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• Have you read your car handbook? 15 Dec 2005 (Forum)
  Bikemade3's thread on the 407 has prompted me to have a wee think about how different cars are nowadays. Now he has the problem of not knowing how to open his boot or fix the self locking doors. Going back say 10-15 years, every cars boot probably worked the same way.
• Citoien C5 3yo - a good buy? 26 Nov 2005 (Forum)
  It's a bigger car than I really want, but should be very comfortable, and does like like great value. Has anyone else successfully bought a good one s/h?
• Nissan X Trail Letdown 14 Nov 2005 (Forum)
  My wife has a Honda CRV and I have a Leon which I am intent on changing. I do like 4x4's and previously had a Diesel Freelander which was most enjoyable for the occasional week it wasn't back at the dealers :) Idea is to buy another 4x4 now in place of the Leon and change the 03 CRV in a couple of years.
• Which car for around £3-4k? 31 Oct 2005 (Forum)
  I've owned Japanese for the last 5 years, so I was leaning that way, but Japanese diesels aren't freely available for around my budget (correct me if I'm wrong). First thoughts were Focus diesels, maybe 306's, but these are massive come-downs from Japanese cars - I'm used to air/con, CD players, all the little 'standard' things on Japanese cars that the likes of Ford, etc charge extra for (or badge as Ghias).
• Bad diesel???? 24 Aug 2005 (Forum)
  Mods - Sorry if this is a duplicate, the link crashed after fist posting. Having come up from the S of France The old BX 1.7 TD had mechanically behaved itself for 700+ miles (at better than 52mpg overall. I decided to fill up at the Total filling station just outside Rouen (on the Calais Autoroute) and when I got to the pump found that the ordinary diesel (gasoil) filler was out of order and the only diesel on offer was a 'premium' diesel at a 4c per litre higher price (on a high price already!).
• HT Leads (expiring?) Polo 6 May 2005 (Forum)
  A while ago, when I had trouble with the distributor, it was suggest to me (by Peter D I do believe) that the HT leads on these Polo?s are prone to developing high resistances and should be measured. So I have done just that. After a 25 minute drive, I pulled one and out measured the resistance. It should have been 5 Ohms, but this lead was 5.6.
• 1.4 206 HDi mpg and low revs 1 Apr 2005 (Forum)
  I have driven a Focus 1.6 TDCi and got over 60mpg so was expecting better from this car, certinaly high 60's on a run! Can I really expect fuel consumption to increase by 10-15mpg as the engine loosens up to start getting even close to the manufacturers figures? Many of my journeys have been long and I have delibertaely tried to keep the engines revs low and just stretch the car from time to time to clean the injectors.
• Car Mag Selections of Group Test Cars 3 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  OK the BM is probably one of the best driving cars on the road, but is cramped, slow (unless you pay a fortune for the bigger engines) and poorly equipped (again, unless you get the wallet out). The Volvo is amazingly well specced (Basic 'S' spec has Alloys, Climate Control, Dynamic Stability Control, Fogs, CD etc, etc) as are many alternatives but the general readership don't often see these alternatives. It is just like their concentration on using a disproportionate ammount of pages on £100,000+ cars that sell in tiny tiny numbers............
• How do I work out what I can tow??! 3 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  ve tried a forum search, but nothing specific came up for me?.. I?m looking into the minefield that is maximum permissible towing weights. There?s all sorts to think about ? Kerb Weight, Towing Weight, Gross Train Weight blah blah blah?.. The towing car would be a 1997 Passat Tdi 110bhp. I believe the kerb weight is 1375kg and the towing weight is 1500kg.
• amazing megane 18 Dec 2004 (Forum)
  went to walkers Renault (Stourbridge) this afternoon, just turned up at 4pm. chatted to 2 guys (mark & Phil) about my old Laguna?s, told them i used to get them serviced here. asked about megane tourer 1.9dci 120bhp. after 10 mins, he handed me the keys and said, go try it out ! test drove it for 1 hour, (including going home, taking wife ala 2 kids out for 20 mins) may i say what a fantastic car it is. like victor says "I don?
• Considering a Golf 1.8 20v GTI 1998-2000 9 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  Having long considered lots of cars, varying from Audi A3's, Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astras and 1998 -> 3 series. I keep coming back to the Golf, though there is a slight question mark over its reliability. I have read numerous reports on problems with window failure and coil pack issues.
