Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

You need to find a decent upholsterer. They are few and far between.

I've been passing and admiring your new car regularly for the last few years also. It's in very good nick for an E36.

A few other cracking cars on that street too; a pristine black Saab 99 Turbo with beige leather and a Citroen Traction Avant being regulars.

I had an E36 328i Sport coupé in Montreal Blue a long time ago as a daily driver, lovely chassis and straight-6.

Morning all
My 2005 Petrol Berlingo has developed a harsh noise on start up. when the engine is cold it starts promptly but there is a horrible screeching sound that seems to be coming from the block rather than the belts by the side. I'm had cars where where the belts sqealed and its that noise, it sounds more mechanical. To be honest, we only drive the car a couple of times a month so i guess it could be an oil pump or something?
Its only for a couple for a couple of seconds then it stops, and everything runs fine.
Any ideas?
I'll try and video it today if I get time.

My experience has always been belt or tensioner. Tensioner might explain the block location / mechanical squeal.

You familiar with the Berlingo forum? May be worth asking there as well. https://www.berlingoforum.com

I have posted this before;
I can Highly recommend The Furniture clinic for leather repair stuff and also the leather repair company. Also for specific vehicle colours you can Google dye suppliers to match them accurately.
I know scratch doctor do a good BMW selection.

https://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/leather-care-products
https://leatherrepaircompany.com/

I can also recommend Harrison Trimming in West Kingsdown just past Brands Hatch
https://www.facebook.com/Harrisontrimming/

Anyone with a VAG had the cruise control stop working?

Tyre went on our 2012 Golf. Noticed it didn't work when we were going home on the space saver. But now with two new tyres on the front (old fronts switched to the back) it's still not coming on.

It's the old school non-adaptive CC.

Any ideas?

Is this the time now to get a code reader to see if there's a fault?

Cheers.

when mine went, it was the stalk itself (07 Golf)

I did read 0.6 % leccy new reg in Oz.
Big distances though
Are utes still a fave?

Thanks for the info up to now.
Another pre-purchase question..
I'm looking at a 2014 Volvo XC70 with 47k miles.
The standard warranty from the (Toyota) garage is 3 months.. is it worth extending this to 6 months (for £250) or are these agreements not really worth it, due to the T&Cs etc? Thanks.

Is the noise just while the starter motor is turning?

Shop around as the garage may be on a commission.

If you look here there are the statutory rights you have from buying from a dealer https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/your-rights-if-something-is-wrong-with-your-car#problems-with-cars-bought-from-dealers

Also can you buy the car on a credit card? As you have extra right with section 75 of the consumer credit act.

Thanks.

Just seemed a bit coincidental.

Going to look into a fault finder thingy. Probably not a bad idea on an almost 10yo car.

Probably not a fault that a generic code reader will pick up. Newish VAG vehicles need VCDS https://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/index.html

Thanks!

Thanks. I have no idea what this is, but will investigate.

Right now it's not the end of the world. But if driving to France becomes viable I'd like it working.

Anyone got a recommendation for a decent garage in south east London? My Volvo is due an MOT and service in the next couple of months.

Order from china and don't update. Friend had an old vag obd to usb cable and bought the ross-tech software and the software got blocked. The help wasn't very helpful.

The UK is opening a new coal mine, in a "hold my beer" fashion.

The coal in question is used for making steel. Not burned for power, or in artisinal fireplaces. It's just used for making steel. At the moment there's no viable alternative to high grade coal for steel production. So, anything made of steel, including steel parts for AMG Mercedes, requires that coal. Feel free not to use or buy anything made of steel.

This would be for the UK steel industry that is now subject to punitive tariffs, and struggled to survive before that? At least we shall have plenty of coal to burn in our artisanal fireplaces, with our German whip parked outside made, in traditional fashion, from Swedish steel.

Not necessarily, no. It might be used by foreign steel producers. Fact is though that if you want steel, you need high carbon coal. And it has to come from somewhere. Good intentions and lofty ideals are all well and good, but at the moment you can't use them for steel production.

Ah, of course - and we're doing so very well at the exporting thing, we shall (I am positive) be world-beating at it, really very soon.

Quite possibly not, but it's not much of an argument against mining coal per se.

I'm fairly certain this is part of our current trade dilemma between Aus and China - they buy the vast majority of our coal for steel production so any disruption to that supply causes more issues than simply power production.

attention, car melvins!

for reasons too boring to go into, i have in my possession four xenon headlight bulbs and ballast kits. i had no part in ordering them and had to look up what they were. i think it's four of this.

on the bulbs it says "55W H1 8000K"

if anyone wants them, just pay postage and they're yours.