The grumpy thread

[warren t claim]

Where did you buy it from?

[pogweasel]

Metro with a ~MGF front end would be more reliable.

[Guest]

Metro with a ~MGF front end would be more reliable.

 

Or powered by a Honda engine. In fact an entire Honda would probably be a better bet.

[Negative Creep]

Watching Traffic Cops at the moment on Dave. 7.5 tonner went into the back of a 206 and crushed it to about a meter in length killing the 23 year old girl inside instantly. Certianly is sobering watching the Policeman going to her family to give them the news...............

[Pete-M]

Metro with a ~MGF front end would be more reliable.

 

Or powered by a Honda engine. In fact an entire Honda would probably be a better bet.

 

Easiest way of avoiding problems with MGFs is to buy a vastly superior MX5

[ProgRocker]

Watching Traffic Cops at the moment on Dave. 7.5 tonner went into the back of a 206 and crushed it to about a meter in length killing the 23 year old girl inside instantly. Certianly is sobering watching the Policeman going to her family to give them the news...............

 

I remember seeing that first time around, bastard driver was sending a text on his mobile phone and I don't think he made any effort to brake at all.

 

Horrendous. Watching that made me feel how vulnerable we motorists are on the road. No matter how careful a driver one is, it only takes one other careless driver to make an error of judgement to potentially wipe someone out.

[Negative Creep]

Wouldn't matter if you were in a Metro or a brand new Megane, get hit by a lorry at 60mph and it's game over. I do have a lot of respect for the Police in general - whoever can deal with that sort of thing really deserve some

[scaryoldcortina]

My daughter is home from uni at the moment on compassionate leave because one of her mates was killed in Afganistan last week He's at Wooten Basset at the moment, so I'd say we see soldiers in coffins all the time. All you need to do is watch the news.

[Negative Creep]

^^That's entertainment? Watching the parents of a lass crumple on the front stoop over the loss of her life? That's what we are given to watch whilst we drink our swill? Shame on Dave, unless the girl's parents authorized it as a means of educating the public. If not, Dave channel ought go straight to hell.

 

Should we do soldiers coming home in coffins next?

 

Or stillborn fetuses?

 

Or cancer-killed toddlers?

 

Fcuk, the world is getting sicker all the time.......

 

 

They didn't show him telling the family. It was the Policeman arriving at the house then to him driving away describing what it's like every time he has to do that. Names were beeped out as well.

[Station]

'course, you probably should go report it to the police, as it might just be a clone car that only got a plate swap to punt on. Prob is, you will lose it (and your money) and the original pre theft owner will get it back instead.

 

I didn't pay much for the car. It's not MOT'd or taxed, but to honest, there isn't anything wrong with it. It's been off the road for 6 years (alarm bells!), and the owner was going to scrap it (#2), but I paid the scrap value. It's a Metro GTi, I have been after one for a while as I have a spare 1.8 VVC engine. It's a canny little car, the handling is ace, I couldn't shake it round the roundabout when I was testing the breaks before ... anyway. No effort has been made to disguise the fact it's a GTi in car form, and a GTa on the log book. The VIN plate is as it should be, and I haven't checked, but there are two other ID stamps (bulkhead and floor), and they'll be the same. I've contacted the seller, but he hasn't got back to me. Fair enough, he was going to scrap it, and any trouble I'll do the same after seller some of the parts, but it's a pity, I really liked it.

 

Incidentally, my Astra had a discrepency with it's last MOT - I had a replacement dashboard which had a scrapped car's VIN number on it (the MOT tester took this instead of the one on the slam panel). The DVLA contacted me and I sent a letter back saying he had simply taken the VIN off the new dashboard and not the slam panel. I received a new form without any question asked. If this is too dodgy, I'd rather not do anything, but I might just play the "car's had a few things replaced (including the slam panel) and I forgot to change the VIN plates". I don't want an ounce of trouble to come from this, so if it's not worth it, I'll just forget the whole thing and just put it down to experience (and probably make a tiny profit from scrap).

