February 2005
I would be grateful for the forums advice on my unusual situation. I am currently in dispute with an 'after-market'car warranty company about the repair of my broken autogearbox.
They have really 'dragged their feet' throughout the claim process, and hardly ever returned my calls. When I was complaining to one of their 'claim operators' about my frustration of never having my calls returned, he questioned my memory of how many times I had phoned. I informed him I had made a note of every call in a log. "Don't worry sir, so do we, every call is recorded" "really" I replied "I've never been told that" "oh yes sir, in accordance with 'insurance industry guidlines' every call is recorded to computer". I questioned the legality of this and ended the conversation.
At no time, in any call, was I informed my call was being recorded for the usual 'training purposes' etc. I would like to learn;
a) if they have recorded my calls without telling me, have they broken any law? Am I entitled to any transcripts of those calls?
b) If they havn't, and were just trying to fob me off, how do I make a complaint about such an attitude?
I havnt named the company in order to keep ethical, and the dispute is still ongoing. However if anyone contacts me directly I will happily share with you the identity of one warranty company you should steer well clear of!
Thanks in anticipation....David Kirkham Read more
A client of mine who has a company Picasso told me about this. It may be common knowledge here but I haven't seen any threads about it here.
Apparently, wheels, jacks and all when stored under the boot in the normal way have been stolen.
I won't say how but suffice to say I'll be advising FiL to keep his in his boot, not under it.
H Read more
Most French cars since the Simca 1100 of 1971 have had
underslung spare wheels. Same goes for Shalambras and Zafiras. The
Modus has a complicated clamping device to prevent theft. Most French
car franchises offer locking kits for £30 - £40. Things are
changing now, though, as C4s have spacesavers in the boot. And
worth remembering that Citroen 'spares' are often not the same size
as the road wheels, so nick a Picasso spare and it
will be a very basic wheel and tyre that proably won't
match the road wheels on many Picassos.
HJ
Spare wheels are unlikely to be stolen from Shlahambras - have you ever tried getting the spare wheel off one?
I'm about to get my SECOND replacement spare wheel mount under warranty. The first was only fitted in OCTOBER. The wire rope tangles up in the winder.
HJ: You should add this to the Problems on the Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambra pages
Hi, I'm in the early stages of researching a new car for the wiff and I bought What Car for the info at the back and the target prices. There's an advert in there from Sainsbury's Bank which I've read very carefully, several times and I can't see any catch. It says I pay:
1. a deposit
2. 36 monthly payments (with an APR of whatever it was)
3. optionally, a final payment.
1+2+3 add up to less than the What Car target price. So I'm getting a UK dealer sourced car for less than the Target Price and I even get to spread the payments.
Has anyone done this ? Any catch ? I'll talk to the dealers because I'd rather buy direct, but if I can't get a good deal I'll be in aisle 3 near the frozen peas with a big trolley asking an assistant if they get down that big box with a Honda / Toyota / Skoda / ... in it.
Thanks,
John
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IMHO if you can afford to buy the car through a straighforward finance/bank loan then definitely don't go with the PCP. Bank loan seems best option as you own the car from day one, others you're never the car owner until you've paid the final payment. The final payment on PCP's can often be a bit of a nightmare too (no such thing as Guaranteed future value in todays car market) Banks like alliance & leicester /AA loans are offering APRs around 5/6%.
Lots of good discounts around if you look hard enough & are prepared to travel.
I am planning on travelling 180 miles tomorrow morning to buy this car. I would be hugely grateful to anyone for anything to look out for on these cars and problem areas. If you have any experience with these cars please let me know what they're like and whether it looks like I've found a good deal. I will be given an HPI gold check and it has full Audi Service history. I am buying from a garage so what warranty should I get as standard?
Thanks in advance,
Matt
here are the details:
Make
Audi
Model
2.6 E
Deritive
cabriolet
Price
4750.00 - they'll take £4K
Body Style
Convertible
Gear Box
Manual
Fuel Type
Petrol
Engine Size
2600cc
Colour
Dark Blue
Mileage
140000
Location
none
Year
M95
Description
dark metallic blue,with silver leather,full electric pack,cd/cassette,on board computer,boost gages and timers,climate control,airbag, FASH, 1 lady owner was used as a weekend carn,in absolute stunning condition throughout,ideal for summer fun
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Thanks "Avant". I bought the car with a few known problems and got a good price. On the whole, the major mechanicals seem wonderfully smooth and tight but there are some niggling electrical faults that I need to fix. I have posted them in the technical section and would be enormously grateful for any advice or help. Many thanks in advance.
Matt
Guys & Gals,
Went to my local friendly Citroen dealership today, and test drove a unregistered 1.6HDi VTR+ five door C4. Extras it had were leather trim, heated seats, metallic paint and fixed full length sunroof. It would be registered on an '05' plate.
List price for all of this was £17,870 (scary for a Citroen!).
I've been offered £2000 for my 156k VW Passat 1.9TDi 'S', which is a 1997 model on a 'R' plate.
