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• Excessive oil company profits? 1 May 2008 (Forum)
  And then I started thinking of what I get for all this tax, especially since I am I am lucky enough not to have been to the doctors for a few years.................and then I got home and had a glass of wine and a little cigar which cheered me up a bit (especially since I bought them in France at about £7 for 5 litres and 6 euros for 20 cigars - less than half the price here). Sorry to burden you with my rambling - but it gets it off my chest which is more than the cigars do!
• Renault Megane II (2002 - 2008) - Headlamp Bulbs 28 Apr 2008 (Forum)
  Told one side takes 2 hours and the other 1 hour, labour charge is £40/hour and bulbs are £7.50 each. Total £135. Going to France next week. Don't have the time or (apparently) small enough hands, and definitely not enough patience or big enough swear box according to SWMBO so Main Dealer gets £50. Job done in 35 minutes. Three comments.
• What do I replace the Honda with . . . . . . 2 Feb 2008 (Forum)
  Climate is a must and heated seats preferred Reliable, I do not pay to fix it but I don't like being stood beside the road waiting for recovery (so not French or Italian). Reasonably attractive (so no Toyotas) Suitable for long distances (We drive to the south of France twice a year) Don't need it quite as fast as the Honda but it has to be quiet and comfortable at 70-75mph. Capable of high milages - Honda has done 112k in 44 months. Target list price of sub 19k - again for tax reasons.
• Aids to avoiding speed cameras counter productive? 3 Jan 2008 (Forum)
  Or is it just useful on unfamiliar ground? I also noticed that there are third party POI camera databases for France, surely illegal? Or is that for `active` Radar Detectors? Regards NB, Sat Nav mainly bought for use in Europe in finding Hotels in unfamiliar cities.
• probs after intercooler pipe failure v70 21 Mar 2007 (Forum)
  Hi, vehicle is volvo v70 2.5tdi with msa 15.8 I recently had the bottom intercooler pipe come off. This happened in France with a ferry to catch, fully loaded vehicle, children etc. no tools. I chose to drive the 80 miles to the ferry (low speed, low revs - lots of smoke) rather than risk missing the boat. Once back in the UK, I checked the car over and found the problem with the intercooler hose.
• Citroen C6 - Tow-car par excellence 12 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  We have just returned from a very enjoyable 2 week stay in France. While driving up the A28 between Le Mans and Rouen I looked in my mirror and saw a car and caravan behind me that I couldn't remember overtaking. I checked the mirror again and found that he was actually gaining on me.
• Away to Europe- in what? 24 Aug 2005 (Forum)
  A slightly long and involved post, but.. Mrs O and I are off round Europe (Berlin, Krakow, Vienna, Salzburg and back through Germany/France) in August. It'll be 3000 miles or so. I'm currently trying to work out whether we should take the XJS or not. It's good fun and comfortable, but desperately thirsty, and it may break. What are current petrol prices like?
• Whats in your Car 1 May 2003 (Forum)
  Cleaned mine out properly for the first time last w/e and I had: Childs fishing rod Childs seaside spade Bucket 3 golf umbrellas 4 golf balls petrol receipts fag packets 3 pairs of sunglasses childs rubber ring (deflated) crushed coke can 14 pens warning triangle (broken) first aid kit (out of date) two UK road atlas's Belgium road map Holland road map French Atlas Little chef vouchers (out of date) 4 cassettes (unplayable) Spare bulb kit (three bulbs missing) 6 balls chewed by dog Mobile phone charger (broken) Frisbee (chewed - child or dog not sure) 10 franc piece (for the supermarket trollies - now redundant) £2.50 in loose change 3 CD's Game Boy Advance game (mario super Karts) 4 opened packets chewing gum Mickey Mouse sun shade 35 pay and display tickets Warwick Castle guide book 1 x Evening Standard 2002 (complete but yellow) Leather mobile phone case (chewed) 1 Sock 1 baseball cap (peak on the back) The Scenic is a great car, but it swallows more junk than the dustcart....
• New Speed Limits 21 Apr 2003 (Forum)
  Their own tests showed a modern Mondeo was able to stop 22 metres shorter than a 1960s Cortina. Thie suggestion is that we follow France\'s lead and have an 80mph limit in dry, clear conditions, dropping to 65mph in rain, ice or fog. All sounds like common sense to me. I\'ve said in a number of threads that the measures traffic planners use to slow people down in the urban environment are becoming so complex that they\'re almost self-defeating (too much signage, furniture and baffling traffic calming).
• Car Alarms 7 Jul 2001 (Forum)
  I was on holiday in France recently and visited a local town, I parked in the town square and locked my car using the remote keyfob which locks the doors and turns on the alarm. On return the car would not open using the keyfob so I got some new batteries, no joy.
