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• Volvo 240 MOT failure: Please explain 24 Nov 2006 (Forum)
  I don't understand all the failure points and I would welcome any more expert help. (1) Offside front position lamp(s) not in good working order (function impaired) [1.1.4a] As far as I can see, both headlamps are working perfectly. They come on whenever the car is on, and Hi-beam comes on whenever selected from the stalk.
• Cavalier Sri Ecotec top end rattles 3 Nov 2006 (Forum)
  I have a 94 model Sri 16V Ecotec, that has covered 85K miles and has full Vaux S/H, last service at 79K (inc new water pump & cam belt). It hasn't been used much in the last few years but after recently starting it up I noticed the top end is very noisy, sounds a bit like a diesel!
• Bye Bye Vectra 23 Sep 2006 (Forum)
  It so happens that the Ford Focus ST 2 costs an extra £30 per month on my scheme above my company allowance, including a contribution to ?car tax?. (It?s a car ownership scheme so we don?t actually pay car tax). The other car is a Mazda 6 2.3l sport which is £20 below budget and I would get that back. My ideal car would be an Audi A3 convertible, but my scheme works best with cars above 2 litres (2001 cc plus) and save for the 3.2fsi, Audi have stopped doing cars above 2 litres, which is a real shame.
• Saab 93 Linear Stereo 25 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  Well to be honest it is the worst stereo I have ever heard, it looks like they have left all the bass and tweeters out and just left the little mid range ones in for the basic stereo. I do notice there is a space next to them in the rear shelf for what looks like 6x9's, just wandered if anyone had had any experince in upgrading the speakers on these models, i dont want to change the headunit because you lose display and steering wheel controls plus my phone is routed through it.
• Exceptional Tyres-Down to the last 4 6 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  After much forum searching I have now narrowed my choice to the following ones. 1)Goodyear F1 GSD3's(lots of backroomer recommendations however does not seem to be available in 195-65-15 size for the Passat) 2)Kumho Ecsta- ultra high performance-don?t know much but supposedly as good as any others. 3)Toyo proxies-superb dry performance 4)Lastly the Michelin Pilot Primacy-both good dry and wet grip.presently the front two tyres,but looking to see if there are any better alternatives With an average mileage of 25k a year, Im looking for really good grip and dry/wet performance abilities over everything else!
• Escort Diesel losing water 28 Jun 2006 (Forum)
  Hi everyone, I wonder if anyone here knows these engines? I have a 1.8 non turbo diesel escort van with just over 110k on the clock s reg 1998. In the last 6 months on 2 or 3 occasions, its boiled dry so I topped it up but couldn't see any evidence of where it was leaking and promptly stopped worrying about it. However, yesterday it was a lot more drastic and the water is now pouring out.
• Used Merc, Jag or BMW for £25k? 10 Jun 2006 (Forum)
  I'm happy to buy something 2-3 years old, and my budget is £25k. I quite fancy a Jag XJ but fuel economy seems poor. I might even step up to a Merc S class, for the luxury! I've never quite gone for the new shape BMW 5, a Range Rover is likely to be out of reach and too expensive to run. I may even end up with another E class of a similar age to the one I currently run.
• smoking and mobile phone at petty statio 2 Mar 2006 (Forum)
  this rattles me a bit...wondered what you all think and is it worth a call to customer service visited our local s**l filling the other week when it was fairly quiet out, the girlfriend went in to pay as i filled up, adn she came out complaining the worker had been smoking and stuck the fag out of sight when she went in..she really smelled bad of smoke and we just of out for the weekend in nice clean clothes..theres loads of no smoking signs everywhere as you would expect at a filling station then, last night we go to fill up again and the lad on the counter was on his mobile phone to whoever, he didnt even stop talking or put the phone down and just jestured to inset the visa card etc and didnt even speak lol, yet mobile phones are also banned from being used should i call head office...or go higher regarding the smoking bit...after all , all hell would break lose if there was a fire
• Recommended Transmission Fluid Supplier 1 Mar 2006 (Forum)
  His MTL-P GL-4 fully-synth manual fluid is good for most Japanese manual transmissions and also meets the BMW MTF-LT (lifetime) fluid spec at a much lower cost than BMW charge. A good alternative to Castrol SMX-S too. 'AutoGlide' is a synthetic ATF for manual transmission (e.g. most MB's and some BMW's).
