The new news 24 thread

[Kiltox]

Urghhhh

 

After a week working from home and a week’s holiday chilling the fuck out in a hot tub I’m on the 0455 to faaaackin’ Landaan

[BorniteIdentity]

We all snooze, we all lose.

 

By the time I'd concluded that a purple Jaguar wouldn't immediately have me labelled UKIPBOY™ by the neighbours of our fairly liberal village, this was sold.

 

£1000.

 

 

Fortunately, someone on PH bought it and took the obligatory shot.  Fair play.

 

I really want one now.  Before they get all expensive and everything.

[trigger]

That was me who uploaded it to YouTube last time, lasted about a day before the BBC put a complaint in and they deleted it, it has been on dailymotion since though.

[beko1987]

Feel bad for putting a daily mail link up but is the little mot bodge that I use every year being removed?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5569383/Tougher-MOT-rules-leave-British-drivers-open-2-500-fine.html

 

I usually present asap then fix the fails whilst the previous cert is valid. And whilst it's always been a grey area I'm sure the consensus was that it was legal barring any utter deadly fails...

[BorniteIdentity]

Feel bad for putting a daily mail link up but is the little mot bodge that I use every year being removed?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5569383/Tougher-MOT-rules-leave-British-drivers-open-2-500-fine.html

 

I usually present asap then fix the fails whilst the previous cert is valid. And whilst it's always been a grey area I'm sure the consensus was that it was legal barring any utter deadly fails...

 

I've got an MOT tomorrow, so will ask the garage owner.  He's a good friend - so will give me the full run down.

 

It does certainly read like a fail then renders the current MOT test as invalid - and that is probably the right stance.  It would certainly remove any ambiguity, after all - a "fail" deems the car to be unroadworthy.  It has always been illegal to drive an unroadworthy car on the Queen's highway - so the fact the MOT comes up as valid on a vehicle check just adds confusion to things.

 

No gripes here.  If your car isn't fit for the road, I'd rather you weren't on it.

[beko1987]

Absolutely, same here tbh. I used to use it for a get out clause for weak handbrakes, clonking joints etc so I could get to work that week and fix it at the weekend. Shiters common sense, just with the car showing as legal!

[dollywobbler]

I have a gripe with that. My Starlet failed on emissions. No kittens were going to die. Should I be denied being able to drive it home? A failed ball joint dust cover is a fail. It's not dangerous.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I have a gripe with that. My Starlet failed on emissions. No kittens were going to die. Should I be denied being able to drive it home? A failed ball joint dust cover is a fail. It's not dangerous.

I completely agree with you, there are a few cars with sort of faults that aren't faults that I've taken to the MOT in the hope it'll pass anyway.

 

Example in point was my V70 - the instrument cluster would occasionally switch off completely. Problem was it happened in the middle of the MOT and the tester couldnt confirm the airbag light wasn't on (it wasn't) so fail.

 

I took it for a retest without fixing it, it stayed on and passed as a result - the car was worth less than having the cluster professionally repaired....

 

Where this all becomes problematic is where your insurance is concerned. If you crashed on route home from a failed test would they still cover you??

 

 

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[Datsuncog]

^^^ Funny, a similar link about changes to the MOT test appeared on a local news website last night, throwing up much horror...

 

After careful re-reading, I'm not sure that this isn't a slightly sensationalist misrepresentation - that the main change is that issues identified at test are going to be put into one of THREE categories: Dangerous (fail - which may preclude it being driven away, even if there is a current MOT on it); Major (also a fail, but covering things like misaligned lights and split CV boots) and Minor (not a fail, but something the owner ought to rectify soon - replaces the old Advisory classification).

 

I've seen cars refused permission to leave the test centre other than on a trailer because of major defects, regardless of whether there was a few days of the old MOT left - so I'm really not sure there's any change of policy here. It's always been down to the tester's discretion, but 99% of the time they're fine with it. Perhaps the DVLA press release has just added a reminder of the existing policy, and that's what the media have chosen to get in a flap about - rather than a fairly minor administrative change?

 

(Disclaimer: I could, of course, be totally wrong here.)

[Pillock]

I think we need one of our caged MOT Testers to explain, I guess either way we've got an answer for when the question comes up every three weeks.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

....

Where this all becomes problematic is where your insurance is concerned. If you crashed on route home from a failed test would they still cover you??....

^^

This. How many get / take time to sit down and read all of the standard Terms and Conditions that come with their insurance policies?

 

I'd be thinking that an insurance assessor would also be on the lookout for flaws other than those stated on the MoT fail sheet.

[beko1987]

I think we need one of our caged MOT Testers to explain, I guess either way we've got an answer for when the question comes up every three weeks.

