The new news 24 thread

[BeEP]

Not exactly new news, as it happened last week, but I had a little jaunt across Norfolk with the trailer and returned with this

 

 

 

It was cheap, local, and um, cheap.  55SX so 1100 engine, electric front windows, sunroof, front fogs but thankfully no power steering.  What the advert didn't mention was that it has a thick history folder, all the original handbooks, service book, code cards etc, and even this Making the most of your new Fiat audio cassette!

 

 

Sorry for rubbish photo, but you get the idea.

 

So far I'm more impressed with it than I expected to be!

[BorniteIdentity]

Radiator lower cover arrived today for the duster. Got it from a Polish firm called Heko, for the grand sum of £40.

 

https://www.daciamag.com/dacia-duster-winter-radiator-grille-cover.html

 

Hopefully, it'll help it warm up somewhat, whilst waiting for a new thermostat to arrive. Turns out, the Indian built dusters have a 87 degree thermostat fitted as new, instead of an 82 degree one, because they wouldn't have to change it for the local market then.(or because Renault. I'm not kidding myself here)

 

Google suggests fitting one of these and an uprated Nissan thermostat, and all will be peachy. (obviously it'll come off for the summer!)

 

It's a nicely finished piece of vac formed acrylic with screw clip attachments, took minutes to fit and looks pretty smart. Hopefully it'll help get more than fetid warmth out of the heater too!

 

 

Sent from my VKY-L09 using Tapatalk

I can’t help feeling that the Dusters have got better since launch. The early cars being barely better than dreadful, and today’s offerings more respectable.

 

These have been solid gold future shite from the beginning. I would now only consider 13-14 reg(!)

[fordperv]

^ I was so firm on the same thought, I advised fil fp to buy a 64 plate duster a few years ago

[SiC]

Let's bring up Audi wankers again. I know, I know. Bare with me!

 

You know how sometimes in a queue of cars, you see certain cars wait for a couple of car length gaps to be created first and then accelerate sharply to close that gap? Yeah it's annoying that.

 

Well I think I have an explanation ... from personal experience.

 

Turns out DSG boxes of this era have a problem. When the gearbag gets warmer for whatever reason the clutch actuation system goes doohickey. So instead of slipping the clutch when taking off from a standstill, it performs bunny hops like a first lesson learner driver.

 

It's often something in the Mechantronics unit - box of tricks that converts all the electrical signals into stuff that makes the box do stuff. Sometimes it can be worn out clutch packs. If you're lucky it maybe fixed by resetting the gearbox computer and/or changing the box fluids+filter.

 

New mechantronic unit is £1.5k + labour. Clutch pack ~£600 + labour (gearbox out). There is a company locally here that can refurb the mechantronic unit, replace the clutch pack, fluid+filter and coding for £1700.

 

Not sure I can stomach spending that. Getting a bit of buyers remorse now.

 

It's most noticeable when driving with low revs when pulling off or letting it creep along. Instead of spending £k you can drive around it by accelerating harder to minimise the clutch slipping. Reversing is trickier. As it's pulsing the clutch in and out at a predicable frequency, you can brake at the right time. So essentially let it start reversing, then dab the brake to slow it down.

 

TL;DR, VAG know their target market and make their cars drive fail like it for you.

 

Oh and having a manual isn't a solution either. The A4 is a manual gearbox and that's suffering from clutch judder. Apparently its the clutch fork or release bearing sticking. Naturally its a clutch job to fix it.

[SRi05]

Not exactly new news, as it happened last week, but I had a little jaunt across Norfolk with the trailer and returned with this

 

N511CDY NSF.JPG

 

N511CDY OSR.JPG

 

It was cheap, local, and um, cheap. 55SX so 1100 engine, electric front windows, sunroof, front fogs but thankfully no power steering. What the advert didn't mention was that it has a thick history folder, all the original handbooks, service book, code cards etc, and even this Making the most of your new Fiat audio cassette!

 

N511CDY tape.JPG

 

Sorry for rubbish photo, but you get the idea.

 

So far I'm more impressed with it than I expected to be!

