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• Audi A4 or BMW 5 Series Touring? 20 Nov 2006 (Forum)
  I'm sure both cars would be excellent but my head says Audi but my heart says BMW. Our requirements are fairly straightforward - good/big boot space - good fuel economy - annual mileage circa. 8,000-12,000 miles - manual or automatic ( what's best?) Budget is anything up to £17,000 but it might be that you advise us to spend £10-£15k on an older Audi with higher mileage to get the best all round deal which is what we're all after.
• Powershift List Eligibilty 20 Nov 2006 (Forum)
  So, does anyone else out there know what makes a car eligible to be listed? I mean, I can understand this government quango wanting to encourage alternative fuel vehicles to cut down on emissions, but when the result is a large car that pollutes more than many on the market, one has to question its worth. HJ, do you know?
• Citroen C6 - Tow-car par excellence 12 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  I have to say that all the time I saw him he appeared smooth and steady as a rock, even when entering the bow wave of the trucks he overtook. I'm sure you could hear the sound of the fuel gushing through the pipes to maintain such a pace. I kept expecting to come over the brow of the next hill and see a C6/caravan shaped accident ahead of me but he just disappeared into the distance.
• Diesel variability 25 May 2006 (Forum)
  I've owned various petrol cars over the years, and not once noticed any difference in performance no matter what fuel I put in. Now I've got a diesel, it seems to make a huge difference. I tried BP Ultimate when I lived near an outlet, and it gave loads of extra power below 1600 rpm, and made the car pull much more strongly.
• A4 1.9TDI Issues 27 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  Hi a couple of annoying problems with my '98 a4 1.9tdi(ahu engine), a couple of weeks ago the car developed a water leak which i traced to the plastic t pipe that houses the coolant temperature sensor(think thats the one, 4 wire job blue plug) there was a crack in it which i have now sealed up and the leak has gone. since then there have been a few noticeable issues, firstly the glow plug light on the dash now stays on for anywhere up to a minute before going out although the car will start as soon the fuel guage shows the level, also intermittently but twice in the last two days it has failed to start, it just turns over without firing, i suspect the glowplugs have failed but haven't had chance to check but i did check they are getting voltage.
• Espace 2.2 dCi Won't start 6 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  02 plate grand espace - there's nothing grand about it apart from the repair bills and the rip off approach the Renault Dealer takes. Currently the thing refuses to start. It turns over but won't fire. There's fuel up to the injectors but they don't appear to be doing anything. The garage I normally use (not a dealer) couldn't get any fault codes on his diagnostic equipment so resorted to towing it to Renault Dealer.
• Volkswagen Passat Brake problem 5 Feb 2006 (Forum)
  I carried on my journey and found when I got to work that the rear offside caliper was binding. I managed to ease the binding but I have found that the fuel consumption on the car has dropped by about 25% and that from time to time the brakes appear to be binding, the rear offside caliper has been replaced and as a precaution the handbrake cable to this caliper was also been replaced.
• service idea 10 Dec 2005 (Forum)
  hi looking into starting my own servicing company and wondered wat you all thought of the idea, basically 3 service levels, 6 month, annual and 3 year and they go as follows 6 month, approx cost £40 plus any extra parts oil/filter change levels check tyres/pressures check coolant level check brake/discs check rad fan check spark plug/glow plug check annual service, approx cost £70 as 6 month service plus brake pads/shoes changed air filter changed fuel filter changed compression test valve clearences checked exhaust checked electrics/mot test items checked spark plugs/glow plugs changed 3 year service, approx cost £250-300 as annual service plus brake discs changed coolant change cambelt/tensioners changed fanbelt changed headgasket, head decoked waterpump changed gearbox oil changed bushes/rubbers mechanical components checked can anyone spot anything glaringly obvious i missed or have an opinion on the idea are the costs right or to expensive obviously things will differ car to car and the timings for services aren't fixed but ive always ran my cars by the above and they've been great and haven't ever suffered a major mechanical failure cheers chris
• 96 Rover 420SLDI Running problem 5 Nov 2005 (Forum)
  I have found it tends to do it around 1800 RPM onwards,if you raise the revs to around 3000-3500RPM you can feel the engine labouring,if you open the throttle quick there is less chance of it doing it.I have replaced the MAF sensor which helped with the general performance of the car but the fault is still there,I have also changed the fuel filter,the Throttle position sensor,the EGR valve and checked the air cleaner,I have visually checked the pipes to the turbo and made sure the wastegate isn't sticking.Has anyone got any thoughts on this as it is annoying.When it is running fine,which is most of the time it is great,returning 52MPG.
