Arguing with Used Car Dealers?

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Arguing with Used Car Dealers?

It's all down to luck really. If it's been looked after, a £500 banger bought privately can be dependable. On the other hand, you can spend £50k plus on a "prestige" car that will do nothing but go wrong all the time.



Reminds me; last night off a main roundabout a massive white Audi Q7(?) jeep .. stopped right as you exit it. Was still there 40 mins later with hazards flashing. That’s German engineering for you [emoji6][emoji1310] haha
 
Oil filter should have a bypass valve, to allow oil to flow even if the filter becomes clogged.

As above, needs investigation to determine what exactly "seized" means.

BEWARE cheap filters. You only have to Google this to realise that a few pounds saved on the cost of a filter may be a bad move. CHoose with care!
 
A great result, well done.

The Astra should be reliable if looked after, so make sure she checks oil and coolant regularly and reports anything and everything to you that is not normal.



We’re going to plug it into that OP-COM Vauxhall software as a friend seems to have the cable and full version to see if there’s and error codes stored in it. And when I get a chance I’m going to look under it to see if there’s any damp patches or leaks. As well as check the book to see if it’s due a timing belt etc. Hopefully even for a £1300 value Astra it’s in decent shape!
 
A tip for the infuriating indicators.
If wishing to cancel manually, push lightly in same direction as the current indication. That cancels it and avoids the 3 flashes in the wrong direction.

Other than that, not a bad car at all.



Drove my dads one once a few years ago and that was driving me mad! For a second I could understand why drivers avoid using their indicators!
 
Switches tend to be, push and they stay, or hold, and they let go when you do. So a 'clever' engineer, at Valeo I guess, reinvented the switch. Push and it returns to original position, but stays switched on. Normally an indicator gives a nice click when cancelling, and there's some feel too. But not with these, they self cancel very subtly. Are they ashamed? To cancel manually, push gently either way. But if you cancel manually at the exact time it cancels itself, it will give its clever three flashes as a 'lane change' signal. Not a big issue if cancelling the same direction as applied, but potentially dangerous if the opposite way. Many users than over-react and 'cancel' the opposite way, giving three flashes the other way. Following traffic are now ignoring your signals, so next time you need them, no-one reacts quickly enough. Genius.

They appear on Astra, Corsa, Vectra, BMW and MINI, so not just Vauxhall were taken in. Vauxhall reverted to normal ones for the Insignia, not been near enough a new Astra yet.
I'd like to meet the engineer responsible, and insert one of his switches into an orifice.

They used to confuse the learners, but you can get used to them, if never love them. Sorry, rant over now, time for a lie down.
 
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