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• Private buyers buying s/hand cars 8 Jul 2006 (Forum)
  He looked around it and found a rust spot on the sill but otherwise seemed happy, Declined to go on a test drive or look at any paperwork and after a bit of negotating handed over the full asking price. (yes I did check the notes, he even gave me £80 too much!) Broke so many golden rules about buying used cars,, looking in heavy rain, no test drive, no docs check.
• SORN'ed vehicle and Producer - HELP! 25 Jun 2006 (Forum)
  Hi I am new to the forum and would appreciate some advice. I foolishly moved a car which is registered as SORN off my drive in order to get another vehicle off the drive. I had the car parked out my house and had a knock at the door from a policeman asking who the car belonged to etc. He has given me a producer to take my MOT and insurance documents to my local Police station.
• Should I buy this Nissan QX 21 Jun 2006 (Forum)
  I could afford to buy a 'prestige' car, but after an expensive encounter with a BMW 7-series I'm looking for something that will not hammer me financially on depreciation (I'd rather spend the money on nice holidays). Anyhow, today I had a drive in a 1998 Nissan QX V6 2.0 litre Auto. The car was honestly in showroom condition, not a mark on it, inside or out. Took it on a long drive and it goes very nicely - very quiet. Comes with a fully bang-up-to-date stamped service book from the supplying Nissan dealer and all old MoT's.
• Dearer fuel=buying opportunities? 27 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  My only criteria are a budget of £6k ish, reasonable space & pace, and 30mpg in rural driving. I normally buy from friends or at auction, and kept over 4 years, with judicious buying, the major cost of depreciation is kept to a miniumum...I can afford £500pa. Initial thoughts are Mondeo ST220 or Vectra 3.2 V6.
• Honda i-CDTI mpg and running in 26 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  Will the fact that I am doing mainly motorway miles, cruising and only pulling 2.3k revs, mean that effectively I'm not wearing it in? I don't do much stop-start driving, and not much town driving. I suspect the above to be true, so my real question is - what should I do about it? Run at artificially high revs ont he motorway for a bit, make an effort to thrash it through the gears at other times, or what?
• The Wrong Lane 22 Mar 2006 (Forum)
  I have seen several other posts in a similar vein. It implies that if someone is in the wrong lane they are at fault if someone drives into them. I cannot see that is correct. I see plenty of drivers who approach a roundabout in the LH lane and then proceed to drive a full 270 degrees around the roundabout to take the third exit.
• ECU problem - Hyundai Accent 1.3i 5 Mar 2006 (Forum)
  and how much do you think it would cost to repair- he was quoting me £648 parts and £40 (1 hour) labour. The car is probably only worth £1,000 - so this would hardly be worth it. Are there on-going driving issues ? Have I just been very unlucky with my car as it was only covered by a 3 year warranty.
• Young Drivers What is the answer? 6 Feb 2006 (Forum)
  I am talking here solely about young drivers, and acknowledge that all age groups have drivers who drive too fast and kill themselves or others as well. Do we need better education for new drivers, a more stringent driving test, or legislation limiting engine size/power available to young drivers? My opinion for what it's worth, is there is probably very little that can be done.
• What would our motoring forebears think? 5 Feb 2006 (Forum)
  Bill Burper lived long enough to ride in his son's early Range Rover and his daugher's Morris Marina. He was known to have worn a flat cap and string-backed driving gloves during the late 1950's when he owned a two-tone grey Jaguar Mk 9. If Bill Burper were to return to life what would surprise him most about the vehicles / roads / drivers today? Cheers, Sofa Spud
• Newer 4x4 Ideas? 24 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  The disco has a towing capacity of 3.5 tonnes but I wouldn't like to tow this weight with it, so something that "boasts" a similar towing weight would be good. 3) Is 4 wheel drive with diff lock. I would gladly go to the more modern traction control as is on the TD5. I may need another 4 wheel drive to replace the disco with. So far I have considered the following: Disco TD5 Nissan twin cab thingy - poss new on some 0% finance deal Nissan Patrol Mitsibushi L200 twin cab Other suggestions please, and comments.
