MikeTheThinker

The parts diagram for the rear seats is <here>, and it looks like the attachment bolt for the centre seatbelt is somewhere behind the centre armrest piece.

On a recent trip with ladders on the roof rack I stayed below 65mph, mainly motorway, and the car ('07 Scout BMM mapped to 180) was reporting mid-50s mpg. I didn't do an overall mpg check on that run so my numbers are from the 'on the go' mpg figures.

We have two BMM 2007 Octy estates in the family, one standard and one remapped. Both average 42mpg or 9.25 miles/litre once warmed up, giving around 450 miles per refill if you stay out of the reserve.

I have exactly the same problem with rear window wipers on my Octavia 2 estate. Having tried several wiper blades I'm wondering if it's down to the spring in the wiper arm?

There are two elements in the internet mail chain that are relevent here; firstly, the internet post office box or mail server that handles all mail coming in and going out. It's a bit like your local telephone exchange and it site between you and the wider internet. The other element is your mail tool, or mail reader, which is the element with which you engage directly to receive, read and send emails. These two are functionally separate but are often bundled togther in one wrapper to provide you with an email service. You just don't get to see the inner workings. The domain for an email address - the @somewhere.xxx part - is attached to the mail server, so if you want to keep your existing email you will need to keep the current mail server. Your mail tool (or mail client) can be configured to point to your mailbox on the mail server so that from your point of view it's situation normal (no, not the SNAFU version). Your mail tool needs to be set up to read mail from your server and to send mail similarly. The part where things become a little blurred is where you want to access email from multiple points and from different platforms. To achieve this you need firstly a mailtool that is available across all of those platforms and secondly one which will handle multiple access to your mailbox. Gmail does this by collecting your incoming mail into a gmail mailbox, deleting the email from your mail server's mailbox and you reading your email on gmail. This way the multiple access isn't a problem as gmail manages it for you. Your email history will now be on gmail and not on your mail server's mailbox, and you can have gmail drain your collected emails from your mailserver onto gmail so everything is together in one place. Outgoing email is created in gmail but sent via your mail server (config item in gmail). It sounds worse than it is in reality as gmail is pretty good at guiding you through setup, and your email will live on in gmail for as long as you wish it - and you can always export it if you want it outside gmail. I run several domains for family history purposes and handle all email the way I've described. I've tried a number of other products over the years but never found one that beats gmail.

Are you ok to use a third party email provider or do you wish to establish your own mail host with your own domain? If the former Google's gmail is very good at multiple-device email and doesn't dump much advertising into your mail - especially of you use as ad blocker to strip out most or all of it. Gmail is also free If you want to run your own host/mailserver you again have choices; remote host on t'internet or your own local machine?

Having lived in a dog household almost all of my life I've seen or tried most of the in car dog offerings at one time on another. Our current preferences came about from an investigation into the actual situation of a dog in the car - what freedoms are allowed, what happens in the event of emergency braking or a collision, how comfortable is the dog and how safe are the car's passengers from the dog in normal driving or in a rapid slow/stop. I also checked on the legal position which both mandates and advises some constraints. Our initial findings were thus: 1) The law says the driver must ensure the dog (or any pet) in a car is retrained in such a manner as to prevent interference with the driver {1}. 2) The law advises that the dog is put in the back seat and not in the front (see {1} on interference with the driver). 3) The dog will need to be able to move around whilst in the car (a hard strapping down would be stressful) 4) We will usually want to limit the dog's free movement to that area of the seating which we have protected appropriately. If you're OK with letting them use the whole back seat that's between you and your other half 5) To encourage us to use whatever setup we've chosen (and not to get frustrated with it as too complicated and thus not use it) the attach/detach actions should be straightforward and easy to use, especially in the light of post-walk pooch who could be wet/muddy/sandy or whatever. 6) A restraint attached to the dog's collar (as opposed to a harness) provides only limited restriction of movement (see 1,4 above), may not be effective if put under stress by rapid braking and is also at risk of causing the dog harm in the event of an emergency stop (dog flung forward and held by the neck). 7) Following (6) a harness is the most effective as a restraint and the least likely to cause harm to the dog. The harness should support the dog at the centre of mass (thus minimising the risk of "flailing" and associated injury), be adequately padded to distribute the restraint load across a wider area of the dog to minimise injury and concentrate primary support on the dog's breastbone. It should be easy to fit and remove, be attachable via a D-ring or similar (see 6) and made of materials which will function equally effectively when wet/muddy/sandy etc. 8 ) The most common attachment point for any dog restraint are the either seatbelt female buckles or on the seatbelt itself. 9) ISOFIX points might initially seem an attractive attachment point {2} but see my diagram below about directions of restrained motion during emergency braking. Diagram indicating the differences in forward motion of restrained dog under emergency braking (no, I can't draw dogs). With the above considerations in mind we went looking for solutions and at the time (ten years ago) the Trixie harnesses looked to best fit our needs for our Border Collie. They were hard to find then but have since become much more widely available {3}. In order to address the issues in the diagram above (see (7)) we looked for a better way to attach to the seatbelt and came up with a device from Truelove to safely clip to the seatbelt and support safe but easy attach/detach of the harness {4}. This definitely helped but still meant the attachment point to the seatbelt was too low as the clip tended to slip down the belt under gravity. More hunting came up with a seat belt clip (many types available) to hold the Truelove clip at the same level as the D-ring on the harness so in the event of rapid braking the restraint acted as per example 2 in the diagram. Note the seatbelt clip doesn't have to do anything under load, it's simply there to stop the Truelove clip from slipping down the belt. {5} Links to candidate suppliers below. Caveats: no commercial interest, other brands available, YMMV {1} https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-about-animals-47-to-58 {2} https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHua2ODPGjI {3} https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-20411-Premium-Harness-60-90/dp/B000WFDN66/ref=sr_1_5 {4} https://www.truelove-uk.co.uk/accessoires/60-truelove-security-clip.html {5} https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adjuster-Seatbelt-Stopper-Comfort-Tension/dp/B08MTGV9RV

