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• Knackerd steering due to humps 26 Nov 2006 (Forum)
  In my family we have a total of 5 cars and 1 pickup truck, 4 cars are in the UK a SAAB 900 belonging to my Dad a Fiat Punto belonging to my mother and my brother and his wife have 2 Kia,s. In Thailand I have a Nissan Maxima?Cefiro and an Isuzu Pickup. What we have noticed with the cars is that due to poor roads in Southern England and Thailand and also road calming measures , we have had to have the sterring and front suspension arms and bushes replaced about every 60,000miles , this never used to be my experience , in years past it was rare to have to change out these item so often,average cost about £600.00 Another stealth tax job creation scheme.
• I Have A Question - Volume 158 23 Nov 2006 (Forum)
  Had a burst pipe in the bathroom last night so today has been the joy of dealing with insurers, plumbers and loss adjusters. Anyway, the pipe has been capped so on to the actual question(s)..... The house is 4 years old. The plumber said the pipework was some of the worst he'd seen (I know, they all say that)....but he did point out lots of corrosion on water pipes, a couple of "uphill" waste pipes and I agree it does look shoddy.
• Insurance claim - data protection act. 10 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  Someone ran into the back of wifey's Jazz recently (which is registered and insured in my name). Other driver insured with M&S (AIG) and all above board. Decided simplest thing was to claim through my insurance company and get the car fixed through our friendly local Honda dealer. The way they work is that they have a sort of 'virtual' bodyshop manager who takes care of the whole thing, and deals with their outside paint/body contractor on our behalf.
• X-Trail Valuation in p-ex for Subaru 19 Jul 2006 (Forum)
  I was given a Glass's valuation by the dealer of £13100, but he said he would need to speak to a trader who would underwrite it. He came up with an offer of £11000 ! He said the price of 4x4's was on the floor at the moment. Do any of you in the trade think the dealer is offering below book to recoup some of the hefty discount he is offering? Incidentally, a dealer offering an almost identical car today, but £1000 more, offered me £ 12000 trade-in.
• Number of cars per year? 18 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  I do know that the Inland Revenue does not come after you if you make any profits on cars that are for personal use. I always register the car in my name or my wife?s name and sell on after a few months. I have made money on some cars and lost on others. All in all, I have just about broken even after two years of motoring ? right through this period my wife had a car for her use and I had one - not too bad in my book.
• Driving Other Cars, Insurance Q 21 Dec 2005 (Forum)
  It was a bit of a surprise when I got this facility from Budget being under 25 and all, but it is very useful thing to have-share the driving with a mate on a trip out, borrow a family car to nip to the shops, take the old man's Cooper S out for a spin etc. Renewal came through and this year driving other cars is no longer included-different under writer named on quote etc. I rang up and it seems this year Inter Hannova have declined to quote and their cheapest bunch of policies don't include it.
• Have you read your car handbook? 15 Dec 2005 (Forum)
  Bikemade3's thread on the 407 has prompted me to have a wee think about how different cars are nowadays. Now he has the problem of not knowing how to open his boot or fix the self locking doors. Going back say 10-15 years, every cars boot probably worked the same way.
• Citoien C5 3yo - a good buy? 26 Nov 2005 (Forum)
  It's a bigger car than I really want, but should be very comfortable, and does like like great value. Has anyone else successfully bought a good one s/h?
• Nissan X Trail Letdown 14 Nov 2005 (Forum)
  My wife has a Honda CRV and I have a Leon which I am intent on changing. I do like 4x4's and previously had a Diesel Freelander which was most enjoyable for the occasional week it wasn't back at the dealers :) Idea is to buy another 4x4 now in place of the Leon and change the 03 CRV in a couple of years.
• Which car for around £3-4k? 31 Oct 2005 (Forum)
  I've owned Japanese for the last 5 years, so I was leaning that way, but Japanese diesels aren't freely available for around my budget (correct me if I'm wrong). First thoughts were Focus diesels, maybe 306's, but these are massive come-downs from Japanese cars - I'm used to air/con, CD players, all the little 'standard' things on Japanese cars that the likes of Ford, etc charge extra for (or badge as Ghias).
• Bad diesel???? 24 Aug 2005 (Forum)
  Mods - Sorry if this is a duplicate, the link crashed after fist posting. Having come up from the S of France The old BX 1.7 TD had mechanically behaved itself for 700+ miles (at better than 52mpg overall. I decided to fill up at the Total filling station just outside Rouen (on the Calais Autoroute) and when I got to the pump found that the ordinary diesel (gasoil) filler was out of order and the only diesel on offer was a 'premium' diesel at a 4c per litre higher price (on a high price already!).
