February 2024
The car has just had a new clutch fitted and the garage disconnected the battery. Now I cannot access the radio. I looked on YouTube and found an override method but that has stopped working now. To fix this properly, I seem to need a 4 digit code which may or may not be on the back of the radio but that is built in to the dashboard and would be very expensive to take all that out. Can anyone please advise me how I can find the code? Read more
Re Horses article: as I live in "horsey" area I often slow for horses and their riders; usually giving them a wide berth or stop until they have passed, especially if I do not recognise the more local riders. However I do not approve of riderless horses or ponies being led on a rein; it is tricky enough to control one horse, but they should not be holding or controlling riderless horse/pony. Even more so when leading 2,3 or 4 others. This should be made illegal. I wonder how they would come off if an accident occurs as they are very definitely not in control. Are they insured for such events? Read more
There is a lady in town near us who rides her nag on main roads at rush hour times. Creates huge queues at junctions.
Sounds rather like Fred Dibnah on his steamroller - the ancestor of the ICE vehicle .... :-)...
Hi All It's been quite a few years since I posted on here so nice to be back so to speak. Does anyone know if it is possible to disable the start stop function on my (recently donated from my wife) Celerio? It is most annoying and I either have to keep the clutch engaged, therefore wearing the thrust bearing over the long term or sit there with radio, lights and blowers on using just the battery. Not to mention that I find it cannot be doing the engine any good continuously being stopped and started. Call me old fashioned but I just do not like it.
EDIT: I have just found the disable switch down on the right hand side along side the headlight raise and lower wheel and the tyre pressure reset switch. Yet to try it out but hopefully that is the problem solved. Read more
Ali do lots of “trick “ modules. My friend has one for power fold mirror operation on door locking for his vitara . Not sure if they are reliable.
I recently bought a brand new car and the dealer didn’t give any PDI (pre-delivery inspection) certificate showing the areas inspected in a checklist kind of format.
Can recent owners share their experience if they received anything like above with their new car purchase and who was the manufacturer? I recall used car dealers give a vehicle health record against some 30 to 50 parameters at the time of collection to show that the car is in reasonable state. Isn’t something similar not given for new cars? Even if a car is new it can’t be just assumed that it is all fine. There could be manufacturing defects. Who is responsible to identify and address them before so that the customer doesn’t get impacted later? Read more
Nope, not a technician of any description.
Most, if not all, modern gearboxes have some form of learning onboard. The take readings from all sorts of parameters. The Renault system is pretty new, so I’d expect it to do the same.
Hi,
My Suzuki Swift has a dent and some cracks on the rear passenger side wheel arch. The repair quotes I got ranged from £400 to £1000, which is way too much for an old car like this.
I want to cover up the dent and cracks as best as I can, just for my own satisfaction. I have taped it up to hide it, but it looks terrible and I hate looking at it.
I have no idea how to fix the dent myself or take off the bumper. I attempted to use a plunger and suction cups to remove the dent, but they were useless.
So, is there a putty or filler that works by applying it directly over the dent and cracks, without having to remove any paintwork, letting it dry, then sand it down to shape it and then spray paint it? I ideally want something that’s really simple to use and won’t come off when I fill up the dent. I know it won't be flawless, but I just want it to be less noticeable from a distance. Read more
DIY plastic welding, using a soldering iron, looks to have potential, providing your bumper is a thermoplastic, (easily tested) and you can get electric power to it.
The thermal wire stitching shown, in particular, looks to be quite practical, assuming the videos arent faked. I'd probably favor stainless or copper wire, since the staples shown seem likely to rust quickly....
Any advice from anyone with any car/ mechanical knowledge would be a great help here.
My wife took her car to a local garage for an MOT. It failed on a tyre and I quote - “service brake fluctuating front”. So two reasons.
She queried what that would be to fix this and they stated they didn’t know until they investigated this. They would need to re- test the car to get it through its MOT and look at the brake fault then. But we had to wait another week before she could go back as they were fully booked .
So last Friday, she drops the car off first thing. We wait around at home until 2 pm and she still hasn’t heard anything from the garage.
I need to get to work for a late shift so I drop her off at the garage so she can wait for her car to finished with.
My wife pays the bill ( £330) and brings the car home. When I get home , I see they’ve changed the tyre ( fine ) but also changed the front brake pads and discs.
They didn’t call her to explain what the fault was or the cost prior to doing this.
But- last year I was using her car and heard a horrible screeching noise. I took it to the nearest garage to have it looked at ( not the same place she just went to ) and it needed new front brake pads and discs. They also changed the fluid (total cost £ 320).
Now , she’s only done barely 7k in the last year and I don’t see why the new brakes pads and discs would be needed to get changed. DW doesn’t have much knowledge when it comes to cars and she didn’t know that it was the same pads and discs that were changed just a year ago.
I would have politely asked the garage to explain why they needed changing again after one year, but I wasn’t with her to do this.
The garage also put on a new wing mirror case , which she didn’t ask them to do , which cost £20 and is a dark grey colour and her car is silver. The wing mirror case doesn’t even match the cars colour! I could have brought a new case myself on eBay that matched. And it wasn’t even an MOT failure reason. So another cost to her bill.
Am I being unreasonable to think that the garage should have telephoned DW prior to carrying out these works? To have told her the fault and the price?
Would I have any justification in going back to the garage tomorrow to show them that the brake pads and discs were changed just a year ago and the car has only done 7k miles since? To ask them for an explanation as to why they needed changing again ?
I have receipts from the garage that changed the discs and brake pads with the date on it from last year.
The car is a 2009 Astra.
Any advice appreciated
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Good thing I did because the o/s EPB caliper was so seized it wouldn't do back and required replacing. Cost of parts + labour+vat= £500. Aaarrgghh! Still, that's the biggest bill I've had in nearly 10yrs of ownership so mustn't grumble. All the original discs have lots of wear left at >75,000 miles.
Thats one of the reasons i was hoping to avoid EPB for the rest of my natural, it simply isn't easy with calipers that provide handbrake as well, whether electrical or arm power, to 'exercise' the pistons in their bores....
Last week I asked for advice on selling my car with a fractured cylinder head and was recommended to try WBAC. I sold it to them today for an excellent price. What a relief to offload it. Thanks again! Read more
I sold it for £760. I was totally honest and upfront. I have been singing the theme song all day. Very happy!
Hi all, in the past few months i have had 3 or 4 ''coolant low' warning lights, but each time i top up, i have no problem for a few weeks!
manual model... Read more
Usual suspects are oil cooler or egr valve .
My car has been parked on my drive and the neighbours child aged approx 6/7 years old has put a massive dent in the car door, this is the second time this child has damaged my car on my drive within the last year (first time scratched the bumper with their bike). I have CCTV footage of both incidents and wondering what the legal options are. I know it’s been said in the past kids and the parents of kids arn't liable for damage and police won’t do anything, however was wondering if it would be seen differently if the damage was done on my property, it not being the first time and having CCTV proof of both incidents. Thinking small claims court maybe my only option if it cannot be resolved amicably Read more
they basically said they don’t have the money to help pay unless it like 60 quid ??,
Well that looks like an admission to me, try and get it in writing, would make great evidence in court.
As for a fence it will need to be sturdy. Timber would be of of no use, a child would damage it as easy as they would a car. I would suggest steel palisade fencing but with no spikes on top (even though it might seem like a good feature).
Browse
Thank you very much for your help and advice.
With my best wishes...