Showing results in  Forum [Show all channels]

Sort by: Relevance | Newest first | Oldest first

• M reg 1.4 Clio high fuel consumption 15 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  now i had my mum myself my push bike in the car plus clothes but nothing adding up to more than 4 adult passangers. i run the tyres at a higher pressure on long motor way drives. we drove at around 70 mph the whole way and had a clear run no substantial stationary traffic luckily. we averaged around 55-60 mph. in the last year the car has had 4 new tyres, balance and tracking, a new cam belt, two new half shafts as there is a wobble which i can't work out what it is relates to the speedo, when i first got the car i replaced all disks pads shoes, filters, ht leads, it doesnt seem to be a binding brake. The car is serviced regularly with oil change at least every 5k miles. My question is what could cause such a large drop in fuel economy. i am losing nearly 100miles per tank?
• Bemused by Insurance Companies 17 Nov 2006 (Forum)
  I have just received my insurance renewal quote from a leading insurance company and I was fully expecting to have an increase due to the fact I've been a bad lad and got two speeding fines earlier this year. Two months ago I spoke to them about it as I was changing cars from an 11yr old 318is Coupe to 06 Focus 1.8 TCDI Zetec, at the time they said the speeding offences wouldn't be taken into account until renewal and my premium went up by £16.00 PA at the time.
• GM Pay your fuel bills 25 May 2006 (Forum)
  US average gasoline prices are close to $3 a gallon, prompting complaints from consumers and warnings it would lead to a spending slump. GM plans to cap petrol prices at $1.99 (£1.05) a gallon for buyers of certain 2006 and 2007 SUV and mid-size cars. Attention grabbing GM is looking at new ways of luring customers from Asian and domestic rivals after it said earlier this year that it would cut back on the amount of discounts and incentives it offered customers.
• fiat punto vs Mazda premacy dealers 13 May 2005 (Forum)
  Do these people not realise that we all live complicated lives. We have two border collies, one started life as a farm dog, cannot stand the lead, tongue goes black. Has to be taken into the country. no dogs allowed in courtesy cars. Have our grandson 20 months. i have an iso child car seat for the premacy. im fairly certain ka does not. A long letter of complaint is going to mazda on monday. my question, yes there is one.
• Peugeot 106 1.4 diesel water loss 24 Oct 2004 (Forum)
  We don't get steam out of the exhaust shortly after starting the engine nor do we get water in the oil (except the normal for short local journeys). It has got a bit worse over the 10 months but not catatrophically which leads me to think the worse and it's a crack not just the gasket. Can you think of anything else it might be before I take the cylinder head off, I'm desparately looking for any easier answer, not least because the cost of a replacement head is probably a repair too far.
• the joys of the small claims court 19 May 2004 (Forum)
  I have an expert report saying that the damage to the car\'s alternator, wiring etc. was likely caused by the incorrect use of a battery charger (i.e. the leads the wrong way round) and in their defence statement, they did state that a battery charger was used. They have ignored all my attempts to get a response out of them apart from one very abusive (a *lot* of swearing) telephone call to tell me where to go.
• French reputation for rust .... no more 12 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  Plenty of fine surface scratches, as the paint seems to mark just by looking at it, but not a single area of corrosion. Not even the rear passenger door and leading edge of the wheel arch, both of which were lightly creased and the top coat of paint cracked, when scraped against a post by the previous owner a number of years ago. Lifting the bonnet, and looking at the chassis member box sessions, even the vertical ends of the innerboard plates still have sound, solid, paint, with a crisp edge to the metal, despite not an ounce of wax in sight of this particular location.
• Update - new Yaris & the Learner Driver 5 Nov 2003 (Forum)
  Although, the new magazine that the DVLA give out when you pass your test has am IAM course for £75 (-£10 discount for under 25's until 31st December) and completing that sucessfully also leads to insurers' discounts I believe?
• Yet another Golf cutting out 19 Oct 2003 (Forum)
  If it stalls it always starts again immediately. The problem first came up earlier this year. My local mechanic tried replacing the ignition leads and distributor cap but this made no difference. Dealer also suggested it might be some kind of vacuum effect in the fuel tank caused by unvented non-standard VW petrol tank cap. I tried changing the cap and the problem went away for a few months before returning last week and this morning.
• Safety Recall - Honda Ignition Switch 29 Jul 2003 (Forum)
  Have also had tyres and wiper blades - that\'s all) Safety recall says: \"some vehicles were manufactured with ignition switches that can wear prematurely and this may lead to difficulty starting the car\" (well, I did have some difficulties, which I presumed were battery related, and having changed the battery no longer experience them - sometimes car had stood a while and only done a few miles, now it\'s used more frequently and on longer journeys) \"in some cases it is possible that the switch might fail and that your engine may stall without warning\" I\'m obviously going to get it booked in asap, don\'t think my car has any problems, but who knows.
