Magnet

Hello Jay, I sympathise with your plight of not being able to insure a 15 year old occasional-use car under a classic cover. I too have found that most of the volume classic car brokers will not insure vehicles under 20 years old, and it seems they can be selective on what they will cover at 20 anyway! My long standing broker recently refused to insure a 15 year old MG TF for me, but I did find Peter Best would insure it as part of a deal with the MG clubs. As you are aware, classic policies do not require, or earn a NCB, and I can only suggest you try all the brokers you can think of to see if any might do you a limited mileage agreed value policy on the car. Adrian Flux comes to mind as worth a try. There will be others. Re. your previously earned NCB, again you are no doubt aware that if this is not used against a policy for two years then it elapses. Insurers used to give so called introductory discounts for such cases, and say for ex company car drivers, but not so any longer I believe. Your car may just come under the heading of a Modern Classic, and there is a magazine published with that title. Could be worth getting a copy and checking with the insurance companies who advertise with them. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Alal, but if you see my second paragraph you will see I couldn't even begin! to haggle with the AA. Savvy - yes, had many years at that! I've now realised that Southampton Graham's Autoaid is no longer the pay and reclaim organisation I thought it was, so this seems to be an unbeatable deal. Kind regards, Gareth.

Like the pic. Steve. Good attempt, but nothing to do with motorsport, where contact is not what you want! - good clue.

Hello folks, Another not-for-Googling question:- The origins of the AA were linked to a sport. What was the sport and what was the connection? Clues:- Nothing to do with sponsorship as we know it. The AA's livery colour might be another clue. Will leave this run until the end of the week. Good luck, Gareth.

