The new news 24 thread

[Dyslexic Viking]

9 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

The concept of studded winter tyres over here would be lost anyway on the idiots who don't seem to know how to drive in ice - thrashing it downhill with their summer racing slicks that are lucky to have 3mm on them. If they had them fitted they'd use them all year round and destroy the roads in the summer 😩

People are not that much better here and some drive all year round on studless winter tires even though the rubber in these is not designed for summer temperatures. There is talk of making it illigal but nothing ever happens.

Another unusual thing here, since almost everyone has 2 sets of wheels for their cars, one with summer tires and one with winter tires and since people are getting lazier, it is common that companies that offer storage and changing of wheels for people exist.  In cities/towns, these can be large warehouses filled only with people's wheels.

And since most people only change to winter wheels when the winter has come, it is complete chaos at these companies for a period in late autumn/early winter and people sitting in tire queues with 8 hour waiting times is not unusual. And I quickly found the picture below of what is supposed to be a tire queue in Norway to show the madness.

[Dyslexic Viking]

20 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

I've had some luck for a change. And the tire seems undamaged which is nice as it is new.

And it's a solid metal stick so it would cause some damage.

Removed this metal thing from the car today and it is clear that it has entered from the front and it is amazing how lucky I was that it did not go into the tire.

But I wonder what this is?

[Honey Badger]

The space saver on my Legend is nicer than most of the alloys I had on my cars in the 90s, it's the little details like a lightweight one off cast Space saver wheel just for the Legend/RL shows how much effort they put into a car which pretty much failed to sell in every market.

 

 

[Rustybullethole]

For those who know not of my ongoing exhaustion I shall recap. Mate borrowed my Berlingo and returned it with a big old blow. H had a look and diagnosed a fucked back box. Bought one crawled under and spotted the t was fine just loose. Tightened it which highlighted the mid section was fucked. Swapped back box for mid section at the factors fitted that though old still fine back box never despite much fuckabout mated to new mid section as well as it did the crusty old one. Gave up on the bastard and been resigned to driving about with a rattle and a slight blow till today.

Twats just sheared off the down pipe and is now strapped to the roof whilst i drive home sounding like a crackle tune cunt.

Fucksticks.

[cort1977]

21 hours ago, SiC said:

Don't think studded are legal in the UK unless up in deepest, darkest Scotland during their deepest and darkest winters.

Not sure about the legalities but I assume not as never seen them up here in deepest, darkest Scotland.

I have heard someone driving on dry tarmac with studded tyres once and it was not pretty, terrible noise that sounded like it would wreck them in short order.  I think they're only good if you have a long period where the roads are absolutely covered like in Scandinavia, round here it's often covered for a day then it's ploughed and gritted away on the main roads at least. 

[alcyonecorporation]

On 14/11/2023 at 19:33, stuboy said:

Whilst awaiting in autoshite corridor to hq I remembered I took a picture of a David brown car, is it a good one? 

You went to liminal space, then saw a Aston Martin Vantage AMR.
Not a bad day, all in all. 

The 04 plate is a red herring; it's a retained plate put on a much later car (2019) - a second gen Vantage on the much newer AM6 platform. 
Verdict from people with more money than me (90% of this forum) is that it's fast but too expensive. 

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, alcyonecorporation said:

liminal space

Exactly what I was thinking!

[grogee]

7 hours ago, Honey Badger said:

The space saver on my Legend is nicer than most of the alloys I had on my cars in the 90s, it's the little details like a lightweight one off cast Space saver wheel just for the Legend/RL shows how much effort they put into a car which pretty much failed to sell in every market.

 

 

That's nice. Mine 2000 one had a full size unmatching alloy under the boot floor. I much prefer that one. 

[stuboy]

2 hours ago, alcyonecorporation said:

liminal space

when i read it i thought ...below............

[Honey Badger]

4 hours ago, grogee said:

That's nice. Mine 2000 one had a full size unmatching alloy under the boot floor. I much prefer that one. 

It was part of Hondas weight saving programme along with Carbon Fibre propshaft and pressure formed hollow aluminium subframes.

I'm not sure it has made much difference as it still weighs 1850kgs, the SH-AWD adds a lot of weight vs the older FWD Legend.

[wuvvum]

Ordered a pair of new front shocks for the Z4 today, from Autodoc as they were by far the cheapest once again.  Worked out about the same price as buying two secondhand struts off eBay - a bit more kerfuffle as I'll need to swap over the springs and top mounts but still probably a better bet than used parts of unknown mileage.  Also ordered a pair of drop links - I'm not sure whether or not the ones on the car at the moment are knackered but chances are I'll knacker one or both taking them off so for the sake of a tenner it made sense to replace them.

