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• 1.2 VW Polo - Hire Car Misfuelling Incident 27 May 2013 (Forum)
  This is my first post, so I am hoping somebody can give me some helpful advice on a situation I have got myself into. I hired a car in Spain last week and when returning it to the airport, the tank had to be full. As I drove around the outskirts of the airport, pretty much every garage I could find was closed (it was in the middle of the Spanish Siesta period).
• Cheap solar family EV to go on sale next year! 2 Aug 2022 (Forum)
  Same with this car, it may seem the UK isn't especially sunny, and of course compared to somewhere like Spain, it isn't. But the car is out all the time, so all those sunny spells, however short, are going to accumulate to put power in. Combined with the cheap purchase price, which effectively means the solar aspect is free, this is truly a no brainer for someone who is not interested in image or impressing their neighbours.
• Daihatsu Hijet 1.3 16v 2001 - Headlight Pattern Help 1 Aug 2014 (Forum)
    According to the law their assembly is permitted (if your car does not   have legal, you can add, like you do with the fog lamps),   Brands approvals in Europe: E1 - Germany E2 - France E3 - Italy E4 - Netherlands E5 - Sweden E6 - Belgium E7 - Hungary E8 - Czech Republic E9 - Spain E10 - Yugoslavia E11 - United Kingdom E12 - Austria E13 - Luxembourg  E14 - Switzerland  E16 - Norway E17 - Finland E18 - Denmark E19 - Romania E20 - Poland  E21 - Portugal E22 - Russian Federation E23 - Greece E24 - Ireland   E25 - Croatia E26 - Slovenia  E27 - Slovakia E28 - Belarus E29 - Estonia E31 - Bosnia and Herzegovina E32 - Latvia  E34 - Bulgaria E37 - Turkey E40 - The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia E42 - European Community E43 - Japan So if the headlights have one of these approvals are perfectly normal for the movement.
• Nissan Micra k13 2913 - DIY respray on all four corners of used car, why? 30 Mar 2024 (Forum)
    Micra k13 1.2 petrol "pure drive" manual, black, 2013 with 55 thousand km low milage (its Spain) and the seller is letting me have it for 5000 euro. Fine, its all very nice and neat except for this DIY v bodge basic black spray paint on all four bumper corners. Really bald front tyres too and rear ones in vgc, not that odd I suppose for a small fwd.
• Campaign to stop expat pensions and benefits 5 Mar 2020 (Forum)
  I understand (from a Radio 4 interview 18 months ago) that £6Bn a year leaves the UK in the form of expat pensions and benefits. This money directly benefits competitor economies - mostly Spain and France. Expats have rejected the UK and contribute nothing, but many (most?) return to the UK when sick or frail to use our NHS and Social Care. Its a scandal and the worst form of hypocracy.
• BMW 3 Series - Dealer not refunding £500 deposit 24 Jul 2014 (Forum)
  Hi, I have just found out this morning from my 77 year old father that back in December last year he was asked by my brother who lives in Spain to purchase a car in his name on finance and my brother would export it and pay my father back.  My father went and paid a £500 deposit to the dealer in Derby but then decided there maybe a possibility that this would all go wrong and decided against pursuing the purchase.
• Ford Mondeo III (2000 - 2007) - Keep or replace? 9 Feb 2008 (Forum)
  She bought an 05 Mondeo 2 years ago, and it has now done 60,000 miles and is out of warranty, so she wants to replace it... It was a TDCi 130 Ghia, and replaced her Celica. The problem is, they now have a place in Spain that they visit every six weeks or so, driving down through France, and the car needs to be suitable for this. They fill about 80% of the Mondeo with the seats down, and she is considering downsizing to Focus/Civic size.
• SEAT Ibiza ST Reference 1.6 diesel - Fuel economy 2 Jul 2011 (Forum)
    Mitsubishi do not have a car in their range that is suitable for us and another minus is that spare parts are very expensive.  Living in Spain, we thought that we would look at the "local" manufacturer but before doing so we hired several cars - Seat Ibiza, Renault Megane, Citroen C3 and C4, Fiat Punto Eco, Ford Focus.  All diesel.
• Car scam - no such thing as a bargain 28 Feb 2008 (Forum)
  The vehicle is offered for sale at a significantly reduced price, potentially 50% of value, possibly less. The vehicle is a UK car, but the owner is now living abroad, often Portugal or Spain, they need to sell the car to buy a LHD. They will include shipping costs in the price and offer that you pay the amount into Escrow, with the shipping company, who will only release the cash to them when the car arrives.
• Renault Megane 31 Aug 2003 (Forum)
  Having just got back from two weeks on the Algarve and a week Bull running in Spain I thought I'd just let you know the trouble I've had with hire cars. Normally I would have driven down but the nippers too young so we flew. Got a Renault Megane at Faro which was fine untill you went over 120kph loaded up and it would start to twitch.
