artdjones

14 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I’ve noticed in Spain they seem to have smaller outfits like you don’t see in the U.K., probably with 2 cars in showroom and a small workshop attached. 

It could be a UK thing, lots of American influence on business. American businesses dont look on their distribution network as partners, just as a resource to be sucked dry then cast aside.

Far be it from me to defend main dealers, but the ones to blame for all this are the manufacturers.

Margins on new cars are low. The manufacturers insist on the franchise having a huge glass showroom, they also change signage and point of sale graphics at their discretion, but the dealer has to pay for it.  Likewise with a complete set of special tools and diagnostic equipment, where the manufacturer sets the exorbitant price. If the car maker decides to can you, that's it, they can do it on a whim, with a very short notice period, leaving the dealership in hock to the eyeballs with no way to pay the loans off. They will remove the signage etc. that the dealer paid for very quickly. So you get £210+VAT labour rates, because it's only through parts and service that the company can make enough money to ensure that loss of the franchise won't result in immediate bankruptcy.

It seems to be a particularly UK/Ireland system of doing business. French, German, Spanish, and Italian dealers are much more modest in size. In France there's an unpretentious Citroen, Peugeot, or Renault dealer in every small town, sometimes more than one.

20 hours ago, UltraWomble said:

And now wankers who wobble because they loaded the Mondeo arse first onto the trailer...
Why would you do that?

 

Because you're from a certain demographic in Ireland who rules don't apply to? That rig must be right on the towing limit, or over.

1 minute ago, bunglebus said:

I must deduct you one internet point for failing to mention the ability to go as fast backwards as forwards, when discussing variomatic Volvos

The thing that seemed strange when I went in a family friend's 55 was the engine revs decreasing as the car continued accelerating.

41 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Europcar. I'll be a driver picking up or dropping off cars. They have promised that I will never use public transport, there will always be a 'runner' to collect me. There will be some car cleaning, which I don't mind. I do like a clean car! I'm just after as minimal amount of stress as possible. I thought the airport was going to be it but then an American company took over the company I was working for and ruined everything.

Ideal employee from the US point of view :-

"I don't have a social life, that would be like stealing from the company."

1 hour ago, D.E said:

Yes - the P900 project would have been introduced as the Daf 77 in 1975, but when Volvo took over the introduction was delayed for a bit, some modifications were made, and the end result was the 300 series we are all probably familiar with! Some older prototypes:

You could still get the Variomatic for a long time on the 343. I drove one once, as it was lhd and had to be started on petrol, then switched over to lpg, so that particular car was an acquired taste. 

39 minutes ago, martc said:

Moskvitch's were sold in the UK in the early '70's and did quite well until the Consumer Association laid into them due to 'safety problems'. The same safety problems which every other make of car suffered from at the time (because safety wasn't a thing back then). Anyhow Moskvitch's sales plummeted and they withdrew from the UK. Some conspiracy theorists believed that the Association were steered towards the foul commie car by the press departments of more established manufacturers....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moskvitch_412#:~:text=01 Pickup truck-,Sales in the UK,some 300 cars were sold.

The Moskvitch sold here was the 412, I clearly remember them - the van version was used on Hull Docks as utility run arounds. The version I posted above is the facelift of it, a model that had escaped  my attention until a few hours ago.

 

 

They did pretty well in production car racing, as the categories were based on the car's on the road price so a  very cheap 1.5 was much faster than  other maker's weedy one litre economy cars.

2 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

Focus or fiesta with the 1.0 ecoboost

BMW 120d or 320d

Don't you like him😊?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403147555927

A Megane Estate is my answer to everything after 6 years experience of them. They do have a DMF, if a 110hp,  but it seems to be a robust one. 

16 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Having had a good look under the bonnet, it appears to have the standard thermostat housing.
One pipe in the back, one pipe out the front, and a sensor plugged into it right next to one of the pipes. Not the Eco style one with the sensor coming out the side there.

You can tell which engine you've got, its stamped into the r/h side of the block as you look at the engine from the front. But hard to see as it's partly obscured by the plastic mouldings of the cylinder head cover.

