The new news 24 thread

[Jim Bergerac]

I’ve just ordered a new Skoda to replace the BMW as my work car and solid red is about the only actual colour option, apart from a rather dull blue. Everything else is shades of white, black, grey or brown. There was briefly a nice sage green available but they soon put a stop to that.

 

Shame, as Skoda does some quite snazzy colours in its home market and other points eastwards.

 

(Obviously I’ve gone for beige.)

I saw one of these in this colour the other week:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201710300785801?

 

Build it and someone will buy one. I don't think it's a good colour for that type of car but at least it's something different.

[320touring]

"New cars are all boring Greys"

 

*Wobbly wibbly timey wimey lines*

 

Welcome to 1959..

 

 

Car colour doesn't matter!

[Pillock]

Manufacturers are nervous about bright colours because so many cars are PCP'ed or whatever - so if you go mental and order an Applejack Mini Clubman, you might love it for three years but then you give it back and the dealer has to find someone else with the right state of mind to buy it. 

 

I guess years ago, if you bought a mental colour car it was your own responsibility to shift it on and take the price hit to get rid.

[Jim Bell]

Overall I'm pleased with this one, it drives very well and doesn't seem to need anything horrific. The idea is I can have this for a while now (more than 3 months would be an improvement on recent ownership stints) and its value should at least stay stable. These are quite popular despite being slated when new for not being properly fast.

 

From what I've experienced so far, it has plenty of power but it's subtle - flexible with bags of torque and it'll happily stay in 6th from surprisingly low speeds right up to the limit. It does need a service which I'll attend to soon.

 

20180331_110630.jpg

 

There's some marks on the bodywork but overall for a Focus it's pretty good, one front wing has some rust blebs and doesn't appear to be original anyway. A big stack of paperwork and no real signs of neglect, I think the right amount of fresh oil and a new set of plugs and leads should be very good for it. It has no record of a timing belt change either but as I have their details I'm going to write to a couple of previous owners to see if they have any record of it and see if the owners' manual and/or spare key are still around somewhere. I might also try contacting the garages on a couple of the invoices.

 

20180331_110642.jpg

 

And on the subject of colours, I do like this - it's had a very thorough machine polish recently and is mega shiny, it's eye catching without being loud.

 

That looks smashing man. If you dont mind be being a nosey basthard, what are these worth in these modern brexit times?

[Jim Bell]

 

Car colour doesn't matter!

Unless is yellow. Then it matters the most.

[cobblers]

What have I become? My mate is selling his VW Tiguan and I quite fancy it cos it's got a smooth ride and the dogs would fit OK in the back. But do I really want to spend 3k on a 10 year old 130k mile VW dieselgate yacht with DMF, DPF and that's had the emissions fix? I'm scared.

[phil_lihp]

That looks smashing man. If you dont mind be being a nosey basthard, what are these worth in these modern brexit times?

 

I think the official pricing is 'what you can get away with'.  I've seen some low mileage, tidy ones in the right spec/colour going for £2000+.  This one's fundamentally tidy, in the right colour and a late one but without the xenons/climate control that some prefer and has a few minor niggles.  It was sold as spares or repairs by the Ford specialist I bought it from on the basis of the timing belt age being unknown and the clutch release bearing being noisy (clutch itself was replaced in 2014) and I paid £850.  It was advertised for £895 and there was apparently a lot of interest which I can believe.

[Jim Bell]

That seems very good value for a PERFORMANCE FORD. Specially a decent one. I think I may just have to set up an ebay search alert with keywords ST and Focus.

 

Cheers fella.

[clayts450]

Wahey - generous MoT tester -another year of urban on-roading in the Streetshite

 

 

[SiC]

DIY DISASTER!

 

Replaced the bonnet release handle on the TT and cleaned up the lock mechanism. Put all back together and tested it many times with the bonnet open.

 

Shut the bonnet again and the release wire now has come detached on the bonnet catch.

 

Anyone have any ideas on how to open the bonnet back up again?

 

I'm hoping I'm not going to have to resort to cutting the front grill off.

 

 

Where this screwdriver is, is where the wire should attach to.

 

There is a heavy chunk of steel where the catch goes, so not really possible to get a screwdriver up there to actuate anything.

[cobblers]

Take the undertray off and go from below? I've had to do it to a couple of VAG motors but never a tt

[Angrydicky]

My mate managed to operate the bonnet catch in about 30 seconds, lying underneath with a long screwdriver, when the cable jumped off on the Sierra Base.

 

Sorry, that's not much help really.

[SiC]

Take the undertray off and go from below? I've had to do it to a couple of VAG motors but never a tt

I can't see that's possible on this. Crash beam is in the way as a minimum. Also a big steel plate is in the way. I guess that's there for security reasons.

 

Got the endoscope camera in there and the cable has definitely become detached.

 

Feel sick

[Sigmund Fraud]

I can't see that's possible on this. Crash beam is in the way as a minimum. Also a big steel plate is in the way. I guess that's there for security reasons.

 

Got the endoscope camera in there and the cable has definitely become detached.

 

Feel sick

 

I presume you don't need the car for the next couple of days, so don't rush !

 

If you can see the release cable attachment with the endoscope, you can probably work out where/how you need to push/pull to get the thing open. Worst case scenario, a carefully drilled hole in the grille (and, potentially, the metal plate underneath) will allow you access.

