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16

General Car Chat / car restoration challenge 2017 - £4k grant

« on: 19 February 2017, 02:34:32 »

eBay is looking for three amateur car restoration projects in the UK. The chosen projects will receive £4,000 each to spend on restoring their vehicle using car parts bought on eBay.co.uk. The three successful entrants will be required to take part in a communications and marketing campaign as we follow their restoration journey and reveal their final completed vehicle at the end.

 
1. What is the Promotion?

Within the Promotional Period, eligible private users will be able to enter for the opportunity to win an agreement to carry out a classic car restoration project, including £4000 to spend on the project on eBay.co.uk (“Promotion”).
Three successful entrants will be chosen from all the eligible entrants.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/rpp/ebay-car-challenge

the bad news - car has to be pre 1978

17

General Car Chat / £10 toxicity charge/emissions surcharge on pre 2006 cars starts 23/10/17

« on: 17 February 2017, 16:18:43 »

http://talklondon.london.gov.uk/blogs/talk-london-team/new-t-charge-following-clean-air-consultation

18

Omega General Help / diff oil change

« on: 17 January 2017, 01:11:34 »

just read the maintenance guide on this.  i assume there is no drain plug hence the need to take the cover off.

can't be a***d with all that and getting covered in smelly hypiod, any reason why i shouldn't just suck out the oil through the filler with my trusty 12v engine oil change pump and refill? actually i'd top it up first so i know how much leaked out and to give it a flush.

19

Omega General Help / fault code p0571 "Cruise control/brake switch "A" circuit malfunction"

« on: 24 December 2016, 15:54:21 »

my cruise has stopped working . this was immediately after i fitted a new stop light switch.  so i just re-fitted the old one (wish i'd left it alone) which was working for cruise always and for the stop lights after I had fiddled with it (see previous thread http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=138168.msg )

fault code p0571 still showing.  at first i thought the new switch is the wrong one but now i am wondering if i need to reset something? annoying as i have a long drive coming up over new year

20

General Discussion Area / copying contacts from a sim card

« on: 20 December 2016, 02:16:52 »

i have a new sim (free with talktalk broadband, 200 mins, unlimited texts, 500mb data, works in the mig bose car phone).

i have an old sim car reader (ASB USB smart card reader acr30u-cfc) but i don't have any Win 7 software, can anyone recommend something? 

or maybe I can copy to a phone memory and back to a new card (but my cheap phone and the mig phone don't seem to have that option).  could borrow swmbos galaxy while she's not looking perhaps... . 

21

Omega General Help / fuel tank size 60l

« on: 18 December 2016, 18:55:21 »

got down to 4 miles range today (i trust the range - have tested to zero twice before).   when i filled up it only took 59.7l even with waiting and topping up a few times.  so i make that about 60 litres total capacity but the manual says 75l. seems like quite  a big difference has anyone else noticed that?

22

Omega General Help / no brake lights

« on: 15 December 2016, 02:05:40 »

checked the bulbs and the fuse, all seem ok.  Plus the high level light is out and the display says 'brake light check', permanently.  any ideas?  may coincide with 4 new tyres being fitted. 

23

Omega General Help / all season tyre thread

« on: 28 November 2016, 00:25:46 »

i've contrived for all 4 of my tyres to go illegal at the same time, probably by feb next year. 

so i'm looking at 4 replacements best deal seems to be £46.60 each for Westlake SA07 XL (E,C,74db) (235/45 R17).  the old tyres are westlake AKA goodride sv308s and I liked them. 

BUT i'm tempted by some all season tyres eg Tristar Ecopower 4S 235/45 R17 97W XL (E,C,69db) or the suspiciously similar looking Minerva Emizero 4S 
which i might be able to get for £52.50 each.  Prices inc fitting, disposal, valve, balance, VAT.

so is there a catch with all season tyres?  the wet grip seems to be the same, C, and the noise is a lot lower.  do they wear out faster?

24

Omega Electrical and Audio Help / cheap sim card

« on: 13 October 2016, 13:28:26 »

can anyone recommend a cheap sim card to put in my mig built in phone?  i want one that i can put in there and leave in, and will hardly ever use to make calls.   so ideally one with no fixed monthly cost. payg?

