RichardM1

Luckily, I had no head gasket issues with mine; just EGR, electrics, suspension, vacuum lines, clutch, smoke through the air vents etc...

The main reason was that it needed a new steering rack - it got topped up with the wrong fluid which buggered all of the seals. I think it also needed various other bits doing, which amounted to a newer car seeming like a good idea - this newer car being a '97 Escort which immediately needed work... My own A4 Avant was purchased shortly after the red one for a family member. It was a 115bhp PD which I remapped using a tune from blacksmoke to roughly 140bhp which made things more interesting. It also had issues of its own and I got rid a few years ago - I think it's still on the road with around 193k on the clock.

...unfortunately it's now slowly rotting in a field in Kent.

I picked up a Cocraft dual action Polisher from Clas Ohlson last year for £60 - I finally got around to using it a few weeks ago and the results were seriously impressive! I can very much recommend one - along with Sonax EX 04-06 polish and Chemical Guys Quantum polishing pads. I haven't got it but Sonax Cutmax comes highly recommended online too if more cut is required.

Congrats Drum! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same here! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Could I have #16 and #35 please? This 4 metre-long block of car looks adequate for commuting!

Bilt Hamber double-speed wax gets my vote for an excellent value wax that gives both looks and durability: http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/bilt-hamber-double-speed-wax-cat13.html (£15 with free P&P, it can be found cheaper but this includes an applicator sponge and microfibre cloth)

I'm a member over at DW as well, and have to limit my exposure to it as it seems every time I start looking at threads there's another fantastic new product that I MUST have!

Dumped in our resident's parking last weekend with the busted tyre and a scrawled note in the windscreen that reads BOKEN DOWN

Won't I get a dry bum-raping from my insurer come renewal time? Or have to pay my excess immediately and try to claim it back? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

UPDATE - I've just finished giving at statement at my local police station. Whilst I did feel a bit of a prat for wasting his time with something relatively trivial (an opinion he didn't refute!) he was as helpful as he could be. The report is going to be filed away (probably under nuisance) and it doesn't sound like they will be investigating it further. What I do think is odd is that he's given me the name and address of the registered owner of the car in question! He didn't give me their insurance details (although I have those already through the askMID site) and sent me on my way! Now I'm really not sure how to proceed! 1. Call their insurer and file a claim. I don't know how far I'd get. Also, given that the only witnesses are myself and my partner, it would be easy for them to deny all knowledge or even file a counter-claim(?) saying that it was the other way around, meaning at best what would be at best a 50/50 settlement between our insurers and increased insurance premiums for me anyway, and at worst an at fault accident against me! 2. Take it on a chin as one of life's shit moments, repair it myself and move on. This goes against what I think is right - the police don't want to prosecute and the other party deserves everything coming at them. 3. Take the naval option and bombard their house with missiles (most satisfying option) Again, in the grand scheme of things it wasn't by any means a catastrophe but I know given the same circumstances I would have stopped, I think they should be 'taught a lesson' or at least made to learn through the wallet! Any more advice is welcome guys, thanks again for the comments (and healthy debate!) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I must say a big thank you for all the useful advice (even if most of it has been correctly telling me I haven't got a chance!) I do see both of your points of view Lord Sward and AlabamaShrimp, I feel like it's open to judgement which number you call but I tend to err on the danger to life when calling 999. It may have been that the other driver was pissed but more likely looking at their phone and not noticing the road bending slightly to the left - arguably just as dangerous as driving drunk! Perhaps if I had known the reg number at the time I would have been banging on the door of the nearest police station! I hadn't seen the point in having a dashcam fitted before now (other than YouTube) but now I might be looking into fitting one.

It's a good point and I think you're more than likely correct, but at least I'll have tried! My partner is convinced that it's not even worth pursuing. I'm not so sure that dialling 999 would have been suitable unless anyone was injured!

I'm not into vigilante justice, but you wouldn't believe how tempted I was to block him off when I saw the car earlier and get out looking all tough (which is difficult as a 5'8" beanpole!) I do appreciate that it wasn't anything like as bad as what you witnessed - but another six inches over with a closing speed of 60mph would have meant very different circumstances.

Ironically a police officer did drive past a few minutes later, after we had continued with our journey. We flagged him down but he had someone in the car (perhaps someone he had just arrested!) I explained the situation and he told me the best thing to do was to call 101 and ask to speak to someone. As I said in a previous reply having seen the car today we both were 99% sure that it was the reg we had seen but it hadn't registered at the time in the shock of the situation. I hope that they are helpful but I appreciate that I won't be giving them much to go on. I'd like to think that given a reg number they can at least contact the owner of the car in question but I guess it's just crossed fingers as to whether they fess up or not - unlikely given the insurance claim let alone the law-breaking! In that situation I guess my only hope would be another witness or CCTV. My other question is should I be reporting it to my insurer? I've read online about higher premiums and having to pay my excess just for reporting it to them and not making a claim, is this correct?

That's true but I've used the askMID system to look up their insurer and they are insured! Of course I don't think there's any point pursuing anything yet as there's not much to go on (if anything)

We didn't see the driver of the car at the time, it all happened pretty quickly. There's no paint residue on either car, just missing paint on both! We both agreed that in the moment we caught a glimpse and were sure of the first part of the reg, and it wasn't until we saw the car today that it sort of 'clicked' - like our memory was triggered and we are both sure that it was the registration involved.

