The grumpy thread

[seth]

  Polystratus said:

Vibrating steering wheel alert if you wander over a white line,

 

That would really get on my wick everytime I "wandered" over a white line to change lane or overtake someone. Impressive though the Cd quoted in that video is, the car does look totally bland and generic, unlike the original Focus that felt quite revolutionary.

[Pete-M]

  tonedepear said:

all the other shite they ladle on to cars now to make people think they're driving a lexus.

 

Bloody hell, that's about as harsh as you can get. I cannot abide Lexarse. The epitome of dull motoring.

 

LS400's V8 engine is a goodun (when they're not knocking followers for six), but it's wrapped in solid beige bilge. How anyone ever thought that getting a Toyota Carina, xeroxing it up 30%, adding electric seat belt height adjustment and calling it a silly name made it the pinnacle of engineering excellence I'll never know.

 

Yes, they're quiet, but that's about it.

[tonedepear]

I quite like the look of the original is200, but apart from that, I'm with you.

 

Thing is, it' all 'bells & whistles' now with most of the major brands. Like Renault. Oooh, we've got 100 airbags, and if you're about to run over a kitten loads of lights flash and it swerves randomly to avoid squishing tiddles, your key has to be a credit card that slots into a big lady-flange cut into the dashboard, and the air con will huff warm air on your feet if it detects you're well into a long term relationship.

 

Could they not just build a car with an engine that won't eat itself instead?

[Tayne]

.

[dollywobbler]

I'm all for something that annoys the driver if he changes lanes without indicating. I bet BMW don't fit such a feature.

[Pete-M]

  tonedepear said:

Thing is, it' all 'bells & whistles' now with most of the major brands. Like Renault. Oooh, we've got 100 airbags, and if you're about to run over a kitten loads of lights flash and it swerves randomly to avoid squishing tiddles, your key has to be a credit card that slots into a big lady-flange cut into the dashboard, and the air con will huff warm air on your feet if it detects you're well into a long term relationship.

 

Could they not just build a car with an engine that won't eat itself instead?

 

It's been bells and whistles for years. My ol' 604, electric windows, central locking, electric sunroof, power steering, headlamp washers, self emptying ashtray, headlamp height adjust and global closing on a car that was introduced in 1975, and most of that stuff was 20 years behind the Yanks.

 

Stuff like that sells. I try to avoid buying (daily) cars that don't have A/C, for example. I consider it an essential for daily motoring as it makes being in a car so much more pleasant. I can live without plastic key cards and lane guidance shite, but I have no problem whatsoever with a couple of airbags, abs, traction control, cruise, central locking etc.

 

In fact, for a daily driver I like to have A/C, ABS, central locking, cruise, and 'lecky windows. Don't like sunroofs, but I've managed to end up with three cars that all have 'em.

 

As for vibrating Citroens, don't mention those to Wat....

[M'coli]

  tonedepear said:

 

The horror

  someone paid by Ford said:

"The new Focus has a Cd of point two nine five as oposed to the old model's point three one whatever, which is impressive considering the new model is wider and longer than the old one"

So it's a fudge, then, because you're not comparing like with like - Cd is a dimensionless quality, I've had dumps with a better Cd that that Focus but I'm not going to make a song and dance about the lack of wind noise that went with it. For a true comparison the frontal area needs including (the CdA) and for those two cars I bet it isn't much different. Anyway, the old mk2 Ashtray had a Cd of around 0.29 when it came out, 26 years ago.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I wonder if there will come a point where it will become an ecological plus point for a car NOT to have loads of pointless electrickery on the graound that its a weight saving and therefore reduces numbers of polar bear deaths. These motors like golf Bluemotions, Volvo Drive 'E's and Ford Econetics are all about mega economy, right down to going to town on underbody aerodynamics and so on. Even alloy panes are used in some cases. Maybe someone will say 'Hey lets save a further 100g by sacking off the ecu for the rain-sensing wipers, and 20kg by deleting the elc seat and window motors'. If the absence of all that shite can be packaged as a selling point then maybe there will be a renaissance in cars without useless electro shit blattered all over them.

[dollywobbler]

The idea gets raised quite often Mr Bol - but it's still cheaper to buy an old car with less toys than a new one with less toys.

 

Talking of pointless technology and not being new, I believe that Fiat 1900s of the 1950s had an average speed indicator.

[tonedepear]

  Pete-M said:

  tonedepear said:

Thing is, it' all 'bells & whistles' now with most of the major brands. Like Renault. Oooh, we've got 100 airbags, and if you're about to run over a kitten loads of lights flash and it swerves randomly to avoid squishing tiddles, your key has to be a credit card that slots into a big lady-flange cut into the dashboard, and the air con will huff warm air on your feet if it detects you're well into a long term relationship.

 

Could they not just build a car with an engine that won't eat itself instead?

 

It's been bells and whistles for years. My ol' 604, electric windows, central locking, electric sunroof, power steering, headlamp washers, self emptying ashtray, headlamp height adjust and global closing on a car that was introduced in 1975, and most of that stuff was 20 years behind the Yanks.

