Car advice

[jamamafegan]

All I know is that you need to give it a blast down a dual carriageway every so often to get the diesel particulate filter up to temperature and working properly.

Car gets a wee 5 mile trip down a dual carriageway most days for work so that should be alright.

Check the interval for changing the timing belt (40,000K comes to mind) any time I've had it done I've asked to have the water pump replaced at the same time.

This cars got an engine chain rather than a belt, still learning about what needs to be done to keep it in good shape. Think it needs to be kept well oiled.

[8MileBU]

37 minutes ago, jamamafegan said:

Car gets a wee 5 mile trip down a dual carriageway most days for work so that should be alright.

 

In theory it should be alright, but having had DPF issues on a couple of cars (minor on my old VW, major and the beginning of the end for my old Focus), I would suggest that a daily run down a dual carriageway isn’t always enough for a few diesel motors. Was my mechanic mate who first advised me years ago but you do need to give them a proper gunning every so often, delaying gear changes a second or so to keep the revs high, heat the DPF up and put the foot down to basically blast all the crap out. Obviously you don’t want to get caught speeding so you need to pick your times and places but in my experience, the odd 100 mph dash is beneficial to keeping a diesel motor in shape. 

Mind how ye go.

[pub car king]

If its pre dpf then happy days that seemed to be the sweet spot for diesel engines. Vw used to do a 1.9 with a 6 speed box and they were indestructible i ran one to 160k and was still going strong.

Issues will be injectors and dual mass fly wheel. Just change the oil regular as clockwork and give it a good hiding regularly.

[jimmy boo]

Check the interval for changing the timing belt (40,000K comes to mind) any time I've had it done I've asked to have the water pump replaced at the same time.

Every time Ed China replaced a timing belt on Wheeler Dealers he always recommended doing the water pump too. If it's good enough for him etc etc.

[D.A.F.C]

Upgraded motor today. Figured after getting respray my old one has never looked better. New car bit faster as well. Nearly killed a cyclist coming back home.

[RandomGuy.]

On 16/09/2020 at 23:34, jamamafegan said:

Just recently got myself a 2005 diesel engine Nissan X-Trail. It’s my first diesel car. Anyone got any tips on things to keep on top of to look after it? I’ll probably get an oil change done in the near future, get anti freeze coolant in it for winter.

Doubt you'll have any issues with injectors on that tbf, and it won't have a DPF. Absolutely get the oil changed regularly though.

Did you get it with a years MOT? They're bad for rust.

[RandomGuy.]

On 17/09/2020 at 09:16, 8MileBU said:

In theory it should be alright, but having had DPF issues on a couple of cars (minor on my old VW, major and the beginning of the end for my old Focus), I would suggest that a daily run down a dual carriageway isn’t always enough for a few diesel motors. Was my mechanic mate who first advised me years ago but you do need to give them a proper gunning every so often, delaying gear changes a second or so to keep the revs high, heat the DPF up and put the foot down to basically blast all the crap out. Obviously you don’t want to get caught speeding so you need to pick your times and places but in my experience, the odd 100 mph dash is beneficial to keeping a diesel motor in shape. 

Mind how ye go.

Some 16/17 Evoques block their DPFs up even if you do thrash them, within a couple of thousand miles at best. Seems like there was a bad batch.

[8MileBU]

8 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

Some 16/17 Evoques block their DPFs up even if you do thrash them, within a couple of thousand miles at best. Seems like there was a bad batch.

Could have been the type in the Focus I had then. Was a 59 plate Zetec TDCi but my mate says Ford fucked around with the Focus around then and changed things in the design for no good reason. My DPF issues were just the beginning of the end for that car. Only diesel I’ve had that putting the foot down couldn’t/wouldn’t blast all the crap through and probably needed driven like it was stolen on a daily basis to deal with the underperforming DPF. Their dual-mass flywheel was a disaster too.

Edited September 18, 2020 by 8MileBU

[RandomGuy.]

38 minutes ago, 8MileBU said:

Could have been the type in the Focus I had then. Was a 59 plate Zetec TDCi but my mate says Ford fucked around with the Focus around then and changed things in the design for no good reason. My DPF issues were just the beginning of the end for that car. Only diesel I’ve had that putting the foot down couldn’t/wouldn’t blast all the crap through and probably needed driven like it was stolen on a daily basis to deal with the underperforming DPF. Their dual-mass flywheel was a disaster too.

