Ask a Shiter

[Supernaut]

Maybe the "general public" are too scared to touch anything from a police auction so they're just geniune bargwins.

 

I dunno, really. I want some of that action though!

[Jimmycrackcorn]

Have a look at the tales of a breakdown driver thread RE fuse box - it's VAG stuff on there but could be a similar issue? Other than that I'd say voltage regulator on the alternator maybe. Or slipping belt?

Actually now you mention it that smell he mentioned might have been what I got a wiff of the other day. I've got the apprentice working on it tomorrow changing the plugs and coil packs so I'll have him investigate that as well.

[wuvvum]

Does anyone know how feasible it would be to fit the turbo setup from a Rover 75 / MG ZT 1.8 Kettle to the VVC engine in my 200?  I would imagine it would make for quite an amusing machine if it could be done without too much hassle.

[HillmanImp]

The V5's are missing, but thats not a big issue?

If you apply for a V5 don't they write out to the previous owner to see if they can send you it? I assume the DVLA will have been informed that the police are now the owners of the car.

 

However assumption is the mother of all fuck ups innit. Relying on both the police and the DVLA doing their paperwork correctly might be a step too far for some people.

[dave21478]

I guess a lot of people assume police auction cars have had a starring role in Police Interceptors or something, being volleyed over speedbumps at 90mph on a housing estate, but I would guess that these sorts of cars at auction have been seized because the owners were wanted or they were uninsured and never collected etc etc.

[D Spares & Tyres]

If you apply for a V5 don't they write out to the previous owner to see if they can send you it? I assume the DVLA will have been informed that the police are now the owners of the car.

However assumption is the mother of all fuck ups innit. Relying on both the police and the DVLA doing their paperwork correctly might be a step too far for some people.

The DVLA write to the previous or current registered keeper

 

If there is no reply after a month then they issue a log book anyway

[sierraman]

Even if it was fucked, like smoking using a load of oil, it's tested and running, you couldn't lose! The Volvo would be hard to sell anyway, to most (the uneducated) it costs more than £30 to tax and it's bad for the environment and above all its not a diesel and diesels run forever and never ever go wrong whilst returning a healthy 70mpg even going the 3 miles to the co-op. Then to top it all its more than 3 years old so it will, as sure as night will follow day, explode at the side of the road, possibly killing its occupants. So someone in the pub told me anyway. For that reason I'd be out.

[omegod]

The Hyundai coupe has a body control ECU that, if it works, sells for £120, exhaust manifold if uncracked £80 mucho bargainous car

[forddeliveryboy]

No. The only requirements for wipers are

 

- Must have a switch within reach of the driver

- Must operate continuously when on

- Must clear the screen

 

Does a car pass if the wipers won't switch off, or come on randomly?

 

 

When the merc alternator gave up a brand new 100 amp battery lasted around 50k[m] before all hell broke out and I had trouble steering the damn thing.

 

JM should remove his alternator and battery, they're causing all sorts of problems. Just connect to a battery for starting and only go out in the daylight, potato for the wet days. 124 diesels will run forever without any electricity.

[chaseracer]

Tech question: will the PSA 2.1TD drink veg?

 

Much obliged.

[Stroller133]

The DVLA write to the previous or current registered keeper

If there is no reply after a month then they issue a log book anyway

Do they write quoting the applicants name and address, and say this person claims to be the new keeper? I don't like the idea of the potentially dubious character having those details! Although most reasonable people would realise the new keeper was not responsible for them losing the car, I guess some who are likely to have cars taken away are not always level headed and may want revenge on those who now have their car?

[forddeliveryboy]

Tech question: will the PSA 2.1TD drink veg?

 

Much obliged.

 

That one in the grey 605 on the bay certainly will. I ran a Lucas Epic on higher %s of veg anyone ever imagined possible without failure. With additions someone who knows makes, obv. Hiigh tech stuff like old boiler heat exchangers.

[skattrd]

Tech question: will the PSA 2.1TD drink veg?

 

Much obliged.

 

The one in my old XM did.

[steve_earwig]

Depends on the pump - Bosh are fine, Lucas are a bit of a gamble.

[scaryoldcortina]

Does a car pass if the wipers won't switch off, or come on randomly?

If they are clearing the screen, and "randomly" includes "when the switch is operated" then yes, probably. Ones that park in the middle of the screen will fail for obscuring the driver's view.

[andy18s]

Do they write quoting the applicants name and address, and say this person claims to be the new keeper? I don't like the idea of the potentially dubious character having those details! Although most reasonable people would realise the new keeper was not responsible for them losing the car, I guess some who are likely to have cars taken away are not always level headed and may want revenge on those who now have their car?

They send out a generic letter stating that a replacement logbook has been requested by someone other than the registered owner.

Probably try to "fine" them for not informing them of change of ownership ect ect ect......

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[Hiram K Hackenbacker]

If you apply for a V5 don't they write out to the previous owner to see if they can send you it? I assume the DVLA will have been informed that the police are now the owners of the car.

However assumption is the mother of all fuck ups innit. Relying on both the police and the DVLA doing their paperwork correctly might be a step too far for some people.

