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• Shock horror - it's the 80p gallon! 9 May 2004 (Forum)
  I agree an 80p gallon is extremely expensive, particularly when you reflect that is 16 shillings a gallon whereas it was more like 7/6 at decimalisation. Still, if you send the name of the garage which sells petrol at that price I propose to drive straight over from Germany and selflessly fill a tanker with it. I would buy you a pint for the information. Best regards and looking forward to doing business, (I should add that here petrol retails for ?
• What is a car? 19 Apr 2004 (Forum)
  Paramedics often operate from large or modified estates. So what if a member of my family needs urgent medical help and I drive them to hospital in my (otherwise) identical large estate vehicle? Is it still a car or has it become an ambulance? Taxis are exempt from bus lane regulations. Now, if I give my father-in-law a lift and he offers to cover the petrol cost, am I now driving a taxi?
• Best Car - Worst Car 23 Mar 2004 (Forum)
  Reliable, solid, drove well, covered over 40,000 miles in it 5 years. Citroen 2.0 16v Xantia VSX. Excellent drive, very fast and comfortable. I was sorry to see it go. Discovery 200 TDi (current) passes MOTs with style! Excellent drive, economic for a >2 Tonne 4X4. Worst car I ever had: Fiat Regata Weekend (Estate) 1989 G - so called because it took several weekends to try to figure out why the hand brake would never work.
• Fiat Panda 24 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  It's got front electric windows (with one-touch on driver's side), a fairly decent quality radio-cassette, comfortable seats, and a surprisingly nippy engine. OK, the engine's not exactly warp drive, but I was surprised at how good it was (I usually drive a 2.0HDi Picasso). You probably wouldn't want to do many long journeys in it, but that's not what the car's designed to do. As a cheap, basic run-around, I think it knocks the oppo into a cocked hat.
• Daily annoyance 2 Nov 2003 (Forum)
  The trouble is that the filter only comes on if you drive into the middle of the junction and over the sensor that is buried in the road. The result is that these drivers that refuse to move forward once the main green light comes on, cause the whole queue of right turning traffic to miss a sequence as the filter just doesn't come on.
• Banned, uninsured etc. etc.... 8 Oct 2003 (Forum)
  My dear Mother had someone drive into the back of her car. When she asked him what the hell he thought he was doing, he said "sorry luv I was on the 'phone". He moves his car some way off, and tries to trick her with misreading his numberplate, but she's too clever for that one matey.
• High redlines a fading trend? 5 Oct 2003 (Forum)
  It seems like the very high redlines that Honda has been making is at the sacrifice of low RPM torque. So unless you get to drive on a race track to work everyday these engines are rather boring in the real world. The S2000 is even worse redlining at 9000, you have to go up all the way to 6800rpm just to start to get your power!
• Nerves 22 Sep 2003 (Forum)
  It only takes one person to get too close and I am jittery for the whole journey. I'm going back to uni a week tomorrow, which will involve driving in the centre of Birmingham every day and I'm getting really concerned about it. I don't want this hesitancy to become so much of a problem that it gets me into more scrapes. I'm not expecting quick fixes but it would be reassuring to hear that I'm not mad!
• Correct Battery For Peugeot 306 12 Jul 2003 (Forum)
  My wifes learning to drive and has a 306 XT auto which she practises in aswell as normal lessons. The car recently had been left for a month or so in a drive and on trying to use it the battery was flat...just enough power to make the starter motor click, and a very faint noise from the alarm.
• Car smash - urgent advice req'd 7 Jan 2003 (Forum)
  First question...is it legal for a car to be parked on the road with no specific insurance, so long as it is roadworthy (MOT) and Taxed? Once a week I have been driving the car to keep it from seizing up, I have been driving it on the basis of third party only cover being provided by my new comprehensive insurance policy. 1. I figure so long as it is a legal lump of car that has been run into i.e it has a right to be there on a public road then regardless of my own insurance situation her company will pay up. 2.