Driving it home from work today in the dark and pissing rain really made me notice how shit the dipped beam headlights are.  I can see a set of Osram Nightbreakers in the car's very near future.  Oddly main beam, which uses the same bulbs, is pretty decent.  I'm also going to have to replace the front discs at some point as I'm getting a definite judder through the pedal, but that can wait for a bit - it'll probably lessen once the car has decent front shocks anyway.

The steering is behaving a lot better now - I assume that the "sticky" thing is something that develops on longer trips.  Reading up on it it can also be caused by high temperatures, and I did have the heater cranked up rather high on the run back from Devon.  It's something I'll look at at some point - probably in the spring - but it's not something that's going to need imminent attention as I initially thought it would, so that's good.

The engine light seems to manage to stay off for 20 or so miles when I turn it off with the code reader - so that'll be long enough to get through the MOT!  The codes that are coming up are mainly related to misfiring - I might treat it to a set of plugs and see if that helps, but that may have to wait as the plugs aren't cheap.  It only misfires noticeably for the first few seconds after a cold start anyway - the engine is smooth as anything when up to temperature.

[Boycie]

On 14/11/2023 at 17:53, 17-Coffees said:

The past weekend myself and a friend drove down to the NEC for the Classic car show. My Civic was due for MOT so I rented a car, test station couldn't do the test in the end due to problems on there end...but I still opted to keep the rental for fun. Ended up chatting at the desk when I collected it and managed to blag an upgrade for very little, so I ended up with...

A CLA 180 AMG-SPORT-BLACK-SERIES-EDTION-SPORT-AMG or something along that lines. I have to say the engine it pitiful and having 90 gears felt pointless for it's 135bhp. The seats are also rather stiff making the trip a but uncomfortable after a long slog of driving(Heated seats did help for that though). The thing handles well though, nice to have DAB radio and the boot is bloody massive! I'm sure the more powerful ones are better. 

 

Anyway, down at the show we met up with @rantingYoof and had a good look around, as well as getting a ride in a 90's Bentley Conti R with an ex-Sultan of Brunei engine, with some silly power! 

4 people crammed inside a 5 and a half metre long, 2 and a half ton (before people)  and it fucking off at a ludicrous speed! It's utterly hilarious how effortlessly it went about! 😂

As well as the show, of course did some shopping..

Another bloody fantastic trip down as always! 

Thank you for using Europcar , we hope to see you again 

[Metal Guru]

17 hours ago, cort1977 said:

Not sure about the legalities but I assume not as never seen them up here in deepest, darkest Scotland.

I have heard someone driving on dry tarmac with studded tyres once and it was not pretty, terrible noise that sounded like it would wreck them in short order.  I think they're only good if you have a long period where the roads are absolutely covered like in Scandinavia, round here it's often covered for a day then it's ploughed and gritted away on the main roads at least. 

I had a hire car in Iceland once (Volvo XC70) on studded tyres. Mostly we were driving on hard packed snow and some of the roads are unpaved anyway, but some the main roads were clear. TBH they weren’t as bad as I’d expected, a bit noisy and you’d be daft to drive flat out, but grip didn’t seem to bad. Obviously stopping distance won’t be great but the advantages on snow make them worth while.

[wuvvum]

On 16/11/2023 at 09:09, Dyslexic Viking said:

Removed this metal thing from the car today and it is clear that it has entered from the front and it is amazing how lucky I was that it did not go into the tire.

But I wonder what this is?

What you have there is a dog treat.  HTH.

[vulgalour]

Highview Parking, as predicted, have sent me a parking fine for exceeding the 3 hour limit at the retail park.  Hilariously, their photo of the back of the Princess shows it leaving on the back of the recovery truck.  I reckon this is just an automated thing really, I was there for four hours and eleven minutes which is about four hours longer than I intended to be.  At least I've got proof via my own photos, my insurer, and the breakdown company that I wasn't actually parked but had, in fact, FTP'd.

They're going to try to fine me £100 (or £60 if I pay now!) regardless aren't they?  This isn't going to be one of those things where a human being looks at the situation and goes "oh yeah, extenuating circumstances, no fine." is it?  That'd be too much to ask for in 2023.

[dozeydustman]

Having been on the extra early (3:30am) start today I have managed to do a job on the Saab I have been waiting a good few weeks to sort, that of sorting the leaking cabin filter box and suspected blocked scuttle drain.

I changed the cabin filter about a year ago and the filter box was still watertight but the drain was blocked. A year on the drain was blocked up again and the cabin filter was no longer sealing, so a self adhesive seal was installed having cleaned out the scuttle and its drain, and wiped off the now slightly brittle old seal from its mating surface. Finally a bead of silicone was placed around the new seal before installing everything back in the car. The fan also received a dose of light motor oil to stop it squealing and I’m glad to say it has!