That's a beauty man, getting rare these days as well. Aged so much better than its face-lift model

[LabRat]

I can’t help feeling that the Dusters have got better since launch. The early cars being barely better than dreadful, and today’s offerings more respectable.

 

These have been solid gold future shite from the beginning. I would now only consider 13-14 reg(!)

Tbh I really can't fault it- it's just ticked over to 50k and just about feels run in, certainly goes better than I'd ever expect a small capacity diesel to anyway! Averaging 59mpg too, which is bloody brilliant compared to the knackered insignia's 22mpg.

 

The only problem I've encountered so far, was a broken exhaust bracket, which cost me a 4 pack of lager at the local garage to weld up. It's a bit like driving an old land rover, but without the feeling of imminent borkage or wallet rape.

 

187/10 would own again.

 

Sent from my VKY-L09 using Tapatalk

[busmansholiday]

Let's bring up Audi wankers again. I know, I know. Bare with me!

 

You know how sometimes in a queue of cars, you see certain cars wait for a couple of car length gaps to be created first and then accelerate sharply to close that gap? Yeah it's annoying that.

 

Well I think I have an explanation ... from personal experience.

 

Turns out DSG boxes of this era have a problem. When the gearbag gets warmer for whatever reason the clutch actuation system goes doohickey. So instead of slipping the clutch when taking off from a standstill, it performs bunny hops like a first lesson learner driver.

 

It's often something in the Mechantronics unit - box of tricks that converts all the electrical signals into stuff that makes the box do stuff. Sometimes it can be worn out clutch packs. If you're lucky it maybe fixed by resetting the gearbox computer and/or changing the box fluids+filter.

 

New mechantronic unit is £1.5k + labour. Clutch pack ~£600 + labour (gearbox out). There is a company locally here that can refurb the mechantronic unit, replace the clutch pack, fluid+filter and coding for £1700.

 

Not sure I can stomach spending that. Getting a bit of buyers remorse now.

 

It's most noticeable when driving with low revs when pulling off or letting it creep along. Instead of spending £k you can drive around it by accelerating harder to minimise the clutch slipping. Reversing is trickier. As it's pulsing the clutch in and out at a predicable frequency, you can brake at the right time. So essentially let it start reversing, then dab the brake to slow it down.

 

TL;DR, VAG know their target market and make their cars drive fail like it for you.

 

Oh and having a manual isn't a solution either. The A4 is a manual gearbox and that's suffering from clutch judder. Apparently its the clutch fork or release bearing sticking. Naturally its a clutch job to fix it.

Pop it in the lock up, get the MGB back in use and buy a Euromillions ticket for this Friday (13th) to pay for the repairs.

 

On a more serious note, the Fabia VRS with DSG we had wasn't much better and we bought that new. Traded it after two years at a big loss,....

[twosmoke300]

I work on a 240k Octavia with a dsg! Terrible harsh downshifts and on light throttle it’s like an automatic with Tourette’s

[Guest Hooli]

Let's bring up Audi wankers again. I know, I know. Bare with me!

 

You know how sometimes in a queue of cars, you see certain cars wait for a couple of car length gaps to be created first and then accelerate sharply to close that gap? Yeah it's annoying that.

 

Well I think I have an explanation ... from personal experience.

 

Turns out DSG boxes of this era have a problem. When the gearbag gets warmer for whatever reason the clutch actuation system goes doohickey. So instead of slipping the clutch when taking off from a standstill, it performs bunny hops like a first lesson learner driver.

 

It's often something in the Mechantronics unit - box of tricks that converts all the electrical signals into stuff that makes the box do stuff. Sometimes it can be worn out clutch packs. If you're lucky it maybe fixed by resetting the gearbox computer and/or changing the box fluids+filter.

 

New mechantronic unit is £1.5k + labour. Clutch pack ~£600 + labour (gearbox out). There is a company locally here that can refurb the mechantronic unit, replace the clutch pack, fluid+filter and coding for £1700.

 

Not sure I can stomach spending that. Getting a bit of buyers remorse now.

