What's made you grumpy today?

[StevenRB45]

Parking Eye have replied to my appeal with "have you got a receipt?"

For a baby?

Ok fine redacted copy of my son's birth certificate it is.

They are only in Blyth at this rate I'll be visiting them in person.

 

[portland_bill]

Parking Eye have replied to my appeal with "have you got a receipt?"

For a baby?

Ok fine redacted copy of my son's birth certificate it is.

They are only in Blyth at this rate I'll be visiting them in person.

You'll need to keep the receipt, in case you don't like this one, and wish to exchange it for another. Most supermarkets seem to have a baby change facility, although, I suppose everyone want the best ones.

 

[SB1500]

So the creaking sound didn't go away on the CT... another visit to the dealer next week. Wet days - fine. Dry days, creak-fest. I suspect if not a usual brake part problem (given it looks to be on all original brakes)... a lower control arm bushing perhaps but we will see. Been cycling to work this week so barely been near it.

 

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

I haven't visited this forum for 6+ months , I think last time I was present I showed off my new old car purchase , the red X1/9 with Dallara style bodywork.

Well , much has occurred since , first I drove it to the massive indoor classic car show in October , Auto e Moto D' Epoca in Bologna in that Italy after having owned it for only 3 weeks and I nearly broke it .
Long story short , on March 1st it then conked out and it now hasn't left my garage since , hence the grumpy face .
I'm not in a good place !

 

[SB1500]

I haven't visited this forum for 6+ months , I think last time I was present I showed off my new old car purchase , the red X1/9 with Dallara style bodywork.

Well , much has occurred since , first I drove it to the massive indoor classic car show in October , Auto e Moto D' Epoca in Bologna in that Italy after having owned it for only 3 weeks and I nearly broke it .
Long story short , on March 1st it then conked out and it now hasn't left my garage since , hence the grumpy face .
I'm not in a good place !

I can only hope that coming on here could possibly get you in touch with some folks who can help with the mechanical issues?

 

[StevenRB45]

Got round to "testing" Toyota fuel gauge.

With fuel light on, a sliver of fuel on the gauge before it drops off the scale and 10 miles of range shown on the trip computer it took exactly 40 litres in a 50 litre tank.

If it was a hybrid it would have a 45 litre tank..so at 40 litres used you are cutting it fine with less than 50 miles to go. On the none hybrid it's calling time a good 40-50 miles early.

Somewhat annoying, as it means despite similar fuel economy and a bigger tank the C3 with it's accurate fuel gauge has a longer range. My record on the C3 is 430 miles, using 38 litres of the 45 litre tank (50 mpg). This could match that range in theory at 40 to the gallon with the extra fuel on board.

But the fuel gauge means after about 350-380 miles it's crying at you to fill up making the big car feel much shorter legged.

 

[SB1500]

Got round to "testing" Toyota fuel gauge.

With fuel light on, a sliver of fuel on the gauge before it drops off the scale and 10 miles of range shown on the trip computer it took exactly 40 litres in a 50 litre tank.

If it was a hybrid it would have a 45 litre tank..so at 40 litres used you are cutting it fine with less than 50 miles to go. On the none hybrid it's calling time a good 40-50 miles early.

Somewhat annoying, as it means despite similar fuel economy and a bigger tank the C3 with it's accurate fuel gauge has a longer range. My record on the C3 is 430 miles, using 38 litres of the 45 litre tank (50 mpg). This could match that range in theory at 40 to the gallon with the extra fuel on board.

But the fuel gauge means after about 350-380 miles it's crying at you to fill up making the big car feel much shorter legged.

My actual average per fill tank comes out at 300 miles in practice

Toyota:
Reliable
Efficient
Cheap to run

It’s been eye opening…

 

[StevenRB45]

Ok mines not that bad...330-370 for me and in terms of Fuel economy it's only 3mpg worse than the pocket size C3 on average.

Would be nice if the gauge was accurate though other than that I'd probably uncross the first 2 things out...the last one is more my fault as I spent far more money on doing things up than was probably prudent.

Other than that despite it's 80k miles it feels like a new car.. although this may be related to me spending more than I needed to.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Got round to "testing" Toyota fuel gauge.

With fuel light on, a sliver of fuel on the gauge before it drops off the scale and 10 miles of range shown on the trip computer it took exactly 40 litres in a 50 litre tank.

If it was a hybrid it would have a 45 litre tank..so at 40 litres used you are cutting it fine with less than 50 miles to go. On the none hybrid it's calling time a good 40-50 miles early.