• Salutory tale 6 Sep 2002 (Forum)
  No wear indicator wires. Oh. Fit new ones (genuine parts, too!) which fit exactly, once I've removed the wires. Drive 350 miles to collect family from airport (which is why I changed pads.) Following day, wife drives her mother 120 miles, light starts flashing, tone starts chiming. RTFM! I say (and look underneath at the back for fluid leaks) yup!
• Pothole damage, KDS's what next 6 Aug 2002 (Forum)
  I am considering bringing it to another dealer and asking one of their engineers to take it for a drive to get a feel for it. Thanks for your help guys. Rory.
• Change of Car 4 Jul 2002 (Forum)
  Hi I have just found out that my family is going to be getting larger in the spring and I therefore need to seriously think about changing my car, both to accommodate 'big mother' and little one when s/he arrives. I currently drive a mazda mx6, which I love driving. I reckon that my car is worth something in the region of 3,500 to 3,000. I can add up to 1,000 more, but that's about the limit. Given these parameters, and the fact that the car must be reasonably cheap to run and reliable, I have almost got down to a shortlist of a Passat (1998, 110 tdi).
• Vauxhall Cav 2.0 problems 13 Feb 2002 (Forum)
  Hi All, I have a '94 Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0 (Ecotech) CDX, which cuts out very intermittently. Usually its while ideling, but sometimes happens while driving. It never happens if Im travelling over, say, 35 mph, and seems to be worse when the fuel level is below 1/4. I've taken it to Vauxhall, and they said it needed new idle air control valve, throttle body mod, oil sump on the breather hose etc, so Ive had it all done and its still the same.
• Clutching at straws-thanks one and all 12 Feb 2002 (Forum)
  Just had a call to say he thinks the eventual saviour (banging it up and down every pothole having had no effect at all) was heat, generated by driving fast up and down the M6. His other tip was that if I will insist on not driving the van regularly I should weight the clutch down. So there you are and thanks again. Colin S
• Sporty Coupe 21 Jan 2002 (Forum)
  I fear that Madame at age ## has had a rush of blood to the head. In a few weeks the Golf that she isn't really entitled to but is driving anyway is due to go back to the leasing company. It's kept the tyres from flat-spotting, the brake discs clean and the battery charged. I was hoping to reintroduce her to the diesel AX which I am driving, but even when I suggested upgrading it to a diesel Saxo or Xsara HDi or something that I would call "sensible and economical", she fixed me with a gimlet glare that I rightly interpreted as "no way on God's earth am I going to go back to the AX after using the Golf".
• Aggressive lane shifting 21 Oct 2001 (Forum)
  I watched him/her repeat this procedure two or three times over the next few miles before s/he disappeared over the horizon. And thought "What a wally." But maybe Passat driver thinks the same of me and everyone else driving like me?
• Car for missus 8 Jul 2001 (Forum)
  I want something that's pretty depreciation resistant - so 3 year old or more for starters (except New Mini), has plenty of go and is fun for her to drive (so she stops pestering me to let her drive my Caterham..). Has anyone any views on something like a nice GT6 or MGB GT for occasional / motorway commuting use? If well maintained I think the lack of fuel injection, ABS, catalytic converters etc should be a bonus.
• Any - Turbocharger Care 1 Dec 2021 (Forum)
  If it’s a petrol turbo, do so for longer. On my own car I have pulled on my drive in the dark and lifted the bonnet to see the turbo glowing bright orange. Even leaving it idling with the bonnet up this can take 10 minutes to disappear. A much better solution is to drive the last few miles moderately if you can.
• Help me narrow down these choices for me please! 23 Aug 2025 (Forum)
  Will need to be ULEZ compliant, I don't mind diesel as I will be doing the occasional long motorway drive, but mostly driving around London. I've narrowed down to these choices below, budget is around £9k, and looking at ULEZ compliant, Automatic cars ; Saloons BMW 3 Series 2015+ ; small-ish so not daunting jumping up from a small hatchback to this.