[tomtom]

The sliding scale clearly promotes low CO2 cars (down to £0 for no emissions/EV's) whats a bit odd/shit/strange is that after that unless you have 0 emissions its a blanket £140 a year... so you can buy your Humvee and some one has to suck up a £2k tax bill in the first year, then £140 afterwards... same as a prius...

Apols if posted first in haste... seen alot of "AAAAGHH" about it on car forums to be replace by "oooh" when its pointed out its for 2017 onwards cars..

[slackline]

Taxation of electric/hybrid would happen at some point anyway, its highly unlikely that any government would disregard the income generated from Vehicle Excise Duty.

It does seem a little premature though given the relatively slow uptake of the technology, but given manufacturers are moving towards those vehicles anyway then given time there won't be much else (new) to buy.

[chris j]

The sliding scale clearly promotes low CO2 cars (down to £0 for no emissions/EV's) whats a bit odd/shit/strange is that after that unless you have 0 emissions its a blanket £140 a year... so you can buy your Humvee and some one has to suck up a £2k tax bill in the first year, then £140 afterwards... same as a prius...

Apols if posted first in haste... seen alot of "AAAAGHH" about it on car forums to be replace by "oooh" when its pointed out its for 2017 onwards cars..

The amount raised from VED is fairly small compared to the amount raised from tax on fuel (~5 billion cf ~ 25 billion I think) so you could argue that if the Hummer owner chooses to use the car a lot then he will be paying his fair share in tax as he goes.

[SA Chris]

Before everyone goes crazy - its for cars registered from 2017 onwards.... nothing to see here unless you are buying a new car...

So any leccy / hybrid car with any of the potential new developments discussed above

[Scouse D]

But the potential glut of new, cheap ev will still be tax free.

[Duma]

Test

[James Malloch]

There are two centres in Sheffield that do the Councils MOTs that Bonjoy put people onto in the Campervan thread if I remember correctly (too busy to go digging for his post now).  They don't do any repairs so have no incentive to find advisories or things that need repairing.

One is DOT MOT on Olive Grove Road.  Last MOT there on my campervan and like Fultonious advisories from the previous MOT had cleared up on their own.

As an update, I booked it in at one of the local council centres today and the old guy did me proud! It failed but just needs a headlight readjusting as it currently points upwards. Should be an easy fix and the retest is free. Very few advisories also (some pitting on the front disks).

Glad I got it done as it should hopefully increase the value a fair bit. Just needs a good service now (which I might let the new owner do – obviously selling it with a caveat) and it should be a little climbing van for someone else!

Thanks for the recommendations!

[shurt]

My 2p. ABS light came on, car out of action for a week, £400 please. Bleurgh.

Violins out s'il vous plait

[SA Chris]

Cause?

[James Malloch]

I got this as an MOT fail so need to fix it. I know it means one of my light beams is in a European style - but how do I know which is incorrect?

I'm planning to correct it with one of the sticker things but how do I know when it is then corrected?

Seems too simple to take it to a garage but  by saying both nearside and offsite it is confusing me.

 It's the only thing wrong but I didn't get chance to speak to the person doing the MOT after it was done and it was a council place so they don't do repairs otherwise I guess they would've just fixed it. I need to take it back later this week to get it retested for free so could do with fixing it today or tomorrow.

 any advice would be appreciated thanks

[tomtom]

Is it the left or right James? Easy way is to park it about 3 m from a wall then switch the lights off. Then adjust the offending lamp down until it's at the same level as the correct one. Depending on your car this may be turning a thumb wheel/knob near the light under the bonnet or turning something with a screwdriver.

What car is it and why do you think one of the headlights is foreign??

[tomtom]

Lights on notnoff. Sorry. On dipped beam.

[James Malloch]

That's one of the things that confused me... it looks like the driver side one may be a little high but I don't really know what I'm looking at to be honest...

The fail is described as:

Headlamp aim beam image kick up to the offside nearside [1.8]

Which seems to suggest the passenger side is kicking up towards the drivers side... perhaps...

I just had a little play with it but didn't get anywhere. However the passenger side bulb. Is verticle and the driver side bulb is off verticle. But as the bulb can't rotate I'm assuming that is correct.

It's an 07 Peugeot Partnet van. When I mentioned European it was because the beam was described as being

___/

when it should be like

\___
 

[James Malloch]

Probably not a super clear reply, sorry. Mainly due to lack of knowledge and trying to type on a tiny screen...

[tomtom]

Probably not the bulb. You can tell by looking at the markings on the headlamp glass - where there should be similar shading/opaque parts to direct the light down and left. These should be the same onnleft and right - NOT mirror images of each other if that makes sense. If they are mirror images then it sounds like maybe someon has fitted a LHD lens to the car which would be really really odd. It might be easiest to take it to your nearest most amenable looking independent garage and say any chance they could take a look and adjust them for you? I'd suggest it's a £20 cash in the lunch hour job at the most....

[shurt]

Cause?

A fault with the ABS system. They had to send a part away to be fixed, that was the cheaper option. Its a common problem apparently, not that that made the bill any easier to handle... Back on the road thankfully

[SA Chris]

Our old pug had a sensor embedded in the brake pad which set off ABS when it wore to a certain point. A good idea, but a bit more info would be useful.

[slackline]

Our old pug had a sensor embedded in the brake pad which set off ABS when it wore to a certain point. A good idea, but a bit more info would be useful.

Thats a bit shit isn't it?  I thought ABS (Anti-lock Breaking System) was meant to be used all the time on brakes and not just when the pads got worn down.

Was the sensor not just telling you your pads were worn?

[SA Chris]

Yes, but it was was linked to the ABS warning light, and you needed to plug in to diagnostics to find actual fault.

[dave]

Annoying development - garage had car in and drove it around for 15 mins and it wasn't doing the bad noise/rumbling thing. I drove it yesterday for 20mins at least and it didn't do it either. Any idea if the clutch/DMF thing can be intermittent?

Back onto this, having driven around with it for a fortnight without issue (but no journeys longer than 15 mins) tonight it's started kinda doing clutch stuff again. This time distinct rumbling noise and vibration coming through the clutch pedal. Fine when moving and clutch out, only happens when the clutch is depressed, even at idle or in neutral. Thoughts etc?

[shurt]

Yes, but it was was linked to the ABS warning light, and you needed to plug in to diagnostics to find actual fault.

The whole world now needs to be plugged into a bloody laptop to know whats the matter... don't know if its good or bad

[bigironhorse]

Can anyone recommend me a reputable garage in Sheffield? I need the brakes and ABS looking at on my Fabia and don't want to get ripped off. Cheers.

[mark20]

I've been using Smiths on Little London Road for the last couple of years and they've always been very good and a decent price, though often quite booked up.
Used to use Steve Plain when I had a 306, who mainly specialises in Peageot / French cars though will look at anything. Really nice guy, but possibly not the cheapest.
Please note I know fuck all about cars

[Paul B]

Can anyone recommend me a reputable garage in Sheffield? I need the brakes and ABS looking at on my Fabia and don't want to get ripped off. Cheers.

Autohaus Dolby for anything VAG (IMO).

[Muenchener]

How do recalls work?

I just had a letter saying there's a recall on my car. Do I now have to panic and rush to the nearest dealer immediately, and would be uninsured if anything happened before I did? Or can I just take the recall letter with me when I take the car in for its annual service which is due in a few weeks?