think of the name as being a positive ("Oh, Citroen is now part of Stellantis, well that defo makes it a better car")....
Been reading a lot of guff on the internet about camera detection that can spot people using their mobile phones and take a birds eye view, currently used in Australia.
The RAC website however stated on 22 Mar 22 that these cannot be used at the moment as the law has to be changed.... Read more
First World Whingeing (sp?)
I was in a taxi last night where the driver was watching live Ukraine combat footage on his screen while driving. Added to the sense of danger quite a bit....
Hi, looking for a new car.. An Estate type but petrol due to the low mileage i do daily (so the petrol takes away alot of the selection).. i like the look of the Kia Proceed budget up tp around £18k.
The Kia is only a 1.4L engine, is this engine big enough for the size of car? and also would the car be okay to tow small camping tralier now & again?
Any other suggestions / advice on car model.
Thanks Read more
Does it, with ancilliaries, completely fill the engine compartment, so that all routine maintenance tasks require it to be removed?
If the answer is YES, then it meets current standards, and so must be considered big enough....
Just done an oil change of my Kia Sportage 1.7 diesel. Capacity is 5.3 litres and i've put 5 litres of Castrol edge 5w30 C3 in so need a bit more. Probably get called a tight a**e but i've got half a litre of Castrol Magnatec 5w30 C3 left over from something else. Should be okay using it bearing in mind a litre bottle of Edge is nearly £13? Read more
I wouldn't personally worry much about doing this, but I wouldn't advise anyone to do it, because there is the possibility of unexpected interactions.
The cases I've heard of involve a change in extreme cold weather performance due to interactions between the viscosity modifiers, gelling the oil and damaging engines....
I've finally bought the car that I have always wanted.
... Read more
Artill, you can actually raise the front of the squab with a rotating knob on the side of it.
The seats aren't particularly supportive otherwise and you feel as though you sit on top of the car ...
I purchased my tiguan back in Sept 21 with 30k on the clock and it was only 3 years old.
... Read more
Heres a famously irritating American on coolant system leak detection.
He reminds me of the first Mechanic I ever worked under as an apprentice, similar voice and attitude ...
Hi - this is on a Mazda2, just bought from Cazoo, 2015 90ps manual 44k miles 1 owner FSH and apparently in pretty good nick...
...apart from when I pull away forwards from my parking space, which is on a significant incline. I haven't done this too many times yet, but most of the times I have, there's a brief but significant judder before the clutch fully engages. I haven't experienced it when pulling away at other times albeit on relatively flat road.... Read more
Well I think I've fixed it. Chap I sit next to at work (in the office - we don't co-habit) used to race motorbikes and is pretty mechanically minded. He suggested just slipping the clutch in 2nd or 3rd gear to smooth off any uneven wear that might be causing the judder.
And that seems to have done the trick. It's still booked into the Cazoo service centre though, as I've discovered that the speaker in the driver's door keeps cutting out, and the driver's door (electric) mirror is loose and unaffected by its controls....
It is reported again today about the long wait for driving tests in some areas bookings into next year.
HGV tests are much the same... Read more
where this report state . i can't get a test till next year. . i have to wiat ten months . is just plain wrong. the booking system stops at 24 weeks period
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I had a loner Ka only for a day years ago, but it made an impression on me, great little car!