Hello Lyndon, If you are buying a vehicle around 1year old, then yes, the majority are going to be available at the main dealer, and personally I would suggest extreme caution on buying one of these from anywhere else. If one is available elsewhere, you would need to ask yourself why an owner would suffer the initial depreciation and move away from the marque - smacks of dissatisfaction. Vehicles available at main dealers:- may well be ex VAG management cars returned before a year old or X miles, some models be ex hire vehicles ( beware since these are seldom registered to company names which point to this). As always, I recommend - at boredom- to always check with the recorded keeper before purchasing. HPI will be not be necessary if you by at a main dealer, but such checks do not guarantee the vehicle has not been accident damaged - just not to the extent of being a total loss, which would show up on HPI. Discounts:- I'm with Steve on this, since dealers enjoy a healthy commission on encouraging buyers to take up finance. Cash is certainly no longer king. Seasonal variations? Not so sure about this, and others may have alternative experience, but based on few of these vehicles being purchased expressly to deal with their designed capabilities, I doubt if delaying purchase is going to make a significant difference. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello John, Hazard flasher button:- Have you checked if this is still illuminated after about 5mins? Hopefully not. I would still check for contact resistance across the fuse which feeds the blower. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello John, As I understand it, you have a fuse failing to complete the circuit rather than a fuse which blows (pointing to a short circuit). In effect, you have an open circuit situation. These are often head scratching situations! What I would do:- Remove the fuse from its position in the fuse board and examine it. Does it have any white corrosion on it? Even if it doesn't, replace it with a new fuse of the same rating - 10 or 15 amps. I guess- but give it a squirt of WD 40 or similar before inserting it and then give itba good waggling once in place. If you then have power to the circuit great. If not, let us know. Even when the circuit is complete fed, blowers often suffer from blown resistors on positions 1&2 - the most common used. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Adrian, Sorry to hear of your issues. I can only boil this down as follows:- Car was serviced at this main dealer some 5 weeks ago, and this service included a 'scheduled' brake fluid change. This fluid change in itself is confusing since my belief is that the schedule is for the brake fluid to be changed every two years - so it would not need changing at 3 year old! - unless they didn't change it last year. Did they change it then? The car was returned to the same dealer to simply have a MOT. As I understand it, the 'consistency' of the brake fluid doesn't currently form part of an MOT assessment, and the brake efficiency is assessed as either being within specification for the vehicle (pass) or not (fail) . It might warrant an advisory for visually 'dirty' fluid, but I believe they are not currently permitted to even test that fluid. In efect, any recommendation to change the fluid (irrespective of them having changed it 5 weeks earlier) should simply be via. a recommendation. So called 'contaminated' oil? Again of no consequence to the passing or failing of the MOT, although it might be suggested that this could aggravate out-of-limits emissions - if the emissions were indeed outside the acceptable limits. As it stands Adrian, are they providing you with a MOT pass or refusal at this stage? Or are they giving you indications that they are going to issue you with a fail if you don't get the oil changed etc? If it were mine:- I would simply request a MOT pass or fail certificate without further debate. It is reasonable to consider that they are trying to get you to spend money that you have already spent at the service, and something just doesn't add up. I would write to (or e-mail) the dealer principal, outlining your experiences in relation to the service and inform him that if this is not amicably and economically resolved, that you will be taking legal action, and ask whether he would prefer to elect for a charge of incompetence or fraud! Finally, I would find yourself a trusty independent and entrust your car to them in the future - but get them to change the oil and filter now. Hope you have a favourable outcome. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mike, "Has anyone who got their car recalled had any issues since?" I would strongly advise you to read owners comments under Recalls before going near this one. This one may? be OK but could be part of a reason why its ended up "out of the way?' over your side of the water. If it were me :- I would read all the posts, and then contact the previous owner to check with them what their experiences were with this car at the point they sold it. Sorry if this is an off put, but personally I wouldn't touch it without covering both of those points and being satisfied that it all stacks up. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello folks, One correct and some tantalisingly close answers. Boot:- Back to the pioneering days of motoring where additional boots may have been necessary to deal with adverse conditions along the journey. Stored in a box, and this box became known as the Boot. Never been substantiated that I know of but...... So full marks Steve. Go Faster Stripes:- Yes, it was to do with colour, and yes, it was connected with racing, and the good clue was how cars were constructed then and now. Up to I would say the early 1920s, the chassis (frame for the younger element!!) was visible and the body work was built up on this (most cars continued this method of construction until the late 1940s). Cars used for racing generally had lightweight non streamlined bodies and the chassis was painted in the manufacturer's chosen colour, and of course the chassis and its colour was visible. As bodies became more streamlined, they covered the chassis, so the racing (chassis) colour had to be replicated along the length of the body to identify the manufacturer from a distance. So there you had it - the birth of the "go faster" stripes. Now that will earn you a pint from anyone who drives a current car with these stripes! Beer barrel and traffic control:- The clue was in the shape of the barrel - round - add about and you've got the answer. Many towns and villages claim to be the first to use a barrel at a crossroads to better control vehicles turning in varying directions. Generally reputed to have been used where there was an inn at the crossroads, and a barrel was put to good use where there was a high number of accidents at this crossroad. Again never substantiated, but the village next to where I was born claimed to be the first to use a barrel for this purpose, but I've heard quite a few others making similar claim! Will probably pose another question next week if you think it will provide some exchange between members. There's a pint for you Steve if you are ever passing through - and a half for Paul and Trevor. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Trevor, Temptingly close. Yes, they were there to aid indentification, but why stripes? I'll let you have the answers tomorrow at the end of school! Thanks for all the attempts. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Chris, Just measured our 2006 A3 5 door at approx. 375mm. front and back. Approx. due to not being guaranteed level, but close enough for comparison. So yours is 35mm (1.5in) too low at the front, and effectively correct at the rear ( slightly high due to front being too low). I would ignore any possibility of the back being at fault - your problems are front associated - and indeed visually shows this. Not sure about your table of figures, since I don't know (but guess) if they are talking spring lengths rather than wheel centre to arch measurements. Back to my original question:- Where did you source your parts from - main dealer or aftermarket? Perhaps being simplistic, but this could be as simple as incorrect length springs being supplied, and the only way you are going to assess this is to find out who the spring supplier was (if aftermarket) and contact their technical department to see if there was an alternative length for this model. If purchased from VAG then same applies via. part numbers and alternatives. Be interested to know how you get on. Personally, I would not ignore the potential benefits of contacting the previous owner ( since you say it was like this when you bought it) to see if there is any valuable information available there. Good luck Chris. Keep us posted. Kind regards, Gareth.

Stripes - Well Steve, if you follow Paul's idea about racing then you will be on the right track - pardon the pun. A clue would be that this goes back to around the 1920s (no I wasn't about then!) Think about how cars are built now and how they were built then. Very good clue there. Barrel - well off the mark folks. Like everything, if you know the answer then it's simple, and I'm simple and I know the answer! I'll give you a good clue, think about what shape the barrel is. It's all useless information, but might be worth a pint in a quiz sometime. Shall I leave this run for a couple of days incase anyone else wants to join in? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Chris, Many thanks for the additional detail. What I can do tomorrow is the measure our 2006 5 door A3 whenI can get it on level ground and let you know what that comes out at. To me, it seems as if the front is decidedly low, rather than the back being too high. Has the work you have done increased the front height at all from what it was? Wishbones being modified to lower the ride height? Could be I suppose, but would have thought the back would have had some lowering modifications as well. Like the drawing, but wonder if it might just be thought of as breeching the forum etiquette! One point that comes to mind Chris is whether the top suspension mountings are as intact as they should be, resulting in the legs moving up in the mounts. If they are OK, it's easy to question if the new springs are the correct for the model and year, and indeed if the old ones were too. Re previous ownership - was it low at the front when you bought it? If so would it be worthwhile contacting the previous owner to see if he knows if any modifications were carried out on the ride height? Will be back to you tomorrow with some measurements. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Steve and Paul, Good answers so far, but thought I would leave it run a bit, particularly with the 'Go faster' stripes where I do have the correct answer. They do go back well before the 60s (when I had hair!) Steve, and I can tell you Paul that your answer is worth some marks out of 10, but needs some more meat on the bone to claim a pint when you are in the area! Many thanks both. Anyone else want to join in? Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Talking pints:- what is the reputed connection between a beer barrel and a now common form of traffic control? The answer is worth a bonus point. Another piece of useless information!

