tonytiger

Ok, so bought some used alloy wheels (for a saxo) off ebay - not local to me, just went on description and a single photo. Normally I would ask for a photo of each wheel and a fuller description, but as the guy has been on ebay for 10 years and feedback looked okay I just went ahead and bought them. The wheels arrived today and condition isn't quite what I was expecting but I sometimes wonder if just expect too much and shouldn't grumble. So looking for opinions on what I should reasonably expect/accept when the description says: "very good condition overall however all tyres ideally need replacing. all hold air but have excessive wear in outer/inner region of tread" How much damage should I expect and allow for?

I believe that's because when you pull the stalk back, ALL the lights are on, but once you let go it switches over to just the spots - something like that anyway.

I agree, and you'll need to keep declaring it for 5 years. If no-fault accidents don't make a difference to your premium, why do insurers need you to declare them..... At least the car will get repaired though.

As above, well done! Doesn't look too bad cosmetically in those photos.

It might be worth looking at GSF and ECP/Carparts4less too as both can supply decent makes such as Lemforder, TRW, SKF, etc. For example, ECP have the Lemforder balljoint for 17.94 at the moment, and it looks like it comes with the fixing plate and bolts. I wouldn't dismiss Febi entirely, but if you can get Lemforder for just a few quid more it's definitely worth paying the extra.

Welcome to the forum! It won't be that wire that's causing the problem. On UK corrados that's just a dummy connector. If you unplug that connector you'll see there are no connections! Need more info than it won't start! E.g. Does it turn over? There are quite a few things it could be.

Not sure if the 45 profile will be suitable - there's a difference of 30mm in the overall tyre diameter against standard 205/50-15 - which is about 5%. The recommend max difference to original is usually 2 or 3% - I assume it's the same recommendation when fitting snow tyres, but not totally sure. 195/50-15 is less than 2% different to standard with just a 10mm difference in diameter. 195/45-15 might be cheaper simply from being more commonly used. I've looked for that size winter before as that's what my saxo uses, but couldn't find any. Time to have another look I think...

I've only ever read good things about Ctek chargers, and the september issue of Car Mechanics mag gave the ctek 7.0 their best buy award. If you want to read the article, Ctek have reproduced it here I see that Aldi have a cheap charger on offer from tomorrow (17th) - says it has 4 different charging modes, but doesn't elaborate - though I wouldn't expect too much for 13.99 but might be useful for anybody that could use more than one charger.

It's LC3U

I would agree! Lucky you. Perhaps your postcode is an ultra low risk area. Are you married with 2.4 children and a job which is in the lowest risk category?

Most cars no, but a nugget Corrado - definitely! Not sure about an S3 though - probably not for me. Though for some reason I don't think I'd mind a hot ibiza or cupra in yellow. I guess YOU'VE got to be happy with the colour, and not too bothered about resale value.

Finally read the latest edition of the sprinter from cover to cover yesterday (used to do that the day it arrived, but life's changed). Just wanted to say I thought it was excellent. I understand about people saying it's short on articles, but as I've never contributed anything to it I was more than happy with it (and it was actually a surprise when it arrived, as I hadn't even though about being due one!). Sorry to hear Jim and so many other people standing down from their positions, but I understand the drain on everyones time doing this sort of thing. So thanks to all the committee members for their time and effort, and to those who've contributed articles for the sprinter, and to Jim for managing to produce the Sprinters when there have been so few articles to work with. :cheers: Surprised and disappointed to read that there are so few members - I'd assumed (for no particular reason) that there must be at least double that.

Well don't know what I missed, so no apology necessary! I understand the defensiveness as I know what usually happens in such threads. But to clarify, I simply meant I thought there were plenty people active on this forum who aren't current members of the ccgb. And for such a small cost (must be the equivalent of 2.5 gallons of petrol) I can't understand why not.

Probably not as many as there should be......

Couldn't agree more with this. I think you'll struggle to get a bad camera these days as long as it's a known brand. Feel is very important, you need to feel comfortable with it. I went for a Sony alpha, partly because it was compatible with my Minolta lenses from my old 35mm slr. It wasn't the most highly rated, but I like it and am very happy with it.

Yes, very tidy :shock:

Sounds like a new batch must have been sent out. Hopefully I'll get mine in the next few days!

As said above, get it on the diagnostics (vagcom, etc) - hopefully it will show something. You might need to look at the measuring blocks to check everything looks okay. If there are no errors, then I'd go with air leak or maf as kev says, or it could be your ecu if it was remapped for the vsr.

Isn't that usually the way with ebay! But a cool purchase, and not cheap these days I think. I've always liked these, and did consider one quite a few years back. Hope it doesn't cost you much to get it how you want. Good luck!

Weren't the early ones lhd only? But I agree that the engine/performance is identical whether lhd or rhd.

As for price matching - I went through that last year with flux - and they requoted at £10 MORE than the best quote I gave them - they were very reluctant to actually match the price, though they did in the end. However, I suspect that's true of all insurance. And it's quite possible I'll end up back with them next year. :scratch:

Excellent news! About the car that is, not about your insanity! :lol:

Is that a classic policy, or a normal fully comp policy? If that's not a classic policy, then they're thieving swines (substitute a more appropriate word if you prefer) as far as I'm concerned, because I have 14 years no claims, I'm over 40, clean licence, only 3000 miles a year, no mods, and they STILL quoted £369 renewal. Suffice to say I'm no longer with them. Presumably you got some new business extra discount, I got the "he's been with us 4 years (probably more) so we'll apply the 50% mug premium". I hate insurance - it should just be government run, or government controlled - one price wherever you go. Edit - should have read your post properly, you've clearly said it's a classic policy! In that case that's not too much of a surprise as ncb isn't relevant. However, I still don't understand how the risk is less on classic policy than a normal policy with limited mileage.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you get it back, or they crash and die in it.

I've gone with Greenlight too this year for my Corrado and Saxo (unfortunately both due at the same time). having been with Adrian Flux for a few years. I found the Greenlight to be very helpful, much more than flux. It was bad enough turning 40 this year, but to find that the renewal quote for both cars had gone up - no accidents, points, etc - was really depressing/annoying. Greenlight quoted a little cheaper for the vr6, but with increased mileage allowance and all mods declared, but much cheaper than almost everyone else on the Saxo (a few minor mods). And 2 days after my insurance started - Flux then emailed me they could renew my Corrado insurance for almost HALF the price they'd put on the renewal. If Flux had just quoted slightly cheaper than last year they'd probably have kept my business. I hate insurance.