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• Ford C-MAX (2003 - 2010) - Honest Indy 18 Oct 2009 (Forum)
  A job I would normally do myself but, as I would need a piston wind back tool plus CMax adapter circa £30 - £35, I entrusted the job to my local trusted indy. That was on Monday. As the week progressed it became obvious the brakes were binding, so I dropped the car into them this morning for them to have a look. They suggested it may have been the handbrake causing problems and would take a look. Went back at lunchtime and they said sorry, we fitted the pads incorrectly (there are three spring clips on the back of the inner pad which lip around the piston, but they weren't).
• Volvo 850 (1992 - 1996) - How important is ABS? 8 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  I'm happy pottering around locally with no ABS, but I need to take my Father-in-Law down to Cornwall from Kent on saturday, a 500 mile round trip. Now, I was thinking no problem- the brakes still work; but I got to thinking, how important is the ABS? It is a big, heavy, powerful car, designed with ABS. Am I being a wimp, or are my concerns justified? Will it be okay in the dry, a problem in the wet?
• who is right....me or dealer? 7 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  Picked up new (to us) car on Moday, cost about £9000. ('03 estate) When I was negotiating I told the salesman I didn't want to be back in a couple of months needing new brake discs as I had been caught like that before. ''Wear and tear sir, down to you'' duely given new mot and all looks fine. Get home and look at the service sheet......rear discs badly corroded warning there.
• Ford Focus (1998 - 2004) - 1998 1.4 draining my battery life 17 Feb 2009 (Forum)
  just had the car jumped started and i left it for a while to charge and when i put the light's on it cut out or when i touched the brakes it cut out and would not start as no battery life was in the car, please help me
• Mazda MX5 (1998-2005) - Putting laid-up car back on the road 19 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  It's been sitting on a relatives drive for the last five months, in the open, with its' hard top on. It's only had two oil changes in its' five years. She wouldn't let me change the oil or brake fluid before it was parked up. I disconnected the battery, pumped the tyres to around 45PSI and sprayed around with WD40 as a rodent deterrent as recommended here. I checked it around Christmas and put the battery on charge overnight.
• Nissan Primera (1990 - 1996) - 1997 1.6 Abs Pump? Financial doom :( 4 Dec 2008 (Forum)
  Hey guys, So I'm driving around like a happy chap in my cheap reliable primera, then when i put heavy pressure on the brakes to stop at around 10-15mph... the ABS kicks in when it does'nt need to, but not only that... it does'nt stop the car! And it then happened a few more times, ABS kicking in for no reason but not doing anything to stop the car... had to use the handbreak to prevent knocking a shiny BMW I dont have an ABS light on or anything, the garage says its most likely the ABS pump... which will cost upto £1300 to repair / replace.
• Vauxhall Astra G Petrol (1998 - 2004) - 01 1.6 Auto, juddering and cutting out 17 Nov 2008 (Forum)
  When we drive around town/short trips, the car is fine but, when we're on the dual carriageway, after about 10/20 mins. it starts to judder. If we have to slow down by braking, the car will cut out for no reason. We have one rubber belt that looks as though it drives the engine (auxillary belt with a tensioner pulley?). We've found that through the Haynes Manual, but we can't make proper sense of it!
• Vauxhall Corsa B (1993 - 2000) - 1999 1.4 16v Put a deposit down - worried about HG 15 Oct 2008 (Forum)
  Just taken a test drive on a V reg Corsa 1.4 16v CDX, it drove fine the brakes were a little spongy but the garage said he will fix this for the MOT. However when I checked for smoke there was a tiny bit of condensation steam (the engine was cold). I have just been back now and the car engine was running and there was quite a bit of steam coming out the back.
• Honda Accord UK (1998 - 2003) - 00 2.0 Replacing spark plugs - any point? 29 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  I'll give it to the dealer to do since if they've been in the head for 8 years then they can have the fun of getting them out. ;-) Brake pads will also need doing - anyone know if bog standard Honda pads are fine or whether it's worth speccing some different ones? Anything else you'd recommend besides oil? Cheers, Dave.
• Vauxhall Vectra C (2002 - 2008) - 2003 Vectra Replacement 13 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  I'm still in shock of facing the prospect of a bill of nearly £700 for the service, MOT, wheel bearing, rear coils and brake pads of my 53 Plate 2.2 DTi Vectra. Though having done 88k miles since new I 've never had any major bills on it till now! I think it is time to move on and replace it. New job starting so will be not needing to rely on car so much, though will use it for motorway driving on weekends and evenings on some occasiouns.
