October 2009
Over the last couple of years, whenever I have invested in a new pair of tyres I have allways done a bit of research before buying - reviews, asking friends, forums etc. The company car drivers say: "your tyres are the most important part of the vehicle as they are the only contact between your car and the ground - only buy the best you can afford" The Lexus owners said: "My IS200 came with those Nankangs and I upgraded to Michelins after nearly skidding into a hedge".
But what if money is a problem? What if your not keeping the car long? What if your just pooteling around the town in a Citreon 2CV? In this case, and as millions of us do every year, you buy the budget tyres!
There are so many different brands out there though and it can often be hard to know which one to go for. Some people would say that a budget is a budget and you get what you pay for - I disagree. There are brands which have been out there for a decade or 2 and are owned or manufactured by the big tyre companies - Tigar, Marshal, Sava etc. There are brands which are relatively new to this country, that you have never heard of (mainly chinese).
Some fitters cant guarentee what brand they will have until the day they are fitted. All fitters claim their budgets are the best. So how does the average person know that they are buying buying the "dodgy" brand that only just meets British standards? What do we avoid and when do we say yes please?
My worst budget tyres: Federal Super Steel 25.99 each 185/65/14 on a Ford Escort.
My best budget tyres: Kormoran (owned by Michelin) 32.95 each same size and car
Anyone else like to share their experiences? Read more
Having only had a c270cdi for just over a week and asking a stupid question last week here goes with another one: as someone who is 'green' to automatic gearboxes something unusual happened today. i was coming out of town into the 60mph zone so i floored the throttle to 'kick down'. The engine revs went up and the car pulled very well for a few seconds as it changed to a lower gear when suddenly it seemed to go into neutral. the display still said 'D' and the gear lever was in d but the box was certainly in neutral. I stopped the car and shifted the lever to N then 'R' then back to drive and it was all ok then. was i just being too wicked with the accelerator wide open or could it be more serious? Read more
Fair point, the cogs may have been well machined but you clearly escaped the Valor rad coolant/ATF mix which plagued so many.
Yes i've never gone newer than the last of the W124's, which we still have....
Hi,
The cigarette lighter is not working, just completely dead. I therefore checked the fuse to find there was no fuse in the socket!!!
I have just bought a 15amp fuse however when trying to insert the fuse it is very loose and isnt secure in the socket.
Do you think the previous owner may have broken it, if there was no fuse in before then someone must have messed with it?
Any ideas on how i can fix this? Is it possible to wire the cigarette lighter to an empty reserve fuse socket?
Many thanks Read more
Hi,
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My 1.2 SXi 16V Corsa has recently started cutting out after the engine reaches normal running temperature. This happens when slowing the car down, ie. coming off onto a slip road. It fires up again, but the rev counter has then stopped working and the light showing the engine block is on. After the car has cut out just the once it runs fine apart from the occasional splutter when accelerating or cruising along.
I have replaced the coolant temperature sensor, replaced the air filter, and put Redex through the throttle body (carberator), to no avail, the problem still persists!
When the car has been stood a while, ie. overnight, the rev counter works, until it does the cutting out thing again, but the engine block light is now permanently on, and it seems to be using more fuel than usual. What does this warning light mean.....?? Has anybody else had similair problems with their corsa? Read more
this morning i posted an identical problem and was given much the same answer( i was looking at lambda sensor problems ) with the warning light coming on the dash, having been given what i now think is invaluable advice, i looked on the web and came across ALL CORSA .co.uk all the codes are listed and full instructions how to do it yourself!! this prob is on a 1ltr 3 cyl. CORSA COMFORT 01 plate
I've always quite liked the look of the original Mercedes A-Class, apart from the fussy styling around the rear windows. I've noticed now that early ones look quite cheap and I'm wondering what the snags are.
We'd be getting an A170L - that is the diesel with long wheelbase body.
The main problem I've read about is the cost of fixing things if they go wrong. How easy is DIY maintenance on an A-Class compared to its competitors?
Reading reviews, as with most cars, some owners are full of praise for the A-Class, while others are scathing.
We had been planning to get an early VW Touran, which is bigger, but the A-Class looks like it might fit our needs for day-to-day motoring.
Any opinions? Read more
HJ's advice is to avoid like plague.
Today I somehow managed to lock my car keys in the boot of my car. Has anyone got any ideas of how to get into the car without smashing the window??
Recovery man couldnt do it and has taken the car away, no-one else seems to have any bright ideas.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Read more
Hello --I'm new to the forum but had the same problem this morning- with my sons Y reg focus ghia-keys locked in boot and double locked on the fob because my boy opened it with the key---tried poking a stick down through the semi prised open door to operate the dash button --no joy--anyway read on here about cutting a small hole under where the rear number plate sits and it worked a dream--all I did was take the plate off, clear the stuck on rubber pad the plate sits on for about 3 inches long x2 high and drilled a series of overlapping holes in an extended u shape directly above where the key lock is--the extended u shaped piece of metal then prises and bends up enough to allow access to the 3 wires which operate the boot lock motor --pull the wires out --white and green was live+ on mine and black earth - I simply put wires from a spare battery to those two after having trimmed a little insulation away and the lock operated enabling me to retrieve the keys--all I then did was bend it back and gaffa tape it back in place--it sits under the number plate so no-one will ever be any the wiser and it didn't cost a handful of buttons to get out of trouble as everything is still working fine--from start to finish including retaping cut insulation about a half hour or so-maybe forty minutes --far cheaper and easier than breaking a window which was my first inclination--wish you luck with yours and full marks to the fella who suggested it in the first place on here--saved me a lot of grief all round
Browsing on Autotrader, it's quite common to see 'competitively-priced' cars advertised as 'trade sale'.
