Car advice

[welshbairn]

1 minute ago, Lambie's Pigeon Feed said:

Going to be buying my first car this summer despite passing my test 16 years ago. I drove a new seat leon tdi as a rental recently and that would be the kind of size I'd need as a minimum (two of us using it for camping trips), I also really liked the car to drive.

Anyone got any tips on a second hand motor in that style £6-8k? I assume finance deals on new motors are shite and I'd get a reliable motor for that price.

If your priorities are getting A-B with decent boot space I'd recommend a Nissan Note. The back seats slide back and forwards on a rail, so easy to adjust for other passengers or loads of boot space. We got ours with high spec, automatic, 3 years old and 18000 on the clock for £7000. Drives easily but I'm not a boy racer, enough welly when I need it which isn't often. They've stopped making them so the price might be coming down. Have found Nissans to be reliable but extended warranty has proved worthwhile, the aircon packed in which would have cost a bundle to fix. 

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

If your priorities are getting A-B with decent boot space I'd recommend a Nissan Note. The back seats slide back and forwards on a rail, so easy to adjust for other passengers or loads of boot space. We got ours with high spec, automatic, 3 years old and 18000 on the clock for £7000. Drives easily but I'm not a boy racer, enough welly when I need it which isn't often. They've stopped making them so the price might be coming down. Have found Nissans to be reliable but extended warranty has proved worthwhile, the aircon packed in which would have cost a bundle to fix. 

Used to get the older shaped notes as a hire car a lot and found them to be a decent drive. Good fuel economy as well. Welshbairns suggestion is a good one.

[KnightswoodBear]

2 minutes ago, MixuFixit said:

 

Replacing the sensor on the radiator fixed it! Took it for an Italian tune up and it didn't go above 1/3 on the temperature gauge, back on the road for £10

I was read your earlier posts and was thinking this morning "I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!" 

[Sergeant Wilson]

3 minutes ago, KnightswoodBear said:

I was read your earlier posts and was thinking this morning "I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!" 

It's better than Line of Duty.

[KnightswoodBear]

8 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

It's better than Line of Duty.

 

8 minutes ago, MixuFixit said:

Well I noticed oil caking a gasket under there while I was footering about so worry not there'll be more escapades to come

[KnightswoodBear]

5 minutes ago, MixuFixit said:

Looks like its the oil level sensor - can't seem to get gaskets so whole unit needs replacing

To quote the mechanic I used to take my cars to, when I pointed out that the sump of my Polo was covered in oil.

"Is it dripping onto your driveway?  If it's not, then it's stopping the sump rusting, I wouldn't worry about it just now"

eta: That car had far more pressing issues than a bit of oil on the sump.

Edited April 24, 2019 by KnightswoodBear

[pub car king]

I'm playing a game of russian roulette with my old diesel astra.  The mot expires in September and it only just scraped through last year as the front suspension is fucked, both struts are leaking fluid.

Since then the horn is fucked, the turbo has a feint whistle, the steering vibrates at 60mph but is alright at 100mph, the suspension is now really really fucked and the handling is gash on corners, the clutch makes a horrendous noise on the bite point and I suspect the aircon has expired. 

I'm just waiting for one of these or another unnoticed fault to cause the b*****d to expire on me at the worst possible time, makes every journey interesting. 

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

I'm playing a game of russian roulette with my old diesel astra.  The mot expires in September and it only just scraped through last year as the front suspension is fucked, both struts are leaking fluid.
Since then the horn is fucked, the turbo has a feint whistle, the steering vibrates at 60mph but is alright at 100mph, the suspension is now really really fucked and the handling is gash on corners, the clutch makes a horrendous noise on the bite point and I suspect the aircon has expired. 
I'm just waiting for one of these or another unnoticed fault to cause the b*****d to expire on me at the worst possible time, makes every journey interesting. 

Won't be scraping through it this year for sure.

[RandomGuy.]

The importance of upgrading spark plugs after a remap...