• Peugeot 307 (2001 - 2007) - Excellent 'Local' Garage 31 May 2008 (Forum)
  A short story to illustrate the virtues of the smaller family owned dealership. My 4 year old 307 failed its MOT on Thursday due to rust/pitting of the rear brake discs. I rang my local dealer who had the parts in stock and could fit them on Friday while I was doing a charity collection in a nearby supermarket. While I was at the supermarket they rang me to say that they needn't fit new discs and they could just skim them.
• Citroen C5 (2001 - 2008) - 2002 110HDi auto - thirst for coolant 17 Feb 2008 (Forum)
  The header tank remains under significant pressure long after the engine and coolant have cooled - on releasing the pressure cap first thing in the morning (-4 degrees C) the water level rose in the header tank by about 2 inches! The engine is also rougher than previously, particularly noticeable when stopped against the brakes and in gear. My local Citroen dealership has ben unable to identify a leak, nor have I. The logical conclusion appears to be head gasket failure, but Citroen claim this is an unheard of failure at this mileage . . . .anyone have any suggestions or comments on this?
• Alfa Romeo 147 (2001 - ) - (2001-) 1.6TS - Revs slow to go down on declutch 10 Feb 2008 (Forum)
  Somewhere I recall reading that this may be due to lack of compression in the cylinders as there is not enough engine brakeing to retard the engine. Someone has also suggested that it is the clutch release bearing. The engine uses oil (1.5L in 5000 miles, so far), but mpg is quite good (37mpg). yet another person who fails to spot the 3 separate requests to include year/engine in the subject header
• Renault Scenic (1999 - 2003) - 02 1.6 petrol, burning smell 9 Feb 2008 (Forum)
  December I had problems with the engine coils so i got all these replaced (full 58000mile service too - even though car done only 49000miles). Then this month I had rear shockers replaced and also a new brake servo fitted. All parts were new parts and work carried out by Renault dealer. But now when I drive my car and get to where I am going there is a slight burning smell when I get out of the car. A friend said it could be the clutch????
• Staying on the subjects of lights. Fog lights. 2 Jan 2008 (Forum)
  You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves Rule 236 You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves. [Law RVLR regs 25 & 27]
• Ford Escort (1993 - 2000) - 1998 TD - really bad MPG!! 21 Dec 2007 (Forum)
  I've checked for leaks and there are none, I've cleaned and blocked off the EGR valve and it's made no difference, brakes aren't binding, engines never smokey, so what the hell is happening to all my fuel? I did think the sender wasn't accurate as when I filled up last time from the red, I got around 45 litres in as I mentioned, but the tank capacity is 55 litres, so I thought the gauge was reading slightly low.
• Honda Jazz/Fit (2008 - ) - 2008 model engines 28 Nov 2007 (Forum)
  Does anyone know if it will still have the completely daft tappet adjustment, whereby, at the third service,the inlet manifold has to be removed, at great expense, to check valve clearances, and then to shim if necessary? I recently paid ca £573 for this service, which also included new front and rear brake pads. I have had my Jazz CVT for just over 3 years, and it has been faultlessly reliable. The gearbox is completely smooth in operation. The practicality of the folding seats is unmatched.I use the facility frequently.
• Priority road v kamikaze drivers 14 Sep 2007 (Forum)
  can anyone tell me what is the correct behaviour at these "priority over other road user" traffic islands as I find sometimes the driver who has priority driving straight at me as i exit the island as they have clearly been driving well above 30mph or accelerate. Is the rule that the priority user should not have to brake or lift off at all. Or should you wait if the non priority driver is clearly going to arrive in the "chicane" well before the priority driver does. What is the etiquette and if an accident occurs just at the exit of the chicane who is to blame?
• Lexus style lights..Electrical problem. 26 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  When i switch on the indicator and side lights, the filament in the side light bulb goes dim, and then bright inconjunction with the indicator bulb flashing, also if I press the brake light the indicator does light up at all or flash. At first I thought I had a faulty loom that was supplied with each of the lights, both identical, so swopped them over and still the same problem on the drivers side.
• Almera and Kia Rio 17 Dec 2006 (Forum)
  Some tales of broken timing chains needing a £1k fix which seems to cancel out the obvious advantage over a timing belt design. Also they might be prone to brake calipers seizing, especially the rear ones (rear discs?). I remember some earlier Kias were based on Mazda engines but elsewhere it is mentioned that the Magentis uses Mitsubishi mechanics - either is good news.