25

General Car Chat / startrescue v rescuemycar

« on: 26 September 2016, 00:35:05 »

my rescuemycar breakdown cover is due up soon and as usual they have increased the premium, now £31.99.  they have been good but the annual increases are annoying, as well as the fact that rescuemycar offer new customers only, 21% discount.  for similar cover aa want £49, rac £60, green flag £58 and startrescue.co.uk £30.57 (all after cashback).

so startrescue is the only contender here.  has anyone used them?  what is pushing me to them (apart from them being the cheapest) is they don't seem to have the rescuemycar  per callout excess of £40.  Also their terms and conditions look refreshingly straightforward - e.g. 9 pages v rescuemycar's 21 pages.

26

General Car Chat / whats new and worth having since the omega came out

« on: 17 September 2016, 00:23:43 »

been thinking of reasons to get a newer car (prompted by the imminent london ULEZ tax) so started a list of improvements on the mig

variable valve timing - better economy.
6th gear - better economy and more control
adaptive cruise control - i use cruise a lot so might find this useful.[/li][/list]
step change cruise control - i liked this on a bmw i drove - tap once to drop or rise 10mph.
cruise control with braking - doubtful about this - more to go wrong but could be useful downhill next to a speed camera.
parking assist - suspect this is not aimed at men but could be wrong
rear camera - only thought of this the other day when I tried to help a garage rep park his car and he just reversed at an unerving speed and braked just in time.  he later explained he didn't need any help, he used his camera.
auto lights - suppose I could get used to that
auto rain wipers - i know some migs have them, one less thing to think about I suppose
tyre pressure monitoring - i assume they have cracked this now. i would quite like that.
double clutch system - nice for accelerating
integrated sat nav - assuming it  isn't obsolescent at time of purchase
4WD - nice if it is reliable
I think i could do without an electronic handbrake but perhaps i would learn to love it.
lane change alarm/automatic braking, proximity alarms - doubtful about these
adjustable suspension - i would like that
hybrid engine - have they cracked this fully? i suspect low performance.

have i missed anything?

27

Omega General Help / vibration on braking

« on: 14 September 2016, 02:20:39 »

i'm getting the same judder from steering wheel when braking that i had when the inside of the disks were rusted up.  this time though the disks are new and on a quick feel, clean of rust.  the car passed its MOT like this.  seems not to happen in the wet and if the brakes are very gradually applied.  before i jack it up any ideas of what to look for?  i wonder if a wheel bearing is worn but thought the mot would have picked that up. 

28

General Car Chat / insignia omega replacement

« on: 20 August 2016, 23:26:26 »

picked up the holiday hire car last week and it was a facelift insignia hatch.  i was quite impressed by it, especially the ride quality.  i hadn't really thought about it as a replacement for the mig but now i am. 

good points - 6 speed manual gearbox, 2 power air con, smooth ride (on the 18 inch wheels), big 8 inch sat nav, 6 speed box great on the motorway

bad points - windscreen pillar obstructs forward visibility, rear window v small, engine not enough power - lots of gear changing, electronic handbrake - ugh.

anyway apparently there's an insignia replacement coming next year - http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/2017-vauxhall-insignia-will-be-larger-and-lighter

29

General Car Chat / insurance up 46%

« on: 26 July 2016, 12:59:23 »

just got this year's insurance quote, it is has gone up 46% in a year! 

now £129 a year,  previously £88.

but the £88 was due to a £30 cash back intro offer.

aviva still easily the cheapest though.  admiral wanted £200. LV £206 with a £400 excess.  some wanted £380

30

Omega General Help / boot lock saloon

« on: 24 July 2016, 23:51:47 »

a car was broken into in our street friday - side window smashed.  has anyone taken steps to lock the boot so that the rear seats cannot be pulled forward and entry gained to the boot after smashing a window?  i'm thinking of a simple bolt lock, set with the boot lid open:

probably 3 or 4 of them.  it might at least slow down theft of boot items.