That's what I'm hoping for tbh, piece of mind from someone saying it how it is in language I can understand

[DodgeRover]

The test centre can not stop you driving the vehicle away, the only people with the power to do this are the police and VOSA/ DVSA.

All they can do is say in their opinion the vehicle should not be driven until the faults are rectified, the point of this is to protect the motorist from the unscrupulous garage owner preventing anything from leaving the premises until you have paid them to fix faults.

If a garage tries they you can tell them to FRO as long as you have paid for the test.

This comes up regularly and it is still absolute bollocks.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Apologies for the unrelated subject but I’m currently bombing along the A303 in the passenger seat and took a quick snap of the top rock shite.

[richardmorris]

Apologies for the unrelated subject but I’m currently bombing along the A303 in the passenger seat and took a quick snap of the top rock shite.

 

Giant sheep time for the Spinal Tap sized henge!

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Giant sheep time for the Spinal Tap sized henge!

It’s not your job to be as confused as Nigel!

[Coprolalia]

Continuing to go through house sale shenanigans. Off to look at somewhere this evening that has a 3 car driveway and a garage. The future Mrs likes it, and jokingly mentioned about extending the garage to accommodate more cars.

I take this as license to proceed.

[egg]

When my other grandad died last year, he left his 306 Sedan, and my uncle decided to export it to France. A year later it's doing sterling service on French plates (can't be many RHD 306 Sedans on French plates!). My Uncle came over to Kent for a family event over Easter, drove from Brittany up to Calais 'like a dream' apparently.

 

Was:

 

 

Now:

 

 

 

[xtriple]

Having whinged and whined about the 'dreadful' treatment I received at the hands of Hasting insurance (to be honest, it was pretty dire and they compounded the issue by losing my complaint and then ignoring me) I have just had a chat with a lovely lass from there who has restored my faith somewhat. Cancelled the £50 cancelation fee etc so I am all square with them. I still think I should have got a refund, but hey, nothing is better than spending right?

 

Just washed the car, how's that for news? 

[vulgalour]

I would like to apologise to the cyclist that I gave a fright to today.  I would also like to thank them for speeding up when they realised I couldn't safely pass and we were holding up traffic a bit, achieving 20mph on a slightly uphill road is pretty good going!  the reason for the apology is the duration and volume of the horn blast I gave the van that decided to overtake me when I was overtaking the cyclist, especially since the horn was on the cyclist's side of the car.   Said van then proceeded to do considerably more than 30mph through a residential and school zone.

 

It's not like the van driver couldn't see the cyclist, the island in the middle of the road, the parked cars or the oncoming traffic.

 

In better news, I found that my local motor factor can (and has) supply me with decent quality bullet fuses that aren't made of tin foil so once I find out why the cigarette lighter/hazard circuit on the Princess is permanently live (there's a loose wire somewhere, I'm sure of it) I can get those fully operational again.  No battery drain or damage at the moment as the fuse did its job and blew, cutting the circuit.  I'm hoping it's not a  carpets or dash out job.

[wuvvum]

I've just driven 260 miles back from Somerset in the Rover of Doom. I'm now on a train going approx. 3/5ths of the way back to Somerset to pick up an accidental eBay purchase. I have a fun life.

[chatsharris]

Apologies for the unrelated subject but I’m currently bombing along the A303 in the passenger seat and took a quick snap of the top rock shite.

I fucking hate those lumps of granite. That road constantly slows down to a crawl because people slow down to look at it.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

The test centre can not stop you driving the vehicle away, the only people with the power to do this are the police and VOSA/ DVSA.

All they can do is say in their opinion the vehicle should not be driven until the faults are rectified, the point of this is to protect the motorist from the unscrupulous garage owner preventing anything from leaving the premises until you have paid them to fix faults.

If a garage tries they you can tell them to FRO as long as you have paid for the test.

This comes up regularly and it is still absolute bollocks.

Over here they can and do because govt run test centres.

 

It's OK for them because there is no financial incentive to do dodgy things and it's OK for everyone else because I've heard some horrors like a car driven to the test centre with only a handbrake for slowing said vehicle.

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[GrumpiusMaximus]

I fucking hate those lumps of granite. That road constantly slows down to a crawl because people slow down to look at it.

I agree with the traffic issues...  The A303 is a dream when it's the middle of the night but around Amesbury during the day it's a fucking mess.

 

However, neolithic man didn't know that trying to do 60 in a Ford Cortina past it would ever be a problem.  I like the stones.

 

In more, unrelated news I did a thing!  I'm quite new to the idea of maintaining my own vehicles besides from very minor things.  This is also a minor thing but I changed the air and oil filters and changed the oil on my Golf this afternoon (after getting back to Kent from Devon).  Seems to idle smoother and we'll see how it drives when I go to Cambridge tomorrow night...