[sporty-shite]

Just found out the work car park (Hospital) that has a three hour time limit for patients and visitors is covered by ANPR cameras.

 

Other staff had told me they park there at weekends because it "isn't patrolled" and assured me it'd be fine.

 

Five or six weekends later, I hear this news, and then see the camera at the entrance to the hospital site, rather than the entrance to the car park. Wouldn't bother too much if it was ever full at weekends, but I'm going to be seriously pissed off (and skint) if I get bagged for all these.

 

Thanks very much Trafford Hospital.

[michael1703]

If you took the vin off the slam panel and painted it or made it look as though you didnt remove it 5 minutes before the test you should be ok.

 

Testers want an easy life, a dozen mot's a day with lots of faffing finding numbers, take it for the mot with the new v5 on the passenger seat and they will walk to the computer with v5 in hand, put the number in to the computer and carry out the test

[scaryoldcortina]

If you took the vin off the slam panel and painted it or made it look as though you didnt remove it 5 minutes before the test you should be ok.

 

Testers want an easy life, a dozen mot's a day with lots of faffing finding numbers, take it for the mot with the new v5 on the passenger seat and they will walk to the computer with v5 in hand, put the number in to the computer and carry out the test

 

Can't speak for any other testers BUT I do check. Not worth my job not to really, if it's wrong it comes back. Oh, and no VIN plate is a fail anyway....

[Station]

Yes, the MOT test requires one VIN number on the car body.

 

If a VIN Number cannot be found the vehicle presenter should be advised of the likely location of the VIN and and to thoroughly search for the number with the aid of the registration document. If following this action the VIN cannot be found the vehicle presenter should contact the nearest Vehicle Registration Office.

 

The joy of having a fully working car and not being able to do anything with it.

[rml2345]

Apparently not being able to get to the train station to catch a train to work is not a legitimate reason for not getting to work.

[warren t claim]

Watching Traffic Cops at the moment on Dave. 7.5 tonner went into the back of a 206 and crushed it to about a meter in length killing the 23 year old girl inside instantly. Certianly is sobering watching the Policeman going to her family to give them the news...............

 

I remember seeing that first time around, bastard driver was sending a text on his mobile phone and I don't think he made any effort to brake at all.

 

Horrendous. Watching that made me feel how vulnerable we motorists are on the road. No matter how careful a driver one is, it only takes one other careless driver to make an error of judgement to potentially wipe someone out.

 

 

I also remember watching this.

 

I think he was trying to work out how to use his (legal) dash mounted hands free phone.

[dollywobbler]

Thing is though, it's easy to have a go at the bloke - who's now got to live with the fact that he caused someone's death for the rest of his life - but how many of us can honestly say that we pay 100% attention to the road 100% of the time when we're driving?

 

I consider myself a safe, attentive driver, but I can't say that there hasn't been times where my attention has drifted from the road because of a radio, some old shite parked at the side of the road, totty, wondering what that bloody horrible noise is or something going on around me that doesn't affect me (a near-miss on the other carriageway perhaps). It doesn't take much does it?

 

Mind you, he could have just been one of many twats who drive around like it isn't a dangerous thing to do, and give it the least attention possible. Just pointing out that there can be two sides to a story.

[Negative Creep]

Very true, the difference between life and death is circumstance. You could punch someone and get an £80 fine, they could fall and hit their head on the pavement and you'll be in jail for manslaughter. I'm sure we've all driven cars that weren't 100% road legal, even in a minor way - if we'd crashed into someone or something then it would have been even more serious

[ashmicro]

I think that one was eventually on the news. I do remember a young girl in a 206 being killed by a truck driver farting around with a phone, and the deceased's mother being on the news. IIRC, the trucker got quite a bit of porrige (if it's the same one)

[Guest]

1. Video Journalism lectures.

 

Jesus wept.If I wanted to listen to an idiot spout shit for 4 hours I'd have stayed in full time employment. I have to listen to willfully ignorant mongs all weekend at work and now it appears Fridays are running in the same groove. Our lecturer has no idea what she is on about. I can see this going one of four ways.

