Pay a little bit more and get a yeti. When you come to trade or sell it on you’ll more than recoup that bit extra. The Nissan value will drop like a stone.

Been watching the Rickshaw Challenge, amazed what a few miles pedalling has done for Matthew and his confidence. Love that Challenge. Matt Baker does this stuff really well. I know he has taken a bit of a bashing on here in the past but fair play to the guy. Mrs Inbred is a speech therapist that uses the eye gaze communication aid. Costs more like 13k for one with speech software but makes a massive difference to the kids lives. Well done BBC.

I really don’t know of any genuine long term benefits that Faceboll#cks offers to any body. For every happy sharey post of united family and friends keeping in touch there are about 10 families who aren’t speaking to each other, fallen out and who now hate each other.

If I was going to buy a puppy I would buy one from working stock where the dogs are bred for performance and health and working ability. I would never buy one from breeders who follow kennel club guidelines for breed specs etc. Like has been posted before a good breeder will vet you and decide if you are right for one of their dogs. Working labs are great. Ours was an ex breeding bitch. We got her at 4yrs old. All her pups were sold for working. She was just the best dog.

Python can be very funny but not in the same league as Derek and Clive.

“This bloke came up to me” I’ll leave it at that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR2o2YYqEck Bloody Greta Garbo!

Pete and Dud. A bit more acceptable.

Appears that VAG have made a 1.8 tfsi from 2010 with a 16valve chain driven camshaft. This is a new engine and bears no relation to the older 20v belt driven unit. Don’t think the OP’s budget will get anything of that age. My old Vrs was tuned and bloody quick in a straight line but the handling was truly awful. I would always go for handling over power every time, the Clio excels on both fronts. I always thought the Williams Clio’s would hold their value and become a bit of a collectors car.

The chain that drives the second camshaft maybe doesn’t need changing but the belt that drives the first camshaft from the crankshaft certainly will. Unless VW have redesigned that engine to run a chain from the crankshaft. I knows the 2.0 TSI engine runs a chain and there have been some issues with that in the past, don’t know if this has been fully sorted yet.

Have you thought about a fiesta ST. This has the mondeo 2.0l lump in it. Proper chain driven camshaft. Very reliable and very quick. Not Clio quick but a lot better built and reliable to boot. Very torquey engine and they handle very well. If I was in the market for a quick hatch of that era I would probably play it safe and go for the old shape Honda Type R in Silver. I like cars that rev.

No chains in there just a belt. This is the 1.8 T 20v engine. The other camshaft might have a chain from the driven one but that won’t stop the pistons hitting the valves if that belt fails. As I said 60k change the belt and the water pump as that can fail and fling the belt off as it acts as a tensioner.

Please don’t consider a Lab for a trail dog. They are quite a thickset solid dog that flush out and retrieve game. They are definitely not a consistent runner. If I wanted a trail dog I would go for a trailhound , vizla or wiemaraner.

Loving my new Yeti at the moment. Some great deals at all car leasing st the moment. Retains about 70% of value after 3 yrs.

My 1.8T Vrs was a 20v belt driven engine. No chain driven camshafts on that engine. Needs the belt and water pump changing every 60k or 4yrs really. Have they changed the 1.8T?

Favourite Cream track has to be “Tales of brave Ulysses” his vocals and playing on that track were stunning.

Fiesta 1.25 zetec. Best small car there is.

There is a return from the injectors to the fuel filter. I would do a test on the injectors and check how much they bypass and you should see some of the diesel and if there is any rubbish in there. Personally I wouldn’t pump any more money into a car with 130k on it.

Isn’t the pump after the filter, if its breaking up won’t it of blocked the injectors and filled the common rail full of crap. Low mileage replacement engine would be cheaper.

When we fitted our kitchen 12 plus yrs ago we had our potterton gloworm serviced. Our boiler engineer said it was past it and would need replacing cos he could no longer get parts for it. Well touch wood it is still going strong. I don’t believe all this new boiler will save you money bollox. When it dies it will be replaced with the cheapest Bosch that will fit. Until then all hail the Gloworm!