 

I'm genuinely amazed at how the little Lidl oil pump worked.  I was expecting it to take more than half an hour but it only took about 10 minutes to get all the oil out (just under five litres) and I didn't make a mess of the floor, the car or myself.

 

It's only been 20,000 miles since the last service.  Oops.  Fuel filter on order.

 

 

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I agree with the traffic issues... The A303 is a dream when it's the middle of the night but around Amesbury during the day it's a fucking mess.

 

However, neolithic man didn't know that trying to do 60 in a Ford Cortina past it would ever be a problem. I like the stones.

 

In more, unrelated news I did a thing! I'm quite new to the idea of maintaining my own vehicles besides from very minor things. This is also a minor thing but I changed the air and oil filters and changed the oil on my Golf this afternoon (after getting back to Kent from Devon). Seems to idle smoother and we'll see how it drives when I go to Cambridge tomorrow night...

 

I'm genuinely amazed at how the little Lidl oil pump worked. I was expecting it to take more than half an hour but it only took about 10 minutes to get all the oil out (just under five litres) and I didn't make a mess of the floor, the car or myself.

 

It's only been 20,000 miles since the last service. Oops. Fuel filter on order.

 

IMG_0820.jpg

 

IMG_0823.jpg

This is encouraging as I've just bought one of those lidl pumps but haven't used it yet....

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[GrumpiusMaximus]

This is encouraging as I've just bought one of those lidl pumps but haven't used it yet....

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

Didn't have any issues with mine at all.  Make sure the filler cap is on so you get a decent vacuum and the oil is warmish (but not hot) and you're good to go.  First time I switched it on, it had a lot of bubbles in the line, they went when I put the filler cap back on.

[richardmorris]

The ZX went back to the Citroen garage this afternoon. Sadly the merc is not fixed. It’s definitely the bottom ball joint but they can’t get hold of the correct sized spring compressor tool.

I need to try and rouse a local guy again. Or try the dealer who still haven’t phoned since the first enquiry.

 

Lee thinks he’s found the reason for the noise in that the rubber bellows are loose and moving with the wheel and not fixed any more. He has packed it with grease which really made the noise a lot worse!

 

Grrr.

[davehedgehog31]

I agree with the traffic issues...  The A303 is a dream when it's the middle of the night but around Amesbury during the day it's a fucking mess.

 

However, neolithic man didn't know that trying to do 60 in a Ford Cortina past it would ever be a problem.  I like the stones.

 

In more, unrelated news I did a thing!  I'm quite new to the idea of maintaining my own vehicles besides from very minor things.  This is also a minor thing but I changed the air and oil filters and changed the oil on my Golf this afternoon (after getting back to Kent from Devon).  Seems to idle smoother and we'll see how it drives when I go to Cambridge tomorrow night...

 

I'm genuinely amazed at how the little Lidl oil pump worked.  I was expecting it to take more than half an hour but it only took about 10 minutes to get all the oil out (just under five litres) and I didn't make a mess of the floor, the car or myself.

 

It's only been 20,000 miles since the last service.  Oops.  Fuel filter on order.

 

IMG_0820.jpg

 

IMG_0823.jpg

The extraction method is good, particularly for me covering big miles and changing oil regularly. My 407 has the paper type oil filter easily accessible from above so it's a breeze.

 

Seems to work better on some cars than others, on the 407 it seems to leave about half a litre behind - figure it's probably more than most moderns get in the garage so happy to live with it. 1.9 TDI Skoda Superb I had, it got the lot out.

[holbeck]

I mentioned on here before that my RAV4 was having alarm problems.

 

It comes at a time when it has less than a months MOT and it does need money spending.

 

In an attempt to get the alarm problem sorted I contacted a friend who does a bit of trading and knows RAV4s. 

 

Cut a long story short. he made me a very fair offer, I'm dropping it off tomorrow.

 

 

The ex HMC 205, now stepped up to frontline commuting duties.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

The stated capacity of mine is 4.8 Litres and it seems to have got about 4.6ish.  Hard to tell but the two bottles in the picture are 5L each and one is has about 500 mL of space and the other one has about 300 mL in it.  The oil filter is accessible from the top so it was very noob-friendly.  To be honest, I'm surprised that I didn't learn how to do this earlier.  It's so straightforward.

 

I've noticed quite a big difference.  I've been out for about an hour this evening up and down so A-roads and the throttle response is better and the engine definitely feels a lot more torquey.  That's probably just having a new air filter - the old one was filled with insects!

 

Thinking about the MOT advisory I had for CV gaiters and getting hold of some axle stands.  I have the Haynes manual and according to their ratings, it's about as difficult to do as a job I did last year without instructions...