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• £11k to spend on a sporty Golf or A4 diesel? 17 Jun 2010 (Forum)
  Hi, I currently have a 2002 Octavia vRS and it has served me well for the last 5 years but its time for a change and I need to save some money on the fuel bill at the same time as having something that is still fun to drive and practical enough for a growing family (1 baby so far another in a few years) so im looking at one of the below cars. Audi A4 2.0 TDI S-Line 140 or Golf GT TDI Sport 170. Both are around the 06 / 07 with approx 50k. I would want to remap the A4 to make it as quick as the Golf but would that increase the risk of DPF issues, or does the 140 engine not have a DPF like the 170?
• Touch screen tantalization - you know you want one 15 Jun 2010 (Forum)
  Funny thing about eye candy. It`s great until you get it out of the box and then it has a tendency to melt in your hand - like candy-floss on a stick. Mrs O, always wanted one until 30 minutes after getting one - when all the little side popping widgets had popped out and in - and left a Rubic Cube of anti-desire, staring back.
• Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec Climate 115PS TI/VCT - EML and catalytic converter issues 16 May 2010 (Forum)
  Ford suggest that unspent fuel due to the misfire has wrecked the catalytic converter and possibly the upstream sensor(s). Cost to repair - another £1,500. Have had various alternative suggestions to replacing the converters like applying heat to burn out any residues. Is this a technique worth trying? It has also been suggested that the car may still pass an MOT emissions test and in this case we could just drive on and ignore the problem.
• FIAT Croma (2005 - 2007) - be honest, am I mad? 15 Feb 2010 (Forum)
  The venerable Camry at 13 years old and 150K is going to be put out to pasture and I'm looking for something new. Bizzarely, after test driving 2 year old (new) Mondeos, (new) Mazda 6's and an Insignia (all well and nice, about £11K ) the car which most caught my eye was a Fiat Croma in a local dealership. Had a look online and discovered that you can pick up a 56 plate 20K or thereabouts well-specced example (1.8 petrol) for around 5 grand.
• Vauxhall Vectra B (1995 - 1999) - 99 2.0 Smoky exhaust, cockpit ecu light 7 Feb 2010 (Forum)
  Right 1st, hope someone can help before these small probs become 1 big one, 2nd, please bear with me as there is a lot I'd I like to say, so as not to have to backtrack later thanks Ok so I bought my vectra 2.0 sri s reg 99, just after xmas with no obvious probs on the test drive. After a week or 2 the exhaust started to smoke (white) but i'm not loosing any coolant, water, oil, e.g.. Plugs were dry but Iv popped in new ones and HT leads.
• A snapshot of the motoring you. 9.01am + today. 15 Nov 2009 (Forum)
  A few minutes later I ate a large scone with jam and clotted cream in front of my dieting wife - who pretended not to notice. Browsed the car mags in Smiths and read in one that Toyota`s downfall in F1 was because they didn`t follow up on contact with Ross Brawn AND they allegedly had wanted to do things `the Toyota way` as opposed to the F1 way. (whatever that is) Then spent time critically examining all technical apparatus from phones to computers and watches.
• Simplify the Manuals 8 Nov 2009 (Forum)
  t want to shock you but I suspect that there are people out there who haven?t taken in every detail of their car?s handbook - make it easier for them.
• Volkswagen Golf IV (1998 - 2004) - good buy ? 22 Oct 2009 (Forum)
  Hello all Just got a golf for number one son. have I had a good buy>? its a July 2001 plate Y reg. 1.4 S, Silver, 3 door. its got a gti rear spoiler, gti alloys, r32 front grill and lexus style rear lights. I gave it £130 worth of service, wipers, spark plugs, oil filter, fully snyth, air filter, fuel filter, topped up steering fluid, mended brake light switch under foot brake. 2 owners full service history, 2 keys and plastic key with number on. handbook. cd/radio/tape/ everything works on it. 1st owner had for 3 years - up to 89K miles 2nd owner 4 years, up to 109K miles, all MOTs and tax and service docs, shows had a cam-belt change at 69K all service and mots add up. even the log book was at his home address. £2100.00 seriously such a decent car, no rot, all panels line up, all original underneath, no leaks in boot, or at rear. no leaks from brake pipes, exhaust still got decent life in it. goes like stink for a 1.4, and such a heavy car. wife just said though she skidded today in wet. looked at parkers and it should have abs.
• Roundabout Question [Read Only] 7 Oct 2009 (Forum)
  There are no signs, or road markings indicating which lane to use. I'm pretty sure that when I learnt the highway code to pass my driving test in the late 80's, the advice was to use the left lane for taking the first exit of a roundabout, either lane could be used for the second turning, and the right hand lane should be used at any junction beyond the second.
• Lizard on a hot rock - heaters good and bad 2 Oct 2009 (Forum)
  Much trimming off though, under 11 stone and a decade older - I`m like one of those lizards you see coming out of the sea and seeking a hot rock. So while the old Bond minicar when aged 16yrs and under 9 stone (funny that - so it`s more than body weight) was driven through a winter scraping ice off the inside of the screen while actually driving. The current Punto van puts out heat that has you worrying about the skin on the back of your hands.