Somewhat annoying, as it means despite similar fuel economy and a bigger tank the C3 with it's accurate fuel gauge has a longer range. My record on the C3 is 430 miles, using 38 litres of the 45 litre tank (50 mpg). This could match that range in theory at 40 to the gallon with the extra fuel on board.

But the fuel gauge means after about 350-380 miles it's crying at you to fill up making the big car feel much shorter legged.

Drive at a fixed rate across Europe and you soon start seeing number like 600+ miles to a tank.


Our mini had an “extended range fuel tank” at least that’s what they told us when we bought it. What this means is it costs a bloody fortune to fill up. But also means long times between fill ups.

The mini and the golf have very different responses to the “red” fuel light coming on. While the mini is more like

“Just sending you some advanced notification that you may require fuel in the next 6 months or so”

The golf has a nervous breakdown and flips out the second the light comes out.

 

[StevenRB45]

The Toyota is absolutely low key when the light comes on.. although given it still has over 20% of a tank left probably why.

The Citroën I've mentioned the "rising panic" fuel warnings but on that empty is just that so ignore at your peril.

You'd be brave man to get 500 miles from the tank in the Toyota, it has the fuel...at a motorway cruise it sits around 44mpg if you're not a road block so in theory 480 or 500 if you set the cruise is 60mph is a realistic range..in practice it'll probably do 100 less before everything says "oy mate fill up".

Does at least mean it costs less to fill the Toyota... because it's never anywhere near empty.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

55 litre tank, so ~ 12 gallons at 50mpg alone you’re getting >600miles per tank. But stick to one speed on the cruise control for mile after mile and you’ll get a lot more than 50mpg on average, it’s more like 60+ I think the book figure is 62-64mpg.

60mpg in a 55l tank is like 700+ miles

 

[StevenRB45]

Well bigger tank always helps.

To be fair I weighed up how often I was going to crush continents with it..(let's never say never but it's deeply unlikely) versus how often it was going to be used for crappy little trips to Grandma's and stuff like that which aren't even a mile each way.

As a result the fuel economy and range would never balance out the repair costs if I got a diesel especially one already at 80k.

One of those things, when it's being used for stuff that if you weren't a travelling circus would be walking distance the economy is always gonna suck slightly but at least it's not going to then start crying about a blocked dpf.

The key bit of information is probably to cover 365 miles took from 18/04, the Citroën has just under half a tank in it last time it saw a fuel station 20/03.

I feel like economy is worse on the All-seasons..but it could also be because before it was fixed up 70mph was mildly worrying so I was going slower while now it cruises very well at speeds that are somewhere around 70 definitely officer. But they are also quite high rolling resistance compared to a good touring tyre as you can't have all the cake and eat it when it comes to tyre design.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I’m sure I could do 99.9% of my journeys with a electric car with 100mile range these days, but having got this car at a time when I was doing 20k a year and there not being really anything newer I like to replace it with, I’m not going to get rid just yet it does what I need it to do, even if I don’t need to do 700miles on a tank very often.

I can at least get to Paris and back on a tank full

 

[StevenRB45]

Not from here you couldn't .

To be fair I did look it up last night...12 hours and 650 miles one way, I think a 5 minute fuel stop isn't going to be a bother.

But yes, difficult place picking cars at the moment, electric cars are arriving but not yet here and still mostly expensive or a bit ****. But all new cars have all sorts of stuff I don't particularly want to pay for.

 

[SB1500]

Had a good look under the CT today… driver side, control arm bushing looks a tad perished. Bottom bushing under the brake disk look a tad moist at the top but couldn’t confirm (yet) if it’s worth replacing or causing the noise. checked the other side. Other side bushings look fine, same story with the one under the brake looks darker at the very top but nothing else looks bad.

seems to happen even when releasing the pedal so not entirely affected by moving weight of the car coming to a stop

Suspecting something on the brakes is either loose, worn, not sitting right or something like that.

Booked in with Toyota on Wednesday. I know what I’ll ask them to check… good news is, those parts I mentioned aren’t consumables so they’ll replace it. It’s also the same side / wheel that has caused trouble all along. Must have had some smack in the past… brake booster appears to be working fine when we checked today.

Next week, if they still don’t shed any light on it I’ll be checking the discs, pads, mounting bolts, pad support plates, slide pins, pad guide pins and the little anti squeal bits. Something will be a miss if it’s there.

Plan B.. get it serviced by Lexus on a wet day… and 30 days later book it in with a warranty issue and have it covered that way.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Not from here you couldn't .