 

Stuff like that sells. I try to avoid buying (daily) cars that don't have A/C, for example. I consider it an essential for daily motoring as it makes being in a car so much more pleasant. I can live without plastic key cards and lane guidance shite, but I have no problem whatsoever with a couple of airbags, abs, traction control, cruise, central locking etc.

 

In fact, for a daily driver I like to have A/C, ABS, central locking, cruise, and 'lecky windows. Don't like sunroofs, but I've managed to end up with three cars that all have 'em.

 

As for vibrating Citroens, don't mention those to Wat....

 

Couldn't agree more. I love A/C, leccy windows I'm not fussed, I enjoy a sunroof, central locking makes life easier, cruise control is lovely on the motorway, and ford heated front screens are ace in winter. I'm all for stuff that actually makes life better, but at the minute (specially this focus) it's like they've filmed the adverts, and then fit the car round whatever gimmicky shite they've decided will sell well. How many insurance claims in the future will go along the lines of "My car reversed into another parked vehicle. It wasn't my fault, my hands weren't even touching the wheel".

[Cavcraft]

  ashmicro said:

Cav

 

Could it have been this lot?

 

http://rescueaccidentassistance.com/default.aspx

 

I *think* they were among the number of firms who phoned us when Katie was hurt.

 

I think you may have something here, many thanks for that. I reckon I'm going to get a LOT of mileage out of these twats assuming it is them.

[Negative Creep]

  Cavette said:

Telesales twats. I hate these bastards at the best of times and we're supposed to be on the telephone prefernce list thing where the wankers don't call us. To make it worse the wankers that called tonight were the ambulance chasing type and asking about accident claims. Mrs C took the first call and as we were involved in an accident a couple of years or so ago thought it was genuine and told them to call me back later.

 

Anyhow long story short they called back and when I questioned them for their phone number (as I'd sussed straight away they were chancers) and the geezer mumbled something. It took a few minutes to get it out of them so I asked for their web address. Whilst on hold for a bout five minutes I could hear at least two other people in their office ringing people up and using different company names. I challenged the fucking gobshite about this when he eventually started speaking again and I got his 'boss' who told me they were solicitors and avoided any pertinent questions at which point I finally snapped and told them I was going to help them look into accident claims and drive my fucking car through their window, block the door off and set fire to their building with them in it. He then repeated some shit about them being a genuine company so I told him to fuck off and put the phone down.

 

Ten minutes later my daughter (who wasn't about when I spoke to them) told me they called again, she asked them to stop calling and the dickhead on the phone went into a rant about how I'd called them (not true) to sort it out and she was a 'silly little girl' and that she could complain all she wanted but they weren't arsed.

If anyone finds out who these wankers are (unlikely I know) please let me know. The twat I spoke to said they were called 'Rescue Accident Help Line' and quoted 0845 956 2811 which doesn't actually exist oddly enough.

 

Rant over, I'm going for a lie down to try and not think about finding them and petrol bombing their fucking office.

 

 

 

http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problem ... citor.page ?

[wuvvum]

I was in my local sells-everything shop yesterday to buy some Gun Gum, and I noticed in the bike bits section they had an inner tube the right size for the Wisp, for £2.49. GR9, thinks I, that's a step towards getting the thing mobile again.

 

Or not. I got home and opened the box, to find that the tube has a Woods valve on it. How the fuck are you supposed to inflate these bastard things? They're a two-piece valve with the core held in by a nut, and there's a rubber sleeve over the core to prevent the air from getting out. The problem is that said rubber sleeve also prevents air from getting in. If you loosen the nut that holds the core in, the air then escapes through the slots in the outer valve that locate the core. If you take the rubber sleeve off and put the core back in, you can inflate the tyre but it goes down again as soon as you take the pump off. I'm fast running out of ideas, and patience.

[M'coli]

Leave the rubber sleeve on it, screw it in tight and pump it up - simple. I like the Woods valve.

[wuvvum]

Tried that - doesn't work. Don't know if you need a special type of adapter to inflate a Woods valve? I'm just using a Presta adapter.

[M'coli]

Presta adaptor should work fine. If you take the valve out and screw it into the adaptor you can see if it's allowing air through without it being attached to the tube.

[wuvvum]

Good point. I'll give that a try.

[CreepingJesus]

Classic Motorcycle Mechanics magazine. Haven't bought it for a while, don't think I'll bother again. I can live with them featuring everything under the sun, except the two bikes I own: I can't forgive them for the CB750 on the inside back cover. It's lovely an' all, but the owner freely admits he bought it from a guy who chequebook-engineered its' resto, and isn't going to ride the bloody thing. Not the CMM way of old. Not impressed.

[TimothyClaypole]

Ebay -

 

Dear "Claypole",

 

You were recently assessed as not meeting our seller performance standards.

 

We'd like to help you improve your seller performance, so that you can continue to list at the same volume and avoid limits on your account.

 

Based on your ratings, we recommend that you focus on communicating promptly and professionally, and dispatching your items promptly and informing your buyers.