• Lexus GS 300, 430, 460 (2005 - ) - New car, happy with fuel economy !! 4 Aug 2009 (Forum)
  In the few weeks I?ve owned the Lexus it has returned just under 25 mpg in mostly urban use, rising to mid 30?s with mixed use. Last night I had a trip to watch my team in action against the ?Stoke Potters?. The journey worked out at as a 140 mile round trip (averaging 57 mph). To my amazement the Lexus returned 40.1 mpg on the OBC!
• Main Dealer honesty - assessing 9 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  Ive sat in some Dealers over the years listening and have hardly been able to contain myself, not to chase after the `customer` (best use that word lightly) and tell them with honesty that they are being tricked out of their money. There seems to be a trend. `being on the make` seems to be there all the time (if it`s there at all) and your ears prick up to a steady stream of issues as customers come and go - some just a light warning tinkle - others resonate through you like being inside big Ben.. Just occasionally you find an honest main dealer, (although I`ve only found two since 1966) here you hear an honest discourse - and the difference jumps straight out at you.
• Audi A3 + S3 (2003 - 2008) - 04 2.0 TDi DSG Misfire, starting problem 2 Jun 2009 (Forum)
  Hi, I have a 04/54 Audi A3 2.0 TDi S-Line DSG, it has done 60,000 miles, always been serviced etc, about 4 months ago, Starting the vehicle became difficult, sounded different, took a while, loads of black smack, and when it would start it would shake, like a very bad mis fire, got it booked in the garage, diagnosed the fault as a Number 4 Injector, had it replaced with a brand new one, and it was good as new!
• Ford Fiesta filler cap 31 May 2009 (Forum)
  As far as I can recall every Ford model over the past 45 years or so has had the fuel filler cap on the driver's side of the car with the sole exception of the Fiesta which, from its introduction back in the 70's, has had its cap on the nearside of the vehicle. I'm not sure whether the new model Fiesta has the same arrangement but can anybody throw any light on why they should only have this arrangement on one of their long list of different models.
• Central US road trip 28 May 2009 (Forum)
  Having just been made redundant, I am taking off to the US for the Chicago Blues Festival. Departure date is 11 June, Blues Festival ends on 15th, I have a pass from Mrs S to stay for a bit so have decided to take a trip down and back up again. Having looked at maps on Google, I've come across a load of places names I know mostly from songs which I have formed into something of a route.
• Peugeot 307 (2001 - 2007) - 2005 1.6 coolant fan & FAP issues 13 May 2009 (Forum)
  i read with interest, or maybe it's fear, all the FAP issues relating to 307's. no warning lights yet for me... 6 weeks after purchasing a 307 1.6 (110) HDI 54... and long may it stay so .... :-) but... i have noticed the regular fan run-on when switching off the engine. From what been said in various threads this is probaly linked to FAP regen cooling.
• Toyota Avensis (2003 - 2008) - Dealer not budging on windscreen price! 9 May 2009 (Forum)
  Test drove a clean 2.0 d4d colour collection (post-facelift 130 bhp 6 speed job) this evening 44K on an 56 plate full Toyota S/H one private owner, which had a sticker proce of £6995...not unreasonable I know) Because we're not trading-in and paying cash, I had expected at least £400 off the asking price but after trying various negotiating tactics, nowt, nada, nothing, £6995 take it or leave it mate.
• Renault Laguna III (2007 - ) - My Supermarket experience gone wrong! 21 Apr 2009 (Forum)
  I purchased a 2008 Renault Laguna Dynamique S (series 3) yesterday from a car supermarket Despite requesting an annual service (its first), it wasn't completed and I had to wait for them to complete whilst I was there (this was after a 150 trip there) but I thought the purchase price of 8,999 was reasonable.
• Peugeot 106 (1991 - 2002) - 1998 1.5 diesel cam belt change 5 Mar 2009 (Forum)
  Having purchased the car this week and found that its actually a reasonable drive whilst being ultra conservative on the fuel I thought it may actually be a long term investment? I would really love to have a crack at the belt and wondered if any tech?s out there have a step-by-step guide that was more fail safe than the Haynes manual that seems to muddle the 1.4 and 1.5 engines? I know the cover removal parts etc the things I?m interested (or concerned) with are the 3?
• Volkswagen Polo IV (2002-2005) - Contamination risk to expensive oil. 2 Mar 2009 (Forum)
  I got a small funnel (about 5 inches in diameter) out of the shed and proceeded to pour it out of its plastic container into some clean clear 2 litre pop bottles and when both bottles filled to the top I though great that?s £36 I won?t have to spend this year, then the penny dropped I had not cleaned out the inside of the funnel before measuring out the oil and although it was not dirty in any way that could be seen it must have had a layer of dust in it.