The world of used cars

[scoundrel]

I'm up to 5,000 miles of ownership now and of course still leaking cash like the Amoco Cadiz.

I wound up shedding the thick end of £500 on the annual MOT and service in January. However, I know they did the work because when I drove away the engine temperature gauge remained stubbornly at stone cold for so long that I thought they must have broken it, then started to rise after about 5 miles. It turned out they had replaced the radiator fluid...

[otokonomidori]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

I'm up to 5,000 miles of ownership now and of course still leaking cash like the Amoco Cadiz.

I wound up shedding the thick end of £500 on the annual MOT and service in January. ..

I revived one of my dormant Renault collection in January - it'd been hibernating for a couple of years - cost me 900 Scottish poonds to get it back on the road.

And now the other Renault needs a new master cylinder and a couple of calipers. Have you ever changed a master cylinder? It's a complete and utter bastard and it takes about a week to get all the air out of the system. So I'll pay to get some other bugger to do it.

[Nobody1]

A little advice for anyone who needs new windshield wipers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpdgahDp2Wg

[Estreeter]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

I have bitten the bullet and invested £100 deposit towards the £760 I will pay to obtain this 2005 Mondeo 1.8 litre Zetec hatchback.

Scounds .... is it still running, haven't had an update since April

[Dropped52]

Originally Posted by otokonomidori

Any Impreza or WRX that was within the miserable, tight fisted bastard price range where I [and Scoundrel] operate would already have been thrashed to death by the sort of people who buy Subarus.

You mean, as Jeremy Clarkson would put it, by eco mentalists?

[scoundrel]

As matters currently stand, the Mondeo is still fully operational. There are some annoying little glitches, in particular the cigarette lighter does not work so I can't recharge my mobile phone from it. After more than 18 months in my custody, the car still has a noticeable aroma of stale cigarettes and I am inclined to think that the previous owner probably traded it in because the lighter didn't work anymore. More annoying, the central locking is as temperamental as a film star, and I can find myself standing in the cold rain clicking the unlock button on the one and only ignition key until my thumb drops off. If I just use it as a dumb key it unlocks the car but the alarm goes off before I have time to sit down and turn the key in the ignition.

I am religious now about checking my tyre pressure before long motorway trips. Unlike my previous earlier marque Mondeo, this one reacts very badly to underpressure on the tyres, especially the front wheels. At any speed it handles like a shopping trolley and conveys the impression that the front suspension has imploded. I remember the day when filling stations provided free airlines as a matter of course, but now you pay. Rather than enrich Big Oil, I have spent a bit of money on a footpump and this lives in my boot, to be trotted out whenever I am not at least 30lb on any of my tyres.

The MOT will fall due again next month, so I will need to book her in at my local branch of Dracula Independent Motor Workshops. If she passes the MOT without incident then she gets an annual service...

[IC Hunt]

Originally Posted by Nobody1

A little advice for anyone who needs new windshield wipers..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpdgahDp2Wg

For years I have hated my windshield wiper blades on my car but sure it was an inadequacy with the car, not the blades. My mechanic uses Bosch Blades and I was sure they were very good, so just have to live with the noise when it rains.

This last time I had an impulse (hope) to ask him to put OEM blades on my car and Wow!!! Quiet, silent. All these years and that simple request has made driving in the rain peaceful and quiet; no more smears and squeaking.

If your blades are noisy try OEM blades. I don't care how often they have to be replaced just as long as they are this quiet!

[Dropped52]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

As matters currently stand, the Mondeo is still fully operational. There are some annoying little glitches, in particular the cigarette lighter does not work so I can't recharge my mobile phone from it. After more than 18 months in my custody, the car still has a noticeable aroma of stale cigarettes and I am inclined to think that the previous owner probably traded it in because the lighter didn't work anymore. More annoying, the central locking is as temperamental as a film star, and I can find myself standing in the cold rain clicking the unlock button on the one and only ignition key until my thumb drops off. If I just use it as a dumb key it unlocks the car but the alarm goes off before I have time to sit down and turn the key in the ignition.

I am religious now about checking my tyre pressure before long motorway trips. Unlike my previous earlier marque Mondeo, this one reacts very badly to underpressure on the tyres, especially the front wheels. At any speed it handles like a shopping trolley and conveys the impression that the front suspension has imploded. I remember the day when filling stations provided free airlines as a matter of course, but now you pay. Rather than enrich Big Oil, I have spent a bit of money on a footpump and this lives in my boot, to be trotted out whenever I am not at least 30lb on any of my tyres.

The MOT will fall due again next month, so I will need to book her in at my local branch of Dracula Independent Motor Workshops. If she passes the MOT without incident then she gets an annual service...

Seems obvious to ask but fuse check on the lighter and then from there use a dmm, disconnect the wires on the back of it and where they lead to, like completely open a d ohm out the lines, if either has over 1.0 ohm or is OL on the gauge the wiring g is shot.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by Dropped52

Seems obvious to ask but fuse check on the lighter and then from there use a dmm, disconnect the wires on the back of it and where they lead to, like completely open a d ohm out the lines, if either has over 1.0 ohm or is OL on the gauge the wiring g is shot.

It is written in English and it is grammatically correct and in good syntax. But in my mind I am reading Swahili. Electrics are really not my forte.

[otokonomidori]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

Electrics are really not my forte.

Car electrics especially - if it's not an obvious fuse or relay I take the problem to an auto electrician,