 

 

£62.00 last month, £57.00 this month so far, with the fees I'm getting pissed off being expected to meet some bullshit standards - my stuff is back hidden away again in the listings, if it's hidden how are you supposed to

reach any bullshit standard when the joey's buying stuff can't see it and don't understand that clicking 2 stars not 5 for one section can fuck you over worse than a negative.

[autofive]

open another account now. dont wait for total ban on selling that usually follows in the next 60 days

[CreepingJesus]

Sounds like when I used to work for RS McColls. The shop wasn't doing well, so instead of investing the little we asked for, they cut the budget and staff hours. I've never found anyone who can give me a rational explanation as to why these sort of tactics improve anything, ever. Doesn't follow any sort of common sense. Fudge 'em.

[Tayne]

.

[Guest]

My C4 doesn't vibrate when you go over your designated lane*. It vibrates when you go over 75 in any given direction other than 'merde'.

 

However, TSTOE** is confident of a remedial victory in this area, so watch this space.

 

*The lane departure feature was on the VTR+ and Exclusive models only. Mine is an SX. With this trim level you get misaligned rear hubs, faulty disc brakes all round and sporadic air-conditioning.

 

**The Scouse Team Of Excellence. They can come to your town. I'd just chain your Mk2 Escorts to something very solid indeed.

[Guest]

Also:

 

a: I am also bothered infrequently by ambulance chasing tits. I've told them to fuck off numerous times. Their number doesn't appear on Google when you search for it.

 

b: Went to get some decent second hand clusters for the 480 that were not cracked. Cracked one trying to get it out. Mainly because the previous owner had glued, masticked and gaffa taped them on to stop them leaking. (480s are notorious for water leaks around the light clusters - eventually it rots the boot pan and spare wheel tray out). Seller was a top bloke though, and let me have some other bits instead for £20, including a perfect long distance driving light, a door card with an uncracked pocket, and a full tool bag. Still really really REALLY need a pair of uncracked rear clusters. They can be faded - I can sort that out.

 

If anyone sees a 480 with decent clusters, anywhere - in a yard, abandoned, anywhere, please let me know!

 

c. Crap lecturer is now claiming she's crap because she 'didn't want to teach this course'. Well, that makes everything alright then doesn't it?

[retrogeezer]

  Quote

£62.00 last month, £57.00 this month so far, with the fees I'm getting pissed off being expected to meet some bullshit standards - my stuff is back hidden away again in the listings, if it's hidden how are you supposed to

reach any bullshit standard when the joey's buying stuff can't see it and don't understand that clicking 2 stars not 5 for one section can fuck you over worse than a negative. TimothyClaypole

 

They are not interested in low volume part time sellers like you anymore, just large volume sellers of tat that sell hundreds of items every day and negs/low stars don't affect them as they sell so much.

 

Just look at the amount of negs this seller has, but still has a 99.3% rating:

 

 

http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI ... ckAsSeller

[autofive]

  retrogeezer said:

  Quote

£62.00 last month, £57.00 this month so far, with the fees I'm getting pissed off being expected to meet some bullshit standards - my stuff is back hidden away again in the listings, if it's hidden how are you supposed to

reach any bullshit standard when the joey's buying stuff can't see it and don't understand that clicking 2 stars not 5 for one section can fuck you over worse than a negative. TimothyClaypole

 

They are not interested in low volume part time sellers like you anymore, just large volume sellers of tat that sell hundreds of items every day and negs/low stars don't affect them as they sell so much.

 

Just look at the amount of negs this seller has, but still has a 99.3% rating:

 

 

http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI ... ckAsSeller

 

these muppets are the reason i no longer sell books on ebay, they sell everything for peanuts, provide a terrible service, sell books they havent got and tarnish all book sellers in the process. Most have brought their automated selling software over from Amazon and abuse the ebay system. I have seen several of the local wholesale sellers buying at bootsales and markets and they pay far too much for stock (usually in bad condition) then make a tiny profit on each item, sometimes only 12%, after fees.

[Guest]

Wanted to finish editing today. Someone has booked the room out for the ENTIRE DAY with virtually zero notice. Not happy.

[messerschmitt owner]

  watanabe said:

Wanted to finish editing today. Someone has booked the room out for the ENTIRE DAY with virtually zero notice. Not happy.

that meant no one had booked it before? So why hadn't you been organised?

[Guest]

  messerschmitt owner said:

  watanabe said:

Wanted to finish editing today. Someone has booked the room out for the ENTIRE DAY with virtually zero notice. Not happy.

that meant no one had booked it before? So why hadn't you been organised?

 

Because when we went, yesterday at 5pm, the room hadn't been booked. We didn't need to book the room because it's listed for Tuesday as 'open access'. You have to give at least 24 hours notice to book the whole room out, if the room is unlisted. This prick didn't, but still got the room. The technician didn't know, the head of school didn't know, and no one did anything to stop said bell end.

 

This is turning into torture. It needs two, maybe three more hours spending on it. Who needs rules and regs when you can just swan in and take editing days off people?

[messerschmitt owner]

  watanabe said:

This is turning into torture. It needs two, maybe three more hours spending on it. Who needs rules and regs when you can just swan in and take editing days off people?

Welcome to the real world!