Be Excellent To Each Other

Who needs indicators anyway?

This looks superb.

It's outstanding. I've done it twice and am aiming to get tickets for Oulton on the Tuesday morning this time..

Top notch Formula 3 crash here:

https://youtu.be/jP8cwcT7Xq8?t=38s

Ugh. Hope everyone was ok - that was pretty nasty.

From the comments:

'All 3 are alive. the one that flew through the air is the one most hurt. he has multiple whirls in his spine broken and his feet is injured. the guy in the first car is completly fine but the third bruised his knee...'

Merc is back at the dealer again today for the three millionth attempt at getting the Parktronic system fixed.

I wanted to have a bet of 50p with one of my colleagues that it'd be sorted once they'd replaced the latest sensor identified as bad. Unfortunately no one would take the 'Yes it will be fixed' position, including me.

This is their final crack at it before admitting defeat and sending it off to the local franchised Mercedes dealer.

Shit-biscuits!

So now we're at 'the Bluetooth radio in the Dension is interfering with the Parktronic system'.

They replaced the sensor, did a load of testing on the system as a whole, ran their diagnostics on it and used a gizmo that tests the ranging on the sensors, and the conclusion from all of that is that the Parktronic system is behaving in strange random ways and detecting things that don't exist, flagging sensors as bad when they're not, and other such shenanigans - which is why it seems to behave so randomly.

In all fairness the guy had done a fair bit of good old Google research, and had also spoken to someone in the know at Mercedes, he also showed me several forum posts describing exactly the same behaviour with aftermarket Bluetooth systems. (And the timeline for my issues with the Parktronic system follows, it all started to go screwy after the Dension got fitted, but it was sort of masked at the time by the bigger issue of the valve body control unit.)

So it's a bit of a thorny one now, I could get the Dension ripped out but then I've spent over £500 on a box of tricks and useless wires, but I'll have a working Parktronic system. Or I could leave the Dension in, but the Parktronic will never work, which will make moving the car on much harder. (I don't really care about having the Parktronic working as such, but I do care about it working for when the time comes to trade on or sell.)

As I said to the guy at the dealers, I don't want to be left out of pocket on this as the Dension was fitted at the dealer's recommendation as for how to get USB/Bluetooth/iPod into the car.

He is going to speak to the selling dealer himself, and get back to me.....

My first preference would be to get the Dension ripped out and get a full refund on the cost of purchase and installation, but that's never going to happen - so I'll have to wait and see what actually happens.

Knowledge drop me.

It seems I can lease an Octavia from c £250 a month. What do I need to know?

Mate, if a £660 quid 12 year old Rover 25 is on the road more and suffering from fewer problems then get rid (and that includes having to open the bonnet once a day as the battery terminal clamp comes off). A Rover 25 is also quicker than a Civic Type R (although a type r produces 117 more bhp, it's acceleration and top speed is limited by the aerodynamics of the recovery truck it is on).

I guess you know why the previous owner had his taken out. Sucks dude sorry to hear that.

We had our Mini properly cleaned and valeted today. Looks like a new car.

I'd argue that if the Dension has broken the rest of the car it's not fit for purpose and you should be entitled to a refund on it.

Or, leave the dension in for the next two weeks as you will undoubtedly have bought that Audi by then.

Well, for starters it costs £250 a month, which is a lot more than a Rover 25. But 99% of the hassle of owning a car goes away.

I'll see what he comes back with and take it from there, I'm not even sure where I stand legally on any of this now. The car works, the Dension works, they just don't work with each other.....

Part of me is inclined to say fuck it, leave the Parktronic turned off so it doesn't randomly beep and flash banks of LEDs at me (there's a button to turn it off on the console), keep the Dension fully operational, and then keep the car long term rather than short-medium term (medium term for me being 'a bit longer than two years').

Thing is though, if I go down that route I'm knowingly screwing myself over on any future sale/trade, because the Parktronic will never work properly for as long as the Dension is in there, and removing the Dension is a big job. (I guess it'd be a quicker job to remove it than install it, but considering it took two blokes a day to install it, that's not saying much.)

So yes, I'll see what the dealer comes back with, and the course of that conversation will instruct my position going forward.

