Davie's french attraction.

[Michel]

One of the reasons modern cars are so safe is that so many things are made to deform aside from a really strong bit in the middle.

A mate of mine hit a pigeon on the motorway in their company car (VW CC) - bill came to over five grand to fix it, basically everything forward of the front wheel had to be replaced - including the structure under the bumper, not just the plastic bits.

My original Activa was written off at 7 years old due to a collision with a badger! I had all the service history including a 5 grand bill for putting it right.

[Michel]

I'm with Privilege for my motorbike insurance. Very competitive. I have one major issue with them.

They keep sending me texts, emails and even snail mail letters to tell me to contact them as they don't have correct contact details for me....

Read that again

[CitroJim]

Read that again

Slightly derogatory terms including ***wit and ****womble come to mind

[daviemck2006]

Still no sign of a man in a van Why do people, in busniess for themselves say they will do a job then not turn up? This is what has pi55ed me off about bigpug from the day it broke. Cant get anyone to look at it. I think Im going to get an ecu, bsi and keyfob and try it. If by some miracle it works then I wont be looking for another car just now, the caddy can do daily duties when I am on my own and bigpug do good duties for a while before getting sold in the summer. It will not be a keeper. I shall keep my eyes open for a car for a keeper, either another seat leon or its cousin from the skoda camp, or go back to citroen, I see a few ds3 coming i to my price range now

[CitroJim]

That's bloody annoying Davie

No doubt he initially said he would and then realised the magnitude of the task he'd taken on...

[Michel]

Still no sign of a man in a van Why do people, in busniess for themselves say they will do a job then not turn up? This is what has pi55ed me off about bigpug from the day it broke. Cant get anyone to look at it. I think Im going to get an ecu, bsi and keyfob and try it. If by some miracle it works then I wont be looking for another car just now, the caddy can do daily duties when I am on my own and bigpug do good duties for a while before getting sold in the summer. It will not be a keeper. I shall keep my eyes open for a car for a keeper, either another seat leon or its cousin from the skoda camp, or go back to citroen, I see a few ds3 coming i to my price range now

Another reason why I gave up on Cits and Pugs Davie, can be tricky to get them fixed at a reasonable price.

I can recommend a MK2 Octavia 2.0TD. Mine is like new inside even at 10 years old and high miles. It all works too. Drives spot on , economical and very comfy. Interior is plusher than a Seat but not as nice as a VW.

[Hell Razor5543]

I would agree with getting an Octavia Elegance, if you can. Not quite the top of the range, but with a decent spec range, and (provided you make utterly certain to use the correct oil) can have a very long service interval (20,000 miles). There is a code (Michel has the information) that lets you know if it has a variable service mileage engine. Provided the right oil is used it will do well, but use normal oil and the service mileage will be about 5,000 miles. The oil is expensive (it was £17 per litre 10 years ago, but £45 for 5 litres), but the engine is worth it.

[daviemck2006]

I was 25 minutes on the phone yesterday to ask 2 simple auestiond of privilege. The numpty who I could hardly understand put me on hold 5 times! The questions were how much will it cost me to have my leon put back to my house? Eventual answer £725. So thats a no then. Second question when are you settling the claim? Answer Thursday. So by next weekend I may be on a car hunt. Or may not be! If I am on the hunt I think it will probably be another Leon 1.6 diesel. A 1.9 or a 2.0 td also acceptable. A skoda octavia also under consideration. It just depends what is available relatively locally. Who knows?

[Zelandeth]

Sorry the tale of trouble getting tradesman to bother turning up is spreading north of the border it seems.

We're now on year four of not having our heating system having an annual service because we can't get anyone to do it.

Insurance companies almost universally seem to be an exercise in how to make things as annoying and difficult as possible. Why I found Hagerty to be a real breath of fresh air...sadly as they only do classics I still need to fight with another insurer for one car on the fleet. Will ask if they have any recommendations though come May as currently the Activa is costing more than twice what the Lada and Van combined cost me. Adding the Invacar will be a whole extra £53 a year...

[bxzx16v]

A Skoda yeti might be a good option Davie .

Mark

[daviemck2006]

I have just covered 264 miles in one day in the caddy. I was not looking forward to it considering I have a major dose of sciatica just now. It had already done over 100 miles since it was filled so it has done 373 miles since fill and it is still above 1/2 tank. It was surprisingly quiet and comfy, yes the seats are firm and the ride can get crashy, but I have no ill effects from it. I am just thinking I will not buy another vehicle just now. It is a very basic thing, but has the essentials, engine, gearbox,brakes, and has a decent turn of speed when required. I may turn it into a mini one man camper in time for the summer.

I have ordered an ecu, bsi, and keyfob from an identical age and model of bigpug as mine is. Thats £100 spent, I really hope that this theory is correct and this cures it. Then it will get an mot and taxed, free cos it will get the disabled concession again, and I will be happy.

[Hell Razor5543]

I have my fingers crossed for you, Davie.

[daviemck2006]

I may just have thrown £100 away on a bad car. I shall find out at some point soon.

[CitroJim]

I have my fingers crossed for you, Davie.

That's two of us Davie

[van ordinaire]

Sorry the tale of trouble getting tradesman to bother turning up is spreading north of the border it seems.

We're now on year four of not having our heating system having an annual service because we can't get anyone to do it.

Insurance companies almost universally seem to be an exercise in how to make things as annoying and difficult as possible. Why I found Hagerty to be a real breath of fresh air...sadly as they only do classics I still need to fight with another insurer for one car on the fleet. Will ask if they have any recommendations though come May as currently the Activa is costing more than twice what the Lada and Van combined cost me. Adding the Invacar will be a whole extra £53 a year...

Don't usually do recommendations - & never thought the day would come when I'd give an insurance company a plug BUT, you could do a lot worse than asking LV for a quote. A little over fond of computer generated correspondence but that really is the only fault I have found.