mikey vrs

Mine is staying standard so no point really starting a thread on it,im not a fan of the 7.5R i dont like the dash as it just looks like a kids computer game screen to me & they have done away with the side skirts & i dont like the new seat coverings,i think the 7 R just looks the better car,certainly not worth the extra 0000's (in my opinion of course).

I must be in the minority as i dont like the latest dash,i like the original clocks on the mk 7 R & the centre console /screen on the latest mk 7.5 golf R looks to big & daft to me.

Ive just traded in my Volvo V60 diesel after i couldnt sell it,i had no interest in it at all,those that did enquire all asked if it was petrol(despite the advert saying diesel)i took a big hit on the price i paid for it 9 months ago,i offered it at a grand more than the trade in value & that was a bargain price but nobody wants diesels now,in hindsight i should have kept my Octavia for another year then traded that in for the Golf,i even went back to the Volvo dealer i bought it from to see if they wanted to buy it back for stock as it was a great car & wouldnt need anything doing to it to retail it but they said they didnt want it as they cant shift the V60 diesels they have in stock at the moment despite dropping the prices.

My last 2 cars have bluetooth built in & its so easy to accept a call whilst driving (if its that important that it must be answered) & most modern stuff does as well,its not hard to link your phone to the car so i wonder why you see people on their phones in cars that clearly have bluetooth. Seeing people on thier phone or worse texting whilst driving is as annoying as people who just stop in the most dangerous places,put their hazards on & take the call....

Having just paid out nearly £20k for my latest car ive bought Gap insurance for the first time,i paid £100 for 3 years cover. I feel happier knowing i have it should i require it for the next 3 years.

If you look at the top of the mk2 octavia page there is a thread all about it,the timing chain tensioner can fail on facelift models,it seems to affect the earlier models but thats not always true,the pre face lift vrs has a cambelt.What year of car are you looking at buying?.

No contest,get the petrol vrs,i had one for 6 years....loved it...great car...unless you are driving a massive mileage a year there is no point having a diesel.

That oil filler cap looks a bit odd....whats with the lumps on the seal,with that & the possible big expensive of the egr valve/cooler replacement & the lack of service history i personally would walk away from this one.

Hopefully the dealer will fix the drivers door & put the mats in & you can then enjoy the car,on my recent car purchase i pointed out a couple of minor issues that i wanted sorted before i collected the car,i mentioned them again when the salesman rang to confirm the collection date & even checked the car over before i completed the sale,thankfully for them all the jobs were completed,i can never understand why a dealer doesnt sort any issues before collection as it spoils the new (to us) car experience.Fiats have come on a long way nowadays,a friend has a 500 & loves it & it hasnt been any trouble.

Ive had my Golf R for 3 days now & i love it,had it out today on some twisty roads & as you say the grip is awesome & the power even in standard from is very good,agree about the exhaust note....ive not had mine out of "race mode" yet....im very tempted by the revo map....370bhp!

For the small extra cost for the water pump its a no brainer for me to replace it with the cambelt as the water pump is driven by the cambelt.

Ive only driven it back from the garage but im loving it,its going to cover a few miles over the next few days on all sort of roads so i will get a better idea by Monday,not had it out of "Race mode" love the exhaust note & acceleration,will have to watch my speed as its a quick car.Sitting in it & driving it reminds me of my mk2 octy vrs in places,my Volvo was a good car but just not for me.

Ive got used to the electric parking brake on my Volvo after all my others cars have had a "normal" handbrake,salesman explained the auto hold function to me but i will have to try it in use & get used to it. I didnt want a DSG box,tried one & however good they may be im happy with a manual box.

Its done 19,000 miles,its on 18's which im happy with to be fair as some of the roads i drive down to work are really bad in places & 19's with a 35 profile tyre could be a bad idea,standard car,i have been waiting until they dropped below the £20k mark as that was my max budget.

I collect my Golf R on thursday & cant wait! its not brand new though,2015 plate in Red 5 door manual.

