italiastar

My beloved 2003 Alhambra, was involved in a 6 vehicle accident last Monday, which was caused by a Bus hitting the car behind ours, pushing into mine, which hit the one in front and ............... I'm sure you get the idea. They've give me a brand new 2.0 Sharan Auto as a courtesy car. First the positives - the white display is easier to read at night. As for the rest of the car - - The seats fold up very nicely, but waste so much space - about 30 cm above the floor level. - There is no feel to the car - it is soooooo boring to drive - The auto box is awful - Despite being bigger externally, it's smaller inside. - Sliding doors mean that your passenger can get whacked when you shut the drivers door. - Sliding doors heavy to open and shut - ICE is poor - No rear opening windows - No electric mirrors - Turning circle of a double Decker bus - absolutely boring to drive - no feel - no guts - reduced capacity inside the car - dash presses straight into legs - reduces legroom - I've kept the worse till last - Appalling fuel consumption - 32 MPG on a 80 mile run at 70 mph almost all the way - about 5 miles at 30 40 or 50 MPH. Give me my old car any day -

My Alhambra (1.9 TDI) has still got 3.5mm on the original rear tyres and they've done 43K - I'm on the second set of Fronts and they've got 2.5mm. No caravan though - most mileage is on long runs / motorways, with about 1/3 in town.

I agree with both of you, so how can I trust a guy who's already planted the seed of doubt? My Cousin in Italy expressed surprised that I hadn't recharged mine last year - they get theirs recharged yearly at most every two years. The only people I know with aircon that seems to last without maintenance are Nissan owners. Spoke to my neighbour this afternoon who had his L reg Golf regassed a few weeks ago from Kwik-Fit - it was the first time he'd had it done and he's very pleased. Anyone know a good mobile person in south London / North surrey, please.

Thank you for the reply - I've decided on the Conti's expensive but an excellent tyre. I'm confused about the re-gas - everything I've read says that they need re-gassing every couple of years. A mobile person today told me (over the phone) that they should last 15 years+ - saying that you don't re-gas a fridge. Mine was last re-gased 3 years ago and the car has not been used at all for 5 months - I'm now getting poor cooling. Is this to be expected or is it likely that I've got a fault? The local Tyre depot (No not one whos name starts with a K) says they check for leaks first free of charge and wont fill it if theres a leak - is there any reason why I shouldn't use them?

My neighbour has a Mk1 Alhambra which did not have reinforced tyres fitted as OEM, but my MK 2 has - surely the cars cannot be that different - they've both got the same engine. Interestingly, few years ago the seat dealer refused to test drive my car after changing the dual mass flywheel because the "front tyres were below legal limit" - the car had only passed it's MOT a few days earlier at a major tyre retailer. I agreed to let the dealer change them, but fortunately questioned what they were going to fit - Continental Premium which they assured me had replaced the Eco Contact ones fitted to my car. Not happy, I contacted continental who told me that the Premium ones were not reinforced and should not be fitted to my car. Needless to say that I told the garage they did not have a clue and the service manager agreed o test drive my car himself as the mechanic who was also th MOT tester refused. When I collected the car, I took it straight into the nearest MOT centre who confirmed that the tyres were fine and had several thousand miles left in them.

My 2003 Alhambra needs a re-gas (I hope) - it's been sitting unused for 4 months. My Tyre retailer (no not K-F) will do it for

My 2003 Alhambra needs a re-gas (I hope) - it's been sitting unused for 4 months. My Tyre retailer (no not K-F) will do it for

Had mine done last year at 39K 6 years by an independent specialist -

Had my car serviced at the Main dealer I've been using for the last 3 years. Last year they tried to charge me

Had my car serviced at the Main dealer I've been using for the last 3 years. Last year they tried to charge me

Best I've ever got from mine was 50 mpg - I didn't go over 50mph. Worse was 29mpg - on french M-ways 130 Kph fully loaded and aircon going full blast when car was new - oddly similar journies now return 40 MPH. I don't often drive around town / in traffic, but MPG in those codition gets to mid to high 20's. I test drove a petrol one - at 50 MPH it was returning 18 MPG.

Mmmm - possibly (must admit it did cross my mind as I typed it) - that wouldn't explain the noise, but that could just be a red herring. Thanks.