• Ford Fiesta Mk5 2005 - Fiesta Mk5 cooling system 11 Jul 2018 (Forum)
  I have an elderly Fiesta as my run about in the south of France - I'm sure mechanically it's pretty much the same as UK models. This week I gave it a bit more of a challenge than its usual trips to airport/beach/supermarket by taking it up some long steep climbs on roads in the southern Alps.
• Jaguar X-Type 2.0d SE - X type update 28 Feb 2018 (Forum)
  I was gratified that some forum members were interested in, and motivated to post on, my threads about the car and my misadventures when it broke down in France last year. Pierre the pirate mechanic's misdiagnosis (injecteur, monsieur, €1500) - no, turbo pipe has come off - were funny viewed from a distance. So, just an update. Car went in for MOT and service on Monday to my trusted indy.
• Renault Laguna 2.2 Dci Year 2002 Estate UK Reg - Water from Header Tank and Injector issue (HELP) ! 29 Dec 2014 (Forum)
  Hi all, on our way to spain when the heater hose split. Took it off, repaired it and started it, all OK drove 300 miles close to Spain Border, then overheating...
• Daihatsu Hijet 1.3 16v 2001 - Headlight Pattern Help 1 Aug 2014 (Forum)
    According to the law their assembly is permitted (if your car does not   have legal, you can add, like you do with the fog lamps),   Brands approvals in Europe: E1 - Germany E2 - France E3 - Italy E4 - Netherlands E5 - Sweden E6 - Belgium E7 - Hungary E8 - Czech Republic E9 - Spain E10 - Yugoslavia E11 - United Kingdom E12 - Austria E13 - Luxembourg  E14 - Switzerland  E16 - Norway E17 - Finland E18 - Denmark E19 - Romania E20 - Poland  E21 - Portugal E22 - Russian Federation E23 - Greece E24 - Ireland   E25 - Croatia E26 - Slovenia  E27 - Slovakia E28 - Belarus E29 - Estonia E31 - Bosnia and Herzegovina E32 - Latvia  E34 - Bulgaria E37 - Turkey E40 - The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia E42 - European Community E43 - Japan So if the headlights have one of these approvals are perfectly normal for the movement.
• Renault - Key Cards - security improvement 16 May 2013 (Forum)
  Then they either come to your home address and steal the vehicle or sell the key and the address to a friend who then steals it So the procedure is that you or us a dealer has to provide customer specific details to Renault France who will authorise the card to be ordered. The card then arrives at the dealership with your VIN number already coded to it. We then apply to Renault for the programming code and have 1 hour to program the key before the code expires.
• 2005 Renault Laguna 1.9 DCi - Aircon not working 11 May 2012 (Forum)
  My trusty old Laguna (174,000 miles) is still needed until later this year and we also have to go to France twice so need cooling. Can anyone suggest anything please? Desperate!!!
• Citroen C5 Turbo HDi 2 litre - Turbo or what is it 13 Mar 2012 (Forum)
  The problem continued, but after parking the car overnight & re-booting the computer when starting the problem always disappears. Six monthe in UK including motorway driving – no problems. On returning to France & on the autoroute South, after 4-5 hours of driving on climbing hills between Lyon & Grenoble the turbo power failed. After re-booting the computer & driving gently & presumably letting the engine cool a little the turbo re-started!
• Italian / French fixed penalties/ fines 26 May 2010 (Forum)
  Does he have to pay ? Can he contest it ? What happens if he doesn't pay up ? (2) Racing back from the south of France this Monday, on the last 100kms of a 1250km drive from Nice due to no airlines, I zoomed past a blue gendarmerie car on the motorway. I reckon realistically I was doing 155kph ie 25 over the 130 limit.
• Volkswagen Passat (2001 - 2005) - 04 1.9 Aux drive belt idler pulley or viscous fan 27 Jan 2010 (Forum)
  With an engine stethascope it is not clear whether the noise is coming from the drive belt idler pulley (the plastic one) or the viscous fan one. Neither feels loose when levered with a bar. Local garage advice (I live in South West France) is to leave the noise insulation cover off the engine and closely monitor both components until one is clearly the culprit. The cambelt and kit of parts were replaced last year, but the garage didn't replace anything to do with the aux drive belt (no reason to I guess and I didn't ask them to).
• Day Trip to Calais - Summary 11 Nov 2009 (Forum)
  Unleaded is abour Euro 1.22 per litre and I saw it as high as 1.39 on an autoroute. Even at today's exchange rate it is better to arrive in France with a full tank. For those who care about these things it is not possible to buy tobacco products at and super or hyper market, only available thru local 'Tabac' shops in towns and cities. One lady declined to sell us any because it was Saturday, so far as my limited French goes but we got what we wanted 100 yards away so that was a mystery!