 

It's most noticeable when driving with low revs when pulling off or letting it creep along. Instead of spending £k you can drive around it by accelerating harder to minimise the clutch slipping. Reversing is trickier. As it's pulsing the clutch in and out at a predicable frequency, you can brake at the right time. So essentially let it start reversing, then dab the brake to slow it down.

 

TL;DR, VAG know their target market and make their cars drive fail like it for you.

 

Oh and having a manual isn't a solution either. The A4 is a manual gearbox and that's suffering from clutch judder. Apparently its the clutch fork or release bearing sticking. Naturally its a clutch job to fix it.

 

What is it with you & dodgy gearboxes?

[SiC]

Who said TT aren't practical?

 

50 quid 24l compressor in my local Lidl store. Also got £2.50 packet of chocolates free too. Bargain! Am tempted to buy another and hook them up together for more power. I know these tend to be a bit lackluster in this size and spec but hopefully will be good enough for the odd spraygun and blowing air use.

[Mally]

I'll give the next door neighbour 2 days before he asks what the noise is.

[Steve79]

Massively against my better judgement I'm going to look at another car tomorrow.

I won't say too much apart from its just been mot'd, has a clutch slave cylinder leak, oh and .....

Went and had a look this morning. It's a V-plate 2.0 KV6 connoisseur with the deep sea green personal line interior. Guy has only had it for three weeks before the clutch slave cylinder went. He is pretty gutted about it.

 

Car is in pretty good nick and can't fault it apart from a blown dash info display.

 

The killer is that its going to need not just a cylinder but also a new clutch kit.

 

I'm currently pondering over whether I really want to spaff around £600 on getting the work done. My garage trade mate is supposed to be letting me know tomorrow about getting me a better price.

 

Cheeky pic

[Kiltox]

Si - get that thing fucked off right now.

 

First sign of DSG trouble and it needs to gooooo

 

What’s it worth in the trade? Good polish and send it down the block?

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Who said TT aren't practical?

50 quid 24l compressor in my local Lidl store. Also got £2.50 packet of chocolates free too. Bargain! Am tempted to buy another and hook them up together for more power.....

....and more free chocolate.

[dave j]

Maybe interested parties have already picked up on this one, but Halfrauds has a Spring Workshop Sale starting, with 50% off certain Advanced toolsets and metal storage.

 

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchRouter?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10151&action=search&srch=springworkshopoffers

 

Yup, I understand they're still a fair old whack, but having worked there for a fair stretch we never quibbled over the lifetime guarantee.

 

Even when it was fucking obvious they'd burst the socket and fucked the wrench ratchet by slipping an 18-foot length of pipe over the end and getting their mates from the rugby club to jump up and down on it.

 

No problem, sir. No problem.

I had an email the other day with a discount code of

15workshop

 

Don't know how long it's valid for though

[SiC]

The Halfords stuff was a fair bit cheaper just after Xmas. Also they had a 20% off, one day only a couple of weeks ago on those half price offers. I'm waiting patiently for it to go down more again. I still haven't got the toolchests I started a thread about in January.

[SiC]

I know it's drastic but, just being aware of a financially ruinous bill looming would be enough for me to sell the car as soon as practicable. Lob it! (Unless of course you really do love the car that much then, god speed sir x )

I'm bit in a quandary with it. It's a nice place to sit and goes like a rat up a drainpipe. The problem it has you can, for the most part, drive around it. Also it's been like this for at least 8k miles that my mate owned it and hasn't got any worse.

 

However if I did want to chop it in, it's going to look suspicious owning a car a couple of week and the previous owner only owning it a couple of months!

 

As it's running alright for the most part and can be driven around with the right technique, I'm taking a calculated risk that it won't get any worse anytime soon. That also means I need to be very careful what I spend on it and make sure expenditure to what is absolutely necessary.

 

On a more serious note, the Fabia VRS with DSG we had wasn't much better and we bought that new. Traded it after two years at a big loss,....