• Insurance claim problem 14 Feb 2006 (Forum)
  The claim has not been denied and is still ongoing some 14 months after the accident. Basically, because it?s a direct insurer (no broker involved) I get the impression that they can do what they like. If anybody knows a legitimate way to get things speeded up, I would much appreciate it. {This post has had several words changed so as to not to fall foul of the no naming & shaming rules of this site.
• What would our motoring forebears think? 5 Feb 2006 (Forum)
  Bill Burper lived long enough to ride in his son's early Range Rover and his daugher's Morris Marina. He was known to have worn a flat cap and string-backed driving gloves during the late 1950's when he owned a two-tone grey Jaguar Mk 9. If Bill Burper were to return to life what would surprise him most about the vehicles / roads / drivers today? Cheers, Sofa Spud
• Is this too expensive for a Yaris? 12 Dec 2005 (Forum)
  What do you think? Opinions very welcome (but please don't tell me to get a skoda instead - I'm in my 20's and am not quite 'there' yet!) Ta!
• Computerised MOT 15 Nov 2005 (Forum)
  The tester told me that the information is, in fact, sent very quickly and there is not too much disruption, but you'd think in this day and age that dialup would never even have been considered for such a vast project? By the way the Bora passed...:-) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
• Garage flooring options 19 Sep 2005 (Forum)
  Hi, I will be moving into a "new build" house in a few weeks and I'm thinking this is the ideal opportunity to prepare the garage before it is filled...
• Bullet proof glass popular for new M5. 25 Aug 2005 (Forum)
  Just heard that 40 out of the 500 or so new BMW M5's coming into the UK have been ordered with the £1135 bullet proof glass option. A few things occur to me: 1)The option sounds reasonably cheap. 2)As the rest of the car presumably is not bullet proof, isn't this a bit of a waste of time. 3) The option is not listed under the "Safety and Security", or for that matter any section on the BMW website (as far as I can see) so how is it marketed. 4) Doesn't this say a lot for BMW's target market. 5) To complete their options list, as opposed to having a winter pack or comfort pack what about: i) The DD pack, safe in boot for your stash, bullet proof and darkened glass, lowered with a bass rumble to the outside world at all times. ii) The "pushy exec pack".
• Small Claims Court - Who Do I Sue? 8 Aug 2005 (Forum)
  I had a new car delivered November. The car had scratches. It was bought from a dealer a few hundred miles away. I suggested that I take it to a local...
• BMW 5 series 1990 E34 3 Aug 2005 (Forum)
  Bearing in mind I don't drive a great deal of miles, high mileage and low miles per gallon aren't a great concern. One of things that has appeared on the radar in recent weeks is a couple of old 520's. These seem nice enough (for the age - 1990, 125K miles). My only concern is the cost of parts. I realise that if I was crazy and took it to a BMW garage it would cost an arm and a leg, and that it is likely to cost more than a ford fiesta to run.
• Intriguing Longbridge observation 26 Jul 2005 (Forum)
  However, there's an old saying about no smoke without fire... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
• Triumph Stag - difficult to start hot 12 May 2005 (Forum)
  However, I had it serviced a while back and asked for the carbs to be tuned/balanced. This car has a pair of Zenith Stromberg 175 CD-2's. Since then, it's been difficult to restart when hot. The car smells gassy at those times too. Only way to get it going is to hold the throttle wide open when cranking. I don't trust the crowd that serviced it, so rather than bring the car back to them I took it to a pro - while he knows carbs, he was unable to get the CO2 etc down, they were very high.
• Fiesta MK4 trade in for 323ci 20 Apr 2005 (Forum)
  Hi, Some of you may remember my tales of woe regarding my mark 4 X-reg (2000) Fiesta with 57k and a noisy engine - it now uses about a litre of oil every 4-500 miles! I have had it from new and it has full S/H although was starved of oil once and is consequently now in need of new engine. It has a 2-3 minor dents. Having recently got a pay rise I am considering treating myself to a 4-5 year old BMW 323ci coupe which I have yearned after for many years, and was wondering if you guys had any tips (hopefully not too sarcastic!)