The 'Great Keep Your Car Tip Top For Less' Hunt

impster

Oh, another quick tip - look for on-line forums for your car make or model. There are lots of enthusiasts forums with loads of great tips - you'd be surprised that car enthusiasts forums aren't just about classics.....

Impster again.

schubertdog

Quite true you can MAKE YOUR OWN DIESEL!

All diesel engined cars will run perfectly well on biodiesel and it is actually better for your engine and the environment.

Simply it is fuel made from used (or new) cooking oil.

Some diesel engines will run on neat cooking oil (I know of someone with a Peugeot 406 who does this) but don't get caught doing this, a 50/50 mix with regular diesel will work in almost any diesel engine (again, don't get caught)

Biodiesel is made from cooking oil by adding a handful of readily available ingredients and blending together. You can do it in your kitchen at home. Certain quantities are quite legal to use though I think to have to inform revenue & customs you are using it.

How can it be better for your engine?
It is a better lubricant than the regular petroleum based fuel so your engine will wear less. It is also a cleaning agent so you will notice your engine oil stays cleaner for longer.

Try looking here for more info http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html

liz_ferla

Save you Tesco vouchers and exchange for eal with National Auto! Mine cost £32 in vouchers, beat that!

jonfev

Change your anti-freeze at recommended intervals. Often garages miss this they just check the strength to make sure the coolant won't freeze. Unfortunately most anti freeze degrades over time and loses it's anti corrosion properties. Your then talking head gasket failure, leaky pipes, radiators etc.

In a similar vein change brake fluid regularly. Ordinary brake fluid absorbs water over time, apply brakes hard, the water turns to steam and you lose your brakes. A sure way to devalue your car in seconds!

Run your air con frequently over the winter months. You obviously don't need to keep cool but the air con system seals need the lubricant in the gas to be circulated to stop them shrinking/cracking which in turn means the gas leaks out and you have no air con when you need it.

A tip to help pass the emissions test before your MOT. Give the car an Italian service on the way to the test centre. Firstly get the car fully warmed up then rev the car hard a few times. This helps to clear crap from the injectors and blows the carbon out of the system. A warm clean engine is less likely to fail.

MORPH3US

charlieheard wrote:

Just remember that depreciation is the largest single cost when running a car - typically 65% of the value of a car over 3 years. That means that your £10,000 car will be worth £3,500 after 3 years

I would be interested to know where the 65% figure came from Charlie... I always understood that the figure was (on average) 20% per year which on a £10,000 car = £5120, NOT £3,500.....

I know depreciation is costly, but I would say 65% after 3 years is on the high side.....

RE: Nationwide Auto Centre....

I have had experience of these in the past, and have been shocked by their treatment of me.... went in for a cheap deal service and they came back and said that various brake parts needed replacing @ £350 + VAT (about that anyway...)

My uncle is a mechanic and I usually use him but had to get someone official to do it for the warranty on the car... well when they told me I needed brakes doing I was worried as most people would be because they are such important parts.... anyway I decided not to bother getting them done because I had heard stories about garages making up jobs. Took it straight round to my uncles and explained it was the brakes, he had a look and said there was not one thing wrong with them at all....

Two years later and I have only now had to replace the pads but apart from that, STILL nothing wrong....

BTW, my tip is a) get a haynes manual (already been said), but b) source your (new) parts online or through a motor factor (look up in yellow pages) because they will be LOADS cheaper than Halfords etc...

M

GASMAN_3

khizman wrote:

Change your oil every 5kish,
Costs around £30 and can save your engine, also remember to check it frequently.
Drivers of turbo and turbodiesel cars, when you park up, let the engine idle for about 20 seconds to allow oil to flow to the turbo to cool it down and prevent turbo failure.

IF YOU USE PEANUT BUTTER ON THE BLACK BUMPER AND BLACK TRIM ON YOUR CAR IT SAVES YOU MONEY ON BLACK TO BLACK AND MAKES YOUR TRIM LOOKING REALLY GOOD AND LASTS FOR AGES. TIP I GOT FROM A CAR RESTORER.

Brucenotts

trawden wrote:

I am thinking of getting a newer car soon, but not sure if i should. I woud like a little more room in the back for my son.

My 2001 corsa has only done 33000 miles, looking at the guides, i should get about £3500 for it. I have £2500 spare cash so am looking at the £6000 market. I have been told Honda, Vauxhall, Peugeot, and Ford are reliable makes but when i look at these cars, for that money i do get a newer car, but the mileage on these are much higher than my current.

Should i stick to my current low mileage car or get a newer one with higher mileage?

I dont want to get something cheap that will depreciate rapidly either.

I have a Seat Leon 1.9tdi essentially it's an Audi A3/Golf as all three are based on the same model. The car does 45 - 50 mpg is a medium hatchback with cheap (ish) tax @ £105.00. 110BHP means it's no slouch either. I do 100miles a day to work and back and I fill up once a week for £45ish. I cant recommend it highly enough, you should get a nice 51/52/53 plate for between £4k & £6k. The Ibiza is another smaller model, my sister brought one after I got my Leon and she loves it. Just service costs so far as NOTHING has gone wrong with it.
Enjoy.
J.

porrohman

ritchie840 wrote:

I think somebody is lying to you :rotfl:

:mad: I have had vauxhall cars all my driving life from a cavailier to a nova, then another cavalier sri (best car ever) 5 corsa's for driving tuition, a vectra sri and now i'm on a 52 plate Astra which is an excellent car, very reliable and runs quiet and smoothe. The trim and dash are of a better quality than Ford, Peugeout, Renault, Citreon etc.

I find Ford cars to be very unreliable in the short time I have tried them, engine management problems and electrical faults.

Vauxhall for me!!:D

porrohman

trawden wrote:

I am thinking of getting a newer car soon, but not sure if i should. I woud like a little more room in the back for my son.

My 2001 corsa has only done 33000 miles, looking at the guides, i should get about £3500 for it. I have £2500 spare cash so am looking at the £6000 market. I have been told Honda, Vauxhall, Peugeot, and Ford are reliable makes but when i look at these cars, for that money i do get a newer car, but the mileage on these are much higher than my current.

Should i stick to my current low mileage car or get a newer one with higher mileage?

I dont want to get something cheap that will depreciate rapidly either.

I agree with Bruce, the new Leon tdi is a beautifull car taking it's engine from Audi and VW but still a bit pricey at £10k for a 40k mileage example.

I had a quick look at the new Vauxhall Astra aa they too are made in Germany by Opel and build quility is excellent and as long as you look after it, it will return the favour. You can still get low mileage (12k) 1.4 16v 53 or 04 plates for under £5k at Network Q around the country and if you use the search they can pull the car you want from anywhere in the country. At Network Q they also give you a 1 yr warranty.

I found this nice silver 40k new shape Astra for under £6000 and you can probably haggle for another £500 off.;)
http://www.findvauxhall.co.uk/usedcars/details.php?id=1120159&dealerid=101[/IMG]

have a look for yourself and good luck.
https://www.findavauxhall.co.uk

ritchie840

porrohman wrote:

:mad: I have had vauxhall cars all my driving life from a cavailier to a nova, then another cavalier sri (best car ever) 5 corsa's for driving tuition, a vectra sri and now i'm on a 52 plate Astra which is an excellent car, very reliable and runs quiet and smoothe. The trim and dash are of a better quality than Ford, Peugeout, Renault, Citreon etc.

I find Ford cars to be very unreliable in the short time I have tried them, engine management problems and electrical faults.

Vauxhall for me!!:D

the lying to you part was with reference to peugeout as they are possibly the most unreliable cars in the world, I also own a vauxhall