I have a set of mk2 VRS seats surplus to requirements. Nice washable leather

There's a serious point to consider, here, in that a dog relies on being able to grip onto the surface under them in order to avoid being thrown around by the car's movements. We've found that the usual protective seat covers available aftermarket are great at keep muck and wet off the seats but provide little or no grip for el pooch. Our answer was to always add a towel and/or blanket over the liner which improves things - although it's not a perfect solution as the towel/blanket can slide on the waterproof liner ... I'm looking into a way of securing the cloth cover somehow - probably by fitting some press studs to the liner. Not today's project but I will report back when some progress has been made.

You might want to investigate washable seat covers, too!

Take a look at this link. Alarm is on the right hand inner wing behind the wheel arch liner.

We did a lot of research on this very topic for our two Springers and came up with the system we still use now for our Border Collie. We chose it for control of the dog when travelling whilst allowing enough movement that they won't fret, together with good support for the dog and with particular attention to how the whole setup would both restrain and support the dog in the case of a rapid decelleration in the event of a "Code Brown" moment. I'm not being deliberately mysterious but it's too dark for decent piccies and I can't remember the brands, so I'll take a proper look tomorrow and post FYI.

Take a look on parcel2go.com. They can quote from as low as around 12 squid for parcels to UK up to 25kg and 1m in length. Note that Highlands & Islands and Northern Ireland cost a bit more. Caveat: no beneficial interest, many times previous and satisfied customer.

My wife's night sight is a bit challenged these days and I fitted a pair of Osram Nightbreakers a little while back which she says have improved the headlamp illumination significantly.

Yes, your BXE is a 1.9 PD turbo diesel. Great motor but fussy on oil so use the right grade and change when it's due.

See below, and I'd suggest a read of the whole thread as well ...

I think this post will help:

56.2mm, checked several times from different directions, so I assume that means a centre bore for the wheels of 56.6mm? The hubs are outboard of the trailer body so (as I understand it) no offset is needed. Trailer is currently a 1000kg body/chassis and weighs 245kg but was imported with an unbraked axle and drawbar so it's road limited to 750kg load. The Alko axle and draw bar I obtained are rated at 1300kg in total (is that Gross Vehicle Mass in new speak?) so when grafted together I will have a trailer weighing around 250kg empty (I will have to add in the extra weight for the heavier draw bar, axle and wheels) and capable of carrying a maximum load of 1,000kg (see earlier comment about weight differences). From what you said (and with which I agree) I assume I'm going to be looking for "96" rated tyres? Putting both sets of responses together I believe I'm looking for 4*100 wheels with 56.6 centres, no offset and to take a tyre rated at 96. Does that sound about right? As regards wheel sizes 14" feels about the right size - although I could run to 15" without surgery if necessary. Any suggestions on donor vehicles with those wheel specs? Thanks for the replies so far; much appreciated.

Do you have any details of this, please?

I have a trailer rated at 1 ton load but unbraked - so limited to 750kg, I've obtained a replacement Alko axle and draw bar rated at 1300kg which will nett out at 1 ton load (trailer is 245kg), Hubs are 100mm PCD 4 stud. Question is what size wheels and tyres should be looking for to support the gross weight of 1300kg? I can fit 13 or 14" wheels withouit alteration and 15" if I moved the mudguards.

Intriguing forum name; how's this for a candidate for your avatar?

I ordered two so it worked out cheaper than anywhere else online.

(Later): I've just ordered the Simoniz one and the cheapest on ebay was this seller: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303668599207

Autoexpress did a review and liked these four in particular: Simoniz New Look Bumper Shine Price: £4.99 Size: 500ml Contact: 0161 491 7391, simoniz.co.uk Rating: ★★★★★ Best buy: Spray this easy-to-use-Back to Black aerosol direct on trim or a cloth so it goes only where you want it, then wipe. It has a pleasant citrus smell. Finish is muted, plus it’s long lasting. Triplewax Bumper Shine Price: £5 Size: 500ml Contact: 0161 764 5981, tetrosyl.com Rating: ★★★★ Recommended: This makes your plastic really stand out and shine. You just spray on and leave for a glossier finish than our champ’s. And while this was eventually lost, it kept beading to the end. CarPlan Original Black Price: £4.99 Size: 500ml Contact: 0161 764 5981, tetrosyl.com Rating: ★★★★ Not a lot between this and its Triplewax cousin. It’s another spray and leave product, and left a high gloss finish. Price is identical and both are top buys, but this was beading slower at the end. Black Diamond Trim Gel Price: £4.99 Size: 500ml Contact: 01438 749501, blackdiamondproducts.co.uk Rating: ★★★★ A week under snow did last year’s winner no favours. It’s still a great protectant, lasting right to the end, and you can apply the gel accurately and with minimal waste – although this can take longer than the sprays. Verdict Simoniz Back to Black gave its name to this category, and the New Look version takes the win here by a narrow margin. In the runner-up spot is Triplewax Bumper Shine. It was still working at the end of our test, but not quite as quickly as the Simoniz. Original Black from CarPlan completes the podium, with last year’s star turn, Black Diamond Trim Gel, in fourth. https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/41011/bumper-shines-tested

This is what Mr Skoda has to say about the task: