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• Ford Mondeo II (1996 - 2000) - Oh no, not another bangernomics post! 17 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  Never bothered changing the cambelt. All I've done is drop it in for MOT each year. Had to have a brake pipe replaced one time, but that?s pretty-much a ?consumable? regards MOTs these days? It accelerates embarrassingly briskly, has done 120mph when called upon, but if kept to no more than 80 will return 42 mpg on a run (no fluke - achieved repeatedly), which I reckon isn't bad at all considering what people get from non-VAG diesel vehicles of similar size.
• 2002 VW Passat TDI Power Loss 7 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  It's done 42,000 miles and ran perfectly until a recent service, i.e. it pulled strongly up to 2,000 revs, then a fantastic surge of power and torque kicked in giving excellent performance, even in high gears, when it still pulled like a steam train from low revs. It was a standard service except for the replacement of brake pads. On collecting the car it was immediately apparent there was no surge of power at 2,000 revs and it drove like an old donkey. There now seems to be a kick in and a significant increase of power from 3,100+ revs onwards, though I'm not sure if this is due to the turbo or just the increase in revs.
• Merging Road Tax and Vehicle Insurance 3 May 2005 (Forum)
  Unsurprisingly, uninsured drivers are more likely to cause accidents than those who are insured. I am also concerned that there are cars on the road who have defective tyres, brakes and who have no valid MOT test. The implications for road safety are obvious and far greater than committing the sin of exceeding 79 mph on an empty motorway. I think the time has come to merge all three together.
• Discovering the joys of diesel 14 Jul 2004 (Forum)
  Having spent £655 on an Inspection 2 and a couple of belt changes, I was then presented with a quote of just short of £1000 for a new clutch, new rear handbrake shoes, rear brake discs and pads, and something else I've forgotten. (Oh, yes the rocker cover gasket.) (HANDY HINT TO EVERYONE - BMW main dealer Inspection 2 services are beyond a joke, NEVER PAY FOR ONE.) At this point I decided I'd had enough, the Beemer had to go.
• Skoda Yeti - My Yeti(s) 25 Mar 2018 (Forum)
    I plan to get the cambelt / water pump changed at 4 years old and am currently investigating the costs involved in switching to 312 mm front brakes. The car is still on the original brakes all-round, although the rear discs are looking rather shabby / corroded. Other than tyres the only other replacements parts have been front and rear wipers and upgrading the headlights to Osram nightbreakers.
• My first 6 weeks with a 520d 15 Jul 2012 (Forum)
  Takes a bit of getting used to, you need to lift much earlier than expected or else you are straight onto the brakes!!!! In summary – best car I’ve ever had; quick, economical, handles well, comfortable just don’t drive at night!!!!
• Driving the Amalfi Coast and Naples 5 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  Though its 1.2 petrol engine seemed gutless at times, everything else about it was good. Great air-con, slick gearbox, sharp brakes, good handling, comfortable. It was the right size for the roads and was great fun to drive. But does it really need a “city” setting for the power-steering? Does it really need power-steering at all?
• 2500km in a Citroen Xantia 17 Feb 2002 (Forum)
  Slightly disconcerting sometimes in traffic, when the car seems to take the idea into its head to briefly raise or lower by an inch or so. ? it seems to be connected with how much braking I?m doing, and whether or not I sit there with my foot on the brake. ? def. Weird though. Also, the setting for ?bumpy? roads, damn near shook all my teeth out, even when the car was loaded with people.
• JB Weld - Testing High Temp Epoxy 1 Jun 2023 (Forum)
    8E7DE145-C638-42BB-B25C-7FC9E15BA3661920×2560 479 KB     411C43ED-BE26-4AE8-9B5F-7422DF2487711920×2560 324 KB   A naked flame (from a candle or cigarette lighter) was found to blow around and give erratic temperature readings so was not used in the tests The tabs are not perfect for the job, since the edges are crimped over and there is a slight dimple on the surface. For these tests I hammered them flat, washed them with boiling water and detergent and then brake cleaner, rubbed them on a brick, then with a stainless steel wire brush. This probably introduces uncontrolled variation. If I was doing it again, (not planned) I would skip the hammering and brick rubbing steps Results Nan Pao Impact adhesive Joints all fail immediately or in less than 30 seconds after coming under load.
• Honda Jazz - My car is a write off but there's more to it.. 4 Mar 2022 (Forum)
  It was a suspension issue with the top mount it has failed on and some otherr things but nothing like brakes or bald tyres, I had one tyre with a slight tear  but they all had good tread. I know from the insurance act 2015 it is hard for them to not pay unless they prove the breach in the insurance terms and conditions caused the claim.
• self-driving cars on motorways - Insurers don't like 23 Oct 2020 (Forum)
  https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/23/uk-insurers-warn-against-go-ahead-for-self-driving-cars-on-motorways   Plans for cars to drive themselves on UK motorways as soon as 2021 are unlikely to go ahead after insurers warned government proposals were risking lives and “hugely wrong”. Cars with the technology to keep in lane, accelerate and brake automatically will be on the road next year, and ministers had proposed that drivers could relinquish control to their vehicles at speeds of up to 70mph on motorways. However, the Association of British Insurers and the independent Thatcham Research institute have warned the use of automated lane keeping systems (ALKS) would be a severe threat to road safety if the systems were legally classed as “automated”, meaning drivers could take their hands off the steering wheel.
• Subaru Impreza 2.0 - performance flatspot 21 Sep 2016 (Forum)
  when i apply brakes to stop, while slowing down i can feel the hard buck from the engine or there abouts as the car comes to a stop.i scanned the car at 6 mechanics! some said many sensors are bad while some say no sensors are bad.the ignition is rattling now and it is burning excess gas. i have used premium gas, super gas, super gas with octane boost - all with same results.