• HT Leads (expiring?) Polo 6 May 2005 (Forum)
  A while ago, when I had trouble with the distributor, it was suggest to me (by Peter D I do believe) that the HT leads on these Polo?s are prone to developing high resistances and should be measured. So I have done just that. After a 25 minute drive, I pulled one and out measured the resistance. It should have been 5 Ohms, but this lead was 5.6.
• 1.4 206 HDi mpg and low revs 1 Apr 2005 (Forum)
  I have driven a Focus 1.6 TDCi and got over 60mpg so was expecting better from this car, certinaly high 60's on a run! Can I really expect fuel consumption to increase by 10-15mpg as the engine loosens up to start getting even close to the manufacturers figures? Many of my journeys have been long and I have delibertaely tried to keep the engines revs low and just stretch the car from time to time to clean the injectors.
• Car Mag Selections of Group Test Cars 3 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  OK the BM is probably one of the best driving cars on the road, but is cramped, slow (unless you pay a fortune for the bigger engines) and poorly equipped (again, unless you get the wallet out). The Volvo is amazingly well specced (Basic 'S' spec has Alloys, Climate Control, Dynamic Stability Control, Fogs, CD etc, etc) as are many alternatives but the general readership don't often see these alternatives. It is just like their concentration on using a disproportionate ammount of pages on £100,000+ cars that sell in tiny tiny numbers............
• How do I work out what I can tow??! 3 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  ve tried a forum search, but nothing specific came up for me?.. I?m looking into the minefield that is maximum permissible towing weights. There?s all sorts to think about ? Kerb Weight, Towing Weight, Gross Train Weight blah blah blah?.. The towing car would be a 1997 Passat Tdi 110bhp. I believe the kerb weight is 1375kg and the towing weight is 1500kg.
• amazing megane 18 Dec 2004 (Forum)
  went to walkers Renault (Stourbridge) this afternoon, just turned up at 4pm. chatted to 2 guys (mark & Phil) about my old Laguna?s, told them i used to get them serviced here. asked about megane tourer 1.9dci 120bhp. after 10 mins, he handed me the keys and said, go try it out ! test drove it for 1 hour, (including going home, taking wife ala 2 kids out for 20 mins) may i say what a fantastic car it is. like victor says "I don?
• Considering a Golf 1.8 20v GTI 1998-2000 9 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  Having long considered lots of cars, varying from Audi A3's, Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astras and 1998 -> 3 series. I keep coming back to the Golf, though there is a slight question mark over its reliability. I have read numerous reports on problems with window failure and coil pack issues.
• battery specs 10 Oct 2004 (Forum)
  CCA (cold crank amp) Reserve capacity (minutes) Ampere Hour (Ah) capacity The vehicle manufacturer state the battery to be used is a 600CCA / 115mins - Volvo V70 Diesel The motor factors all list this particular cars replacement to be 096/4 where 096 is the UK battery code and 4 is the number of years of service guaranteed. A typical 096/4 has a rating 650CCA, 130 mins, 75Ah. I'm not sure if all 096/4's have these same figures but I got these figures from a published table. Vauxhall "go" batteries are guaranteed 3 years and are offered in Ah, 72Ah and 80Ah being the closest in the range. Will the Go 72Ah be good enough?
• seat belt help 10 Jun 2004 (Forum)
  I am extremely excited as ive finally ordered my new car, a mini cooper S, I get it in September and cannot wait, anyway I have a few questions I hope someone can help me with, Firstly the beetle, its 2.0manual in silver with black interior, it has done 30k has a cd changer and heated seats, its just had 4 new tyres and will be newly serviced at time of sale, full service history of course, can someone please tell me how much its worth to sell privatly and how much can i expect on a trade in value, it IS in excellent condition, no stone chips or scratches or anything on the inside.
• RR Phantom reaction 26 Mar 2004 (Forum)
  The photographs don\'t do it justice - it really really is pig ugly! Doesn\'t look too bad from the rear threequarter angle but that\'s about it. How can designers get the proportions of that classic radiator so wrong? The grille is too wide and the whole front of the car is six inches too high for the overall shape. I presume someone did admire the Camargue after all?