To be fair I did look it up last night...12 hours and 650 miles one way, I think a 5 minute fuel stop isn't going to be a bother.

But yes, difficult place picking cars at the moment, electric cars are arriving but not yet here and still mostly expensive or a bit ****. But all new cars have all sorts of stuff I don't particularly want to pay for.

Like national lampoons European vacation there is no time to stop

Honestly though we usually fill up near paris as is usually works out cheaper than the uk so when we get back we have another few days of fuel in the car.

You could probably do the whole trip one way from your end of the country

 

[portland_bill]

Had a good look under the CT today… driver side, control arm bushing looks a tad perished. Bottom bushing under the brake disk look a tad moist at the top but couldn’t confirm (yet) if it’s worth replacing or causing the noise. checked the other side. Other side bushings look fine, same story with the one under the brake looks darker at the very top but nothing else looks bad.

seems to happen even when releasing the pedal so not entirely affected by moving weight of the car coming to a stop

Suspecting something on the brakes is either loose, worn, not sitting right or something like that.

Booked in with Toyota on Wednesday. I know what I’ll ask them to check… good news is, those parts I mentioned aren’t consumables so they’ll replace it. It’s also the same side / wheel that has caused trouble all along. Must have had some smack in the past… brake booster appears to be working fine when we checked today.

Next week, if they still don’t shed any light on it I’ll be checking the discs, pads, mounting bolts, pad support plates, slide pins, pad guide pins and the little anti squeal bits. Something will be a miss if it’s there.

Plan B.. get it serviced by Lexus on a wet day… and 30 days later book it in with a warranty issue and have it covered that way.

Anti-roll bar bushes, when worn can cause a creak, and do so both on and off the brakes as the car falls and rises. Just a little wear, not enough to feel or see can cause the issue.
(Just done the Fabia, all now quiet, old bushes look fine.)

 

[SB1500]

Anti-roll bar bushes, when worn can cause a creak, and do so both on and off the brakes as the car falls and rises. Just a little wear, not enough to feel or see can cause the issue.
(Just done the Fabia, all now quiet, old bushes look fine.)

I checked the anti-roll bar bushes on Friday, they looked alright but as we didn't strip much down it was hard to know. I watched that CarCareNut guy on YouTube who had a video on suspension. He reckons in his entire career he's never seen those go bad on any Toyota, has only ever replaced them following an accident or someone who's fitted aftermarket ones. Although... my car has clearly had some sort of major knock at speed given how that sides wheels keep having issues (tpms broken, chunks missing from tyres, wheel bearings) so it could be alright. That reminds me I was supposed to check out the workshop manuals way of 'testing' these.

We thought it was a dry day issue but after I washed it on Friday night, despite the constant heat and sun, Saturday / Sunday not a creak at all. Something somewhere is getting wet and staying that way for a little while before drying out.

Car is sitting in the work car park this week, like it did last week in service of my cycling to/from work.. hoping by the time I drive it on Wednesday to take it over to Toyota the problem is back so that they can see it. We got our first rain this morning in a while but the suns already back out and clouds going away to reveal blue sky. Something tells me I might look a fool again if I come down and it's not creaking. Before Friday it seemed to be creaking much more and louder which prompted me to look at it in case something was hanging off..

I will post back on how it goes

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Today's walk was to the library. Not a long one, there and back total walking time just under the hour. It's pavements all the way, and mostely down the Ferry Road which is a very busy thoroughfare. I always walk facing oncoming traffic and was just approaching the BP petrol station when a big tourist bus came up behind me which I first noticed in the corner of my left eye. It was probably doing the legal 20mph for here. Coming towards me, so on my side of the road, is a large Mercedes "sprinter" type van, also traveling at what looked like the correct speed. Then I heard a diesel engine running much higher revs and turned to see an older, probably Transit, Medium length van coming up quite fast behind the bus angling for an overtake. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, There was very obviously not enough room for him to overtake, but then went for it regardless with foot flat to the floor and bellowing a great cloud of dense black smoke from the exhaust - Air filter needed I'd guess (and a good service too?) - anyway, the Merc pulled right over against the kerb and stopped thus allowing just enough room for the tranny to squeeze through. It continued at full speed down to the traffic lights, which were red, and went through them turning right and causing a car coming across them legally, to do an emergency stop. It disappeared out of my sight towards Leith at a great rate of knots. Almost before I'd had time to take this all in I heard the sound of police two tones and one of the big Volvo SUV things, probably armed response, came hurtling down from the direction the van had come, overtaking everything. Man, he was really haulin'. He too went through the lights at red and turned right in the same direction as the rough van.

