Honest John's Motoring Agony Column 01-02-2019 Part 1

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Fri 1 Feb 2019 19:52
- masiv
'Operation Vision Zero’ clocks up more than 4,700 driving offences in two weeks.

TfL and Metropolitan Police Service focus on the most dangerous drivers as part of their joint Vision Zero commitment to eliminate death and serious injury from London's roads



tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2018/nove...s
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Sat 2 Feb 2019 09:57
- GingerTom
Ford KA:
The main problem was around the filler neck. They put a sponge ring inside the wing around the neck and this absorbed water and corroded over time. Look at any Mk1 KA and you will usually find corrosion there.
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Sat 2 Feb 2019 14:07
Honest John's Motoring Agony Column 01-02-2019 Part 1 - Captain-Cretin

My DiL's Ka is the only car I have ever know to fail the MOT with a 4 1/2 page list of defects.

Basically, everything that was possible to rust had rusted; engine mounts, seat mounts, seatbelt mounts, suspension mounts......

Garage who had issued the previous MOT's was reported by my local Ford dealer as they said there was no way it could get that bad in 12 months; the car was so badly rusted, they refused to allow it out of the workshop.

We gave it to the local Fire brigade for rescue practise.

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Sat 2 Feb 2019 11:23
- IrishNeil
"Pompous and circumstancial"

I agree with DH as a "reputable family owned franchised dealer" who has received a defensive reply to his genuine concern.
HJ was defensive in another reply to this negative generalisation of the motor trade last week aswell.
So, lets break this down as I too struggle with HJ's negative generalisations about hard working families trying to earn a living selling us, the public, cars, in straitened times.
HJ admits he has had 1 million letters or emails since 1995.
So, over 22 years he has had an average of roughly give or take 45 thousand contacts per year "a significant proportion of which were complaints".
Two points, firstly HJ attracts complaints and not compliments, thats the nature of his articles. Send a complaint, HJ will offer his opinion.

Secondly, break down the amount of missives HJ receives on average per year, give or take but roughly 45,000 per year since 1995.
That works out at .0001% of the driving population of the UK.

The vast majority of drivers and non-drivers in the UK have never heard of HJ, his opinion is only heard when we choose to read his articles.
His influence and opinon is limited to his readership and not the majority of car drivers and potential car buyers.

I've been lucky to have found decent honest helpful car dealers in my many decades buying a motor car, keep up the good work with your family dealership DH and, remember, your reputation exists despite this generalisation.

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Sun 3 Feb 2019 16:28
Honest John's Motoring Agony Column 01-02-2019 Part 1 - jchinuk

So 'Operation Vision Zero’ has nothing to do with fog or signage?

Edited by jchinuk on 03/02/2019 at 16:30

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Mon 4 Feb 2019 13:28
Honest John's Motoring Agony Column 01-02-2019 Part 1 - Engineer Andy

To be fair to HJ, it appeared that he made a 'best guess' based on the wording of the sign. So would I. The actual meaning is, well, rather meaningless, and typical of the buzzword culture used by modern politicians and their bureaucrat cronies.

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Thu 7 Feb 2019 02:19
Honest John's Motoring Agony Column 01-02-2019 Part 1 - thinkpad

The question then is should an industry expert be using best guesses without researching the subject they are answering? At the very least a Google search might have been handy in this instance for HJ?

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Thu 7 Feb 2019 22:26
- HairyJones
Honest John, you are talking out of the wrong end of your body. The Ford KAs are NOT built as cheap hire cars for Spain. I know, I was one of the engineers who developed that car.
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