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• car servicing scam to end 17 May 2004 (Forum)
  This could save motorists up to £500m a year Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Citroen, Ford, Mercedes, Peugeot, Seat, Skoda, Smart and Volkswagen have fallen in line with the OFT\'s call, although strict conditions on the quality of the work by independent garages remain. DaimlerChrysler, for instance, insists that work is done to an \'excellent\' standard and uses approved parts for the warranty to remain valid, while BMW says servicing has to meet certain guidelines and use parts \'of a similar quality\' to its own.
• Objections unmarked police cars thread 13 May 2004 (Forum)
  Objections to unmarked police cars thread I\'d like to hear a comment from resident b-i-b (serving and retired) about the above thread. To kick it off, my own views. HJ\'s comments justifying it with \"anything to improve observation\" made me laugh rather cynically. Sorry HJ. Contributors regularly bang on about wanting more traffic units on the roads to catch the errant motorists.
• The leather interior - it's a rip-off 21 Apr 2004 (Forum)
  In fact the same ex-motor exec said that metallic paint cost less to process than non-metallic. I find that a tad hard to believe but maybe it?s so. And really, most of the options list ? like the £100 armrest ? is a rip-off, whereby option choosers subsidise their fellow buyers. But if the market will bear it, why not? But then would the market be the same if people knew how much they were being fleeced?
• Ford Fiesta rear shocks 29 Mar 2004 (Forum)
  Good evening my learned friends, Whilst doing a brake shoe change on my Mk 4/5 Fiesta (facelifted), i noticed that the o/s rear shock needed replacing due to oil weeping on the side of it. Replacement looks fairly easy, i have a slight problem regarding the set up of the new shocks. Whilst torqueing the wheel nuts up i noticed a clonk from the shock assembly, at this time the car was still off the ground safely on stands, so the suspension had dropped down with no vehicle weight to compress it.
• cavalier derv cooling problem 28 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  Un screwing the expansion bottle lid releases the pressure. The build up of pressure has forced a small leak in the car\'s radiator, which has been temporarily cured using \'Rad-Weld\'. Today I fitted a new thermostat, re-filled the coolant and ran the car with the heaters on hot, full fan speed. The offending hose still balloons and the system will not bleed itself, or allow me to do it.
• Florida car hire 11 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  Except, of course, I am going to UK based companies (or US companies UK site) where they are quoting me in £££s, and I suspect the price has little real relevance to the actual cost - more relevance to the amount they think I will pay. I am having difficulty finding an American based site where I can understand the insurance requirements, and pay on dollars.
• Fiesta floppy gear stick! 8 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  It reminded me of a problem I had years ago with my Talbot Solara which had about fifty selector rods and springs and all sorts of ball joints to get the damn thing through the gears - one day one of the balljoints popped out of a socket and I could only get a certain gear/ The Fiesta only appears to have a rod and some form of stabiliser shft/rod so this can not be the problem here - can the problem be cured as a DIY job (ie replace gear shaft rod(s) or is it a gearbox problem best left to Uncle Henry (Ford) - amusingly my work colleague has just admitted that she has a mechanic uncle called Uncle Henry! Thanks in advance.
• is this true????parking tickets 6 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  friend of mine from school,whom i met after 10 years ,kept getting parking tickets from a certain tory local gov ,i said to him ,you better pay them otherwise youll get your car towed,he sat down wrote out chq,s for bout 10 tickets all were for 80 pounds,he wrote the chq at 80 pounds and one pence,i asked whats the one pence for,listen to this bit,he said that when you write a chq for a parking ticket for this certain local gov,they send you a computer written (chq for one pence )back for over payment,then what you do is never cash the chq,ala the parking ticket which was issued gets stuck in the computer system as payed but never cashed...i.e. your chq for 80 pounds and one pence never gets cashed,until you cash your chq for one pence,hope this makes sense. ive tryed this and never heard nothing back of my local council ,the person who told me (my friend)is a computer programmer and wrote the program that alot of local councils use for parking ,so as anybody else tryed this????
• Are short journeys really bad for cars? 31 Dec 2003 (Forum)
  We hired a car whilst there - a Yaris, I can see why they rave about them, what a great car. But what intrigued me was the taxis over there, 99% are Mercedes ranging from brand new S classes to ones over 20 years old, everyone a diesel - the 6 cylinder versions being the most popular. Despite being a small island and never getting out of 2nd gear for most of their lives these cars have covered astronomical mileages.