 

1. We all walk out.

2. I walk out and write a shitty letter to the head of school and try to get our leaking spastic fish tank of a lecturer removed by a vote of no confidence.

3. We all do what we can, get crap marks because she has no idea of the brief save for a merry little troupe of dancing animals in her mind, we all go ballistic and it ends in disaster.

4. A combination of all three.

 

Apparently we have an assignment to do. Or something. She contradicted herself at least ten times, changed the brief as she saw fit, got basic terminology wrong (what the fuck is a reverse angle axle?) and more or less wanted us to make up a news story to avoid 'covering a topic that had already been covered'. Despite the brief saying we had to cover an existing news story and then expand on it with unique material. I'm sure the voices agree with her.

 

If this carries on I hope the Uni gets fucked over by the spending cuts and their department halved. Twats like her do not deserve my money. If I am indeed a consumer in education as the Government purports, I'd be back at the shop spitting flame and demanding a refund.

 

Tell you what though, I bet fuck all will change. Here's to the next 7 weeks of Fridays being excruciatingly painful. I honestly enjoyed being rear ended on Washway Road more than that suppurating cum bubble of a lecture, if indeed that's what it was. It might have been in her head, but then again I don't know what fucking reality she lives in.

 

On second thoughts I might just stay in bed next week and have a wank instead. Definitely a more constructive use of my time on a Friday.

 

2. Volvo 480 Registration H987 PUY

 

'I know' thinks I, 'I'll go to the unit and do some work on the Volvo, that'll help me forget about gibber babble bollock brain.' Go to start Volvo. Volvo will not start. Get Volvo going with booster pack. Pop up lights on Volvo do not. Aaargh. Get lights up. Lights do not want to go back down. Try manual crank. Manual crank seized. Bollocks.

 

I decide to change tack and fit the rather lovely refurbished 15" Turbo alloys I got for next to fuck all on eBay. Get jack and wrench out. Go to slacken off nuts. Nuts rattlegunned on so fucking tight not even SCTSH_ANDY's diesel blurp drill can shift them. Try fully charged battery in blurp drill and deep socket 17mm bit. 'GNNNNNNNNNNNNNfffBBBpppppppp' exclaims my portable friend (drill goes whizzing round and tries to twat me in the face having released itself from my grip). Reverse Volvo back in to hole after achieving fuck all and go home. Get stuck in mong master traffic and get stuck behind an idiot in a new Civic who decides to stop dead on a mini roundabout FOR NO DISCERNABLE REASON WHATSOEVER.

 

3. 51 Plate Vauxhall Zafira on M56.

 

At junction 7 I was witness to possibly the most suicidal piece of driving I've seen since the estate agent in his Elise got the four wheel drift on coming off the Lymm roundabout and ran so wide he nearly ploughed into me (driving in the opposite direction in the outside lane).

 

At the last minute the driver of the Zafira realises he's getting off at the wrong exit just before the ramp, and slams on so hard I have my ABS pulsing like 1992 to avoid following him in. He then cuts across the broken lane so violently a Passat in the inside lane has to slam on. Passat man stands on his horn in utter amazement. Zafira then snaps back into the J7 offramp, veers over into the Passat missing him by inches, and lunges back on to the J7 off ramp. He's getting closer and closer to stacking it into the central divider and I'm convinced I'm about to end up head first in a massive accident. Zafira then tries a third time to get back on the motorway, finally relents and swings back on to the J7 offramp.

 

Brilliant stuff. Any more now, or is that the afternoon's entertainment over with?

Fucking better had be, else they'll be murders.