Well, that was exciting! I continued walking towards the library and, as I started climbing the steps to go in, the Volvo reappeared, drove back up the Ferry Road for a short distance and turned right down a side street. I'm now wondering if he failed to catch the rogue van and though he might have given him the slip going down that side street?

I now find myself wondering if it was anything to do with the serious drugs gang war that's going on up here just now. Baddies houses and cars are being torched and there's violence too. Like something out of a thriller novel. So far it hasn't had any impact on us personally but the situation is pretty serious. Google Edinburgh Gang Wars and you'll find lots about it. Seems to involve drug dealing in Edinburgh and Glasgow and, very dramatically, there seems to be a Mr Big who's living in one of the Arab states - so the papers say and has issued "contracts" on some of the local leaders. You really couldn't make it up and it worries me when Mrs J goes off with her pals for a day out at the shops and a nice lunch in the city centre. I think the police are so stretched they don't have the manpower to tackle the other serious issue we have with youths - usually dressed in black with head coverings - on electric bikes and scooters causing mayhem and steeling mobile phones etc. They tore up the greens at one of the golf courses recently riding trail bikes and doing wheel spins on them. As I said above, personally It's had very little impact on us so far but, i suspect, the more these guys get away with more of a nuisance they're going to become, particularly while the police are tied up chasing the much more serious drug violence perpetrators around. Edinburgh is a very different place to the city I knew as a youth.

 

[bugsymike]

Today's walk was to the library. Not a long one, there and back total walking time just under the hour. It's pavements all the way, and mostely down the Ferry Road which is a very busy thoroughfare. I always walk facing oncoming traffic and was just approaching the BP petrol station when a big tourist bus came up behind me which I first noticed in the corner of my left eye. It was probably doing the legal 20mph for here. Coming towards me, so on my side of the road, is a large Mercedes "sprinter" type van, also traveling at what looked like the correct speed. Then I heard a diesel engine running much higher revs and turned to see an older, probably Transit, Medium length van coming up quite fast behind the bus angling for an overtake. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, There was very obviously not enough room for him to overtake, but then went for it regardless with foot flat to the floor and bellowing a great cloud of dense black smoke from the exhaust - Air filter needed I'd guess (and a good service too?) - anyway, the Merc pulled right over against the kerb and stopped thus allowing just enough room for the tranny to squeeze through. It continued at full speed down to the traffic lights, which were red, and went through them turning right and causing a car coming across them legally, to do an emergency stop. It disappeared out of my sight towards Leith at a great rate of knots. Almost before I'd had time to take this all in I heard the sound of police two tones and one of the big Volvo SUV things, probably armed response, came hurtling down from the direction the van had come, overtaking everything. Man, he was really haulin'. He too went through the lights at red and turned right in the same direction as the rough van.

Well, that was exciting! I continued walking towards the library and, as I started climbing the steps to go in, the Volvo reappeared, drove back up the Ferry Road for a short distance and turned right down a side street. I'm now wondering if he failed to catch the rogue van and though he might have given him the slip going down that side street?

I now find myself wondering if it was anything to do with the serious drugs gang war that's going on up here just now. Baddies houses and cars are being torched and there's violence too. Like something out of a thriller novel. So far it hasn't had any impact on us personally but the situation is pretty serious. Google Edinburgh Gang Wars and you'll find lots about it. Seems to involve drug dealing in Edinburgh and Glasgow and, very dramatically, there seems to be a Mr Big who's living in one of the Arab states - so the papers say and has issued "contracts" on some of the local leaders. You really couldn't make it up and it worries me when Mrs J goes off with her pals for a day out at the shops and a nice lunch in the city centre. I think the police are so stretched they don't have the manpower to tackle the other serious issue we have with youths - usually dressed in black with head coverings - on electric bikes and scooters causing mayhem and steeling mobile phones etc. They tore up the greens at one of the golf courses recently riding trail bikes and doing wheel spins on them. As I said above, personally It's had very little impact on us so far but, i suspect, the more these guys get away with more of a nuisance they're going to become, particularly while the police are tied up chasing the much more serious drug violence perpetrators around. Edinburgh is a very different place to the city I knew as a youth.

It certainly seems like things are a lot worse than when we were young.
Not helped by Governments saying the prisons are full and letting criminals out early.
Personally I say build bigger prisons, at least when the criminals are inside they are not hurting the honest people and as has been proven most are habitual so no sign of rehabilitation.