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• 15p Litre Biodiesel Made from Cats 13 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  Koch said the cadaver of a fully grown cat can produce 2.5 litres of fuel - meaning around 20 cats are needed for a full tank. He said: "I tank my car with my own diesel mixture and have driven it for 105,000 miles without any problems." Annelise Krauss of the Dresden Animal Protection Association blasted Koch's new diesel though, saying: "This is as bad as experimenting on animals."
• VW / Audi long life servicing experience 28 Dec 2005 (Forum)
  Hello, Sorry if this should be in technical section, but I decided it was more of a subject for discussion. We have two cars - one Audi A4 (petrol), and a just aquired VW sharan (TDi). Both are on the variable servicing plan - the Audi is now 15 months old, but has only covered 8K and is indicating that a service will be due in the next 6K or about 3 months time, so given the low mileage I have no problem with that, but the Sharan is the main family workhorse and will cover anything up to 20K per year.
• worst bodge ups 18 Dec 2005 (Forum)
  We started to remove the old sill and found news paper stuffed in and painted over with underseal. Not a unusual bodge but we removed most of the paper and found the date was the week previous!...A nice attempt to try and fake the MOT tester.
• Honda Prelude (1983 - 1992) - 84 1.8 timing 28 Nov 2005 (Forum)
  I've recently taken on a 20+ year old Honda Prelude 1.8 EX as my project car. The first thing to go was the water pump which took the head gasket out with it. Having now replaced both plus the timing belt, I find the ignition timing is very erratic.
• M Reg Fiesta 1.1 burning oil 21 Oct 2005 (Forum)
  The Fiesta is holding out OK for my newly qualified 17yo. The car has been "in the family" since it was a year old, it's basically sound and I've spent quite a bit on fixing stuff rather than letting it go... So I want to keep it not change it. It's got somewhere around 50k (genuine) miles on it now.
• Shall I upgrade? 26 Sep 2005 (Forum)
  I know this is slightly above an average mileage, I would like something bigger/more comfortable, is it worth me buying something larger (mondeo size) for total comfort, but obviously if I buy (or do a straight swop, which is more likely if i do change) something like a mondeo for example, it wil be say for example 4 years old, therefore it will have a short warranty on itm compared to 2.5 years left on my ka. What cars would you reccomend that i could do a straight swop for? i want a diesel although i know i would not be able to afford a mondeo tdci, unless it had a very high mileage.
• Vectra 3.2 GSI? 2 Sep 2005 (Forum)
  The other concern is the famously bad Vauhall dealers and reliability problems. but the new Vectra seems to be a lot better than the old model. What do people think of the GSi? Can any owners / drivers give me any feedback? Cheers
• Brake pad dust 27 Jul 2005 (Forum)
  My Scenic recently had squealing brakes and when I asked the dealer they said this is normal and is due to lack of asbestos etc and it is not covered by warranty (1 year old). They would strip them down but it would be chargeable. I blasted them with my power hose and this seems to have made a bit of an impact for now. My sister has the same problem with her C3, she has already had it in for the front drivers side to be stripped down and now the passenger side is doing the same, to the extent that I think the caliper is jamming as the wheel is heating up and car pulling to left.
• tyres for Mondeo 28 May 2005 (Forum)
  These are original fit Pirellis. Is it usual for a tyre to wear so soon ? Does the MkII wear that much more than the MkI (my old 2.0 did over 50k on original tyres)? Or was the original owner that heavy footed ? The car was bought at a closed Ford auction so I don't know who drove it, although Mr.Ford owned it. Can anyone recommend a better wearing tyre than the Pirelli ?
• MG Metro Turbo 19 May 2005 (Forum)
  I took a quick poll around the office and many thought I had finally lost it, but that was because firstly its a Metro and Secondly it has the old BL/Rover stigma attached. All that aside, what do the BR's think, classic or lemon?? Please let me have your thoughts only on the MG Rover and then anything else.