New cabin filter hadn’t arrived at ECP by the time I finished work so hopefully I can pick that up tomorrow, and investigating the leaking rear door quarterlights on the Kia.

[Tenmil Socket]

A colleague has been looking for a cheap car. He’s found one up for £1500 and has made an offer.

It’s a 2009 model with 1 owner from new with just 1800 miles!

Any guesses?

[Stanky]

G-Wiz is my guess!

[Tenmil Socket]

1 hour ago, Stanky said:

G-Wiz is my guess!

No but just as ugly!

[Jenson Velcro]

Assume this belongs to @Mr_Bo11ox

Pleeease update us on this and the rest of your eclectic fleet.

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, Jenson Velcro said:

Assume this belongs to @Mr_Bo11ox

Pleeease update us on this and the rest of your eclectic fleet.

Lush

[ruffgeezer]

14 hours ago, vulgalour said:

Highview Parking, as predicted, have sent me a parking fine for exceeding the 3 hour limit at the retail park.  Hilariously, their photo of the back of the Princess shows it leaving on the back of the recovery truck.  I reckon this is just an automated thing really, I was there for four hours and eleven minutes which is about four hours longer than I intended to be.  At least I've got proof via my own photos, my insurer, and the breakdown company that I wasn't actually parked but had, in fact, FTP'd.

They're going to try to fine me £100 (or £60 if I pay now!) regardless aren't they?  This isn't going to be one of those things where a human being looks at the situation and goes "oh yeah, extenuating circumstances, no fine." is it?  That'd be too much to ask for in 2023.

Speak to the retailer's customer service, they should be able to help you.

[New POD]

13 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

A colleague has been looking for a cheap car. He’s found one up for £1500 and has made an offer.

It’s a 2009 model with 1 owner from new with just 1800 miles!

Any guesses?

A JiZz ?  

Fuck me, how tight is he that he'd make an offer on a car that's only done 1.8k?  It would have to be a shit car, for it not to be worth that. I wouldn't be wasting time haggling. 

[worldofceri]

13 hours ago, Jenson Velcro said:

Assume this belongs to @Mr_Bo11ox

Pleeease update us on this and the rest of your eclectic fleet.

Ahem!  Photo credit? 👀😉😁

[Jenson Velcro]

53 minutes ago, worldofceri said:

Ahem!  Photo credit? 👀😉😁

Oops, sorry but in the excitement I forgot. Did you try to persuade @Mr_Bo11ox to update on his exploits?

[Tenmil Socket]

5 hours ago, New POD said:

A JiZz ?  

Fuck me, how tight is he that he'd make an offer on a car that's only done 1.8k?  It would have to be a shit car, for it not to be worth that. I wouldn't be wasting time haggling. 

It’s a Perodua being sold in Birkenhead. It’s on Auto Trader. 

[vulgalour]

7 hours ago, ruffgeezer said:

Speak to the retailer's customer service, they should be able to help you.

Automated online thing for the appeal so I've submitted that with a photo of the car being lifted on to the recovery truck that also shows the recovery company's details on the side.  Even though that's about as good proof as you can get that the car was recovered and not driven out, I'm still expecting them to tell me it's not enough and I need to pay the fine.  Which I obviously don't intend to do because that would be absurd.

[ruffgeezer]

Yeah we overstayed once and I rang wickes customer service I think it was,  after I had explained we very definitely had been looking at kitchens, they got the charge dropped. 😆 

[Zelandeth]

Very much depends on the retailer and who's managing the car park.  A few have made a definite point of offloading the handling of parking disputes entirely - B&Q and Asda around here being two examples I know of. The former courtesy of me falling foul of the "No return within 2 hours" stipulation.  At a DIY store...talk about biting off your nose to spite your face.  Asda someone I know got a fine at when their partner fell ill while in the store and they left in an ambulance (called by the store).  Got someone to go and collect the car a few hours later, that fine was also upheld.  That was Parking Eye.

Sadly unless you somehow manage get hold of an actual sensible human being you're likely going to be stuck with it.  In their faceless, money-grabbing corporate view it's not their fault your vehicle broke down...and is a way they can get money out of you to line their pockets despite circumstances totally outweigh your control.  As far as they're concerned, you overstayed and that's that.  Why you did it they couldn't care less about.

[vulgalour]

We'll just have to see.  If I get stuck with it I suppose I could speak to my insurer who were apologetic about keeping me waiting for recovery for so long so maybe they'd help out if it comes to it.  Just got to wait and see really.