May 2006
SWMBO had a collision Saturday afternoon, nobody hurt, thankfully, just a lot of expensive metal bent.
SWMBO approached a cross roads on the 'main' road, lady in a Ka approached from the right, overshot the give way marks, stopping third of the way across, as seems quite common these days. I rarely seem to see anyone actually stop short of giveway or stop markings it seems. SWMBO slowed down seeing her approach from the right, then having seen her stop assumed the other driver had seen her and proceeded only for the driver of the Ka to promptly start off again and drive straight into her offside as she drew level, hitting the rear of the front wheel and scraping right the way down the side to the rear wheel. Result; damage to two alloys, front wheel arch, drivers' door, rear door and rear wheel arch, plus probably damaged steering rack or track rod as it now drives 'offline'; as I said, a fair bit of expensive metal bent. All going ahead with insurers, other party was actually insured which is a first for us, our previous three accidents have all involved uninsured drivers :-(
It was just the other party's excuses that took my breath away.
1. 'I didn't know whether I needed to do right or left.' Ok, so just carry straight on into the side of a vehicle then and ignore the give way markings.
Followed up with,
2. 'Well, how am I supposed to see you, you are driving a dark car.' SWMBO's car is a sort of metallic British Racing Green, which is rather academic as it had been raining and she still had her headlights on!
This just got me thinking what are the daftest excuses you've been given by another driver?
Oh, and for the statisticians amongst you, SWMBO was 150 yards from home, the other party less than half a mile. Helps prove the old story about most accidents accurring within a mile of home!
Cockle Read more
The independent engineer who does my car was scratching his head over a not very old, 4-litre I think, Jaguar XJ6 the other day. He said it 'wasn't running right' and would also run with three of the plug leads disconnected. He demonstrated.
The engine idled very quietly and was clearly not in a bad mechanical state. It continued to run perfectly at and above an idle with any or all of the three rear plug leads disconnected. Pulling off any of the front three leads resulted in the car missing as one would expect.
I thought it might be severely coked up and the explanation might be red-hot carbon around the exhaust valve seats in those three cylinders. But he said the car would start and run from cold with those leads disconnected.
Mystery. Any ideas? Read more
One of the first MK VII Jags I bought sounded very rough, with a real vuh-vuh-vuh sound. Fairly soon after buying it I checked the carburettor float levels. The rear carb float level was very low. Correcting that brought the missing cylinder back to life. I suspect that the price I paid was related to that unresolved problem. It never missed a beat for the rest of the time I had it.
Talking about V12s and missing cylinders; The later (around 1989 on) XJ-S cars had Magneti Marelli ignition, which had a distributor like two stacked six cylinder ones, each firing one bank. They had a tendency for the HT voltage to burn through the insulation in the cap and short out the HT to one bank (usually the left one). This caused a drop in power, and a lot of unburnt fuel going to the catalytic converter, which then became a very expensive pot belly stove. Result was often an engine fire, and sometimes the whole car was destroyed. The good news is that the Series 3 XJ12 saloons never got the Marelli ignition, and kept the Lucas Digital P system, which didn't have the same problem, until the end of production in 1992.
I have just been reading the Top gear thread and agree with the comments that it seems to be more of the same - way out (but funny) acts on cars (Anne Hathaways car - the Toyboata etc) and a stream of super cars driven at pace round the track.
5th gear is trying to copy and making a complete hash of it - racing a GTI and Octavia backwards - how ridiculous ?
What do you think is the best car programme on the TV now or previously.
My vote goes to Automondial on Men & Motors and the 1st series of C4 driven where they compered 3 cars on the ROAD - (you know Top Gear that place we all actually drive our cars) and then scored them. The cars were all pretty normal as well.
Even that got daft though when the started sumo wrestling the micra. Read more
Did nobody notice that 5th gear is the old top gear..?
I think a few people did: as i understand it, BBC pulled the plug on Top Gear, channel five offered the then presenters (Tiff, Quentin and VBH) a deal and off they went. It even has / had the same producer (Jon Plowman?).
Then depending on the story, either Clarkson and Wilman pitched the idea or BBC realised what they'd done, but either way a totally different programme with the same name got onto BBC2.
Im thinking of buying a Reliant SS1 next winter as I owned a Reliant Rialto before and for what it was, it was superb and my local reliant specialist is the type that has died out for the most part ( his prices and customer service is second to none and he will stand and have a chat to you about anything, plus he knows the cars so well its a little scary ).
