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• Happy Blue's rental car blog 10 Jul 2016 (Forum)
    Balloon tyres are great for road imperfections, but a heavily loaded car at speed causes bounce and float leading to claims of sickness from rear passengers.   The return journey at night showed the car to have good headlights and a surprisingly good turn of speed but was hampered by an odd gearbox.
• My question to an MP regarding Bio-diesel - Reply! 4 Feb 2011 (Forum)
  They believe that the dilution of this oil by unburnt diesel fuel causes a deterioration in its lubrication qualities, leading to a significant possibility of excessive engine wear and premature failure. They are also concerned because the recall campaign to repair the problem with the DPF has been conducted during the summer months, when regeneration is less problematical.
• Priu$ Worse Than Hummer 22 Mar 2007 (Forum)
  The Scion only costs a paltry $0.48 per mile to put on the road. If you are still obsessed over gas mileage - buy a Chevy Aveo and fix that lead foot. One last fun fact for you: it takes five years to offset the premium price of a Prius. Meaning, you have to wait 60 months to save any money over a non-hybrid car because of lower gas expenses. http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/editorial_item.asp?
• Tools 10 Feb 2002 (Forum)
  THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB: This is a misnomer, since the immutable laws of nature dictate this is about as locate-able as the Holy Grail, despite the firm delusion that you actually had it once. The search therefor is a fine stimulus to developing improvisation skills and usually leads to a deeper understanding of the Law of Unintended Consequences (see Mole-Grip, Philips Screwdriver etc above). Some claim the Right Tool is always found after the job for which it is required has been completed.
• Audi A7/A6 - Audi premium brand I don’t think so 20 Mar 2020 (Forum)
  In anticipation of this I had prepared a document a copy of which can be supplied, which outlined the circumstances leading to the repair and asked for an acknowledgement of my “paid under protest” status. The service representative said he was unable to sign this document but he would refer it to his line manager.
• Skoda Yeti - EA189 Emissions Update - my experience 2 Apr 2018 (Forum)
  I was also increasingly aware the engine appeared to begin developing power / torque approximately 300-500 RPM further up the rev range. This lead to me often driving in a lower gear, than before the update.  Fuel economy is admittedly an obsession of mine and my Fuelly account now covers in excess of 100K miles, covered in 3 Yeti's (x1 1.2 TSi, x1 110 BHP 2.0 TDi 2WD and my current 140 BHP 140 BHP 4x4).
• Ford Fiesta - Fiesta EAC FAIL 28 Sep 2015 (Forum)
  They did a lot of checking and were convinced it was not the tps but first suggested that I needed a new ECU. I immediately got suspicious and lead them to believe that I wouldn't pay to replace that, even though if I knew that was definitely the problem, I probably would. He kept the car overnight because the following day he said they had a ford technician going in to try and sell them some diagnostic equipment.
• Citroen DS5 - My Road Test Report 13 Mar 2015 (Forum)
  First impressions were good, bold aggressive styling with some neat design features. The chrome “blade” which runs from the A pillar to the leading edge of the front wing looked particularly good on this car which was finished in black. The DS5 looks good from the rear too with a squat stance set off by the roof spoiler and what look like twin chrome exhaust pipes.
• FAO Honest John, the Indian Dacia Duster Problems 5 Feb 2014 (Forum)
  Dacia unable to confirm if they should or should not be bunged up, they tell some owners its for drainage, despite the fact the holes are not at the lowest point, are lipped inwards and are huge. This is already leading to some rust.
• Choosing a second car - ideas? 10 Feb 2008 (Forum)
  As readers of some of earlier posts on this forum may know, we are a 2 car family, car 1 needs to be a full size 7 seater, and my story that lead to me a Mitsubishi Grandis is here: http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=48948&v=f Car 2, is for fun, and spare when second card needed, I have flirted with various 2+2 coupes, wrote off a mint condition Nissan 200SX (aaagh!!!!!)