[killiepiemuncher]

I'm playing a game of russian roulette with my old diesel astra.  The mot expires in September and it only just scraped through last year as the front suspension is fucked, both struts are leaking fluid.
Since then the horn is fucked, the turbo has a feint whistle, the steering vibrates at 60mph but is alright at 100mph, the suspension is now really really fucked and the handling is gash on corners, the clutch makes a horrendous noise on the bite point and I suspect the aircon has expired. 
I'm just waiting for one of these or another unnoticed fault to cause the b*****d to expire on me at the worst possible time, makes every journey interesting. 

Especially at 100mph when everything is fine.

[throbber]

Can anyone recommend a decent place in Edinburgh for an MOT? I drove past a place in Seafield that said MOT for £30 so I’m not sure if that place is reliable or not.

[Rugster]

Got my new car on Monday. Delighted with it. Loads of gadgets and the weirdest one was when I was driving to work yesterday using cruise control and the car started to slow down. I thought I'd accidentally clicked it off, but it has some ninja radar thing that senses when there are vehicles in front of you and it was slowing down and speeding up accordingly. 

 

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

Can anyone recommend a decent place in Edinburgh for an MOT? I drove past a place in Seafield that said MOT for £30 so I’m not sure if that place is reliable or not.

The council do MOTs. Don't do repairs so they won't look for add on items.

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

Got my new car on Monday. Delighted with it. Loads of gadgets and the weirdest one was when I was driving to work yesterday using cruise control and the car started to slow down. I thought I'd accidentally clicked it off, but it has some ninja radar thing that senses when there are vehicles in front of you and it was slowing down and speeding up accordingly. 
 

Had that in Florida last year. It's really good and reacts quicker than humans. Just need to trust it which took a few drives.

[throbber]

I also got a letter through saying my car was due a service, I have had it a year and have only taken it 6000 miles as opposed to 12000 miles when you should service it so should I just leave it until I have done the 12000 or get it done now? Its on PCP so would they after me for money if something were to go wrong after I gave it back and they could see that I never serviced it after a year? Wish I had never bothered getting the fucking thing now.

[Sergeant Wilson]

5 minutes ago, throbber said:

I also got a letter through saying my car was due a service, I have had it a year and have only taken it 6000 miles as opposed to 12000 miles when you should service it so should I just leave it until I have done the 12000 or get it done now? Its on PCP so would they after me for money if something were to go wrong after I gave it back and they could see that I never serviced it after a year? Wish I had never bothered getting the fucking thing now.

Eating in to your drink budget?

[throbber]

Eating in to your drink budget?

Not half mate!

[Jumbo Muir]

I also got a letter through saying my car was due a service, I have had it a year and have only taken it 6000 miles as opposed to 12000 miles when you should service it so should I just leave it until I have done the 12000 or get it done now? Its on PCP so would they after me for money if something were to go wrong after I gave it back and they could see that I never serviced it after a year? Wish I had never bothered getting the fucking thing now.

Read through your contract. It probably says that the car should be serviced at 12,000 miles or one year, whichever comes first.

If it does say that, then they can claim that by not having the car serviced, you are in breach of contract and they could chase you for their “loss of value “ due to no adequate service history.

You can bet your arse that the figure they put in loss of value will be far higher than what you’ll have to pay to get it serviced.

[Jumbo Muir]

Can anyone recommend a decent place in Edinburgh for an MOT? I drove past a place in Seafield that said MOT for £30 so I’m not sure if that place is reliable or not.

See if the council have their own MOT centre that they use to MOT their own vehicles.
They’re usually happy to MOT private vehicles for the full DOT test price.
The positive of using a council place is that due to the fact that all they do is MOTs, there is no incentive for them to fail your car and advise you get the work done there.

[throbber]

See if the council have their own MOT centre that they use to MOT their own vehicles.
They’re usually happy to MOT private vehicles for the full DOT test price.
The positive of using a council place is that due to the fact that all they do is MOTs, there is no incentive for them to fail your car and advise you get the work done there.

Thanks for both of those bits of advice, I’ll have a look at the contract but it will say the car is due a service as there’s been a year since the last one and there won’t be a way out of it, I’m wanting to get a car from my work later this year and never have to go through with this shite again! Also got a speeding ticket from last weekend in the mail to add to all this expense for a car that I only took 6000 miles in the last year!