[DodgeRover]

What have I become? My mate is selling his VW Tiguan and I quite fancy it cos it's got a smooth ride and the dogs would fit OK in the back. But do I really want to spend 3k on a 10 year old 130k mile VW dieselgate yacht with DMF, DPF and that's had the emissions fix? I'm scared.

Demand VW buy it back like they are doing in the states?

[SiC]

I presume you don't need the car for the next couple of days, so don't rush !

 

If you can see the release cable attachment with the endoscope, you can probably work out where/how you need to push/pull to get the thing open. Worst case scenario, a carefully drilled hole in the grille (and, potentially, the metal plate underneath) will allow you access.

Yeah I need to leave it and come back to it. Problem is, everytime I look at it, it annoys me and so I want to sort it.

 

It was only supposed to be a half hour job but I've spent all day trying to fix it. Annoyingly has meant I've not had any time to sort the Civic out.

 

Might go sort the garage out. At the very least it will make access to my tools easier again.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I'll never understand the whims of a French mistress. After last weekend's failure to start, I was fearing an expensive repair session.

 

This afternoon, I slipped the key in and not only did the CX start first time but fired first time, as if nothing had happened.

 

 

It's bizarre. Just bizarre.

 

Not all good news. A local run has revealed that the auto box is slipping in first. I think a fluid and filter change is overdue.

[SiC]

Oh and the door key won't turn in the lock. So I think that's siezed up solid. The same key in our other Audi jiggles the lock, despite being the wrong key.

 

If the battery goes flat on this and I don't get it freed, it's going to be an almighty arse of a job to fix.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Good to hear that VAG quality has remained consistent(ly low) through the 2000s...

 

I'm sure you'll have the TTs issues sorted out in no time, though !

[cort16]

Can you get up from the engine side of the front panel?

You might need to make up something to pull it though.

Failing that you might have to cut a speed hole in the grill for access.

[xtriple]

I 'think' the battery on the dollop is failing.  When it was seviced last (October last year) they said it was at 80% (whatever that means) but I have noticed spurious warnings happening. I got: air bag/auto trans/alarm today and the rev counter started pissing about again. I turned the lights off and it all went away. It was at very slow speed (idling) and it had just been started with lights, wipers and air con on for the second time in 500 yards. Never been too sure about this battery ever since it was fitted less than 2 years ago, never seems to last long if left on the car.

[dollywobbler]

Drove all the way to Stoke today, because a mate gave his daughter a car. In short, they rebuilt his white Sunny ZX together, so he secretly bought another one, rebuilt it with his son, then today surprised his daughter with her new car. You won't often see two Sunny ZXs together!

 

It was really lovely, despite the biting cold.

 

We gathered the Japanese tin afterwards.

 

Then I went home. I saw this.

 

Stopped for a pic.

 

This thing really does go well. It has fewer interior rattles than the Lexus did, though my sound deadening tricks have only been partially successful. Perhaps because I've only done three-quarters of the car. Still need to do my door and the side panel behind me. The important ones that I should have done first...

 

Less good is 40mpg on this tank - a result of me hoofing it quite a lot, and the MOT test (lots of cat warming before we gave up and replaced it).

[320touring]

Given the GSA did 30mpg on the last tank, considering yourself 33% better off:)

[SiC]

Can you get up from the engine side of the front panel?

You might need to make up something to pull it though.

Failing that you might have to cut a speed hole in the grill for access.

Grill looks reasonably easy to cut without making a total mess. Needs to be, they go for £400 second hand!

 

Looking through the grill, this bit in the middle here is where the mechanism is behind. Even after cutting the grill, it's going to be a right job to get to the mechanism.

 

This car is putting up enough of a fight to justify its own thread now.

 

Mrs SiC is not best amused about my latest spannering antics.

[cort16]

I saw a youtube video of a guy with an a4 (I think) popping it from the engine side with a long rod with a hook on it. If you're careful cutting a hole in the grill you should be able to glue it back in and give it a quick rattle over with some pound shop satin black and no-one will ever know.

 

Edit:

Here it is

 

[SiC]

I saw a youtube video of a guy with an a4 (I think) popping it from the engine side with a long rod with a hook on it. If you're careful cutting a hole in the grill you should be able to glue it back in and give it a quick rattle over with some pound shop satin black and no-one will ever know.

 

Edit:

Here it is

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esj0kDcimRw

Different mechanism to the TT. The TT mechanism basically looks like the Golf Mk5/A3 mechanism. Except with thick sheet steel around the whole thing. There is no access from the front or back. Only that little hole to the sides.

[Bren]

Cleaned the passat and treated the seats as they were looked a bit dry -

The previous keeper had a gardening business which explained why I found an ecosystem under the back seats. I also found this -

[Bren]

The bolt that holds the battery clamp also under the back seat.

[cort16]

Different mechanism to the TT. The TT mechanism basically looks like the Golf Mk5/A3 mechanism. Except with thick sheet steel around the whole thing. There is no access from the front or back. Only that little hole to the sides.

Oof, I think you might have a war on your hands .

[Supernaut]

So this is a bit mental.

 

I have the O.Z. wheels which were previously on Mason the LS400 up on gumtree.

 

Mason's new owner has contacted me and wants to send a courier to collect them! He's paying me by paypal and has mentioned the numberplate of Mason, and dollywobbler and JohnK's real names as previous owners!