• Mike Rutherfords Champions 7 Feb 2007 (Forum)
  Citroën is a firm that, starting from an admittedly low base, continues to win promotion to higher leagues at an impressively quick rate thanks to a combination of industry-leading prices, brilliant designs and much-improved quality. This was confirmed by last week's Warranty Direct report that claimed that the French firm has moved to 10th best in the world. Skoda has a similar no-nonsense, value-for-money approach and deserves credit - if not promotion - for that.
• The hazards of cycling in the UK in 2004 28 Jul 2004 (Forum)
  As usual the park had a number of dogs being walked in it, and i was approaching a man walking his dog near the park's exit. The dog was on about a 30ft lead ahead of the man, and as i could tell that the dog had not noticed my presence i slowed right down to walking pace and hoped the owner would alert his dog (and ideally call it back to him or to one side).
• Dropped kerb in front of one residential property - Neighbour taken dropped kerb directly front my h 4 Jun 2020 (Forum)
  My street has a large green space with grass and trees between the houses and roads on both sides of the street, and my house has a dropped kerb in front of it with a long piece of tarmac leading up to my drive. The lowered kerb and crossover were constructed in 2004 and I was given a receipt for the work by the previous house owner when I purchased the property in 2012. There are neighbours further up the road that have driveways at the front of their properties with a dedicated crossover leading up to their respective drives.
• The unethical & deplorable actions of 2 companies 20 Mar 2018 (Forum)
    Has anything said by YY or XX been true, or just further perjury being committed? The admission of YY that liability should be accepted, followed by the radio silence leads me to believe that something untoward is going on – are they happy to facilitate the fraud being committed by XX? I raise the question – under oath – would XX stand up and state everything that has been said from the outset has been true?
• Toyota Prius not rubbish to drive shock! 30 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  Plus, with the screen and the electric mode there is an incentive even for someone as pathologically lead footed as me to drive economically. Apart from the apparent economy benefits, I can?t help feeling that Toyota is underselling the hybrid concept by marketing it to tree huggers. There are so few cars that offer a genuinely different driving experience these days.
• Seat Altea XL - first impressions 21 Jul 2007 (Forum)
  Therefore if you apply any significant weight to the boot carpet then it bevels due to the gap underneath it! I am sure I will find something useful to put in there to prevent this (compressor, jump leads etc). Boot does not have a conventional parcel shelf which rises with the bootlid, instead it has a telescopic cover that pulls out and retracts. I actually prefer this especially if you are carrying something taller than the height of the shelf then it is easier to recline it rather than remove it altogether.
• Driving in Kuwait 25 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  The frame of mind is one of submission to the will of Allah (Islam does not exactly mean 'peace', as some seem to think; a more accurate translation would seem to be 'submission'). Anyway, such philosophical Weltanschaung leads to chaps barrelling down the highway at speeds approaching those of light aircraft, despite the highway in question being packed with fellow road-users. Hence the burned-out carcasses of vehicles which daily build up on the Expressway.
• SPECS Camera Flaw 19 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  'Motorists are strongly advised not to seek to evade detection by unnecessarily changing lanes as this would generate a greater risk of collision and may lead to other offences being committed which the police may prosecute. 'These camera systems are designed to make our roads safer by reducing speed and casualties. It is irresponsible for motorists to deliberately seek to evade detection and speed.'
• Roadtest : Avantime 20 Jul 2002 (Forum)
  When you examine history, Renault have developed some of the most innovative cars of the last 20 years - the Espace led the way for people carriers and the Scenic launched a million Almera Tinos. I hope they can lead luxury cars away from the 70's American police car three box format with the Avantime. Overall I absolutely loved the car and given the spare cash would buy one without hesitation. I may be in luck too, as most large French cars seem to suffer terrible depreciation, so perhaps in three or four year?
• Anatomy of a ride 23 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  Essential for keeping up the cholesterol level. Return journey downhill for the 80 km back towards The Smoke: Larry rides lead. I pull the sweeper job this time around. The girls are riding well but they're at the back of the pack so I keep an eye on them as the Sunday pm traffic is now building. There are idiots who try and force their way into our formation; some cagers have a real ego problem with motorbikes.