No you're spot on, just that there's a batch of Evoques where its literally impossible to prevent it. 

Just thought it might be helpful to mention when on the topic.

[8MileBU]

1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said:

No you're spot on, just that there's a batch of Evoques where its literally impossible to prevent it. 

Just thought it might be helpful to mention when on the topic.

Definitely. Any info on this thread might be helpful to someone at some point. Think the majority seem to not know much about cars (usually don’t need to know), some of us know just a wee bit, and the experts are in the minority it seems. 

I also remember something from years ago about loss of power not necessarily indicating DPF issues, but down to a build up of crap on the injectors? More common in direct injection diesels than turbo diesels I think was what I was told?

[alta-pete]

I think the general takeaway is that if you’re largely doing pootling about for most of the week then a modern diesel is not the car for you. 

[jamamafegan]

Doubt you'll have any issues with injectors on that tbf, and it won't have a DPF. Absolutely get the oil changed regularly though.
Did you get it with a years MOT? They're bad for rust.

I did yeah. Rust isn’t too bad (I think?), plan is to regularly clean under the car with the pressure washer in winter to try get rid of road salt and any other time when I’ve been on a dirt track. Would you say get the oil change done ever 10k? Last service was about 8k ago.

[RandomGuy.]

4 minutes ago, jamamafegan said:

 

I did yeah. Rust isn’t too bad (I think?), plan is to regularly clean under the car with the pressure washer in winter to try get rid of road salt and any other time when I’ve been on a dirt track. Would you say get the oil change done ever 10k? Last service was about 8k ago.

 

10k or 12 months is the general plan for servicing.

Don't be too harsh with a pressure washer though, had a guy with a 2008 Range Rover do that and blow a hole through his floor he was pointing straight at it from close range though. 

[die hard doonhamer]

On 22/09/2020 at 18:06, MixuFruit said:

Should be good news for insurance (not just for cars)

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/09/insurers-face-ban-on-hiking-prices-for-existing-customers-at-ren/

Not sure I agree with you. I think it'll mean more expensive premiums up front, since insurers can no longer make year 1 cheap and make the money back later. If you are the type of person that shops around at renewal every year. you are likely to be worse off.

[JamesP_81]

Not sure I agree with you. I think it'll mean more expensive premiums up front, since insurers can no longer make year 1 cheap and make the money back later. If you are the type of person that shops around at renewal every year. you are likely to be worse off.

Pretty much this. Used to work in insurance and basically to get volumes on the books insurers were making huge losses on 1st year customers due to the competitiveness with all these new online insurers that seemed to sprout up overnight. When I left nearly 10 years ago they were looking at not breaking even with a customer untill they were into their 3rd year with them, really its the renewal prices that are the 'real' prices and new business is heavily discounted. Bit like when they ruled it illegal to use gender as a rating factor so instead of young males paying less to fall in line with the statistically safer young female driver the females prices shot up as they were no longer getting a gender discount.

[Thistle_do_nicely]

2 hours ago, JamesP_81 said:

6 hours ago, die hard doonhamer said:

Not sure I agree with you. I think it'll mean more expensive premiums up front, since insurers can no longer make year 1 cheap and make the money back later. If you are the type of person that shops around at renewal every year. you are likely to be worse off.

Pretty much this. Used to work in insurance and basically to get volumes on the books insurers were making huge losses on 1st year customers due to the competitiveness with all these new online insurers that seemed to sprout up overnight. When I left nearly 10 years ago they were looking at not breaking even with a customer untill they were into their 3rd year with them, really its the renewal prices that are the 'real' prices and new business is heavily discounted. Bit like when they ruled it illegal to use gender as a rating factor so instead of young males paying less to fall in line with the statistically safer young female driver the females prices shot up as they were no longer getting a gender discount.

I've wondered about this before - no insurance background but my pet theory was always that insurers were happy to insure your car for, say, a year and take a few hundred quid off you then not want you to stay any longer, since if you stick with the same insurer for like 10 years then statistically they'd be more likely (well, relatively) to end up having to handle a claim which then eats into the money they've already taken off you (dunno how insurers sort out a no fault claim between themselves and who eats shit over it tbh) 

So for the insurer it's... trying to word it, but better to have 100 people paying for their insurance for 1 year than to have 10 people paying their insurance for 10 years?