[oldford]

Looking at a passenger rear sliding door on a Renault Kangoo that wouldn't open today. Everytime it was shut, it locked and locked the solenoid so you couldn't unlock it. We sussed the cause in the end, nothing wrong with the door or its mechanism, it was a problem with the fuel cap.

 

Bloody modern electronic cars.

[pogweasel]

Ahh, the Kangoo fuel cap.

Unlocking the fuel cap locks the rest of the vehicle, fill up, put the cap back on and all unlocks again. So then you have to immediately lock it again while you go in and pay.

Utterly pointless and hugely irritating.

[Guest]

Looking at a passenger rear sliding door on a Renault Kangoo that wouldn't open today. Everytime it was shut, it locked and locked the solenoid so you couldn't unlock it. We sussed the cause in the end, nothing wrong with the door or its mechanism, it was a problem with the fuel cap.

 

Bloody modern electronic cars.

 

Eeeeeeeet eeeezzz zeeee, how you say, zeeee way uv zeeee French. Deeeeessss eeeeeezzzz zeeeee, how you say, deeeee charm of zeeeeee, how you say, caaaaaaarrr. No? Yes? No? Yes?

 

Merde.

[Guest]

Makes sense to me, means you can't easily change your mind about filling the tank up. If it didn't have that feature, you might put 2+2 together, spray the interior with pump petrol, climb inside it and then set yourself alight on the forecourt as some sort of misguided suicidal protest.

[Claypole]

Astra's reversing lights not working, changed switch but no better.

 

End up driving around in daylight hours only as rear fog lights are on permanently despite changing the switch and poking the holders for ages.

 

Thought I'd got them switched off at one point but driving along I kept noticing the light flickering until they came back on while driving along.

 

Then a headlight goes off.

 

Today got the headlight working only for the back lights to go off...

 

Some mastery in bodging by my dad has the twin bulbs for rear lights/fog lights replaced with small single bulbs and jammed in with matchsticks so I drove home with the fog lights on but pretending

to be normal driving lights by using little bulbs.

 

Suppose that's a £400 car for you with 160,000 on the clock.

[pogweasel]

Please don't force me to read the Offensive American Twat's posts by including them in quotation.

Thankyou.

[scaryoldcortina]

In the style of watanabe...

 

1. Student Finance England

If it wasn't bad enough that you want details of my income to decide if my 21 year old and basically self-sufficient daughter gets a grant or not could you at least be consistant? I've spent 4 months wringing proof out of HMRC that I made NO money at all during 08/09 and you write back to say that I sent the wrong form, you need a different (but still HMRC) proof of the same self declared loss for the year before you will pay the rest of my daugher's loan for the year. I sent you the same form last year, it was fine then, it is on the list of acceptable evidence, so

WTF???

 

2. Volvo 240GLS

Not even my car, but rapidly turning into a huge POS that I don't need. I have nowhere to park it so it has to start, it has recently decided it doesn't want to. I do not need to be spending an hour a day making the bloody volvo work.

 

3. The Focus driver who doesn't know where the light switch is

Pulling out of a filling station (turning right) this evening I almost T-boned a focus who, despite it being dark, didn't have any lights on. What makes me most annoyed about this is that it would in the eyes of the insurance been my fault if I'd hit it.

[Cavcraft]

Microsoft. Word.

 

I must have had the trial version pre-loaded when I got my computer and the only bastarding time I want to use it I spent a few days knocking something up, have come to review it/copy and paste and the twatting thing won't let me, seemingly because it's been used 25 times or more by the kids.

 

Anyhow attempting to purchase a new product key reveals it's a 'mere' £109.99 for the basic version. Well they can get fucked, I'm off to trawl the web for some sort of permanent free thing I can use instead.

[scaryoldcortina]

^ openoffice.org

[pogweasel]

http://thepiratebay.org/search/microsoft%20word/0/99/0

Look no more.