I love IPA’s something around the strength of Marston’s Old Empire.

Go to your local Dogs Trust and volunteer to be a walker and foster carer for them. They are always in need of people to socialise dogs and take them out. If after doing this for several months you still feel the way you do then go for it. My Aunty had Wheatens for 40yrs, strong willed and extremely powerful terriers. Not for the first time dog owner in my opinion. I would go for a Border they are superb little dogs.

P20 what tyres are on the Octy?

Be very sure about the DSG. I found it a bit snatchy on take up a bit severe although fine on the move. The manual is superb with great ratios and flexibility with the diesel. I think the manual will appeal to more people when you trade it in and it’s cheaper.

I’ve just bought a new one, pick it up on Wednesday. For it’s footprint it has more room than say a golf or A3. Mine is the black edition. Skoda were doing deals on the finance, 2.9% on this model and immediate delivery. It’s a 2.0l TDI 4×4. You can slide the rear seats forwards and back and take them out. I’m 6ft 4″ and it has plenty of room for me. It will also blitz any similar car for residuals. I looked at leasing, there are some great deals but it made more sense to buy and trade up after 3yrs. Not to mention that my wife liked it the best. We have one child 12yr old and a dog and it will do us just fine. You can buy a bike rack for the inside that clips in where the rear seats go and it will carry two bikes with the wheel off.

There are no Scouts available in the country and even normal Octavia estates will take an age. We were given a build date of about Feb 2015 for a Scout and even that was optimistic. Better to get in the system and then tell them when I want one and they will try and get one for me. The Yeti will do fine till then with 3yrs free servicing as well in that deal.

I have been looking into lease and PCP deals for the last 6 months. After an awful lot of deliberation for me a PCP deal on a Skoda Yeti Black edition 2.0 l tdi 4×4 at 2.9% was the best deal. Tax, free servicing, gap insurance and breakdown included. Option to purchase for 10k after 3 yrs. Should retail at 12.5 k so I will have a bit of equity in the car as opposed to nothing If I lease. Option to chop it in and get an Octy Scout. The yeti was my better half’s choice. There were none in the country so I’ll have a better chance of one in a couple of years. Leasing sounds great and can be hassle free but after crunching the figures it wasn’t for me. A 0% deal sounds really good. The best loans at the moment are about 4 to 5%. Pick mine up next Wednesday.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/10071002/Top-20-cars-that-hold-their-value.html?frame=2569107

I think it’s got more to do with where you can ride it. Round here in County Durham we have mile upon mile of old railway track converted to cycle way. A CX bike would be ideal for winter riding and the odd winter commute. Then put it away when the proper trails are ok to ride and get the MTB out.

We had a female Choccy Lab and she cost us a small Fortune at the Vets. Don’t forget you’ll normally have an excess even with insurance. She would eat anything. Do not give them hide chews as they just greedily swallow them hole and then it’s a trip to the Vets. Even with a good pedigree the odds of them having hip and joint problems is in my opinion just to high these days. I can see a time when insurance won’t cover these types of problems. Can be prone to epilepsy as well as we found out. If that hasn’t put you off then go for it cos they are the best natured most obedient and loyal dog we have ever had and not a day goes bye when I don’t miss her.

Build a great big pile of damp leaves and garden crap by your fence, purchase a bit of 8 x 4 thin springy ply and next time he lights up next to your fence you light yours and go for it with the ply and suffocate the barstool. If he asks what your doing just say your burning some weed!

My mate once bought a Briggs and Stratton lawn mower just so he could run it on Castrol R. Wonderful stuff.

You need a cleaner with a protein eating enzyme. Not generally available from supermarkets. Try google with the above and see what’s available. I used to help a carpet cleaner. Do not use carpet cleaners from the supermarket they are rubbish.