I was with Sure Thing for a year there and they took about £300 off me for a full years insurance fully comp which I thought was pretty good when I got it on the price comparison, switched when the renewal email was for about £400. Had thought about why they do that and did think that they've basically had £300 without me even having to speak to a staff member and me doing a fair chunk of the admin work when I was signing up for the policy, but if I stayed for another year on similar terms then they might be running more risk of losing everything they've had off me so far if someone claims against me. So at their end they get a bit of a win win, either I auto renew on worse terms or I f**k off to another insurer and they've made their money off me without any hassle.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Thistle_do_nicely

[JamesP_81]

I've wondered about this before - no insurance background but my pet theory was always that insurers were happy to insure your car for, say, a year and take a few hundred quid off you then not want you to stay any longer, since if you stick with the same insurer for like 10 years then statistically they'd be more likely (well, relatively) to end up having to handle a claim which then eats into the money they've already taken off you (dunno how insurers sort out a no fault claim between themselves and who eats shit over it tbh) 
So for the insurer it's... trying to word it, but better to have 100 people paying for their insurance for 1 year than to have 10 people paying their insurance for 10 years?
I was with Sure Thing for a year there and they took about £300 off me for a full years insurance fully comp which I thought was pretty good when I got it on the price comparison, switched when the renewal email was for about £400. Had thought about why they do that and did think that they've basically had £300 without me even having to speak to a staff member and me doing a fair chunk of the admin work when I was signing up for the policy, but if I stayed for another year on similar terms then they might be running more risk of losing everything they've had off me so far if someone claims against me. So at their end they get a bit of a win win, either I auto renew on worse terms or I f**k off to another insurer and they've made their money off me without any hassle.

It's more along the lines of, they're willing to take the hit on 100 people for a year in the hope that 10 of them stick around for another couple of years.

[Scary Bear]

1 hour ago, JamesP_81 said:

8 hours ago, Thistle_do_nicely said:

I've wondered about this before - no insurance background but my pet theory was always that insurers were happy to insure your car for, say, a year and take a few hundred quid off you then not want you to stay any longer, since if you stick with the same insurer for like 10 years then statistically they'd be more likely (well, relatively) to end up having to handle a claim which then eats into the money they've already taken off you (dunno how insurers sort out a no fault claim between themselves and who eats shit over it tbh) 
So for the insurer it's... trying to word it, but better to have 100 people paying for their insurance for 1 year than to have 10 people paying their insurance for 10 years?
I was with Sure Thing for a year there and they took about £300 off me for a full years insurance fully comp which I thought was pretty good when I got it on the price comparison, switched when the renewal email was for about £400. Had thought about why they do that and did think that they've basically had £300 without me even having to speak to a staff member and me doing a fair chunk of the admin work when I was signing up for the policy, but if I stayed for another year on similar terms then they might be running more risk of losing everything they've had off me so far if someone claims against me. So at their end they get a bit of a win win, either I auto renew on worse terms or I f**k off to another insurer and they've made their money off me without any hassle.

It's more along the lines of, they're willing to take the hit on 100 people for a year in the hope that 10 of them stick around for another couple of years.

I’m assuming it’s also to do with risk. How many of those hundred punters have never made a claim in the last 5 years? How many are likely to make a claim that year?

Seen as you worked at an insurer. What percentage of total people covered claim on their car insurance in an average year? 

[ICTJohnboy]

My other half has decided her Kia Rio (2010) is getting a wee bit long in the tooth, although tbf it's never given us much bother.

Thinking about Peugeot 208 or a Fiesta - preferably low mileage and pre-2017 to take advantage of low tax rates. 

Anyone got any experience of either of these cars, or is there anything else in the small hatch range we could think about?

[pub car king]

We have a 2015 fiesta ecobbost in our fleet at the moment.

Apart from general wear and tear tyres brakes etc its not given us any headaches. Its even survived a couple of trips from the south of England to fife.

Only issue in the horizon is I'm told the cam belt is a absolute c**t to change but that's due after 10 years bit it will be moved on before that.