February 2024
Hi, I have a late 2019 Land Rover Discovery 5 HSE 2.0 diesel. The engine completely failed on Nov 1 2023. The car was taken to the LR dealership and because I had a LR extended warranty a new engine was ordered for the car and covered by LR. The engine finally arrived a week ago and it was fitted this week (Feb 5th 2024). During the Discovery’s three month wait at the dealership I received a phone call (from LR tracking) on Dec 31st 2023 to say the power had been disabled and had the car been stolen? I phoned the dealership and they said it was fine. The same thing happened today and this time I have been told by the dealership that the battery is now fully dead and will not hold a charge. They say I need to pay for a new one at a cost to me of £401.54. My question is, should the main LR dealership have looked after my battery for the three months it was with them and is it their fault my battery has failed. What should I do or agree to? Read more
Can anyone recommend a decent shampoo that doesn’t smear the windscreen please? I’ve given up on my local car wash as they spray something all over the car that leaves the windscreen in a dreadful state. I also find that washing it myself with the branded products has a similar impact. I can’t see a thing at night particularly when a car is coming towards me with headlights on? Or do I just have to clean the windscreen separately afterwards? Read more
Soggy newspaper and elbowgrease is good for cleaning glass.
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
Read more
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....
Quick question about insurance excess.
My son was hit from behind at traffic lights, totally the other drivers fault and he admits liability.... Read more
Hi, original poster here, thanks for all the replies. I have passed this discussion on to our Son so he can decide the best course of action. Will report back at a later date but that might take a while !!
Hi, I have been thinking of buying a late 9N3 (MK4) Polo, a 09 reg to be exact.
There appears to be 2 types of auto gearboxes fitted to this model.
- the 2006 auto version is a 4 speed, presumably a torque convertor type.
- the 2008 onwards auto version appears to be a 6 speed tiptronic.
Does anyone know what type of gearbox the 6 speed auto is in the later 2008-2009 9N3 MK4 generation?
Is it a torque converter type, an earlier version of the DSG or the exact same DSG gearbox they used in the later MK5 polo?
And is this generation of transmission as reliable as the MK5 DSG and more fuel efficient than the traditional torque converter type used in the 2006 models?
Edit: this is not the car I’m actually purchasing but I have attached an advert of the exact model I’m talking about as an example. [www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401275954273] Read more
No probs!.
Can I ask if there is a particular reason you want a Polo?. You want a small auto and presumably have a particular budget. But with that budget, there is not going to be a huge supply of candidates. Also, when looking at cars of this kind of age, condition really is everything, much more important than make or model. So by limiting yourself to a Polo you could be ignoring other potentially better cars within your budget. ...
Looking for Yaris Cross owners to take part in a 1 hr online survey to understand what you would like from a new Electric SUV when it comes on the market.
£40 paid if you are selected. ... Read more
Is it only offered to those who got a point?
or anyone can do this?... Read more
Is it only offered to those who got a point?
or anyone can do this?...
Large gateway 30 mph signs mark the start of the speed limit. The first lamp post is 274 metres into the restricted area. There are no repeater signs or road markings indicating the limit. Two of the first five lamp posts are buried in the tree line with the light totally obscured by the branches, so they cannot be seen and do not throw light onto the carriageway when lit. The lamp posts are all drab, dirty dark green, so are inconspicuous. Direction 11 of the Traffic Signs & General Directions, as amended, states that speed limit signs cannot be placed along a road where there is carriageway lighting not more than 183 metres apart, and which is subject to a 30 mph speed limit. A 30 mph limit applies where there are three or more lamps throwing light on the carriageway and placed not more than 183 metres apart. Is the speed limit legal and enforceable please? . Read more
Current legislation is if there are street lighs its 30mph unless there are signs to the contra
Here in Sunny Hampshire the council has decided a large deficit will result in less spending on roads amongst other things. My local roads need maintaince, pot holes, white lines fading everywhere etc. Went to Morocco recently expecting terrible roads, soon changed my mind…theirs are much better than ours. Our county council is anti motorist.
Don't understand this - George was Chancellor until 2016, not 2017.
yes, Osborne did it when he was chancellor, the changes were supposed to come into force from 2017 so you could buy a fiesta 1.0 for example, on the 31 March 2017, and pay zero ved, but if you bought the same car on the 1st April 2017, it would cost £130 in ved, the government would use this for general taxation until 2020, then the revenue collected would be spent on the roads..
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I suppose it doesn't really matter. You'll get the money back when you sell it next week. You are getting rid of it aren't you?