Come on Ben that lad in the blue coat is pointing with his finger that’s not a Nazi Salute. Your seeing what you want to see.

I think Salmond under estimated the intelligence of the 16 to 18yr olds who he gave the vote. I think they saw through him and past all of the rhetoric. They are more outward looking than inward. I also think the Scottish housewife played a major part. I wonder how many voted against their male counterparts once in the booth. Stability is very important when you are running a household and bringing up children etc. There is only so many times you can listen to ” A fairer and more just society” as a main policy. There was just no meat to anything he said.

Apart from this process being very devisive I do think a lot of good will come from this over time and hopefully give us all more of a say over the running of our Nation.

Lets just hope we don’t get a surge of English Nationalism rearing it’s ugly head.

Konabunny how do you think that just because she is no longer in Scotland that this vote will not affect her on a daily basis. Of course it will because her family are still in Scotland, She has been a tax payer in Scotland for years. She moved for her career in the NHS. I fail to see how you seem to think that just because a person is not residing at the moment in their home that this won’t impact on them in any way. A typical ignorant viewpoint. It’s like saying your less Scottish because you don’t live in Scotland at the moment.

My better half is Scottish and really disappointed that she doesn’t have a say as to what will happen in what she still sees as her home. This vote in my eyes if Scotland leaves the UK is like a divorce it affects both parties not just one side. For the yes camp to say that it has nothing to do with the rest of the UK is in my opinion a bit disappointing. But what will be will be. You won’t be able to change your mind 5 yrs down the line if it’s not what you want. This will be very permanent. If Scotland votes Yes I hope for my missus sake that it really goes well and works out but I have my doubts. I think I’d rather have call me Dave than Kim jong Salmond.

Sounds like the belt tension is either too tight or one of the idler bearings for the belt is knackered. I would get that checked out quick sharp.

You may find there is no fuse for the lights, driving down a country lane at night fuse blows death and carnage etc. Some cars lights are not fused may be a safety thing.

This may help.

http://www.fordwiki.co.uk/index.php?title=Fuse_%26_Relay_Information_-_Mk3

Most probably a relay has failed or been knocked. Good luck.

Try Euro carparts they often have deals on oil at the weekend.

Not as much as that Escort. Come on spill the beans on the spec!

I’ve had both diesel and petrol fords. One was the 2.0 tdci mondeo and a 1.8 petrol focus, both estates. Both superb cars. The petrol was the lower powered 110bhp engine not that quick or economical but very reliable with just a waterpump and standard consumables. Did 85k in the focus no probs at all. The mondeo was lovely but ultimately ate it’s injectors. So that was sold as spares or repairs. I would only buy a modern diesel at the start of its life and get shot at 50K. I would probably say go for the 115bhp petrol VCT engine. It will do everything you want it to do. Focus is the best handling sweetest estate to drive bar none. MPG is just one of the things that you should consider with a whole host of other factors in ownership. Reliability and how it drives being in my mind the most important.

At your price point I would say 1.8 125bhp petrol. To cheap for a diesel with mileage left in it. The petrols are very reliable.

Max I’m struggling to come up with a diesel estate for the same money as an evoke that can do a sub 5 second dash to sixty maybe a tuned RS6 hardly comparable. Buy what you want, I quite like the look of them in a kind of Judge Dredd comic book kind of way. Think the looks might date quickly though!

I had a mondeo tdci 130, when it was running best car I’ve ever had until 3 injectors failed at 110k. Now have an octy vrs mk1. Reliable but too small for me. Then looked at Scooby wrx’s too small including the outbacks and legacy’s. Have just bought a 2006 mondeo 2.0 petrol ghia hatch 66k on the clock with all the toys for 2k. It’s massive bike will fit in the back with seats down with wheels on. Now just need to sell the Vrs. Tried to find a decent 2.0l petrol mondy mk3 estate but they are like hens teeth now.