Ivor_E_Tower

That's right. As to seat covers and mats - If the seats have side airbags, you cannot fit seat covers to them unless they are the "clip-on" type and leave the sides of the seat free so that the side bags can deploy (front seats only - check if yours has them). The seat material seems to be quite hard-wearing so I wouldn't bother about seat covers anyway. You will neeed to get the covers that are designed for single "bucket" seats, so will be searching for sets that come as separate fronts and rears, they buying just the fronts (unless you find someone who does covers specifically for Gaalxy seats :P ). Floor mats - I bought a set of Cannon "profile" mats which can be cut to fit along their edges to supplement the factory-fit floor mats (Ghia). A second set (or just a set of rears) could be bought for the rear row and boot, but I had some mats left from another set that I used for these areas. There are several companies who do rubber mats to fit the rear seat/luggage area.

Good news (for me) - a new retail park is being developed just down the road from where I work and the first units are already opened - Maplins is on the signboard at the entrance to the park, so hopefully they will be opening soon.....

The 4wd system should split the torque front to rear - if the rear propshaft is missing, what has been done to "fool" the system into thinking that x% is still going to the rear? Else the drive may all get diverted to the propshaft and none to the front wheels, so you don't go anywhere?

Uprated - more gas and a separate rear evaporator too.

No scientific answer. Some say there is no difference, others that it is "better". One advantage is that rear-seat passengers get their own airvents. Depends on whether or not you value a stream of cold air, or just like to sit in a climate-controlled atmosphere!

Leave the video player in! You can get an in-car DVD player from eg Argos which just needs a power lead to be plugged into one of the 12V (cigarette lighter/accessory) sockets in the car, then audio/video leads to connect up.# (should be in the central rear/middle console behind handbrake?) Similarly you can connect PS2 etc but you may need a dedicated power supply or inverter (plugs into accessory socket but has 230V mains plug socket for PS2 to plug into - NB low current output, so no plugging in home heaters, hair dryers etc! Available from Maplins, Halfords etc).

See my reply to the other thread. Definitely suspicious and worth investigating with previous owner. Was car bought privately or from a trader? If trader, did they declare this as a known defect? If private seller, they should tell you what happened.

Tried writing to the previous owner with a SAE? I got a very nice letter back when I bought mine, confirming it had not been accident damaged and had not had any problems.

We've had the "red dust" pictures before; IIRC something to do with the damper in the camshaft pulley? Does not necessarily mean impending doom.

Sounds spot-on. Sunroofs have been fitted as standard to very few Galaxys (old Ghia-X only?). Check that the aircon is working correctly (set to max cold and make sure that after a couple of minutes, plenty of cold air is gushing from the vents) and make sure that you get a warranty that covers aircon failure for at least 6 months from date of purchase. Good luck.

IIRC Ford have never offered folding mirrors; VW offer folding mirrors as an extra on the Sharan and current SE-spec SEATS have the feature as standard (although it was not mentioned in their brochure).

ISTR reading somewhere that Ford only use about 4 different cruise control systems ever, worldwide. If the Gal petrol's have a Ford CC system rather than a VW one, then the chances are that it will be the same as in the Granny.

So have I :D

Have they really taken 4 weeks to sort this out? (Glad it's back and running now).

I have a standard garage door which I think is only 6ft 6in, and I need to fold only one mirror on my Gal to get it through the opening (only done it 3 times, mind you. It normally stays under the car port).

My (Oct 2000-built) model has them, drivers and passengers sides :D

The cable is stainless steel so should not rust - what is the rest of the mecahnism made from? I have to agree that this winch is the worst method of retaining a spare wheel that I have come across. I make sure I exercise mine every few weeks when I check the tyre pressures (including the spare).

Ticking is normal, loudness of the "tick" varies and I wouldn't risk taking mine to a dealer in an attempt to make it any quieter (it's not very noisy anyway). If I felt like having a good laugh, I could ask the dealer what they thought (but best not to let them get into waffle mode...) Not aware of this type of device being fitted to "normal" diesel cars, only to diesel MPV's.

Variable servicing means using a differnt type of oil - don't know if this would be fitted at the factory. In any event, it is unwise for a new car to go as long as 2 years without an oil change. If you nintend keeping the car for a while, at least buy some correct-spec oil, a genuine oil filter and get the oil changed ASAP.

ISTR that oil level on the 2.8 auto box can only be checked by undoing the top-up hole (not easy). Sounds like a torque converter problem if you are getting no drive, rather than a poor gearchange quality. Ford dealers do not have the equipment or training to work on the 2.8's auto box - you need to go to a VW dealer if you cannot get it fixed elsewhere...or was the Ford report you found supposed to list the work that needed doing before the car was sold to you? HTH Ivor

Chest gasket - slightly lower down the vehicle than a head gasket? Auto or manual transmission, and how old is the car?

Try wrapping plumber's ptfe tape around the stub before pushing the hose on next time, then do the clip up (but not too tight....)

4. Walk round car after you park to make sure that all windows are closed and lights are off. Sorry, don't know location of the buzzer - try the Parts Counter when you go to order a new one?

FYI - if you go to a proper auto electricians, they stick a "dummy load" across the battery terminals which measures voltage under load and also shows up which cells (if any) are duff as they tend to "fizz". When my battery went u/s last December, none of the cells fizzed but the voltage was down, and I knew I wanted a new battery as the old one packed up over night (car had been fine the previous day and I knew I hadn't left anything switched on; headlamps, dash lamps etc were all at normal brightness even though there was insufficient power/voltage to operate the starter, just a clunk from the starter solenoid trying to engage).

...and if you are not sure what to do, look in yellow pages for an auto electrician before you go anywhere near the dealers. Good luck.