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• Which car for around £3-4k? 31 Oct 2005 (Forum)
  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). Basically, I'm looking for the highest spec car possible for the lowest price (aren't we all?)
• autotrader ad 11 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  Does this look like a good buy? 2001 CITROEN XSARA PICASSO 1.8i 16V SX 5dr Estate 51 Plate, Black with Grey Velour, One Owner, Air Con, ABS, CD, Driver/Passenger Airbags, Anti theft system, CDL, Twin Glass Sunroofs, New Front Tyres, 6 months Tax, 12 months MOT. 39800 miles. £5550. Had a couple of emails from the guy, he says it's his gf's car, she bought it from new.
• Nearly -new fleet or older "quality"?? 30 May 2001 (Forum)
  t escaped my notice that used Saabs, even the newer 900 and 9-3 models a few years old seem ridiculously cheap, come with all the kit like air-con etc, have the space I need plus the engineered safety and build quality. So what?s the catch, apart from fewer miles per gallon (which is probably offset by reduced depreciation,if one buys cheap enough to start with?)
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  How do we go about restarting a car that's being stood for several years? 15 Jan 2018 (Ask HJ)
  In 2012 our older brother bought a tatty 2003 Porsche Carrera 996. He had the engine completely rebuilt and was well into the restoration when he got ill....
• W124 Mercedes 1500km review 16 Mar 2010 (Forum)
    Not a great deal to be honest.  I shall be getting the tracking done (feels a wee bit out), and a re-gas of the air con will be needed before summer.  The rear door hinges could do with an oil. Fuel economy - first fill was 11.5l/100km (25mpg) - but after a bottle of injector cleaner and some driving around it's now steadied out at around 9.9 - or almost 29mpg in old money.
• Toyota IQ (2008 - ) - IQ - my thoughts 26 Nov 2008 (Forum)
  Full spec: 1. 15" alloy wheels - No 2. privacy glass - No 3. heated, electric door mirrors - No 4. colour keyed door mirrors - Yes 5. side turn indicators on outer door mirrors - No 6. colour keyed bumpers - Yes 7. LED stop lamp - No 8. manual air con - Yes 9. radio, cd, 6 speakers incl MP3 readability & aux in - Yes 10. leather steering wheel with audio switches - No 11. leather gear shift knob - No 12. tilt and power steering - No tilt but PAS 13. 9 airbags - no 4 14.
• Good therapist needed urgently 20 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  And so it was today I have been viewing and driving a '69 Fastback straight out of Bullitt in Angeles City Philippines on the old Clark Field aiurbase. 351 cu in. motor transplanted from a '71, Crane cams, Holley carbs, auto, new tires, metallic blue new paint job, some new gauges inside replacing the stock ones (I think she's been quarter-miled at some time), radio missing, car doubtless a legacy of the US air base at Clark. As always with these old big block live-for-ever Fords, whisper-quiet mechanically, no evidence of smoke but with the bellow of an enraged bull when floored, brutal acceleration, trans takes up with a postive clonk straight away, brakes with loads of travel but work fine, some evidence of the traditional Mustang overheating (it's 34 C today), the anti-diluvian Bendix a/c works fine (the seller has a car air-con shop!)
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  Can I reject my faulty new car after 2 weeks? 8 Oct 2016 (Ask HJ)
  We bought a brand new 66-plate Tiguan from our local Volkswagen dealership two weeks ago. We have now got three problems with the car which showed up at...
• Ford Mondeo Mk3 - Tdci - Strange overheating problem, only at speed 4 Jun 2018 (Forum)
    Other snippets of info:   - No hot air available through internal heaters/blowers or air con - this started at same time as temp gauge thing earlier this week.   - I have noticed in the past couple weeks or so, the radiator fan kicks in after I shut the car off - regardless if the temp gauge is in the red or half way.
• Vauxhall Corsa, Toyota Yaris - First Car - Corsa or Yaris 10 Mar 2019 (Forum)
  Will do MOT and service before I buy HPI check clear Felt smooth on test drive  Air con broken Cam belt - changed at 15,000 miles - warned might need changing again in a couple of years   Toyota Yaris 2002 1.3 5dr £1400 (was £1495) Mileage - 80,000 Full and detailed service history Some small dents on bodywork MOT due October 2019 No HPI check (experian check clear) Steering felt heavy on test drive  Car was jerking forward when waiting at lights, still in drive mode.