• Super mini's i've driven 4 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  Since starting my present job, to travel to and fro between Bangor Gwynedd & Manchester airport i have used the cheapest hire car i can find they have been Fiat Punto x 2 Ford Fiesta x 2 Daewoo/Chevy Matiz x 2 Renault Modus Diesel Kia Picanto Vauxhall Corsa (3 cylinder) The worst was the Corsa rough noisy engine & Vague steering My personal favaorite was the Punto I think it is the oldest car here it just felt more complete and plesant to drive The rest were fair to middling with the Fiesta's being dissapointing.The interiors having a cheap feel I found it noisy I was prepaired to hate the Matiz but it's not THAT bad. As for the modus i could not decide what i was driving nothing special at all The biggest shock was the Picanto the small engine had plenty of urge it has cheeky looks but a very small boot and the interior is not quite there.
• White Car Man 6 Dec 2005 (Forum)
  According to an article in the Driving section of today's Sunday Times people who drive white cars are overwhelmingly from the 'lower social orders, low paid and probably on benefits'. Red car drivers are nearly as bad but are redeemed because red is coming back into fashion, whereas white is the pits; unless the car is in Japan where white cars are popular because it is believed the occupants are shielded from evil spirits.
• never owned a Citroen.....but hmmm! 2 Nov 2005 (Forum)
  I had never driven a Citroen before, so I didn't really know what to expect. I have to say it was a lovely drive. I was impressed that it didn't squeek or rattle, the driving seat was extremely comfortable and it took off like manure off a teflon shovel. It felt solid when I expected bits to fly off it as I drove down the road.
• Vectra C SRi - Big Probs 6 Jul 2005 (Forum)
  Should I just accept the repair or should I be seriously concerned about this after only 3 months ownership.Is there anything else I can do?Again, I do not drive this car hard.I got the car at a good price and basically liked the look (spec) of it.
• Breakdown Services and priorities 29 Jun 2005 (Forum)
  Sudden change in temperament of all my indicators,has happened once while driving on an A road.All four of them stopped working,did not respond to the indicator stalk,however the bulbs themselves were working since pressing the hazard control turned them on. However after stopping and turning on the engine again somehow they started working again!
• Tyre prices in Fr/Germany/Aust/Switz 30 May 2005 (Forum)
  Rotated front to rear at 16k miles, I reckon they'll be about ready to be replaced in another three thousand miles; about the time in fact that I drive from the UK to the Czech Republic. This set me thinking; Replace before I go, or replace en-route? Although not a bad tyre by any stretch, I've decided to replace the P6000s with Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 or Continental Sport Contact II.
• Revs Jump on clutching - Impreza 1 May 2005 (Forum)
  I have noticed an irritating issue on my Impreza, in that when you put the clutch down to change gear the revs jump by 200RPM. It makes no difference whether I am driving normally and changing up at 2500 RPM or heading to the 'red line', watching the rev counter the needle will always jump by 200RPM before dropping revs. I have checked my driving style carefully to ensure I am coming cleanly off the accelerator and I believe I am.
• Any tips on breaking in a rebuilt engine 20 Apr 2005 (Forum)
  Standard sizes all, because I detected virtually no wear in the bearings, although obviously I'm going with new +0.37mm oversize pistons (+0.015") Any tips on break in? Go gently? Drive it hard? Which type of oil, synth? Mobil 1, or plain mineral oil. I got some 'Comma Running In Oil' but this has no markings as regards viscosity or other specifications, so am a bit nervous about using it.
• Insurance for foreign national 29 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  On a practical level, his options are: 1 - lose the car and £200 deposit - not facourite! 2 - ask the dealer to hang onto for a week or so. 3 - collect car, someone else drives back to Bath on their own insurance and park it on friend's drive or even better a garage (uninsured) until sorted. Is 3 legal? Basic question, does the car have to be insured or the driver? There is a further (cultural) pressure: his Korean in laws are visiting soon and are expecting to see a car.
• Peugeot 407 or Citroen C5 21 Feb 2005 (Forum)
  Citroen C5 - from the same stable, majors on safety and comfort which is a big factor for me as I drive 35k miles a year - but can I trust it's reliability and how many mortgages will I need if the suspension goes wrong? Skoda Octavia - Good in many ways - but is it good enough to win? Thanks