I work on a 240k Octavia with a dsg! Terrible harsh downshifts and on light throttle it’s like an automatic with Tourette’s

I have read that these boxes are certainly not as smooth as slush boxes. My mates Polo GTi with the 7spd box with the dry clutches is silky smooth though and as good as a slush for the most part. You can still confuse it if you accelerate quickly after decelerating (i.e. at a roundabout) but mostly just jars and is quick to sort itself. Admittedly his car has done less than 15k and is only 2 years old.

 

This isn't terrible and something I certainly could live with. As it's temperature related, I'm tempted to hold off on the thermostat change. At the moment it sits around the 70-75C range for the most part. As the box fluid is cooled by the coolant, hotter coolant will raise that temperature. I don't know what effect on drivability will be if the box fluid temp is at the 90-100C range with a working thermostat.

 

Let sleeping dogs lie and all that...

 

What is it with you & dodgy gearboxes?

I know right! Not only that the mate I bought it off didn't get it very often. Probably because, like your Saab, the guy I bought that off only did long motorway journeys too!

 

However your box scores 8/10 on the SiC broken annoyance scale. This scores 3/10. With 10 being unbearable. Low enough I can live with it for now.

[Guest Hooli]

Well you'll be glad to know that by the technical fix of 'ignore the bloody thing' the Saab box is about 50% better than when you sold it, so keep the Aldi long enough & it might improve.

[Kiltox]

Get it fucked off to the trade.

 

You probably paid trade money for it anyway

[SiC]

Perhaps give it until the month mark, then use the old "family is expanding rapidly, NEED FAMILY WAGONN" line? Plausible, and there's always going to be an active market for this type of car. Just pray to the lawdd a mercy that it doesn't FTP by then.

[man_maths]

 

There is always this as a backup plan:

 

Lower figure is for a 118k example, higher figure is for a 79k example. As it's done 122k I imagine the lower figure. Except some of the options and good condition on it may push it up (e.g. satnav/leather seats/magneride suspension/etc).

 

Failing that there is this as a last ditch:

 

Yes I'd loose a fair old chunk if I went that way. But would be less painful if it kicks the bucket in like 6 months or so usage. I.e. loose 2-3k, which seems a lot but is realistically the same as new car depreciation.

 

[/man_maths]

[SiC]

Or maybe this:

 

Interestingly it's lost £800 since my mate looked at doing this. I guess because there is an additional owner on the V5 now.

[SiC]

LOL?

 

 

Anyone got experience of Evans Halshaw and their buy car service?

 

There are a few light scratches/scuffs and the like on the body, so I'll guess they'll knock a bit off for that. They'd probably at least would want that shock fixed too.

 

Not sure I want to sell it just yet though!

[Kiltox]

WBAC at least have in their terms that you need to have been the keeper for a certain amount of time

 

I can’t see Hellshaw paying that but you can only try...

 

Neither will spot the shock. Fuck. It. Off.

[captain_70s]

When I went to WeBuyAnyCar any panel with more than three paint chips/scratches got £300 deducted from the car's value.

 

However I walked into a garage and announced WBAC's highest offer was what they'd give me and the garage matched it...

[cort16]

I hear Evans halshaw no consistently give better prices. You're unlikely to get anything over on them though they'll know all the stuff to look out for, for each model.

[bub2006]

My dsg box is the 7 speed and it's great. Stuffy if in economy mode though. Fine in normal and really potent in sport. Usually in normal and it's fantastic. Any way. As above,sack it off now!!

[dean36014]

Well the van of many miles now has a full mot with just an advisory for the rubbers perishing on the front anti roll bar links. Checking in the history file these were replaced only two and a half years ago and have only done about 15k. Does no one make decent parts these days.I fitted some Meyle hd ones to my daughters Punto which have a four year guarantee so might get some of these for the van before the next Mot.

[loserone]

Anyone got experience of Evans Halshaw and their buy car service?

 

 

Yes, totally smooth and hassle free.  Chap doing the work complained that the central team who give the firm offer pay too much, and they have no chance of being able to sell them on with any margin - which they have to do locally.

[plasticvandan]

I've seen a picture of bubs latest purchase,and no amount of eye bleach will make it go away

[fordperv]

I've seen a picture of bubs latest purchase,and no amount of eye bleach will make it go away

Where do I see a picture im intrigued