For traders buying and selling off each other I guess this just means, "look, mate, it is what it is - you buy what you see, but don't come running back if it needs work doing". So for Joe Public, is normal consumer law suspended for such 'trade sales'? Read more
'Trade Sale' - means what, exactly?
Its a bit like arthur daleys sold as seen really.... ..... ...
customer ------whats this sold as seen bit?
arthur ive sold it you"ve seen it.......
simples........
I really need some help here. My 318 has suddenly developed a big problem. When driving whether it be morning/night, engine from cold or after its warmed up, in any gear on any day will just cut out whilst on the move or at standstill. Before it goes i get a beep, then the battery light comes on along with the traction control light and the handbrake light which goes from red to yellow. Its been to my BMW dealer and they have charged me £270 to tell me they dont know what it is.
I have had a tensioner fitted to the top timing chain, and had the crank and camshaft sensors changed to try and resolve the problem and nothing. Im really hoping someone has had the same problem or at least knows someone who has. HELP! PLEASE!
Read more
Hi,
I have a 2002 318i CI SE be in the family for 12 years and yes now I have the same problem no reason for when it does it seems to do it once on a trip but then I could drive 100miles with no trouble at all, have had the crankshaft sensor changed by a friend of mine who works for Mercedes, also changed the ECU just incase, but no luck, friend completely baffled, and reading this forum seems like alot of people are to, maybe someone out there nows something as I also know a nother guy with a 2002 coupe 318i with a simular problem, he seems to think it maybe the coil packs but I can't see how that would cause such a problem, mind you did renew a coil pack recently when I changed the rocker cover casket which always leaks, maybe someone out there may have an answer, as it is rather dangerous whenh overtaking if the engine cuts and the dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree, squeaky bum time!!
My friend has a resitrction on her licence that she needs to wear glasses.
My driving licence dosn't have any restrictions but I would not be able to drive I don't think without my glasses, I would never even dream of doing it. Do I need to inform the DVLA and do I also need to inform my insurance company of this?
Am I being pendantic? Read more
So have we concluded that providing you wear glasses (if you need to) then there is no need for this to be on the licence? I've had a licence since provisional days for a long time now.
As an aside, a colleague once had a pair of those glasses they advertised you could bend and not break. His broke. And how they broke meant the guarantee worthless. The bendy bit was find, the bridge over the nose broke (didn't bend).... new glasses needed.
Where to start - I've owned the car for nearly two years, it is the 110bhp quicksilver version. Right from the very start the engine management light would come on and I would get - anti pollution fault - on the display, this would come and go intermitantly, the car was running totally fine whether the fault was showing or not. Eventually I got it checked, the fault code was cleared off the ecu and the fault didn't return for several months, when eventually it returned, the car was running as well as it always has, and the fault would show itself once every few weeks and then disappear again.
Now to my problem - about six weeks ago the car started to hold back occasionally ( lack of power and not going into the turbo ) This happened every couple of days to start with and then over the course of the next few weeks it gradually became more frequent doing it most days at some time. Fifty percent of the time by letting my foot of the throttle and putting it back on the car would go through the problem and go properly. The last week it has been totally flat and not gone into the turbo once ( good fun when you live at the top of a big hill on a busy road )
I had a diagnostic done this morning, and when I picked the car up the garage told me they had reset the ecu to clear fault codes, but were unable to tell me what codes had been present due to a problem with their diagnostic equipment ( great ) they didn't charge me though ( not that I would have payed ) .
Sorry about the length of this novel .
I then had it diagnosed by someone else, and this has shown up two faults pending -
P2408 - IDM input circuit malfunction, ignition coil control circuit high voltage.
P1351 - Fuel cap sensor switch circuit
Could anyone tell me whether either of these two could be the source of my problem and what they mean please. Read more
Needs a Planet diagnostic. Car is telling you it has a problem. Planet is needed because "scan any car" readers are rubbish, especially on the 307
Browse
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My Son and I have had good experience with Hankook and Kumho. In the USA, there is a Government website which tests every tyre (tire!) in the USA. See www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Shoppers/Tires/Tires+Rati...g. The upmarket Hankooks come out well for wet grip. The worst tyre we have had in the past 5 years are Hydragrip a very `wooden' feel and tyre bias pulling to the nearside. I suppose the only issue with the USA review is that the tests are a bit simplistic, and the tyre compounds may not be the same as for the UK. (On tyre bias, some tyres have coloured bands around them which may indicate the `bias' of the tyre. Many tyre fitters are not aware of this - I was told `I knew too much' by one tyre place ! If there is bias, the tyres should be fitted as `mirror image' on the same axle)