My question is, has anyone owned or driven one and what are they like?
I dont fancy the Turbo one as the insurance is a little high, but the 1300/1600 ones have Ford engines so should be simple to service etc..
There are three on Ebay at the moment and nobody seems to be bidding very high for them - is it lack of knowledge on what they are etc or are they cheap cars for a reason? Read more
there are 2 for sale on autotrader (national) a white one and a green one have you considered these?
Previously listed problems with Renault diesel engines,3 required on 2 vehicles, within 3.5 years and less than 60,000 combined miles.
After speaking to the AA, they suggested contacting DEKRA, an independant motoring organisation who will do a report costing £195, on the current knackered engine, 2.2DCI, which I then hope to use against Renault for a total refund on the costs, if not take them to small claims court.
Have you had any dealings with Dekra and was it worthwhile. Read more
I can recommend CT Bratley.
Used them for a paintwork claim against Renault, which ended up in small claims court, and went to my favour.
Attracted by the finance offer (£99 down, £99 a month for 3 years) as a PCP on the Smart "Purestyle" base model. Went to Lincoln yesterday and they had one left : Black frame, white panels (Looks like it needs a low profile red roof light bar a crest on each door and "Protect and serve" below!)
Rang around locally, and salesman's story of "no others available in the country" seems to ring true so I've bought it.
Enjoyed the test drive... both son's need something to practice in when they're learning. I shall miss the 'K' plate Audi 80 Avant, if only because it was handy for taking rubbish to the tip! I think that, because they've ceased production, it might be more desirable when I eventually come to sell. I know it will have lost some of it's "fashion" value, but 3 years down the line, if you were offered a Mitsubishi Colt or a Forfour, which would you choose?
Tim{P} Read more
Hmmmm call today from finance director of the garage: would I like GAP insurance and extended warranty for a 3rd year for and extra £16 per month over the three years? No, I wouldn't, thank you. If I want GAP insurance, I'll buy it online for about £140.. but I was SURE I'd read in the advert that all cars registered after 01/04/06 would have a 4 year warranty. He poo poohed this; but, sure enough, on checking the ad tonight, there it is, in white on burgundy... Yet another example of main agents being ill informed; mind you, I think he usually deals with Mercs. What warranty do they give now?
Tim{P}
A friend has a 2 year old Jazz that he has not been able to use for 12 months, due to medical reasons.During this time it has been started occasionally and moved a few yards, so at least the tyres should still be round.
Does anyone have any idea what may have deteriorated over this time and what checks he should make.
Many thanks, Pete Read more
Don't forget to also change the brake fluid.
I had to do an emergency stop yesterday in the dry in my 2.2l petrol 2004 Vectra. The car is fitted with traction control and abs.
What surprised me is that the wheels locked and there was some screeching of tyres before the car came to a stop.
I did not think ABS allowed the wheels to actually stop turning. Is there a fault?
I took the car to an empty factory car park and tried a few manouvers with it.
I found that the front wheels span if too much power was put through them - I thought traction control was supposed to stop that happening.
I also found that it was surprisingly easy to lock the wheels.
BTW the carpark good condition tarmac.
Is this expected behaviour or is the system faulty?
Read more
I would have thought that activating the ABS would have produced
a high frequency judder as the wheels went through a rapid
cycle of alternately locking and rotating, and that this judder would
have been noticeable. Was it?
--
L\'escargot.
Yes it did shudder.
Never felt deceleration like it.
Is it me or is this a cynical exercise to allow dealers the opportunity to charge the earth?
My 1987 Mazda 323 doesn't have a cambelt, the result of which means that even a full service ( oil/filter, coolant, plugs, brake fluid, air filter ) only comes to about £120 if that.
My question is, does having a cambelt really improve the car or is it a money making scheme by manufacturers that they build in when they dont have to?
On that note, I read somewhere that they are now reverting back to timing chains again on the newest cars... Read more
Early Porsche flat-four competition engines had spur gears I believe, and were noisy in this way as well as very expensive to repair.
One of my headlamps has a largish stone chip on it. It's been there for months and no moisture has got inside. The MOT is due soon. Does anyone know the rules?
Chris M Read more
Araldite make a very fast epoxy for glass/china repairs that is supposed to remain clear. BEWARE it's very quick set...30 seconds working time only (at room temp.)
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Would it make Algy feel any better if he hadn't noticed a junction at all? Then he'd have been going faster and sailed across it before the bus arrived.