• Tory party to review speed limits ... 1 Jul 2003 (Forum)
  I beleive motoring technology has moved forward a gret deal but so has traffic volume. The article also suggested that road side camera policy is likely to be reviewed leading to a reduction in the number of GATSO's. As we all know GATSO are just a form of stealth tax and do nothing to increase road safety. I also beleive that the road tax disc should be abolished and replaced by a supplimental levy on fuel, I beleive this would be more efficient and equitable, so the more you drive the more you pay.
• OMEGA HELL 5 May 2002 (Forum)
  I had I checked over by a local car trader who told me it was sound, but would also need the plug leads replaced. With this information I left the car to a mechanic, and entrusted him with the work. He seemed unsure how to do the work, as it involved removing the timing belt on the engine. To cut a long story short, which involved at least 40 phonecalls to him, and at least 8 temporary cover notes (costing 15pounds each) I finally took the car back.
• MG Sales - Isn't it odd? 9 Mar 2022 (Forum)
  “To that end we are introducing a number of initiatives that will control order intake and maximise our joint profitability in these unusual circumstances.” Describing the steps taken to prevent lead times extending further, Pigounakis added: “The first of these will be effective from 1st March at which point we will temporarily suspend our ability to place new orders for petrol engine cars.
• Any - Real Fuel Saving at Low Cost 4 Sep 2020 (Forum)
  This result is perhaps surprising when you consider the total energy stored in a fully charged 70Ah 12 volt lead - acid battery is around 910 Watt.hours. Given that each bhp is roughly equivalent to 750 watts then the energy stored seems trivial compared with the 100 bhp (75Kw) engine but then when you look into it you will see that it may take as little as 16 bhp (12 Kw) to cruise at 60 mph and thus if the alternator has to provide little or no charge to the battery during the journey then maybe 1.8 Kwh less battery charging energy is demanded from the engine. 1.8/12 = 0.15 = 15% energy saving!
• Volkswagen Golf - '11 Golf MkVI DSG Petrol CAXA - timing chain/cam? 22 Jan 2020 (Forum)
  I'm getting a bit worried as I've been reading reviews* that talk about reports of timing chain & cam belt failures leading to massive engine damage. How likely are these problems on the engine & transmission I'm buying? I will be doing only 4-6K miles a year. Mostly short trips everyday. * See for instance reports from the review on Honest John:  https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/volkswagen/golf-vi-2009/good/ 26-5-2013: On 2009 Golf 1.4TSi 122, original chain failed at 43k, 2nd change failed at 50k.
• Collective help from forum - Old friend driving dilemma Poor driving, 18 Oct 2017 (Forum)
  About 15 years ago he suffered a severe bout of vomiting coughing on a channel crossing, after a heavy days drinking in Calais on a daay trip "with the boys". After this he had eyesight problems with visual field defects which lead to DVLA taking away his licince, which he accepted with grace. He then had a triple heart bypass and recovered well. Then about 5 years after his licence was removed he got a letter from DVLA saying that different requirements were now in place because of a change in european law, and to take an assessment at a centre  near Esher, being invited for a medical, a discussion, a period on a simulator and the a drive in a car on a closed circuit, subject to the first sections all being satisfactory.
• Ford Fiesta - Disappointing new models 23 Jul 2017 (Forum)
  I have just watched a video review of the new Ford Fiesta and the reviewer concluded that the Fiesta still leads the class for driver engagement.  Fine.  But since the old car was already the class leader, why did Ford have to replace a really quite stylish car with (in my view) a rather dull looking one?
• Ford Fiesta - ford fiesta 2001 overheat issues (yup another one) 19 Apr 2016 (Forum)
    the radiator fan doesnt seem to come on. -it mite not know to come on- 3 pipes are leading in/out of the radiator the bottom one is warm. the top one is roasting and squishy.  iv flushed the radiator twice the second time i did it properly and checked the top pipe from the radiator which seems to connect to the thermostat housing then overflow tank the water in the overflow tank is hot.
• overtaking competently, a lost art? 18 Apr 2016 (Forum)
  So, i've gone past Kingston Bagpuize on the dual carriageway and on the single carriage bends just after 2 cars come up behind me, the lead car jammed tight up behind me giving himself almost no field of vision and no acceleration room before committing to go by, always a sign that you have to keep an eye on them, just past the BP garage about 2 miles further on the left there is a slight right hand bend and then a 400 yd straight and another fast right hand bend.
• Ford Fiesta - Fatal, non-fault, crash 27 Feb 2015 (Forum)
  I've had my license for around 12 years, cover 25,000 miles a year and never had an accident until I was involved in a non-fault accident which lead to a fatality at the scene. What happened; I had stopped, and a motorbike had stopped behind me, the car behind us failed to stop (from 40mph in a 40mph zone) pushing the motorbike into the back of me.