• Cavalier 1.7 TD. Cold starting Problem. 22 Oct 2003 (Forum)
  When warm there are no problems at all. This morning it started on the fourth attempt (I reckon about twenty turns of the engine). What\'s the most likely cause and how much will it cost to fix? Also, is there any way to search these forums? I\'d guess that the answer is already here somewhere but I\'ll never be able to find it otherwise.
• My parents\' car II 25 Sep 2003 (Forum)
  I posted a week or so ago in an effort to elicit some advice about what kind of car my parents could replace their diesel Passat with. Having spent some time talking to them at the weekend, it\'s time for a change of tack. What they need most of all is a car which is easy to drive, easy to see out of, easy to maneouvre (especially reversing), and easy to get in and out of.They\'re not decrepit old dears, but like anyone else in the 65-70 age bad time has taken its toll.
• Helmet (and bike) 23 Sep 2003 (Forum)
  Dear all, Further to my last post, http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=14666 I have finally bought a helmet for track-day use in last weeknd Infinity\'s sales. I got a new FM Radikal in size 56 for 50 pounds. Here comes the questions. 1. It achieves ACU Gold standard. He also told me it is for competition use according to the EU code. What is the ACU standards and the EU code?
• Lupo 1.4 16V - oil deposits and idle. 19 Sep 2003 (Forum)
  I\'ve read previous posts here which suggest it might be due to carp building up in a sensor somewhere, but I wondered if it might have been caused by disconnecting the battery when the clutch was changed. It seems a bit of a concidence that it\'s just started happening now. Does the engine management system lose and then re-learn settings such as this if it has been disconnected? I\'ve done about 30 miles since the work was done. Any ideas?
• petrol - a difference? 3 Sep 2003 (Forum)
  But during the many times we took it to France we always filled it with 98 or 95 supermarket unleaded (there\'s a big difference in fuel prices between garages and supermarkets over here) and it never missed a beat. Since moving here I have put supermarket 95 unleaded in our Volvo 940 2 litre, old Honda Civic Shuttle and, currently, Honda 2 Litre Accord Coupe, without - apparently - the slightest problem.
• Thoughts of a car I viewed today 26 Aug 2003 (Forum)
  It also has mot certificates for five years which is how long she owned it. I understand that it was owned by a bloke?s daughter who moved and now has her own company car. The bloke in question is in an electric wheelchair and cannot walk hence the fact he cannot sort the car out. His wife cannot drive and daughter lives in Derbyshire now.
• I'm sorry to have to say this but... 23 Aug 2003 (Forum)
  The car is a very well specified model (leather, climate control, full electrics etc.) but after even a cursory 'inspection' it was evident that the attention to detail was lacking. There was a large and obvious paint 'run' on the o/s rear pillar, very cheap looking and poorly fitted lining in the boot and numerous seams and joints which seemed to be shoddy to say the least. So far as the dealer experience was concerned he told me that the mud flaps he'd ordered weren't fitted and that only 6 months VED was provided rather than the 12 months they'd agreed.
• Overheating Carlton 8 Aug 2003 (Forum)
  t happening after sitting in traffic for several minutes (it never gets that busy up here!), rather it?s just normal, quite slow, driving in lower gears for maybe 5 to 10 minutes with frequent pauses (pedestrian crossing etc). I tested the viscous coupling operation, off the car, using a hairdryer?.after it got quite hot (uncomfortable to hold) it stiffened up rather well I thought.
• alarm question 2 Aug 2003 (Forum)
  I thought and patted myself on the back but... now the siren doesn\'t work, the immobiliser is back on line so the fix worked but in the process of dismantling the alram unit, soldering or reassmebly I have damaged something related to the siren or amplifier. The siren itself connects by two wires, and a small plug, to the alarm\'s printed circuit board. I disconnected this when soldering. when soldering I did acidentally touch a capacitor on the PCB witht the side of the iron, could this have damaged the capacitor in some way?
• High pitch noise when bearing right? 1 Jul 2003 (Forum)
  After a few miles driving (i.e. when the car has warmed up) a high pitch noise occurs when the road veers to the right. This noise therefore occurs when I turn the steering to the right, it?s comes from the front of the car most likely the driver side wheel. When I turn the steering to the left the noise will automatically go. Also when the noise is occurring if I tap on the brake pedal it will go for a few seconds.
• Unleaded vs Unleaded Plus 30 Jun 2003 (Forum)
  Also, is there not an additive I could use with normal unleaded petrol to kill the noise instead of having to use the Unleaded Plus fuel? Thx. S.