Thats one of the best examples ive seen in a while,a week ago a friend of mine was pushing me to sell her my volvo but i couldnt find anything i liked to replace it,if id seen this id have had it off you & sold my volvo on,lovely looking example,great spec & fair price to,im sure it will sell very soon.

Im going to watch it tonight on catch up,always heart warming to see everyone coming together to help somebody in need,last weeks was good with the two guys who have adopted 4 children,3 who are disabled.

Whilst removing the internals of the DPF will currently pass a mot (physically remove it & it will fail) i personally wouldnt bother (just buy a petrol car),i asked my insurance ref removing it & they told me they would not insure me as its a illegal modification (re map ok though) a friend of mine not long ago had his insurance fail to pay out after a accident as they inspected the car & found that the dpf had been tampered with (he also had other un declared modifications though) but i saw the email listing the reasons & dpf filter removal was one of them,im sure the mot test will eventually be changed to crack down on dpf removal with all the current bad press for diesel cars.

Life's to short to have something sensible like that pick up ...i will one day buy one to have in my car collection....ideally one of our units as i know the history of them & they have not been abused & i treat each one as if it was my own so all repairs are 100% & not bodged,the Defenders do have a certain charm to them....yes they are not the best to drive on the road (buy a car for that) but get a good one,look after it & it will literally go on for ever.....(well until the goverment bans all old diesels)

I work for the MOD as a mechanic & have worked on Landrovers for nearly 20 years,the one in your link is fitted with the non turbo 2.5d engine & wont have power steering,rear disc brakes etc & will be horrible to drive on road,if you really want a ex military one then you need to find a Landrover defender "wolf" as they have the 300tdi engine,uprated axles,gearbox etc & all round disc brakes but when they come up for sale they seem to be big money,main things to look for are the condition of the chassis & rear crossmember,the front floorpans can rot out as well,the cylinder heads can crack but the 300tdi can cover massive mileages with regular servicing,one good thing about the defender is every bit of it can be replaced if you really wanted to.

If they already have the recently fitted incorrect springs off then you can put the old & new next to each other & id expect to see a slight difference in height/number of coils etc but to be fair its such a easy & quick job to replace the rear springs they may as well just fit the new ones & see how the car looks on the ground. I made a note of the coloured dots off my springs when i serviced mine but i cant find the info now,i suspect its gone with the car.

Sorry to hear the reason why your selling,i was surprised when i saw the for sale add,all i can add is the pictures dont do this car justice,ive seen it in the flesh & its immaculate,cleanest & best spec'd up vrs ive seen. Im sure this will sell very soon.

To put the space saver in the boot wheel well on my Volvo would require me to buy a complete new rear floor section at great cost as the compressor & tin of gunk sits there,i actually like the twin floor section in mine that it came with as i can store all my bits & bobs in there so i bought a space saver wheel & cover to put it in & it sits on top of the boot floor & doesnt take up that much space & all the other stuff is secured under the boot floor,this works for me,i never have a full boot anyway,should i ever need to fit the spacesaver then the full size wheel will have to sit on top of the boot floor until it gets fixed which would be asap anyway.This was around a 3rd of the cost Volvo wanted for the full floor kit & wheel.

A friend of mine has been driving round in his van for the last 9 months without a MOT (not on purpose but still a silly thing to do) & he has never been stopped or sent anything through the post & he covers 30k a year,i always thought police traffic cars had this facility,he maybe has just been very lucky not to have been pulled over. *Van is now fully MOT'd & a reminder put onto his calendar so it doesnt happen again* I service & maintain the van but he always gets his MOT done himself at a local garage,id serviced it twice in that 9 months!

When i got my Volvo 6 months ago it came with no spare tyre,only a compressor & tin of gunk,this was my first car without a spare in 25 years of driving & ive had around 3 punchure's in 25 years,after 2 days of ownership i came to leave work to find my o/s/r tyre was flat! thankfully the compressor blew the tyre up (no gunk used) & i drove to my tyre place & got the punchure fixed,that night i bought a spare wheel kit,ive had no call to use it yet but im much happier knowing i have one,im amazed if not having a spare wheel fitted makes any real difference to vehicle weight & fuel economy,seems a cost cutting exercise to me.