I've seen a few threads on here asking for advice and it seems you lot are a sensible, level-headed bunch so I thought I'd ask for some advice too! I was the victim of a hit-and-run accident yesterday. My partner and I were in the car yesterday, travelling along a road just round the corner from home when a dark-coloured Nissan Juke travelling in the opposite direction veered across the road without warning and hit us! I slammed on the anchors only to see in my rear-view mirror the Juke taking off. My first instinct was to try and catch them at the traffic lights they were heading towards so my partner jumped out of the car to pick up what had come off our car and I spun around. Unfortunately the lights had turned green by that point and the other car was long gone, and there wasn't a pedestrian or motorist around where the accident had happened, just us and them. There were other cars at the lights but of course all gone too. In the shock of the moment (and assuming they would stop like any person with a conscience would) I didn't think to register the number plate but we're both sure of the first few characters) I reported it to 101 but the traffic department is closed at the weekend(!?) so I've had to leave a voicemail message and they're going to call back tomorrow. The damage is pretty minimal but of course I'm really really pissed and I want to try and trace them, not just for an insurance claim but for a conviction for failing to stop. I've been back to the area today and had a look around for CCTV, there's a few cameras that might have had a view of where the car ended up going but not that I can see covering the accident itself. Is a shot of the car in the area at the time considered good enough for the police to pursue it? Now for where things get interesting! In a case of what I hope is purely mistaken identity on my part, this afternoon I spot a purple Juke in the same area - with damage consistent with the accident! I had my other half take a photo (not sure what good it'll go but I guessed it's better than nothing) and we've taken a note of the reg number. I guess it won't do any harm to mention it all to the police/whoever when they call back tomorrow everything that's happened. Based on experiences you guys have mentioned in the past I'm guessing the police won't be too bothered about tracing the owner of that car and making a visit? Perhaps that, coupled with CCTV (if there is any showing the car in the area at the time) would mean a better chance of things going somewhere? Just sounding things out! This is the first time I've been involved in an accident so I'm not sure how to best go forward from here. I realise it's a pretty thin case I've got so far but thought I'd see if anyone can offer any wisdom. Thanks! UPDATE 14/6/16 Post #42

I still follow the forum closely despite not posting often, I have seen your thread around. MiL has a Berlingo too and gets on very well with it. I had the Audi in Feb 2014, apparently the mechanic said it wasn't worthy bothering with fixing it and it's been cubed/broken/sold for a profit. It's a shame I didn't get a chance to have a look at it myself, at least to get the cruise control stalk out of it! My Audi is being replaced with a, dare it say it, a hopeless modern Mazda! I'll turn in my badge etc... Ta! Hopefully someone from Gumtree is coming tomorrow to waste my time kicking tyres etc. I did look at E46 Tourings at the time and remember they hold their value better, so it would have been a base spec 318. Nice cars though!

I forget but I think I had to sign up again for some reason. Regarding the poor old Audi's fate, I'm told otherwise but I think it involved another car and a set of jump leads connected backwards... Hope you're keeping well anyway!

Dog mechanic approves of the job you did dink; the Audi lasted until just a few weeks ago! It did incredibly well to get that far given it's treatment (what's the term for someone with the polar opposite of mechanical sympathy?)

Someone please save me from the gumtree mongs! I admit that this car is pretty much anti-autoshite but thought I'd chuck it on here anyway; at least "get this shit off of here" makes a change from "wots ur bst price m8" "do u wnt a pugeot' etc etc... Ad copied across verbatim: https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/sparesrepair-2001-audi-a4-tdi-avant-se/1156331860 For sale - 2001 Audi A4 (B5 model) Avant TDI SE for spares/repair Mileage - 176,200Engine - AJM 115bhp (remapped) TDI, 5 speed manualTyres - 225/45r17 all tread depths ok 3/4mmMOT - September 2016 I've owned this car for two years and spent a significant amount keeping it on the road (full service history included). I've also made a number of modifications to the car. It's an SE model so has electric windows all round, climate control, full trip computer, door sill plates, 16 inch alloy wheels (changed for 17s but originals included), front fog lights and leather steering wheel/handbrake/gearknob Faults: - The flywheel (dual-mass) is showing signs of wear. There is a vibration at the clutch biting point and when accelerating hard.- Smoking (mostly through the vents!) when the engine heats up after the car has been stood for more than a week. It's only done this once and stopped smoking after twenty minutes or so of driving which suggests it's caused by an oil leak in the engine bay that is being burned off- There's a couple of patches of flaking paintwork mostly in the arches- In cold weather the airbag light flickers for a minute or so after starting the engine, it never appears again after it's gone off, and never appears during warmer weather- The windscreen has several chips- 17 inch alloys are badly scuffed but basically solid; the 16s have patches of corrosion There are some good points!- Aside from the points mentioned above the car drives really nicely. The suspension and brakes are in good condition so there's no strange noises whilst driving and the car handles nicely. You'd be hard pressed to think it's a car with faults at all!- Engine and gearbox seem to be in good condition. The engine is remapped to around 140bhp and pulls like a train!- Apart from the bubbling paint the body and paintwork is in good condition. A few scuffs and scratches but nothing major- Interior is in very good condition. LED interior lighting and good-quality tailored carpets- Front and rear door speakers changed for good quality replacements. As I had an aftermarket stereo fitted the rear door speakers aren't wired to the stock radio. The front speakers and boot subwoofer work and sound good! - Stock radio fitted, it's an Audi Concert with cassette in the dash and 6CD changer in the boot along with a subwoofer - all working fine- There is a towbar fitted and appears to be good quality but I've never used it- Front centre armrest fitted (not OEM) All in all it's a really tidy car, that with a few fixes and parts could be a reliable, smart runaround! It has cost me a lot during my ownership (as evidenced by the last MOT with no advisories!) There's too many parts to list here that I've changed and had changed but all is included with the service history. Car is in Norwich, £500 ono (nothing insulting please!) The car's in Norwich and is £400 to a shiter

It's not much use now, but this afternoon I drove from Norwich to Heathrow!

My vote goes to the Jeep Compass 'Rallye' - those arches!