March 2025
Report in yesterday’s Times about a fire in a Dacia possibly caused by a faulty ignition switch which was the subject of a recall.
But a lack of a spare switch and the dealer allegedly ordering the wrong part could have resulted in the starter motor continuing to spin causing all sorts of electrical warning lights to come on an then the car bursting into fire.... Read more
I recently purchased an 07 Antara from a dealer and on the test drive I queried what the pedal and gearstick vibrations were, to which she replied "oh, I've not noticed that before". She said she could get the mechanic to look at if I wanted but I declined as I thought it was probably me not being used to it and we settled on me calling in if the issue was still there in a few days. The issue was still there so popped it back in and the lady drove it around the forecourt and said, "ah yeah, I see what you mean, it could be the clutch but it's an old car so it's not unreasonable to expect this type of problem". I asked if her mechanic could look at it and she agreed but would have to call me with a time to come back in.
She called me 3 days later and asked to bring it back up so I drove to the garage where she just drove it around the forecourt again and said "I get what you're saying but as I said, it's an old car and you've got to expect these problems, it's fair wear and tear so we can't do anything about it".... Read more
It's actually been well maintained with regular services and no major issues on MOTs, just the usual brake pad changes and suspension bits and pieces and only minimal surface rust under the body which is why I thought it was a good deal for me.
In terms of warranty it came with 3 months warranty, but my main issue is that there was no mention of a potential clutch/DMF problem and was described as being in an "excellent, well maintained condition" so I don't think it would be unfair to to assume it should have been in working order and any potential problems should have been noted in the advert. Also only admitting there seems to be a problem after the sale seems a little bit slippery....
My front passenger side shock absorber has failed completely (oil everywhere in front arch) and lots of knocking and banging.
Bought a new Sachs Shock for my mechanic to fit but he's had to put the old one back on as its missing a bracket that goes up to what we've identified is the levelling sensor for the Xenon HID headlights.... Read more
I saw those....
They are for converting standard Tein shock to one with the bracket....
Hi there,
I live on the South Coast and work in the water sports industry. I am looking to buy a large MPV that I can take the seats out of and use as a van from time to time.
I have to take both students and large/long equipment away from time to time (don’t want to put the equipment on the roof), so an MPV is ideal in its versatility. And I have £5k to spend
I’ve had crew cab vans before, but they were too utilitarian for long trips, and got broken into too, so not looking at those anymore.
I’ve had the Renault Grand Espace before and it was good for my needs, very comfortable on long trips and towed well. I also liked the opening panoramic roof (not available on the Ssangyong), and the looks were different too.
However, the Ssangyong does look a very good car, comes in 4x4, and is of similar size with the seats out.
This car will need to tow a light boat, and will also do a lot of miles, with regular trips to the North East of England as well as around 2 trips a year to France/Spain.
I have £5k to spend, and both fit nicely into this price range,
I just wondered if anyone has any advice or opinions on each, or what else I should look at? A Chrysler Voyager looks nice too, but not as big.
Many thanks Read more
£5k is banger money these days. A Ford Galaxy with the 2.0 Psa engine would do the job . Espace and Voyager are best avoided.
I've been thinking about getting one of these scanners to give me a bit of information prior to taking family cars in for servicing.
I'm no mechanic so I shan't be doing any repairs.... Read more
Cheap obd scanners generally only read engine data . If you need to read other electronic systems , then you’ll need something with more capabilities. It’s all down to budget. The more you spend the more systems can be accessed with increased functionality.
A few years ago I was stopped for not obstructing a box junction. Photo above in link... Read more
A few years ago I was stopped for not obstructing a box junction. Photo above in link...
Friend just bought a Pug 2008 and on the MOT for the past 4 years there has been an advisory as below. Any Ideas?
The selling Garage have sorted everything for him and it has a clean MOt no advisories except for a cut in a tyre, which they replaced with a new tyre.... Read more
Friend just bought a Pug 2008 and on the MOT for the past 4 years there has been an advisory as below. Any Ideas?
Passenger seat(s) missing at time of test all rear...
Hi
My clutch pedal started being springy about 2cm from the bottom of it's travel, I managed to video through the release arm hole and could see at the bottom of the travel the release bearing stops moving but the release arm is flexing slightly causing the springy feeling.
I replaced the clutch and flywheel (LUK same as original) in 2019 at 138k, the new one has only done 23K, it seems to me that the clutch cover is not fully disengaging so probably the cover is faulty (maybe the automatic adjuster mechanism this seems to be an extra complication that isn't really needed).
Has anyone come across this before?
I wonder what stops the pedal at the bottom of it's travel, is it just it reaches the bottom of the master cylinder or is there a stop in the pedal box? perhaps the stop is broken? I don't want to change the clutch only to find the issue isn't resolved.
The clutch works fine but I'm about to do a 1500 miles trip in France visiting the my wife's family and don't want to get stranded without all the tools to change the clutch (breakdown cover only covers a repatriation up to the market value so the car would end being sc***ped in France).
Thanks in advance
Jon Read more
Glad you got it sorted, thanks for the update, it all adds to the knowledge base!
Take it you changed it yourself?
Any way of updating the touchscreen system update and maps without going citroen George costing to much Read more
One of our cars was a fortune to update a while back Hubby bought a 7" tablet paired with our phones and voila problem sorted Google maps and our music on it.
fixed with velcro
Hi all,
Got a question about the Vector-SR Spot Speed Camera.
I’ve been reading conflicting information about these cameras and would like to know if someone can clear it up for me.
Some state these are only speed cameras using radar to catch speeding, and once caught the images or video footage can be used to check for secondary offences like no seatbelt or phone usage.
The others state they actively look for offences such as seatbelt and mobile phone using AI but when looking online these Vector-SR don’t have this capability and its solely used for speeding offences and the AI ones are currently the big grey ones been trailed temporarily on trailers or from vans.
Would anyone here be able to clear this up for me please?
Thanks. Read more
Why does it matter? Everyone wears seat belts and doesn't use their phone - don't they?
2001. Customer brought in a Rover 25 which had self combusted shortly after a service....