When i got a car from NDA auctions, (they sell the impounded untaxed stuff people dont collect) - no key and was locked but despite also saying no log book / v5, it had been changed into NDA's name when I got it, just sent it off and got it back in my name.

[Guest bangerfan101]

If you fill a ka cill up with expanding foam. Then filler over the 50p sized rust hole that's appeared underneath the door drain hole

 

hide it under a plastic ka branded plastic stick on cill protecter liberated from a scrapyard.

 

Can Mr mot tester remove said strip to go poking things that I'd rather he didn't go poking with his pointy thing?

 

Or should I get another patch of weld to the ever growing collection?

[skattrd]

The MOT tester cannot remove things to check for rust or anything else ... You may get an advisory saying he was unable to check sill because of something or other but that's it.

 

I might have a few of those advisories on the MOT for a certain Lancia.

[Guest bangerfan101]

Lovely. Just need to grease the wobbin front brake pipes up and she'll be good til summer when I can afford to replace it

[Guest bangerfan101]

Lovely. Just need to grease the wobbin front brake pipes up and she'll be good til summer when I can afford to replace it

[dave21478]

Only use foam if its the end of the car. If you decide to weld it properly later, the foam is mega-flammable and impossible to get out of the sill without major surgery.

[Station]

No, they can't remove it, unless his name is Greg in Wallasey and he is testing an MR2 and rips both sides off.

[saucedoctor]

Citroën 2.0Hdi (DW10TD). Specifically, seized-in glow plugs. Car belongs to my bird's sister. Car was getting hard to start, so she took it to some ex-AA chap to get the glowplugs replaced. It seems he broke one, attacked it with a drill and them covered it with an old glove (!) and told my bird's sister to wait for it to blow out, which it did. He then came round and popped a new one in.

 

Does anyone know of a slightly more, erm, orthodox way of getting these things out?

 

Thanks in advance.

[wuvvum]

Has anyone ever rented a camper van in the US before?  If so, what kind of MPG did you get?

 

I've been trying to work out a budget for my upcoming US trip, and I was working on the assumption that a modern petrol-engined C-class RV would do about 15 miles per (US) gallon on a long steady run.  After all, my old (admittedly diesel) Chevy van did 25 (to the Imperial, so 21 US), and that was off of the early '80s - surely engine tech would have improved since then?

 

Emailed the hire place to check, and they reckon about 6mpg.  Six!!!  2,500 miles at 6mpg is going to cost a fucking fortune, even with petrol at a third of the price that it is here.  I'm struggling to believe that an almost-new van could really be that bad.

[garbaldy]

I can believe 6 mpg, last year when over there i was speaking to the taxi driver who came to pick us up in a so called minibus he reckoned it did 8 to the gallon.

The minibus was the size of those metro rider buses and that was for the 4 of us, a bloody car would have done.

[Dave_Q]

Citroën 2.0Hdi (DW10TD). Specifically, seized-in glow plugs. Car belongs to my bird's sister. Car was getting hard to start, so she took it to some ex-AA chap to get the glowplugs replaced. It seems he broke one, attacked it with a drill and them covered it with an old glove (!) and told my bird's sister to wait for it to blow out, which it did. He then came round and popped a new one in.

 

Does anyone know of a slightly more, erm, orthodox way of getting these things out?

 

Thanks in advance.

Think a slide hammer type tool is more typical.

 

By the way, HDis only use the glowplugs when its less than 0 degrees and even then not much, so changing them possbly won't help the original starting issue.

[saucedoctor]

Thanks, dink. Much appreciated.

[Clanger]

Has anyone ever rented a camper van in the US before?  If so, what kind of MPG did you get?

 

I've been trying to work out a budget for my upcoming US trip, and I was working on the assumption that a modern petrol-engined C-class RV would do about 15 miles per (US) gallon on a long steady run.  After all, my old (admittedly diesel) Chevy van did 25 (to the Imperial, so 21 US), and that was off of the early '80s - surely engine tech would have improved since then?

 

Emailed the hire place to check, and they reckon about 6mpg.  Six!!!  2,500 miles at 6mpg is going to cost a fucking fortune, even with petrol at a third of the price that it is here.  I'm struggling to believe that an almost-new van could really be that bad.

Also be aware that most RV rentals come with very limited daily mileage allowances - especially when you consider the distances involved over here.  Where are you starting your voyage?  There's a place not far from here called share my coach - rent from private owners - they have a 24 ft that gets 15 - 16 mpg.  But I think like all these places they get you on mileage overages, generator use, insurance, etc.

 

http://www.sharemycoach.com/Vehicle-Rental/176-24FT%20Icon%20diesel%201682.aspx

[wuvvum]

We're driving from just outside Chicago to San Francisco - about 2,250 miles in total (not counting detours, getting lost etc), and we have a mileage allowance of 2,500, so that shouldn't be a problem.  They do charge a lot for extras though ($125 for a "kitchen kit" - 80 quid to rent some pots and pans for a week, fuck that for a game of soldiers).  It's a 28' C-class, based on a Ford E-series chassis as far as I can ascertain.  V10 petrol engine, so not going to be as economical as the one in your link which is a (presumably 5-pot) diesel Sprinter.  Insurance is included, but there's a $1,000 excess which will just get lobbed on the credit card (and then we'll try not to crash).