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• buying Passat 23 Feb 2006 (Forum)
  I have an 83k mile TDI 130 Passat estate and am considering replacing it with a new or newer model.With regard to a brand new model I am looking at putting down a deposit of around £4k and financing the rest via a PCP and have my eye on the TDI 140 SE estate.Can anyone suggest what sort of deal I ought to be looking at here in terms of price for the car and apr for the finance? An alternative is a nearly new old shape model: I have found a < 1 year old TDI 130 sport estate with less than 10k on the clock priced around 14k.Is this a good deal or would I be better buying the new model?
• BMW 5 series Dash board pixels problem 26 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  I have recently discovered that I am one of many 5 series (E39) owners with the dash board pixels disappearing after a short time. My car showed signs at 3 years old. Now it is 4 years old the on board computer is ilegible. New units are over £500. BMW have been known to offer some good will out of warranty but not too much. In the USA they apparently replace free of charge.
• Carte blanche 21 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  Well, not entirely, but number one son has finally decided to buy a car, having resisted until the ripe old age of 24. He has a wife and a forthcoming infant, and would like some advice on suitable transport. I have my own views, but as these are obviously based on limited experience, it would be nice to know what you all feel.
• Old Volvo idling revs. 11 Jan 2005 (Forum)
  The car: Volvo 940 TDIC auto estate 1992 The problem: Until recently the cold start idling revs.(1000rpm) would gradually decrease to normal revs as...
• Common or Prestige? 4 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  Lets take the Vectra-nice 2.2 petrol auto, leather, climate etc etc-loads of goodies but I'll buy it when it's 18 months old for £13k and in 3 years what will it be worth-£7k if I'm lucky. So what if I bought a BMW 5 series, Audi A4 or Merc E class. All will be 4 years old so out of warranty. Will I have big repair bills to bite me or will they be worth the extra outlay and treat me to luxury motoring at not to high cost?
• Vauxhall Corsa 19 May 2004 (Forum)
  Can anyone please comment on whether a Vauxhall Corsa with an automatic gearbox is likely to be any good in terms of performance, economy, reliablilty etc. The prospective car will be low mileage ( old, and between £7000 to £7500 for a Design or Elegance trim on a late 2003/ early 2004 plate. It's the 1.4 auto, not the easytronic BTW. Has anyone driven or owned one and care to let me know what they are like?
• Do the old Skoda jokes still apply? 2 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  I wonder if anyone else regrets buying a Skoda? A friend of mine bought a new felicia 1.9d to last him into retirement after reading all the hype that...
• Best buy.....Garage's perspective 20 Nov 2003 (Forum)
  I have alway fancied buying something a bit special for peanuts, perhaps an old 7 series, an old e class, Audi A8, Jag, that sort of thing. Because of their complexity I know they depreciate like the clappers. Some of the second hand prices look like absurdly good value.I also know the flip side, their very complexity makes it more likely that one expensive problem can end up scrapping the car.
• Cost running petrol v diesel 7 Sep 2003 (Forum)
  This may have been covered before but has anyone worked out the costs of running two similar cars - one with a petrol engine and another on diesel. I am interested in two scenarios - buying new and at, say, three years old. What sort of milage do you have to do each year to make the diesel viable?
• Coolant pipe - Back Order 23 May 2003 (Forum)
  I posted last week saying how my E320 CDI W211 at only 5 months old had sprung a diesel leak and an oil leak and that the oil was dripping onto a coolant pipe and was damaging it. http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=12923 They have lent me an old shape E-Class and rung today to say the new pipe was on back order and to expect a wait of a further 10 days.
• Oil Type - GTI Teenagers 22 Jun 2001 (Forum)
  Surely 0W-40 would be too thin at the temperatures experienced in the UK? Also, a large number of 17 year old GTI drivers run their 13 year old 160,000 mile motas on Mobil 1!!!!! With the notorious valve stem oil seals on the Golfs they must cost more mpg on Mobil 1 than the fuel itself. Is there any point running on Mobil 1 on such a car?
• Cooking oil 23 Jan 2001 (Forum)
  On sunday morning on Sky news I saw an article about using old oil from fish and chip shops.One man on a small scale collected from his local fish shops and then filtered the oil added I think a drop of sodium sulphate (not being a chemist I do not no what this was for)) and then to proceeded to run his car without any problems .He had quiet a cottage industry in his Garage.
• Fabric upholstery cleaners 14 Jan 2023 (Forum)
  There don't seem to be many recent threads on this topic.  Are there any recommendations for refreshing 30-year-old fabric seats - there aren't many stains or serious marks, or damage, they just need brightening up a bit.  Non-smoker's car too.  Preferably without wetting the seats at this time of year !
• MOT time 6 Jul 2013 (Forum)
  I wasn't expecting it to pass, as it hasn't been used for 6 months on public roads. It was the third car in and the first to pass. The failures were a 2006 Corsa and a 3 year old Mercedes ML. The latter needs £600 spending on it to get it through!
• Toyota Carina E - high emmissions 30 Apr 2013 (Forum)
  My car has just failed the MOT. The emmissions are high. The Lambda is ok but the CO has difficulty getting to the required reading. The lambda is only a couple of years old. Is there any way of finding out and checking which parts are playing up ?
• VW Golf mk 5 - screeching & cutting out 9 Apr 2013 (Forum)
  my vw golf mk 5 (7&1/2yrs old) screeches when I engage the clutch and then to get it moving I have to rev the car like mad to get it going otherwise it cuts out.  
• Nissan qashqai - Brake discs and pads 15 Aug 2011 (Forum)
  Looking at 2 year old qashqai from dealership, 18000 miles. They said they need to replace the discs and pads before we test drive. Is this too soon to need replacement brake discs and pads? Could there be issues with the rest of the car?
• Retaining private reg plates 12 Jan 2011 (Forum)
  Hi, I am thinking of part-exchanging my car and would like to retain the reg. plates which I bought for it a couple of years ago. Anybody tell me the process I need to go through for this - is it just a matter of refixing the old plates and informing the DVLA?
• Mazda 6 - New mazda 6 Diesel Engine 27 Apr 2010 (Forum)
  The new car looks great value and the 2.2 Diesel has a great specification but the old 6 Diesel has a woeful reputation for reliability judgng by what I have read here. Is the new engine any better?
• Ford Mondeo III - Silver Calcium Battery Charging 25 Mar 2010 (Forum)
  I need to charge the 12 Volt Silver Calcium Battery on my 2003 Ford Mondeo. Will any car battery charger do (mine is 20 years old) or is there a more appropriate type of charger I should use?