• Peugeot 406 HDI poor fuel economy 16 Mar 2017 (Forum)
  The thing that has really flagged this up wtih me is that I'm off work and so the only driving I have been doing over xmas is motorway driving at 50-60mph to and from relatives, also the air con is off (and it would normally be on but its gone noisey so i have stopped using it) At 50-60mph with the aircon off I would expect 55mpg Any suggestions on whats a likely cause? My local mechanic is great, but he's one that likes to keep costs as low as possible (which is great in one way) but he doesn't tend to like checking or replacing anything that isn't actually *broken*, or that I specifically instruct him to do Any help greatly apreciated Thanks Luke PS thanks for all the useful info I have picked up on here.
• Small, petrol engined automatics - poor economy 1 Sep 2013 (Forum)
   Before I discuss this I should state I was using only the trip computer as my guide and this resets at each fuel refill and secondly the driving was an odd mix of short, traffic laden urban trips and longer highway journeys (these usually five up).  Air-con was on the whole time I should add. What was clear was that even on motorway journeys starting immediately after a fill up, I could not get the consumption to be better than about 36mpg; and this was driving at no more than say 60mph.
• Peugeot 306 (1993 - 2001) - 1997 1.4 Auxilary drive belt configuration 31 May 2013 (Forum)
  The alternator is located higher up towards the rear of the engine underneath the engine mount bracket and incorporates a manual tensioner. Now for the problem! The car only has power steering and no Air con. The power steering pump is located towards the front of the engine and the pulley on the pump has a tensioner type bearing located below. The problem is that these two pulleys are on a completely different centreline to any of the other pulleys and I can't remember where the drive pulley was or is located?
• 2005 Renault Laguna 1.9 DCi - Aircon not working 11 May 2012 (Forum)
  Noticed that compressor clutch does not engage, checked for electrical current to connections, there is none. Also noticed that fan at radiator runs on momentarily after stopping engine as if air con is switched on without it being on. (Button) Took it to my local garage who also does aircon, they carried out various checks, ascertained that no current at compressor clutch, found a large fuse under the bonnet had blown, replaced, no luck.
• 2001 Mini One 2005 Ford Focus - Used car purchase Mini V Focus 10 May 2012 (Forum)
  The focus is what my head is telling me but my heart is where the mini is as I love the drive and feel. Both have Air con and CD players, and very tidy examples. I guess the one thing as well going in the mini's favour is the fact I can take the £500 quid and put it in a savings account for any rainy days!
• Audi A6 Avant - MPG - PETROL 14 Apr 2012 (Forum)
  I know Audi is a bigger heavier car. Apart from tyre pressures, unloading it, switching off air con, driving habits,forcing wife and kids to walk ect ect is there anything I can do to improve MPG ie: will a re map do anything apart from improve performance?
• Ford Focus - Focus alternator problem 28 Jun 2010 (Forum)
  - alternator casing gets very hot soon after starting engine from cold (within 1 minute) - battery voltage is around 12.5v with ignition off, around 11.5v when engine running - car appears to drive and operate fine including air-con, power steering, etc, and battery warning light goes out after starting engine.   Initially I thought the alternator was mechanically broken e.g. something was rubbing inside hence the whining noise and heat.
• Ego Integrity V Despair - car styling 1 Apr 2010 (Forum)
  I`d been reflecting on whether `oblivion` would somehow have those bug like tiny rear windows too. You know, so that you could peer out the back and watch hell tip it`s con tents into heaven because the designers of  modern motors were in there and had persuaded the devil to slope the window lines into a gaping ugly grill that spewed out it`s contents. It`s OK to shrug off the despair though - cos afterall these are only motors.
• Mazda 626 (2000 - 2002) - 00 2.0D Diesel leak 10 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  I have an old Mazda 626. After a visit to a specialist aircon garage to get the air con fixed it developed a diesel leak. Not sure if this leak is related to the mechanic trying to fix the aircon as the leak is where one of the fuel pipes enters the engine block. It doesn't seem likely this area could have been disturbed but it is a bit of a coincidence that the leak started when it did.
• Volkswagen Touran MPV (2003 - ) - 04 2.0 MOT Pass on grinding brakes & ABS kaput. 11 Oct 2008 (Forum)
  (They have now had it for 2 weeks and it seems to be waiting on the "Sales Manager" approving the ABS work due to the cost, but he is never available or is in on monday etc) Faults : ESP Light (ABS control unit failure £1200 + Vat) Brakes Grinding even when not braking(Replaced as "badly corroded") Air Con Not Working(Now Recharged) Oil Pooling at the filler cap (New Filler Cap Fitted) It was MOT'D for 12 months prior to pick up by the selling garage with an advisory that the front discs were pitted although the sharp salesman never gave us the sheet.