lotusdave

not good Third Party ignoring you, but her old man has probably said don't admit liability and leave it your insurers. I have a dash cam, despite the annoying wires, just in case this happens to me. good luck.

having driven 100 miles or so this morning, the car sat in the rain for a few hours before I went to drive home. the dashboard has lit up like a Christmas tree with four separate warnings that the stability control has failed. bottom left, something like ASF is flashing, bottom right the usual skidding car light is on, too centre is the warning triangle and lastly the display says the the system has failed. I forget exactly what it says, VCF maybe? its never done it before and plenty of switch off and on has made no difference. a quick test tells me the abs is working, but the traction control isn't as wheelspin was very easy in the rain. (naturally i was on a private road when I tested these). anyone near Dartford got a code reader, assuming this will tell us what has failed?

seems unlikely given the age of the isf.

umm, what do those plastic things on the windows do? I assumed since you tend to see them in the hot parts of US, that it allowed them to drive with the windows down and with less wind noise. But we drive faster here, and it isn't as hot....

But darling, its my tax year end pension contribution. I did it for the tax relief and our financial future.

you have a coal fire in your garage! Or lounge as most people would call it...

well, don't tell the Mrs and stick a supercharger on it.

just the one trip, dartford to the other side of Southampton and back today. Car is FILTHY!! you certainly would not know those exhaust pipes are chrome.

agree run regularly but I don't run it all the time party to aid fuel consumption (to save the planet. In my 5L v8) but also as I find the air too dry I moisturising my face whilst I hammer down the m1 might be considered dangerous by some.

my lotus shows a fail which I had no record of - owned since new - a headlight or something. Talking to the garage they said they may well have failed it, corrected the headlight and passed it without me knowing. I was dubious as that mot was "service and mot" so an mot failure = shoddy service. I concluded that the system was wrong or someone made an error typing the details in.

three years, 30,000 miles. 800 quid on fixing misfire which was the mass air flow meter , broken spark plug and squashed air intake which would have leaked around the sea under load. all non warranty repairs. on top of that new front discs n pads. Lots. i forget, but a grand or something from a Stealer. new tyres. (winter and summer). Again lots. that's all general wear and tear though. lastly, a paint magician in a van to mend the bloody dent some git put in the door as it was parked outside a client. It was quite a job and that cost a fair amount too. again I forget, because its best not to remember.

welcome. Have fun and enjoy the 2nd port rumble.

...it does reach a point though when self insuring makes sense. My car is worth (08, 80k) £15grand. Spending a grand on warranty a year seems a huge cost on top of the road tax. and indi fixed my misfire and fitted two new HID headlights for 800or so. Yes the warranty would have covered the misfire - dunno about the lights as I imagine bulbs are excluded - so I'm still quid's in. what would really pee me off is having the warranty and them turning down a claim, as insurers do... I basically accept the risk of a large bill on what is a 9 year old car that cost 60k plus when new. pays ya money takes ya choice...

yeah that looks like it. Good sluthing.

I've just checked the invoice. They replaced the "air flow meter". He showed it to me too.

lol at torque hectoring in my earlier post!

nope, it's a part of the electronic gibbins in all modern cars. It senses how much air is flowing into the engine, and i assume its the but that knows if you're up a mountain or not.

tech one in sidcup are a brilliant specialist and changed my sparkies recently as one had cracked. plus the mass air flow filter which was on the way out, and two new hid headlights and fixed a bent air intake pipe, for £700or so. Hate to think what a main dealer would have charged. I still use a main dealer for the official service though. it doesn't kick down in manual mode, and you DO have an LSD on all isf. Just early ones like mine is torque hectoring - ie it brakes the inside wheel. Works fine on both road and track...

i was the 5th owner of my 08 three years ago... With a limited budget are you aware that the road tax alone is over £500? I just spent 800 at an independent getting two new HID headlights and tracking down a minor misfire (which was a combo of the mass airflow sensor, cracked spark plug and crinked hose), so whilst reliable they are getting old now and if they go wrong, are expensive to fix even at an indi. however, if you get one you'll love it. Lots. Especially the noise. enjoy your hunt...

interestingly my insurance is due. The usual comparison website told me the private value of my 08,75k miles is 7k!! Seven thousand! Lord help any of us if we write ours of, although this white one helps the argument of course. in other news I've been meaning to say doe a while my misfire was cured by tech one in sidcup. It was a combination of a cracked plug, failing mass air filter and a curious over tightening of the air intake causing it to kink and leak pressure under load. I've the photos as that one could happen to others and would be impossible to see without taking it apart.

good lord!

i bet a new, original exhaust is not cheap.

I'm dead good at Lego. Less so with taking bumpers off real cars.

lol. This is why i leave it to the garage! Not a stealer, but the trusted indi in sidcup.

that's a good point about replacing both. I simply too busy to do a good job. I'll end up rushing it. also tech one are going to have another go at tracking down my curious misfire. folks, at idle, do's yours run as smooth as silk or is it lumpy? I've had the misfire so long now i can't remember. If it should be smooth I now have another symptom. Also when are the plugs due to change? mine is nine years old this year. 75k miles. Lexus sidcup changed them in 2015 so i wondered if it was every two years? It might have been 2014 mind. If i wasn't so lazy id look at my service history!