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• My address given falsely 8 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  Not that it should matter but you may be interested to know that both my lodger and his mate are Irish and certainly my lodger's attitude towards motoring is that he can get away with anything in the UK provided he keeps his Irish numberplates. This extends to speeding tickets and more. Any advice gratefully received. S
• Peugeot 106 (1991 - 2002) - 99 1.1 Overheats, top hose cold, replaced thermost 9 Jun 2009 (Forum)
  Hi My son bought a 106 Zest 1.1 (S-Reg) and now it has a problem which I can't solve. We noticed the car was overheating from the radiator cap. On closer inspection I realised the cooling fan was never coming on. So after a series of tests I found that the fan was good, radiator fan switch is good but the top hose was never getting hot, thus the switch never activating and therefore not turning fan on.
• Bad manners in the Motor Accessory Store 3 Jun 2009 (Forum)
  Next time you motor into town and try to walk straight in front of this (referring only to myself) slack jawed looking old goat who`s looking at motoring magazines - watch out - he might just step forward - have nothing to loose and be looking for `bad manners payback` ;-) Question - Is it purposeful or not?
• Just when you think you have found a car.... 26 Mar 2009 (Forum)
  Had a look at some more cars today and it really does seem that if insurance is an issue £2k is no longer enough money to buy a decent car. The best one garage could come it with is an S reg Fiesta for a whooping £1500! I am now angery for selling my old car so cheaply, I know it needed a huge amount of work doing to it but I never imagined finding a car would be so hard. I think it is because of my past bad luck I am now being very picky, in the past a bit of rust on the sills would not have bothered me, where as now I know it generaly means the car is rotting and won't last much longer.
• BMW 5-Series E60 (2003 - 2009) - BMW Deals on the Web 4 Mar 2009 (Forum)
  No BMW guarantee but they give a 1 year warrantee and you can purchase a further two years for a sum. What?s the downside you seem to get a great speck car for a big saving however even in retirement I will do about 20K miles a year so I need to know it will not let me down. I am niggled by the stories of cars being left in fields for years and rusty brakes etc Any comments would be appreciated.
• Volvo V70/XC70 (2000 - 2007) - 2006 2.4 Engine Vibration D5 31 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  They agree, that there is unacceptable vibration evident but can't pin it down or find a cure. Have tried several other V70's with no problems. Pity I did not return the car under thier 30 day replacement period. I have taken this matter up with Volvo UK.
• Subaru Legacy and Outback Petrol (2004 - 2009) - Is Legacy Estate 2.0 (135 bhp) powerful enough? 29 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  I'm interested in buying an early 2004-on Subaru Legacy estate 2.0 petrol and was very close to actually committing to one, but have read somewhere else that this engine is not powerful enough for the car, and so much it struggles apparently that is "dangerously slow" in 4th and 5th gear on motorways. I need a 4-wheel drive car that would be relatively economical (the 2.0's claimed MPG is around 35 and CO2 emissions are 183 g/km, which is not bad for any 2.0-litre petrol estate car) and therefore bigger or turbo-charged engine versions are out of question. I don't drive fast, but don't want to buy an underpowered car either, so would appreciate any real-life feedback from owners.
• largest internal space: smallest external body 25 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  The overall internal space of the Outback is quite poor in comparison with its length and would be interested in what experiences other BR member have had. PS I do not intend to buy a Merc S-class!
• Vauxhall Astra H estate (2004 - 2009) - Some advice regarding governing of vehicles 5 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  A friend of mine asked a question to me that I have no idea of answering so I thought I would ask on here to see what options are available to him. He runs a private hire company with about 50 drivers and 25 cars most are Vauxhall astra 1.7 tdi?s, now with the economic down turn he wants to reduce his costs and one of his biggest costs is fuel (even with the price going down) as he hires his vehicles out to drivers he knows most don?t driver them the way they should i.e. going to 3 ?
• Citroen Xantia (1993 - 2000) - 1996 1.8 Reservoir Float Sticking? 29 Dec 2008 (Forum)
  One question which springs to mind is it looks like the previous owner may have overfilled with non-Citroen LHM, to compensate for a slight leak near the rear N/S sphere. The mushroom gauge on top the reservoir doesn't seem to move at all, despite us syphoning out a litre of fluid from the reservoir, leaving the internal level approximately the same as my Xantia estate which floats like a dream.