• Another VW Passat misfire 20 Sep 2005 (Forum)
  This is an interesting tidbid as my car started backfiring before it started misfiring. Also, my multipoint fuel injected car runs on LPG using a single point LPG injection system (Leonardo). I mention this in case it may increase the chance of carbon build up? Anyway, the backfires only ever happened on 3 occasions
• Are vehicles more reliable? 8 Sep 2005 (Forum)
  A single car may have as many as 70 different processors, controlling everything from anti-lock brakes and automatic transmissions to cruise control and fuel injection. Failures to those embedded systems account for a third of all warranty claims. Controlling the costs of warranties has big benefits. Currently, warranty costs drag down profits of automobile industry by 3 percent.
• Espace diesel problems 29 Aug 2005 (Forum)
  Let me guess you have had the following done by your local or nearest renault dealer 1/ Egr valve 2/ Egr valve pipes 3/ Turbo 4/ injectors 5/ Fuel pump 6/ Reprogramming of software. 7/ Anything else that I have missed. I want to help you people as I am sick of seeing these flipin espace's in the workshop for the same fault and getting my ears chewed by customers and bosses who moan because it's not fixed.
• Micra running rich 4 Jul 2005 (Forum)
  I've had a look around and apparently the throttle bodies are a chronic failure point on these and cost about £200 for a recon replacement, but the symptoms seem to be misfiring and uneven idling - this car seems to run reasonably smoothly and the fuel consumption is still >40mpg. Any thoughts on any other checks I could make or anything I might have overlooked?
• 306 d turbo lacks power. 30 May 2005 (Forum)
  and the air filter was just as black so I have changed the oil and air filters, oil and put cleaners through the air and fuel systems, but this is my first diesel and I'm struggling. Do you change your glowplugs like you would spark plugs? I have inspected them and they seem fine. In fact from what I can tell all seems fine, any ideas to what could be causing this terrible lack of power?
• Bought a car at auction!! 29 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  Superb to drive with a real growl at 4000rpm. Really comfy, nice handling, goes well and hasnt drunk the all the fuel i've put in. The only downside is that its white!! Now not everyones cup of tea but its really growing on me. My first car 10 years ago was white and i really dont mind it. Just other peoples views.
• Petrol Head 6 Feb 2005 (Forum)
  Petrol addict banned from shops: A man with an addiction to sniffing petrol has been banned from every Asda store after being caught cutting fuel pump pipes. Brian Taylor, 36, has also been banned from going within 15 metres of any filling station on Teesside. Taylor terrorised supermarket staff and customers after sniffing petrol and cutting pipes at Asda in the South Bank area and dancing around the forecourt.
• Time for a change? Opinions? 17 Jan 2005 (Forum)
  I was wondering would it be better for me to buy a newer smaller engined petrol which would be nearly as economical and requires less servicing, the fuel would be cheaper and being newer i woulndt need to spend as much on repairs/ parts wearing out. I know this reverts to the old diesel v petrol debate, but considering my circumstances, is it really worth me having a diesel?
• troubles starting - skoda octavia 1.4 9 Jan 2005 (Forum)
  (the LPG installation works very good, so that is not the problem because starting the engine is on fuel) {car make added to subject header.}
• Ins Groups 5 Oct 2004 (Forum)
  Chipping of cars is very common now and is accepted by the technicians in the forum as engines have tolerance levels built in for different countries, fuels etc. Therefore would it be possible for manufacturers to build engines that have the acceleration, torque etc that is required and used in every day driving, but do away with the top end speed that, lets face it, very few would need?
• Cure for rain leak in 306 22 Aug 2004 (Forum)
  The problem was caused by the drain pipe from the rear offside whihc runs down the rear quarter panel in to the wheel arch - thisis fine on the near side but on the offside there is the fuel filler etc. This means the inside of the rear arch has a lining - as the pipe poked through the inside arch it bent back on its-self against this lining causing a blockage (nice factory fitted sunroof!).