• battery specs 10 Oct 2004 (Forum)
  CCA (cold crank amp) Reserve capacity (minutes) Ampere Hour (Ah) capacity The vehicle manufacturer state the battery to be used is a 600CCA / 115mins - Volvo V70 Diesel The motor factors all list this particular cars replacement to be 096/4 where 096 is the UK battery code and 4 is the number of years of service guaranteed. A typical 096/4 has a rating 650CCA, 130 mins, 75Ah. I'm not sure if all 096/4's have these same figures but I got these figures from a published table. Vauxhall "go" batteries are guaranteed 3 years and are offered in Ah, 72Ah and 80Ah being the closest in the range. Will the Go 72Ah be good enough?
• seat belt help 10 Jun 2004 (Forum)
  I am extremely excited as ive finally ordered my new car, a mini cooper S, I get it in September and cannot wait, anyway I have a few questions I hope someone can help me with, Firstly the beetle, its 2.0manual in silver with black interior, it has done 30k has a cd changer and heated seats, its just had 4 new tyres and will be newly serviced at time of sale, full service history of course, can someone please tell me how much its worth to sell privatly and how much can i expect on a trade in value, it IS in excellent condition, no stone chips or scratches or anything on the inside.
• RR Phantom reaction 26 Mar 2004 (Forum)
  The photographs don\'t do it justice - it really really is pig ugly! Doesn\'t look too bad from the rear threequarter angle but that\'s about it. How can designers get the proportions of that classic radiator so wrong? The grille is too wide and the whole front of the car is six inches too high for the overall shape. I presume someone did admire the Camargue after all?
• Vectra handbrake and welding 25 Mar 2004 (Forum)
  A friend was given an 02 diesel Veccy as his company car. After a 200 mile trip he parked it outside a friend\'s house. 3 hours later it was still there. However next morning it had gone. Pacing up and down the road, smoking furiously, he found the car at the bottom of the hill, lodged against a tree. He assumed it had been broken into, but there were no signs, and the steering lock was still on.
• Car for heavy towing 17 Mar 2004 (Forum)
  BUT - these cars don't have the low gearing I need. The following are the reduction ratios for two 'heavy' 4*4's and the Subaru, multiplied together to the 'TOTAL' number. This is the number of engine revolutions required to make the rear axle turn once, in low 1st. 1st gear Transfer box Differential TOTAL LR90 3.71 3.32 3.54 44 Mitsubishi Shogun4.00 2.00 4.60 37 Subaru Forester 3.50 1.20 4.10 17 As you can see, the Land Rover has really deep gearing (44:1).
• Removing a bump 9 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  It doesn't look so bad, but partly because of the paint split and partly 'cos I'm a sad type who likes to keep my car polished and dent free (parking the furthest away form supermarket entrances, trolley bays, vetting adjacent cars for baby seats, any sign of of a careless driver(says me) and definately not parking next to 4x4's and MPV's). I got a quote of £300 + vat to re-paint the back bumper, take out the dent and re-spray the whole the rear wing (Leon Cupra in Yellow). Do people think that this is the sort of job that the dents-away type companies could do?
• Pug 309D Geyser Impressions! 11 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  Hi Guys, Yes, a different fault from my earlier post on a different PUG 309D. Just picked up an H plate Pug 309D for £15! It has a tank that?s ¾ full, plus 6 weeks tax left on it, so that alone has to be worth the money. Not surprisingly, it has been neglected and to describe it as ?tatty? would be a gross understatement. Still, it started (eventually) and managed the 7 miles back to my place - well, almost.
• I have a question Volume 28 7 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  She was born in Bahrain, has travelled the world over, lived in the Gulf, Hong Kong, the Philippines, attended an independent school in Kent for her \"A\'s\" and for some unearthly reason has ended up in Tunbridge Wells, which is about as stimulating a lifestyle for a young person as walking around with one foot in a bucket of cement. I want to offer her 3 choices of graduation present, and have got two nailed down: 1) a TEFL course (worldwide qualification, get a job anywhere, only a 4 week course and you can make good money in China/Korea/Japan/Thailand at it); 2) two return airfares for her and her b/f to do the one year Oz working holiday thing and perhaps settle there; 3) ????
• Banger, £3k or 3 year old? 25 Nov 2003 (Forum)
  The options are: 1.Another car the same (i might have trouble explaining the reason for a direct replacement at the dealer tho) 2.A newer shape, £3k ish of the same prob R reg 100000 - with 1 year warranty a requirement 3.A 1.6 Escort, S reg 75000miles with a few toys 4.Some dirt cheap old banger with standard 3 months warranty 5.Or push the boat out and somehow afford a 3 yearold something Considerations: 20 year-old male, so Pug group 5 insurance looks good over Escort group 7.