Park it in a shitty part of town with the keys in. Next day request the replacement one in an odd trim level so you know it'll take time to find so you can drive about in an unbugged car so you can set in motion the plans to take them down. And keep billing those hours.

Wait, it took two blokes a day to install it? Fuck, either Mercedes fibre-optic network system is beyond terrible, or the people who installed it for you haven't got a bloody clue.

For context, I installed the Dension 500S BT that I had in my 6-series in the space of 2.5 hours, including taking off all the trim.

And this is me - someone that usually has to get someone else to change a bulb for me because I can't bend my fingers round the right way.

Well I wasn't there for the installation but it was reported back to me that it'd taken a bloke most of the day and for a chunk of that he'd needed assistance.

As I understand it was far more involved than just removing some trim, and they had to get the dashboard out or something as they couldn't do it all through the centre console. Certainly there were handprints all over the place which suggested there'd been some fairly major moves going on, and a little bit of the trim at the end of the dashboard on the driver's side hasn't quite gone back in properly following its second visit to get the wiring changed - point being it suggests that the whole dash had been moved.

Is there anything I should avoid in the deal? This has come back in as the pushchair thing takes up 2/3rd boot volume when collapsed and s roof rack cannot be used as roofline is 5 foot 6 and MrsA is 5 foot 2. So this has brought it all forward and a solution is needed.

Dark Oak inlay with period buttons. Quality. Note the marks where I chiselled the old cd player out.

Trying to pay more than you can afford is a big no-no. If you can't pay they come and fetch your car, and then you carry on paying until you've nailed any early cancellation fees. Also you'll have a mileage allowance which is costs money to go over, so if you're thinking of driving to Devon each week then it's probably not right for you.

Otherwise, though, as you already treat cars as dead money, I can't think of anything else that might bother you.

Not my bag but the Citroen Cactus is quirky, fun and MaliCool

Here's a brand spanker for lease, comes with all the toys, for £175/month inc. VAT.

http://www.whatcar.com/car-leasing/deal ... ss/760610/



Seems like a good deal to me. Or you could go all sensible and classy like my missus' A3 TDI Ultra, with 75mpg real world and all the (basic) toys but at least including integral satnav, for £230/month inc. VAT.

Unless you're messing about with old bangers and know what you're doing (and have the time to do it), dropping a couple of grand a year to drive round in a perpetually new, smart. trouble-free car that's someone else's problem seems like a good way to go to me. Not many cars depreciate less than a couple of grand a year; let alone factoring repair costs for old cars, hassle, time, replacement car costs etc. as well. No-brainer imo.

I particularly love how the heater controls in the Rover 75 (I think, might be the MG ZS or ZR) are the same ones that they used in the Pagani Zonda.

I like the cactus. Might be my next car

I do applaud Citroen for doing stuff differently than anyone else.
I don't like 'em at all - but am a boring old stiff.

What's the boot like, though? A people-carrier may be a smarter choice.

384 litres. I think 500 litres is needed.

Which is a shame because that cactus is ace

That car looks like it's got a giant bar of dairy milk on the side.

Can't say the brown was a good choice.

Indeed it does.
I did say it was quirky.

The froggy (our Mini) has its MOT at 3:30 today. Wish him luck !

Yay the froggy passed

A weight off your mind, no doubt.

Very much so. Emissions were an advisory so it needs a good service but yeah, another year here we come

That citroen cactus reminds me a little bit of a pair of trainers I once had

Smart cars look like baby shoes.

See?

I picked up my Nissan Cube today. It has reversing sensors, Bluetooth stereo with an aux input, cruise control and working indicators! All these things I haven't had before.

It also has LEDs that light up the foot well which change colour at the oush of a button. Very cool.

Photos please

I shall get some in the morning. It's definitely an odd looking car and by no means cool looking, but since when have I been bothered about that?

EXCITING ROVER UPDATE!

There is no light that comes on to tell you fuel is low

Wrong. It is totally dope.

But there is at least a gauge?

Yes. It has red on the bottom of it. I was hoping for a light to turn on.

Diesel Octavia

Might look at that at the weekend. Things keep getting in the way and i keep changing my mind on what to do on how to pay for it.

Sell some netrunner cards.

All mine are rubbish which is why i never win.