• subaru impreza 2006 2.0 R - subaru impreza 2006 2.0R engine PROBLEMS !! 19 Sep 2016 (Forum)
  hi, i have a 2006 impreza 2.0 r engine . i bought the car from the previous owner in may 2015. for 1 month the car worked well. as soon as you touch the gas pedal it will shoot off, acceleration great and top speed about 190 km. as soon as i changed the rim and tyres it died. it had 16's and i put 17's, but the manual said i can make that change. it started to flat spot bad and go dead. it will crawl up small hills gas pedal to board. on flat roads as well, flat spot, dead, no acceleration. then suddenly it will take off again with a spurt but will soon die down again. on the highway 3rd and 4th gears no problems. it will fly. but it never worked again as it did the first month.i have tried to reset the ecu, but it will work better just for about 2 days and then go back again to working horribly. i have been to 5 mechanics . they said the changing of the rims will not cause that, just coincidence. i have changed new fuel filter with regulator. also the fuel pump. we put a gauge to check the psi of the pump and it held up fine- no problems.serviced the air filter. i changed the knock sensor. i replaced the air flow sensor. i serviced the injectors and throttle body four times at different mechanics. i changed the timing belt and tension-er and pulleys - . i changed the engine and transmission oils. i changed the spark plugs. sometimes on the highway the 4th gear will take long to go in and when i try to kick down, it will not and the same gear will run. the 1st and second gear will sometimes go in with a hard buck.when i apply brakes to stop, while slowing down i can feel the hard buck from the engine or there abouts as the car comes to a stop.i scanned the car at 6 mechanics! some said many sensors are bad while some say no sensors are bad.the ignition is rattling now and it is burning excess gas. i have used premium gas, super gas, super gas with octane boost - all with same results. i went back to the dealer( company ) and they told me the scanner is showing that the timing kept retarding and they don't know why. one mechanic told me to change the computer. one said that this computer cannot be reprogrammed. another said it doesn't matter changing the computer all of the same computers wil give the same problems. one said it could be the harness. now i find that even at high speeds it is not performing as good a before. now when i step on the gas pedal to drive off from stop, there is a hesitation for about 3 seconds which many times nearly caused me to get into accidents when i try to move off with on coming cars approaching. i do not know what the hell to do again. i am frustrated and tired. do you know of anyone with this problem and they were able to fix it?
• Jeep Grand Cherokee - Car dangerous 2 months after sale 19 Aug 2016 (Forum)
  list of problems below  abs light on , o/s front abs sensor broken & abs ring broken-mot fail o/s rear trailing arm excess corrosion-bush coming through-mot fail n/s sill holes covered by fibreglass close to front wheel-mot fail split pin missing from o/s front lower ball joint nut-mot fail n/s front brake pipes excessive corrosion- mot fail o/s suspension spring mounted incorrectly-fouling on axle-mot fail lift in n/x front upper ball joint and slight lift in o/s front upper and lower balljoints rear shock absorbers corroded and noisy both front and lower control arms-one possibly upside down auxillary drivebelt excessively worn/split- may require replacement of idlers/tensioners etc battery insecure-mot fail suspect coolant level sensor fault both axles noisy- would require futher investigation sunroof and steering pump faults not investigated   As you can see this is thousands of pounds worth of repairs which would be ridiculous to justify.
• Ford Focus - steering wheel vibration 17 Apr 2016 (Forum)
  On reading about this problem on the Internet, I understand that steering wheel vibrations (when not under braking), can be caused because of the following wheels. 1) Unbalanced wheels 2) bent / not perfectly round, rims 3) steering linkage / component issues 4) suspension issues 5) wheel bearing issues.
• Another 'help me choose' thread 27 Feb 2016 (Forum)
    I like a bit of metal around me, but on the other hand have a driveway of modest width, so I'm looking at cars approximately the same size as my Accord: not too much smaller, but not too much wider or longer.    I won't buy a car with an electric parking brake.  I can't see a need for a 4x4 or SUV, but a hatch or small estate would be better than a saloon.  I enjoy driving, and would do more if I wasn't ensconced in a decent job in London.
• Honda CR-Z - New car - very first impressions 30 Oct 2014 (Forum)
  Decent enough acceleration and the Sport button gives a really obvious boost. Bodyroll is absolutely minimal, which I was surprised at, and the brakes are nice and keen. I was expecting a loss of response as you can't really best a MX-5 at this sort of thing (not for sensible money anyway) but I have been pleasantly surprised at that too. It's got some poke!
• NEVS 9-3 is up for testing! - Saab 27 Feb 2014 (Forum)
  AMS think the car have a old infotainment system, and it’s missing the latest safety systems as brake-assist, sleep-warning, lane-warning and so on. So if we sum up what the Swedish car-magazines think about the 2014 9-3; The 9-3 still have a great chassis and a very nice engine. The stuff that is not so good is the lack of a better infotainment (
• Vauxhall Vectra C - Vauxhall Vectra ECU nightmare. 23 Jan 2013 (Forum)
  It would seem that this situation is worsening as cars become ever more complicated and computerised. Even a simple brake pad change in some vehicles now requires it be plugged in to a computer. Is this really progress? Som people have advised me that I may have a legal case against the parts supplier. Whatever happens in my case I'd like as many people as possible to know my mistake so that it need not be their own!
• Hit by overtaking car 14 Nov 2012 (Forum)
    She then drove the 150 yd or so towards the junction with our Street.  As she approached the junction she indicated right, braked slightly (due to the short distance her speed was already low) and moved to the crown of the road.  Just as she began her turn to the right, travelling at 4 or 5 mph, her car was struck a powerful glancing blow in the area of the front off-side wheel by another vehicle.