• BMW 220ci rattle underneath? 14 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  I have a BMW220ci and I can hear a rattle undernesth when driving over bumps. The exhaust seems ok and I have checked the spare wheel and the other 4 wheels for security. The car is 3 years old, fully BM maintained and I have had it for 3 months.(35K on the clock) Also when I take my foot off the accelerater and dip the clutch the engine revs are slow to drop especially in 1st gear (at traffic lights or at a fast pull away especially noticeable) Also If I am crawling in traffic in 1st gear with the clutch slipping and the acceleraretor held at a constant point the revs go up and down slightly.
• Vectra C rear brakes 8 Dec 2004 (Forum)
  Evening everyone. My Vectra (2.0T model) is now 13 months old and has 15k on the clock. Now it may just be me but it sounds like the rear brake pads may be getting down to the backing material. When I brake and gently come to a standstill the rear wheels make that noise similar to a dinghy being pulled along wet sand!
• Hitch Hiking 22 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  When I was a lad 40 + years ago and buses were fewer than hens teeth I used to think nothing of sticking out a thumb by the side of the old A1 and hitching a lift. I never had a problem. Generally it was the Knights of the Road in artic lorries who would stop but I had one very memorable lift of around 70 miles sitting as co - pilot in a fully kitted out Lotus Cortina rally car.
• bad time to buy a 3 series? 19 Oct 2004 (Forum)
  Don't really like the look of the imminent new A4, would never have another Merc, like Lexus but uneconomical petrol engines only, new Passat next year might be worth waiting for, Saab,Volvo,Honda etc don't appeal (car snobbery maybe, but residuals also, and not as good to drive) Reckon I can get £1500 off list on a new one; dealers seem to ask silly money for second hand ones, and whilst I'd buy second hand I wouldn't want anything more than a year old...
• BMW E30 325 front brakes 30 Sep 2004 (Forum)
  Hi, I have a couple of slight problems with the front brakes on my E30 325. I changed the discs and pads last week, and in order to get the old discs off I had to drill off the cap of the small alignment nut (it serves to hold the disc in place against the hub when changing the wheel). Having now solved the immediate issue of needing to replace the discs and pads and got the car driveable, I'd like if possible to remove remains of the alignment bolts and install new ones.
• Mondeo II major electrical outage. 4 Sep 2004 (Forum)
  I will disconnect both terminals, clean them with fine emery paper, reconnect and grease em. I do not know how old the battery is but it is clean although the car has been valetted by a dealer prior to my buying it. The plastic filler caps do show signs of regular removal. Amazingly we have had hardly any rain here so I do suspect damp.
• Yaris engine resonance 10 May 2004 (Forum)
  At speeds below this I can hardly hear the engine. Are they all like this, or is there something wrong with mine? The 3yr old one I test drove seemed quiet, but I wasn't able to try it over 60 and it was a higher spec so presumably had a bit extra engine/bulkhead soundproofing. It seems to be a common thing on small cars, as the 1 litre bubble Micra I had previously did it at the same speeds (though higher revs due to the even shorter gearing), and my brother's 1.0 Uno and a friend's 96 1.4 Polo are similar though at different speeds.
• Headlight legislation 27 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  I recently saw a VW Golf which had some sort of headlight modification so that when his sidelights were on, they resembled the angel eyes of a BMW 5 series' lights. I have since seen an old style series with the same. Now I know that we now get bulbs in all colours etc, but is there an actual law which determines the shape of the light, especially on sidelights? Standard manufacturer sidelights can vary from a small single bulb on its own as in my current Scenic, to the standard headlamps as in most cars.
• Light patches on paintwork 17 Aug 2003 (Forum)
  I took advantage of the decent weather yesterday to give my old Skoda a good once-over and a thorough cleanup, and noticed that I have a few patches on the roof where the paintwork has lightened considerably. It resembles the oxidation I used to get on the bonnet of my MK2 Golf, but that was more or less consistent across the surface and this is in clearly defined areas of between one and three inches across.
• Timing Belt/Warranty 27 Jun 2003 (Forum)
  As his car was within this recommendation when the belt snapped, he phoned ford for financial help towards the cost of repairs, because he felt fords recommendation (which he followed), was incorrect and had contributed toward the failure.