• BMW 1 Series - vibration suspension tired 30 Oct 2019 (Forum)
  May be someone can help... as on the look out for a replacement car.  I was on holiday in Spain and I got a free upgrade to a BMW 1 series. I was over the moon, as it was my first time in a BMW. I noticed the suspension was hard when going on say a bump at slow speed, but one thing which impressed me was that when driving on long journeys, I did not feel tired.
• VW Golf Mk4 2002 1.9 TDI - Transmission or Diff noise after hard stall 1 Jul 2023 (Forum)
    Googling it, I see that the Golf has had gearbox problems, and on Ebay, even scrap gearboxes fetch £250 or more ! and seem to be being delivered from Spain!!!!  Any advice, please again!!!  I've switched engines before, however its getting to be antisocial to do major car repairs on the street! If I get a backstreet workshop to change the gearbox how big a job is it; what should it cost?
• Worn brakes on car just bought 22 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  I pressed them to get it checked by someone of good reputation, which they did on Thursday. This mechanic, a very well thought of local man, (soon to leave Raunds to live in Spain) discovered that the front brakes were worn down so that there was hardly any pad material left and the disks had been damaged. He says that the brakes should not be worn in 30,000 miles, and they are checking the mileage with the previous owner.
• The Terry Maxwell Song 21 Jan 2002 (Forum)
  I've got pains in my arms and my dong is growing shorter, My knees have turned to water, and I think I'm going blind. I've w*nked over Italy, I've w*nked over Spain. I've w*nked in an omnibus, I've even had a w*nk in a train. I've used a badger and a melon and a cat, an inflatable Linda Lovelace, and a Davy Crockett hat. And that's why I'm a w*nker, I'm a w*nker and it does me good like it bloody well should.
• Ford Fiesta Titanium X - Full payment requested weeks before collection 22 Sep 2015 (Forum)
  I have put down a deposit on a white Ford Fiesta Titanium X that is currently in Spain in the holding compound - it's NOT a factory order.  I was happy that things were muddling along until yesterday when I got an email from my local nameless dealer (suffice to say, they are large) saying that I needed to go in, finalise the finance paperwork (they've already done the proposal and that's been accepted - for a very small amount so I only went down this route to get the savings) and pay the full balance BEFORE even seeing the car.
• The death of the diesel engine? 19 Oct 2013 (Forum)
    Klaus Schmidt, director of vehicle engineering for start-up Chinese brand Qoros (and previously head of chassis development at BMW’s M division), said he, too, thought diesel engines would markedly decline in importance by the end of the decade, citing ever more stringent pollution regulations as the cause. Some 50 per cent of new cars sold in the UK are diesels, well behind the 70 per cent in Spain and France, but not far short of the EU average of 55 per cent. Europe is by far the biggest consumer of diesel-powered cars. As recently as 2010, Japan and the US had only a small, single-digit take-up for diesel cars.
• Advice for next car please... 15 May 2012 (Forum)
  I'm not sure how much difference there is between the versions but the new one seems much better space-wise and I gather is a better drive. I drove a Fiesta hire car in Spain a year back and quite liked it, aside from the odd mirrors. However, price may again be an issue and I get the impression the smaller Ford engines aren't the most efficient. I had a Colt as a courtesy car a good few years back and quite liked it but I think the design is a bit old now.
• Peugeot 206 1.4L - Clutch/Gearbox problem 13 May 2011 (Forum)
  Recently it got to the point where the noise from a worn out clutch thrust got on my nerves, so it had to be changed. I had a local mechanic in Spain (where the car is kept) change the complete clutch assembly and cable. The cable was a genuine Peugeot part (or so I'm told) but the rest of the assembly was not. My problems started when I went to collect the car, the noise had gone but I was left with a gearbox that crunched/crashed in and out of 3rd gear and I am totally unable to drop down into 2nd gear from 3rd unless going really slowly.
• Mercedes Benz E-Class W124 (1985 - 2000) - New Motor - something for the weekend 12 Jan 2010 (Forum)
  I'd originally set out looking for a Series III Jaguar XJ6 - having spent many a childhood weekend helping my father maintain his Series II. Sadly, every example I've seen here in Spain has been pooly maintained and an obvious money pit. This weekend I picked up my (new to me) 1988 Mercedes-Benz 300E (W124). The car is immaculate inside and out and is an absolute delight to drive.
• Ford Excursion - Any advice re: buying an American SUV 2 Dec 2010 (Forum)
   We pull a twin-axle caravan MTPLM 1750Kgs around the UK but would like to travel further afield, Scandinavia and Spain being two areas of interest. Due to the Landies age we cannot arrange break-down cover overseas so have thus far been limited to holidays in the UK. Nothing wrong with that, but it would occasionally be nice to have some sunshine once in a while!