catman

Sounds like you have an air leak somewhere. Tim

It doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with your clutch. If it isn't slipping and you can change gear ok, then you don't have a problem. Tim

Most thermostats fail in the open position, causing under heating, but either is possible. While it is possible to test it, it's easier to just replace it, if you've gone to the trouble of removing it. Tim

Yes, sounds like the thermostat to me. It doesn't do the car any good if it's faulty, it's not just about the heater. Tim

It sounds like clutch drag, as if the clutch isn't dis-engaging evenly to me. Tim

The kit would usually contain the release bearing too. You definitely want to replace the bearing with the clutch. Tim

Just pumping the pedal won't work, as the system is full of air. It needs bleeding to get rid of it. Tim

When you say that the car "goes nowhere" when you try to accelerate, do the engine revs increase? if not, then the clutch isn't slipping. Tim

Interesting replies, every day's a school day! Tim

It's on Auto Trader, advertised as a 308bhp model. £10,950 blue, by Motoworld.

Hi all, I was browsing the classifieds earlier and came across a 59 plate car, which doesn't seem to have the power bulge in the bonnet. It also only has one throttle body. Am I mistaken, or is this dodgy? On it's first mot, under the advisory section, it said upper and lower engine covers fitted, preventing proper inspection. Maybe I'm just being suspicious. (or dead wrong!) What do you think? Tim

Re the shaking when trying to move off, are you sure that the brakes hadn't jammed on due to lots of heat? Tim

It's a REALLY bad idea to guess the heat range for your engine. Don't fit them until you've checked that they're the right ones! Tim

It's worth mentioning that any warranty will be useless, as the fault was present when you bought the car. I hope you get this resolved, they sound dreadful. Tim

My experience from a few years ago. I had an old, but very well cared for Mondeo. It had less than half the usual mileage, and full main Dealer service history. It got written off by a muppet failing to give way. His Insurer said that they had never seen a car of that age, with full service history and such low mileage. They then offered exactly half of it's value. they then spent weeks trying to get me to accept £300 for it and in the mean time, ran up a bill for £6,000 on a hire car. I was also put on to an accident management company by my Insurer, who were utterly useless apart from the swift supply of a hire car. Tim

As Above, and my previous post. It doesn't matter which route you take, you won't get an Insurer to pay out say, £10,000 to repair your car if it's only worth £6,000. Their obligation is to put you back in the position you were in before the accident. A lot of people interpret this as meaning paying out whatever it takes to repair your car. What it really means is paying you the pre-accident value, so you can buy an equivalent car. Tim

The Insurer will decide whether it's a write-off. It's down to cost of repair v value. You can't decide that you want it repaired at any cost. Tim

You have more protection if you go through your own Insurer (ie the Ombudsman) which you don't have if you deal with the taxi driver's Insurer. That isn't to say you'll get a better offer though. If you do deal directly with the other Insurer, they will be happy that you've minimised their costs (ie hire car) and could therefore quibble less about the payout for your Z. Tim

Copycat!

You don't have to pay the whole amount by credit card, it's why it's such a useful piece of legislation. My understanding is, as long as you paid a minimum of £100, then the credit card company is jointly liable. The Dealer will pay a lot more attention to the credit card company than an individual. They won't want to be dragged into this mess either and will seek a swift resolution to the problem. Tim

That's easy to do when the Dealer co-operates. From the OP's post, this isn't going to happen. That's why I suggested going to the credit card supplier first. No cost and a lot more clout than the OP. Tim

I think that you should inform your credit card provider what has happened and that you want to reject the car. They will be able to put a lot more pressure on the Dealer than you. It may be easier and faster to do this rather than going through the court process. You can always fall back on that if all else fails. Tim

Matt got Ebay struts first, which is why he was asking for recommendations! The quality was poor, to say the least. One of the bolts supplied broke and the brackets weren't exactly the right size either, which put the struts out of alignment. I've had some real bargains on Ebay, but this wasn't one of them! Tim

We thought that it was something that would be expensive too. Sly said that it was the variable valve timing trying to repatedly operate against the spring pressure, but the blockage was preventing it. The car runs exactly as it did before the noise. To say that he is reasonable with his charges is an understatement! He was great at explaining what the problem was too. Tim (Matt's Dad)

I agree. The warm up time is really only dependant on the thermostat. Tim