Murcja. Mercia - Spain?

Good morning folks, Michael from Murcja (no I don't know where it is either until I look it up) is looking for a 'trunk' lid for his car - an obvious Americanisation. We call it a 'Boot'. Questionof the day:- Why is it called a 'Boot'? - I think I know why, but it would be interesting to know other's views. 2nd. Question of the day:- We all know of the popularity with the 'enthusiastic drivers' of painting wide stripes down the bonnet and roof - 'Go faster' stripes we used to call them! . What was the origin of these stripes? ( I do know the answer to this). NO GOOGLING! - sorry dont mean to shout. Have a good day. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. No Googling! Just about to Google where Murcja is! Americans - strange terminology :- rotors for discs, rockers for sill panels, fenders for wings. UK - strange terminology :- wings, bonnet, handbrake as opposed to parking brake etc.

Hello Michael, Incase anyone can help you, where is Murcja ( pardon my ignorance)? - heard of Mercia (Spain) but not Murcja. Not sure if you have a means of cheaply shipping this, but perhaps it's best to let you know that this is predominantly a UK based forum. Apologies if you know, but thought it worth pointing out. I just wondered if 'trunk' rather than 'boot' gives a clue to where you are. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Chris, Welcome to the forum, and sorry you are having an issue with the A3. Unfortunately we are going to need some more information before we can offer meaningful assistance:- Front springs etc. fitted during your ownership? -and when? Did the car sit 'odd' before they were fitted? - e.g. did the car sit high at the back? Source/make of parts used? Can you take measurements from the wheel centres to the underside of the arches for each wheel when the car is sitting on level ground? If this car sat high at the rear when you bought it, do you know who the previously owners were - company or private from new etc.? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Michael, As Steve's questions. If the windows do not work off any of the switches, and the fuse hasn't blown, it might - just might- be a faulty relay in that circuit. As an alternative to spending on a diagnostic check, you could consider investing (the same?) funds with a local trusted auto electrician. Perhaps you can keep us posted on how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Sorry about the bellow for below! It was a bit early in the morning. Can't seem to edit it now. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Beck, What have you bought here, pads or sensor wires, or both.? We are lacking a bit of fact. When you say the pads are low (thin) how many mm of lining is left in them (front) - backs very often don't have thickness sensors. The light may not be on because although the pads are worn, they may not yet be worn down to the critical thickness level - or as is being assumed here, they are bellow the minimum thickness, but the sensors are not showing a light. Until we know the thickness of the front we cannot judge what is at fault here - if anything. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Nizam, Sorry to put I this way, but it seems you have a strong desire go put deposits on cars then think about what you should have thought about doing before - after! Beware, deposits are non refundable and depends on the good will of the seller giving a deposit back. I think I have outlined all the pre- deposit checks you would be advised to do. It's really now up to you to follow the path that suits you. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Craig, My bad news experience is that I would not think it's worth you risking paying the £110 fee to get this in retention. You might find you could make a few tens of pounds on it above that, but worth the risk?? I don't think so. Number plate agencies will value it at an attractive back-to-you price, but in reality you are unlikely to see any return on it. Well that's my experience of leaving one (original style) number with them for 9 years and reducing the price to 20% of their original value without selling it. I would think seriously about risking spending in the hope of getting any worthwhile return. Of course, you could be lucky, but..... Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ken, Sorry to hear of your problems. I would agree it could be the coolant temperature failing via. short or open circuit, since I believe this will then automatically set the fan to run since the ECU cannot sense the coolant temperature so it triggers the fan incase it is overheating. I also believe the fan will run (for a couple of minutes) after the ignition is switched off?? Continuously ?? - No, I would have thought. Other sensors may well trigger the fan. Result of An ECU problem? Possibly, that is a somewhat drastic diagnosis. To me, this needs to be plugged in, and the fault codes read before any more action is taken on guessing. Things which appear complex can sometimes be quite simple. I have my fingers crossed for you Ken. Kind regards, Gareth.