April 2023
I am new to UK. I am planning to get a 3-4 years old used automatic for 15K-20K. Being not sure of the road conditions (portholes, countryside roads etc), I consider Ford Focus Active, Toyota CHR, Suzuki Vitara due to their greater ground clearance. Is my concern valid? It not, I can expand my choice to include normal Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and many others.
I am inclined towards approved used cars but they might not be available, especially Ford Focus Active. Some Ford dealers have many used Ford cars but not all of them are approved by Ford despite being in very good conditions according to sellers. One silly question is that why those cars are not approved by Ford.... Read more
Toyota CEO: “This New Engine Will Destroy The Entire EV Industry!”
youtu.be/rTawvzH0MQ4
This must be the new CEO, hence the recent doubts expressed by the old CEO about whether EV's are the complete answer. Read more
You'd have to trap all the CO2 produced in combustion, then you'd have to put it somewhere harmless, like maybe a very big sealed greenhouse.
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I'm very grateful to one of the site contributers at Ask John for suggesting my brother goes for a VW Golf mk 7 to replace his beloved Lexus CT200h Advance (2014 plate). While he's loving the tech spec of the Golf and is warming to the fuel efficiency despite the cost of diesel, he's balking at the cockpit design. To explain the following, he is neurodivergent (think Forest Gump but not as severe) and, whilst an excellent driver, he can be a stickler for things that someone us may not find important. His criteria so far:
Budget: £12k. 60+mpg, lowish insurance group, reliable. Must be automatic (disability issue). Reliable and low(ish) maintenance costs. Would like bells & whistles that you see in the Golf. Refuses to have another hybrid (dont ask, but it was a nightmare getting repairs and downright expensive). ... Read more
Just thought I'd update on this. The car is now back at the dealership for the third time for battery drain issues. Cause is unknown - keys are well out of range and in a faraday box,, nothing left on or plugged in or connected yet almost every day without fail the car needs a jump start, even with a new battery. The car is driven almost daily and they're not short trips. I've had the car a couple of days myself to make sure it's nothing he's doing, and the same things are happening to me. Worse, twice the car has nearly caused an accident - once when it decided to do an emergency brake when a cyclist emerged from a side road well away from the car and another time when it decided to try and ram me into a parked car rather than let me straddle a lane marking (even though I'd indicated). It's by far the worst car I have seen and the technology on it is b***** dangerous.
He's regretting buying the thing now and I'm fighting his corner in getting the vehicle rejected. Mazda Assist have proven to be the absolute pits. The technicians who respond are OK, but the rest of the outfit is an absolute joke. Twice now he's been stuck at the dealership waiting for a courtesy car that Mazda said they'd arranged but hadn't, and when it was arranged, the either sent the wrong info to the hire company or sent it to the wrong branch and me or my partner have had to finish work early to pick him up after he'd been left waiting for 5 hours. When he did get a car (over a day later), it was an Aygo or Yaris. Bit of a comedown from a Mazda 3, but hey, at least they started and could be driven. The only reason it's not happened a third time is because my partner has not needed his car and has let my brother use it....
Speaking to a retired mechanic with 50 years in the trade and working on all makes he attributes the high rate of failures in timing chains and other components to the increasing use of Chinese sourced metal .
I’ve heard that many.companies have taken the opportunity to fit Chinese made parts with dissasterous results . For example the heater/fan control unit in the epace but would this explain cam chain and tensioners failures in BMW and Audi /VW V6 engines ? Read more
I quite like DCTs. As I've said, probably in this thread, I didn't like the DSG in my golf, but do like it in my Karoq. I don't know if they're different boxes or it was just the auto hold thing. I had one in a Mini too, and really liked it.
To drive, they're a bit jerkier than TCs at low speeds and a bit smoother on the move. They certainly seem more responsive and more efficient. The problem with them is just that they're a bit fragile....
Following ongoing issues with the DPF on my volvo. Almost ever since I bought it it’s has some sort of issue/regen/replace. Been advised it’s all sorts of issues from injectors to sensors to the DPF itself I have been given what I think is some plain sound advice from my local garage.
I had an engine system warning light come on and then the car died while out driving. I towed it to the local garage where they investigated and showed me what they believe to be the issue. The diesel they removed from the car was a deep yellow/orange, so they think that the Pat fluid is not mixing into the diesel correctly, made worse by a small amount of fuel in the tank.
They believe that I probably need a new Pat fluid sensor and need it calibrated so that the correct amount is put into the fuel.
Anyone have any experience with this?
The local garage say they can replace the tank and sensor, but Volvo would have to recalibrate so it would be better to get it fixed (at HUGE expense) by Volvo.
Any advice/experience would be hugely appreciated!! Read more
The DV6 is a PSA unit which, of course, is also used in Peugeot, Citroen etc models including our Berlingo.
AIUI the EOLYS fluid is held in a container at the rear of the vehicle with a tiny quantity being injected into the fuel tank when the car is refuelled. Its purpose is to allow the DPF to keep form becoming blocked with soot which is, instead, burned off. ...
Just a note really, Many will remember the days that Haulage contractors used to block the motorways and roads in protest to the high cost of diesel and very often the price dropped and yet we have seen the prices up to £2 a liter and we don't hear anything from the road haulage companies and i wonder why.
We all know that their is a big gap between unleaded and Diesel and if you look at the price of Diesel over in Northern Ireland with the average price down to £1.47 compared with £1.58 in the most parts of England.... Read more
Good bit of information.
Drive 250 miles from Colchester to Liverpool, then drive home. If the tank was half full on leaving Colchester it would still be about half full when you get back....
I own a vehicle delivery company and in 2019 one of my drivers was delivering a brand new van to a hire van company when he unfortunately reversed into another van whilst parking up at their compound, causing minor damage to both vans.
Having looked at the photos of the damage I estimated both vans would cost roughly £300 to £500 to repair each - so £600 to £1000 in total.... Read more
So, your employed driver at sole undisputed fault so you're in the frame for damage.
Its not the damage as such its the time off the road, waiting for parts and bodyshop time when both vehicles should be out on hire earning money, you're also in the frame for that downtime.
Your only hope as i see it is if you can prove that said vehicles were in fact out on hire when they were supposed to be waiting for parts or bodyshop space.
We are due to travel down from Scotland to Yorkshire on Wednesday to collect a 2nd hand golf from a fairly large non franchised dealer. We haven't seen the car, just a video and have paid a £500 deposit. The dealer is asking for payment of balance 24h in advance of collection (£15K).
We've bought a few cars over the years and always just handed our credit card over to pay on the day of collection with no problems. I feel a little uneasy paying the full whack before I've even physically seen the car.... Read more
Paid for my civic in this manner with the main dealer.
Post removed at OP's request. Read more
Accountability from government is unfortunately an old faded memory.
Rules for them and rules for us. We are not allowed rain from our roofs to go into the waste water sewers, but water companies can discharge said sewers into the rivers, criminal which ever way you look at it....
Hi there,
Ford fiesta, 2009, 1.6L engine 135k miles.... Read more
As you have found a 'defect' and corrected it, I would assume you could drive the car as usual. But this is a car with some built-in 'intelligence' so it may choose to do something unexpected. OTOH you said 'the oil light' which I would take as a warning - to which you have responded. Does the handbook suggest anything ?
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