Honest John Back Room » Comments
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Fri 19 May 2017 20:59
- glidermania
Good lord. So someone buys a car where the nearest dealership is 25 miles away. They then expect a service recall for no cost to them work to mean getting the car to the dealer and back should be at the dealer's cost.

Are these people for real? Incredible.
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Sat 20 May 2017 00:05
- Rusty boy
Really! Maybe not everyone has a plethora of dealerships on their doorstep. The dealer never rejected their custom when they purchased the car due to their residence being too far away. I have experienced the same as the local dealer switched allegiance meaning 2 days of my leave taken up dropping vehicle off and returning to collect. Is that fair given it was a manufacturing fault and no, received no recompense despite protests or offer to collect vehicle either. Believe manufacturers should be accountable for any out of pocket expenses incurred and at the least offer to collect vehicle with a supplied courtesy vehicle.
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Sat 20 May 2017 08:51
Honest John's Motoring Agony Column 20-05-2017 Part 2 - TTToommy
Good lord. So someone buys a car where the nearest dealership is 25 miles away. They then expect a service recall for no cost to them work to mean getting the car to the dealer and back should be at the dealer's cost. Are these people for real? Incredible.
Good lord. So someone buys a car where the nearest dealership is 25 miles away. They then expect a service recall for no cost to them work to mean getting the car to the dealer and back should be at the dealer's cost. Are these people for real? Incredible.

IF it was a service I'd agree completely with you BUT it is a recall i.e the makers fault not the owners - If the dealer picks it up then surely that's fine ?

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Sat 20 May 2017 11:57
- hissingsid

Nice to see the two Morris Minors still in use in Sri Lanka. The one in front is the original design known to collectors as the "Low Light" version. Unfortunately the lights were positioned too low to meet American regulations at a time when most British built cars were destined for export, so the design had to be changed.

Edited by hissingsid on 20/05/2017 at 11:58

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Sat 20 May 2017 13:12
- carquet
Still banging on about left foot braking when you don't give any information about these, "about 100 deaths", caused by driving an automatic the way they are meant to be driven!! Where is the proof it was a COMPETENT driver causing an accident by driving with right foot braking? Where are the statistics that show many millions of drivers do not have a problem?

If someone cannot control an automatic as it's meant to be driven they should not be on the road, FULL STOP.

I went over to automatics 17 years ago, I have not had a single problem driving with right foot braking and the minute (and my wife tells me so) I do have a problem I will stop driving immediately.

By the way I will be 80 next year.
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Sat 20 May 2017 15:19
- Nigel Dowe
I have been driving cars now for 40 + years. Have worked around vehicles most of that time have driven everything auto from a mini (old shape not this ridiculous leviathon put out by BMW. To Rolls and Bentleys and even auto box lorries. I used to deliver cars for Ford Fleet And averaged 100,000 miles a year doing so, Have always driven right foot braking and never ever had an accident in an automatic
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Mon 22 May 2017 12:13
- eyemdee
I am an avid fan of this web site and visit probably daily. I do, however, have to disagree with HJ and agree with Carquet & Nigel Dowe about the principle of trying to implement the practice of left foot braking with automatic cars. I have been driving for 50 years in both manual and automatic cars and to me, braking left footed is like me trying to write with my left hand. I was taught how to perform an emergency stop using both feet for brake and clutch and this action should be instinctive to any driver. Using the left foot on the brake because the car is automatic is more likely in my opinion to cause confusion and error. I suspect that many, if not most, runaways are probably caused by diesel engines running uncontrollably on their sump oil and taking their drivers by surprise. The combination of an oil overfilled diesel engine mated to an automatic gearbox could be lethal, and teaching its driver to brake left footed would not overcome the element of surprise leading to some of these accidents.
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Mon 22 May 2017 13:13
- Ann Knowles
I've clocked up 51 years of driving. Forty years of that on the roads of Australia driving automatics. Coming from a motorcycle and light plane background, I've always left foot braked. Been invaluable on a number of occasions when someone does something silly, that requires an immediate response.
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