I think the actual eco engine came with the small facelift that happened around later 2012. So your engine could be an 836. It doesn't make a huge difference, just a couple of mpg. And for some reason the 836 and 636 have a different timing belt, with the newer engine having 4 teeth less.

17 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

I'm not ordering one yet, but depending on the results from using Torque on it tomorrow...

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/ridex/15800178

Aye, why not at that price? Only the finest* parts for this car. 🤣

As yours is down as an Eco on car checking sites it's probably got a k9k 636 engine, which has a different stat housing. I'm fairly sure the working part can be swapped over, though.

This is the one off the 636

40 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Aha.

I thought there was something thermostat-y looking there when I was poking around earlier.

You can buy them with housing or without. Most of the ones that are sold are 83°, fairly cool, which might explain why they dont warm up easily, but you can get an 87°item as well, which is what I did. I did notice from the fuel computer that having the engine warmed up enough to read three bars on the gauge made a noticeable difference to economy. 

The one I had with the digital gauge used to stick on one bar a lot of the time in winter. So I got a thermostat, which improved matters, but it still took 3 or 4 miles to go to normal. The gauge jumps from 1 to 3 bars, bypassing any intermediate position.

The thermostat is on the opposite end of the cylinder head to the timing belt, a bit fiddly, but reasonably easy. Especially by VW standards.

39 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

that generic silver car

They are like a Corolla with a bit more flair.

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

£900

140k miles

MOT to October

110dci 6 speed

£0 road tax

Drives like a big Clio

Those awful wheel trims will go in the bin tomorrow .

Should be trouble free, going by my experience with two of them, plus two friends having them as well. And reasonably light for the size for a modern, so quite lively with 110hp. Expect an extra 20 mpg over the Astra. The six speed is quite nice because the top 4 ratios have fairly small gaps between, it's not like some cars where there's a massive gap between fifth and top.

4 hours ago, Wack said:

That's what they've quoted for, half the job is labour and that's at £50 an hour plus vat which is really cheap, a lot of garages would be charging £1000+ vat for 10 hours labour 

I've no intention of trying to source cheaper parts, it's drive it until it breaks then decide whether I fix it or they supply parts and fix it 

I really like the car, it fits exactly what I need at the moment, I only paid £800 for it so even at £2300 with a new clutch it's not a disaster 

If you can do the job yourself then it makes sense to buy the parts, maybe not ridex though 😂

Autodoc are doing the LuK kit for €695 on the app today, so around £600.

It's not in stock anyway but Ridex is a generic make on Autodoc. So probably Chinese. I'd only use LuK, Sachs, Exedy, or Valeo.

I keep meaning to go(my brother lives in Essen) but every year it creeps up on me.

The ultimate car to just use has arrived. Not for me,  but to sell, as the mother-in-law has given up driving. Probably still worth what was paid for it in 2020, as they are starting to thin out, and lots of the ones for sale have 3-400k kms on them. This one only has 159k.

5 minutes ago, PicantoJon said:

From what I could see it was limited to that particular lobe. Doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. 😬

Probably best to just run it with regular oil changes until some symptoms manifest themselves.

Full camshaft and follower kits are available, if the worst happens. Approx £300 on eBay with a cambelt kit on top.

I thought Mitsubishi were leaving Europe?

12 minutes ago, PicantoJon said:

That's the one. That was my guess too, annoying seeing how I've been changing oil and filter every 6-7,000 miles. 

The only one I've bought that did that had the oil pressure light come on at idle when I got home. It had run perfectly on test a few days before,but then it started knocking. I was able to get another engine very cheaply, so changed it over, but I couldn't help noticing that the sump on the bad engine had a huge dent in it in the vicinity of the oil pickup. No damage to the pickup, but obviously there hadnt been  enough space for oil to get through at high speed. And all the cam lobes had those deep pits.

1 hour ago, meowmeow said:

Just wait till you see the tiles that are going up

amazing what weird tat you can find on fb marketplace that's been sitting  in someone's loft for years

Mum and dad put those in our bathroom back in 1967.

6 hours ago, PicantoJon said:

Found this whilst changing one of the the injector seals.

Arses. 

1.6HDi?, they can do that without any symptoms, maybe there's been some oil starvation.

Over from France.