February 2025
Hello,
So I'm shopping for a new driver's seatbelt for my Nissan Micra 2013. I found a couple on ebay, but whereas this one... Read more
I've been quoted £300-400 to remove the DPF from my Vauxhall Astra CDTi, clean it on a "proper" cleaning rig, reattach it and then run the diagnostics.
Does this seem expensive? It's a garage that I trust in terms of workmanship, they've always done a good job but they aren't exactly the cheapest place. For the DPF I've seen other places advertising a similar service "from £99" but whether this is actually true or not I don't know.... Read more
Waste of money, cleaning a DPF never works longterm in my experience. Both bus firms I’ve worked for tried this and it’s never worked. It’s a 12yr old motor, a new DPF will be needed, and possibly there’s another fault causing contamination. Older DPF equipped diesels are a liability.
Must be the two worst companies to deal with. AirBnB only contactable via Twitter evn if you've contacted them before. Ebay now seems to use AI or an i**** for communications.
When I’ve looked at Airbnb for U.K. accommodation it now seems expensive. Especially as they often charge an upfront cleaning fee on top. Other sites are often cheaper. Increasingly too I find it’s cheaper to book direct with the owner if you can find their own listing. This is true of many hotels, their own website often offers the best deal.
As for eBay I’ve had a couple of issues with boot floor mats for the Vitara where the sellers showed heavy duty mats in the photo only for lightweight ones to turn up. The first seller refunded me and told me to keep it. The second seller agreed to refund but needed it returned, which I did. They didn’t refund the postage despite promising to. I then gave up trying to find a good mat and used the “free” one and it’s turned out to be good enough once it uncurled in the summer heat. ...
I have a diesel Vauxhall Astra that I've had on-off problems with for a couple of years, mostly DPF related. I've done quite a bit to remedy this including having it taken off and cleaned out and having all the fuel injectors replaced for new ones. This has helped somewhat but the car has always had a tendency to smoke a bit out the back end and also smell. Not quite a typical exhaust smell but an acrid burning smell, so I assumed this was an issue with the DPF.
I've noticed that if the car is travelling slowly or is stationary in traffic AND the heating is on (fan heater is on) the smell gets into the car itself. At first I thought the exhaust might be leaking but I've had several carbon monoxide monitors in the car with me and they always stay at 0 PPM so I would think this rules out an exhaust leak.... Read more
Or I suppose you could heat up some coolant (and/or oil, diesel, AdBlu, etc) on a BBQ (you'd want to be outdoors) and see what, if anything, matches.
techstory.in/stellantis-introduces-pop-up-ads-in-v.../
To think that many of us thought that intrusive nagging "safety" features were the worst thing that could happen. I expect that this new hell will even switch on the sound despite you having the radio off. I don't have an infotainment screen in my old car but if I did I would be taping a black cloth over it. Read more
Ultimately people just have to vote with their feet. Don't buy one, there are plenty of alternatives out there. People will go back to stand alone satnavs or use phones for navigation and entertainment. Pop up ads should be banned on a safety basis.
Hi all.
I'd very much welcome your advice/opinion please.
I'm about to enter into the market for a used 'hot hatch'. When I say that, I mean early contenders include a Golf GTI, Golf R, Cupra 290/300 etc.
I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out any other cars/brands to consider and naturally people's opinion on any of them.
For context, I've always driven Diesels (company car) and now that I've started my own business and I'm working from home alot, I don't do half the miles and also want to get the enjoyment back into Driving. Previous cars I've owned include a Leon FR, Volvo V40 D4 & currently I have a Golf GT TDI (Hence the natural look at the VAG offering)
Budget wise probably around £16k and I don't really want to go older than 2016.
Any advice/opinion would be most welcome!
Thanks in advance,
Andy Read more
Hyundai i30n was my first thought. A Honda Civic Type R would also just about be doable. If you don't need practicality (or much comfort) you could go for an Abarth.
We have a 2015 Corsa E with the 90bhp 1.4 petrol engine. Tedious car but it costs us peanuts to run, and it has heated seats & steering wheel which seem to be very expensive extras on any new car these days.
The car has 75,000 miles up and was running OK, apart from an irritating fluffiness / slight stumble just off idle rpm. I decided to have a look, and removed the inlet trunking from the airbox. Looking at the motorised throttle body, there were brown / black deposits around the throttle butterfly's edges and a small ring were the butterfly rests against the TB's sides.... Read more
Always a good idea to keep the throttle body clean and free of debris , however some manufacturers, notably Ford , specifically say not to do this , as the Tb has a special coating that can get damaged if you take a brush to it . In fact there’s a sticker on the Tb to warn you of this .That's interesting. The Corsa throttle body looks like very ordinary machined aluminium alloy, and the butterfly the usual coated steel. No warning stickers on it, and we've had the car from new.
The brush I used was a fine, soft artist's brush which couldn't possibly scratch anything, it just helped to lift away the carbon deposits loosened by the carb cleaner. I was also careful not to push on the butterfly, so I didn't disturb its position and confuse the sensor. ...
I have a phone contract with Tesco mobile for my normal phone. However, I want a payg phone for emergencies when I am out cycling. I want a sim only as I have a couple of recently pensioned off phones that I can use. This will likely be used purely for texting or calling, no web stuff. I don't want to pay for any bundles deals or contract or to have to provide any bank details etc. I just want to register the sim and then put some credit on using a card etc, as in the good old days. I then want that credit to remain until I have used it. I would obviously have a different phone number but that isn't a problem.
I was going to go with Tesco, my normal provider. However, they are not the cheapest but also all their payg deals seem to involve you paying monthly for data/text/voice bundles which seems more like a normal contract to me. Can anyone recommend a cheap, simple payg sim that would do what I want?... Read more
Not a PAYG deal but I bought a sim for my tablet.
Iirc 5mb a month for 6quid a month. Unlimited calls/ texts. They use the three network, free EU usage etc...
As some may remember, I've had this car since 2016. I've put over 50,000 miles on it and it has been remarkably cheap to run. A couple of brake disks fitted on the rear a few years ago. New tyres. Apart from that, until recently no repairs needed.
Last autumn, after a longish drive to the far north-east from Hertfordshire, I could hear a knocking noise from the suspension. New stabiliser bar mounting needed.... Read more
Mirrors my own experience of owning several Mazdas over the years and I’ve never had any major issues with any I’ve sold.
Hi
I have had my Mini Cooper for 2 days when the active bonnet was activated due to a deer crossing my path. There was no collision, the deer wandered around in the road & then headed off & there isn’t a sign of dent, scratch or even dirt on the front of my car. Has anyone else had problems with this? Read more
I’m I bit concerned that the bumper is out of alignment, but the Op says there was no impact ??
OP states they've had the car for two days and it's a 2024 model. Maybe an earlier impact and cheap repair?
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