• Peugeot 306 (1993 - 2001) - 2000 2.0HDi - Fuse keeps blowing 28 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  Hi, need some advice on a problem that?s been bugging me for a few days now. Jumped in the car a few days back and not sure if it was just a coincidence but shortly after plugging in my phone into the charger (connected to cigar lighter) I smelt something burning.
• Suzuki Ignis II (2003 - 2007) - Goodwill after warranty expires 23 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  Car is obviously out of warranty but it annoys me as these things should not have happened. Could be in the 100's. I have a good mind to write to Suzuki to claim some goodwill on their part on the A/C at least (obviously it is too late for the back box). I bought a Suzuki partly because of its reliability reputation.
• Ford Mondeo III (2000 - 2007) - Time for a change - but how to get a good deal? 17 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  It's a 2005 05 Ghia X with 37k miles, FSH and factory optional 18" alloys, Sony 6cd (in dash) and xenon (HID) lights. It;'s the 2.2 diesel so it has pretty good performance and economy and low road tax. Most trade guides put it around £7k as a trade in. I took it back the car supermarket I bought it from and was offered £5.5k - this is quite a loss on a car I paid them £12.5 for 2 years ago, although not as bad as the fact the list price was around £22 k then.
• Nissan Primera (1990 - 1996) - brake noise 15 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  Before the pads were changed I cleaned the brake disks with brake cleaning solvent, this appeared to reduce the noise for a while. One other, possibly coincidental, point is that I only started noticing this problem after the N/S track rod end and some of the rear brake pipes were replaced for its MOT. Anyone got any ideas on what could be wrong?? brought into line with drop down doodas
• Motor slalom/fast manoeuvres 9 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  Forgive my rapidly fading memory which wasn't great to begin with. IIRC i would have been aged about 13/14, we were living near Tunbridge Wells in the late 60's (Dad's job came with a tied cottage so we moved around some), and i remember biking over to i think Chartwell to watch a 'motor slalom', forgive me if i've got any details wrong. Basically this was a set of manoeuvres coned out, driving into garage, reversing into another space, and a lot more besides, sounds boring i know but this was to be completed as fast as possible with points detracted for cones hit and not being precisely inside the target zone.
• Volkswagen Golf IV (1998 - 2004) - 01 2.0 Emissions light & ABS light on 3 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  Hi all, My engine emissions light came on as well as the ABS light. It was plugged in and the fault codes stated that the front lambda probe was faulty and the n/s front abs sensor was faulty. Both have been replaced, however the ABS light couldn't be extinguised - possibly due to a break in the wire somewhere. When I drove out of the garage the cat converter broke up so was replaced also!
• Scrape in Car park - hit and run ? 14 Aug 2008 (Forum)
  Went to the local Audi showroom for a simple MOT and unfortunately as I was backing out , heard the L front bumper scrape the 6 month old A5's L back door. Stopped car , went inside , spoke to the salesman, who mentioned that this car was unfortunately a customers car and that he would come out and take some photos of both cars , which both of us did,also that he would contact the owner of the car and that he would get the other person to contact me with his insurance details.
• Volvo S60 (2000 - 2009) - 01 2.0 TS - recent cold starting concerns 30 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  Any suggestions or any common areas of weakness to check? By the way, once up and running, the car is running fine, pulling well, returning mid 30's mpg, and there are no warning lights on. The car is coming up on 132k and has a full Volvo history to 110k, and has been maintained to the schedule independently since. The forthcoming service (due in a few miles) is a simple oil and filter job - plugs aren't due until 144k.
• Mrs Nsar is looking to change - suggestions please 9 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  She drives a 53 plate Freelander Td4 S with about 60k on the clock - it was a demo when we got it. A bit scuffed and worn but nothing a bit of tlc wouldn't cure. Trade in price maybe £4500? She wants to reduce her carbon footprint and fuel costs.
• Main Dealers gasping? long service intervals 7 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  It`s often been said, that extended service intervals have been driven by Fleet considerations and it seems long service intervals are the last thing Main Dealers want. It seems some are now gasping like Carp in a de-oxygenated pond, waiting for the one-bite-at-the-cherry (courtesy of long life oils) new car to come back for its only service in the warranty period.