Incentives include £1600 cashback from Citroen, and the dealer has offered to throw in metallic paint for free, along with another £300 off for good measure.
So, the price of the car is £15,645, and the cost to change is £13,645.
What do you guys reckon? Could I squeeze more out of this?
Cheers,
DB Read more
Good example of the C5 discounts available, and why the depreciation appears to be higher than it is:
Based on a previous discussion thread on here, asking for opinions, and eventually my own desire to get one, I have just put an order in for a C5.
The list price (2.0 HDI 138 Exclusive) was £22420!!! This includes Navidrive and The New Lane Departure Warning System, which WILL prove a pain(!) but may save my life one day.
However, after not much investigation work at all, looking at internet dealers, I found 3, including "Drive the Deal", that offered me around £17800. All 3 were within £40 of each other, sourcing from main dealers).
I took this to my local dealer and within 5 minutes he agreed to match it, saving me £4610 on list.
I think (hope) that this is a good deal, I get the impression I could have saved even more if I'd agreed to purchase from a direct broker, but am happy with the combination of discount and local service.
Therefore, if the car is worth, say £9000 in 3 years (it won't be, I do higher than average miles, but I use this as an example), then this will be calculated as a savage 60% depreciation. The reality is that I'd only be 50% down, which is average for the sector.
A lot of money still, I know, but I spend half my life in my car Mon-Fri and consider it worth the money.
Hi all,
I'm newly registered to the Back Room, but not new to the place as I have been reading this place occasionally for a couple of years now-great boards!
I've had a bad experience with a £1300 auction Laguna-nice motor, comfy, good handling but the heater matrix was gone, the clutch was dicky...bye bye.
I am now looking to buy a Mondeo in the £1000-1500 price range and of age anything above the 1996ish facelift. The model I would like is anything from a 1.8LX to 2.0Si. I would ideally like heated front screen, aircon and ABS although I would happily do without for the right car.
My question is this; I have seen several (on autotrader, not in the flesh yet) that are around P, R, S, T reg in this price range but they are all high miles (of course). What is the consensus on buying a Mondeo of this age with miles like 113,000, 130,000? High mileage doesn't put me off but I would like advice about things like clutch life, engine life etc and any what experiences people have with a Mondeo of this kind of mileage, big bills to expect etc.
I currently have a 93 ZX TD which develops a new niggling fault every day of the week and that rubbish Laguna I just long to own a motor that is reliable and drives well and has reasonable crash protection, flash isn't important!
Appreciate anyone who takes the time to reply, I know it's a long post. Read more
>>I know some people here have said that it's a bit dodgy doing that, but we explained the situation to the insurance company and they suggested it.
Not at all dodgy. What would be dodgy would be if you pretended that your Mother was the main user when in reality you were.
However, sounds like you've taken a pretty sensible approach where the only downside is lack of NCD.
You might want to check whether or not your mother's current insurance company would give you some NCD if they are aware that you've been the main driver. Ask, you might be surprised. And it would be worth doing for a year even if they're not the cheapest because you could end up with 3 years NCD.
Can anyone give me an idea of what the following are likely to go through auction for at the moment? I'm looking to buy.
Volvo S60 2.0T S or SE 70k or less miles with FVSH, preferably Y or 51 plate.
Thanks,
PP Read more
I was hoping around the 6k mark so thanks for that HJ.
PP
It occurred to me today...why are articulated lorry cabs so big?
I know they often have to have a sleeping compartment, but surely they could be made a lot lower and smaller, therefore reducing build cost and weight etc. The weight issue would allow greater payloads.
As no lorry firm to my knowledge has ever made small cab version and this idea is so simple it must be fatally flawed somewhere.
Any ideas? Read more
and we think a couple of blue led's are bad...cheers...keo.
My boss has 17" 'Thor' alloys on his 2002 V70 2.4 SE and would prefer 16"ers (better ride comfort for all the motorway miles he does).
Is there anyone out there (with say a V70 S or even an S60 S) who would be interested in swopping from the smaller Mimas / Electra or similar 16 inchers to the 17" Thors?
Condition of his wheels is average - there are a few parking 'dings' and I would need to check on tyre condition.
Read more
I would suggest putting this in the classified section with a few more specifics and contact details.
HTH
Charles
Despite the scarborough warnings from various weathermen I got up at 6 am to drive from Leeds to Newcastle in the snow. Except there wasn't much snow. Took 2.5 hours to drive 115 miles. Coming home at 1230 even quicker. No problem with snow, more spray than anything else. Temperature went up the further north I went. Weathermen - namby pamby southern jesses the lot of 'em. Read more
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If I recall correctly, it is legal to record telephone conversations as long as one of the two parties to the conversation is aware that it is being recorded. In other words it is legal as long as it not done by a third party and unknown to the two people actually making the call.
I hope that makes sense!
A few years ago I ran a company in the service business and we routinely recorded calls. Why not? It's the truth that you are after, it saved many a dispute where the customer claimed not to have been told something (or vice-versa).
I don't see any problem, as long as you have access to the tape -unedited.
Don drbe