BMCWP

Well that was a new one. Nothing else wrong but now I have a fail - I hate our system over here in NI as I have had to pay £30 for a re-test that I can't get until the 2nd week in July - my question is, I had the lights checked and they were fine, however in between that and the test, somebody managed to unplug my battery tender and the cars battery went completely flat. When I got it charged again everything seemed to reset and I was wondering is it possible the headlight did as well? And if so is there any procedure to get it to go back to where it was or is it a matter of somehow getting at the adjustment screws?

both of my motors have been seized for years - I looked at the various posts on how to adjust and my head went "nope" Is there an easy way to adjust the "up - down" motor?

Yep - one motor gives an odd click but does nothing and when you hold the button in the other one is simply dead (fuses etc all checked) I won't be buying 2nd hand ones and as to date there does not seem to be anyone doing refurbs it looks like it will be new motors if I ever get the cash. My next issue would be to find somebody that could fit them and by the looks of it over here in Northern Ireland my only bet is the dealers. I will ask for a price as sometimes they are not as bad as people might think but being as they never answered my last query about a replacement seat cushion I won't be holding my breath. to be fair, for a car built in December 2005 those motors are the only parts not working, everything else still works (soft close doors, seatbelt height, seats themselves, soft close boot, air con, ML stereo, air vents etc.

My motors seized years ago and as the wheel was more or less where I would have left it anyway I wasn't bothered. Now, some years later I was wondering is there now anyone selling refurbished ones or is it a case of leaving it as I doubt getting new ones fitted would be cheap. I don't fancy breakers specials as I have had issues in the past with parts not quite as advertised so thought I would ask in case somebody does them now.

My jag had the toroidal tank and even though it was small it was grand as the filling station is only 2 miles from here (and they still do LPG) so in my case if I felt the need it would not be an issue. If you have not done so already a quick check to see what stations near you have it would sort that out.

When changing blades, I generally play a bit of a game with the ignition, switch the car on use a bit of screenwash and run the wipers, when they are about 1/4 to half way up the screen switch the ignition off and they should stay there (unless the 460 has autopark!) makes it a lot easier to change them 🙂 I have to order another drivers one (that will make 4 in as many years) as for some reason every single one manages to get a bit of damage right in my line of sight 😕 first one was of all things an acorn, 2nd was something a bird dropped, 3rd was a tiny defect I did not spot that just got worse so 4th time lucky? Lucky enough it was just the wiper rubber that was damaged and not the screen.

Well... Tesco quoted £300 more than last year! 🙄 Eventually went with a local company and got insured for about £60 more than last year so acceptable enough. I will have my full NCD next year so I expect it to come down a bit (or stay the same depending on what mood they are in) NI insurance was always expensive during the dark days (as cars tended to get damaged a lot) but as things settled down so did the prices but as has been noted recently there have been massive spikes and I am still at a loss as to why that is.

Not today as such, but recently took myself and a passenger on a 120 mile round trip (last done 3 years ago) to a routine hospital appointment and it didn't miss a beat. Mixed Irish roads and a motorway blast and then the usual heavy city traffic and even heavier at the Royal hospital (40 minutes to get into the car park in start stop traffic anyone?) Last time I did that run was in a then brand new Citroen C5 Aircross and I know which car I would do it again in and it won't be the C5 !

I use them all the time - make sure you choose the prepaid customs option when choosing delivery - its a bit more expensive, if you dont the customs lot will impound it, leave it in a warehouse for a week, look at it and then charge you an extra £20 for the pleasure. I also recommend getting more than one item as they can usually ship everything together so you would save postage - ie get whatever service parts you want as well they have a huge range. I've nothing against local merchants and will use them when I can but because (as I mentioned) I am in Northern Ireland they really do take the proverbial *&*& when it comes to postage. Also, as an aside, my local Halfords no longer stock wiper blades for my LS430 and my nearest Lexus dealer is a 100 mile round trip away so I am sort of forced to use mail order when out local garage can't get stuff.

btw - there are a few in the usual places for around £25 but if (like me) you live in Northern Ireland some of these places want £20 or more to post it (and that was BEFORE brexit) one even said they couldn't post a pair of fecking wiper blades as they had to fill in a customs form! (which they don't but such is the reality of buying parts over here, it really is cheaper and less hassle to use Rock Auto)

Its not the plastic but the look, shape and finish that you can't replicate with 3d printing (yet) also there is a metal clip that goes around it on the inside that helps to hold it in place so I imagine the type of plastic would need to be strong enough to cope with the spring tension etc. The cheapest I have seen them on ebay for is about £25 each (but you had to buy the set of 4) Still lots of little "bits" out there that remind us we are driving cars getting on in years and some parts will start to be very rare (and some of the sellers know it as I have seen one clown looking £75 for one of those centre caps!)

Sadly they are basically hens teeth - I spent the best part of 2 years looking for one and eventually got one from a breaker in Canada for £15 delivered (which was cheap considering although still a bit steep for a bit of plastic) however when it got here it was crushed in the post (they sent it in a bag!) I then had to cobble together one using strong glue and the bits from it and an old one. Keep looking in obscure places like gumtree and facebook marketplace as well as doing a wider search on fleabay and hopefully you will find one (but ask them to post it in a box)

I've had classic before on my old XJ so am aware of the NCD thing, and was in the same boat as it was my daily driver for years and it did cost me a few quid when I changed over to a different car but the LS will be my 2nd car going forward so I will be keeping my NCD on the next car. Its hard to tell at the moment as I can't really go looking for quotes as I am not 100% sure what I am getting as I have to wait and see what the finances are in a months time. I have a feeling its not going to be cheap but at least I don't have to worry about ulez stuff (yet)

Up until last year I was with Direct Line and had been for years with no real problems, however the price jump made me look elsewhere and finally settled on Tesco of all places and it was cheaper than I had been paying. Now I am getting near renewal time and may have another car to insure and of course Tesco don't do multi car policy's so I might be moving again. As my car is now 18 years old I think I can get it on a classic policy and make it the "weekend" car. But as I live in Northern Ireland it can be tricky enough as some insurers wont take a non British car on unless its 20 years or older - but I will just have to see when the time comes.

Cough.....

Its not that long ago when some sat navs allowed you to put in famous voices - it was quite funny for a short period of time having (for example) darth vader telling you that you had "gone over to the dark side" if you took a wrong turn but in the end they were just a passing trend that seems to have long vanished.

Spotted on Scott Brownlee's (@FormerCarPR) Twitter page - I don't hate it but nah, I'll pass thanks 🤣

I also put the 2018 DVD into mine and while I don't use it I prefer to have a display that looks like I am driving down an actual road rather than a blank space 🤣 if going anywhere I would tend to use Google maps or Waze as well but its fun sometimes using the built in one as well.

and quite a good review as well.

Found a temporary solution to my drivers seat issue (needs refoamed nobody around me can do it) bought a "Big Ant" aftermarket car seat cushion cover thing from amazon - unlike previous versions of these things its easy to fit and (so far) is actually comfortable, sits well and does not slide all over the show. Yes it means my cooled seat is pointless but I can live with that as the aircon works well anyway. Not perfect but until I can find somebody within a reasonable distance to me (I'm in Northern Ireland) it will have to do.

Through the MOT again with no advisories once more and all it cost me this year was the test fee and £40 for service bits. Re the wipers as mentioned I usually use the washers and turn the ignition off when they are at full arc and they will stay there. (my old XJ40 would park the wipers and I had to open the bonnet any time I needed to change them. not as issue as it was front hinged anyway)

Or as we often say, RTFM 😆

One thing about rock auto they send you the right stuff. Literally 2 minutes to fit straight from the box with no issues. (well, apart from a quick read of the instruction leaflet to work out what way round the clip went) 🙂

Lets just say I am no stranger to the border (being as I live a few miles from it) 😉 anyway the wipers arrived yesterday and ironically I couldn't fit them as it was chucking it down so will have to do that in the morning 🙂 As for petrol David there is not much in it (not enough for me to nip over and fill up for example) nothing like the way it was years ago 😞 Its slightly cheaper but really depends on the garage

Yes but it was still cheaper to order from the states (not by much I will admit) thing is I have bought blades from amazon before so can't understand why they won't deliver here now 🙄