Ivor_E_Tower

Check under bonnet first for holes/perished rubber hoses. Something is definitely not right. Should be loads of power to accelerate in 4th on dual carriageways, motorways etc.

Should lose less than 10 percent in first year after a refill.

Thought you meant THE Peugeot Coupe, based on 406 floorpan.

If you're driving it in town alot 35mpg is fine. You will need a fair percentage of open-road driving to crack 45mpg! All the start-stop effort takes its toll on the fuel consumption. From what you describe, it is not running perfectly. When you say sluggish on hills, if you're staying in 6th gear it will be. It should be able to maintain the same speed on slight hills with no bother and lose a little speed on more severe inclines if you stay in 6th. Changing down to 5th should bring a noticeable improvement. Should not be any flat spots.

ISTR Pug coupe not assembled by Peugeot but by Pininfarina in Italy, who may use their own VIN numbering system.

Could be related - has the cable stretched (is is cable or hydraulic?). Self-adjusting mechanism gone wrong?

Point (2) they could not find anything - presumably you took the car to them so the fault was present then. Warranty does not cover until the garage gets time to look at the fault, but until the fault occurred and this must have occurred when still in warranty period. Don't let them fob you off.

...and we all know what I think if mine! It still has some way to go to make it the best car I've ever owned but at this stage (after 13 months of ownership) only complaint is the aircon failure and poor dealer attempts at fixing it. Still cannot think of anything I'd rather be driving (except perhaps a new-shape Espace but they don;t come with parking sensors front and rear, or cassette tape/minidisc players). Incidentally, washed and polished it 2 weeks ago and applied Autoglym spray-on tyre dressing - the best thing I've found for tyres so far. They look great with a nice even sheen.

Imported Galaxys usually have only 24 months warranty rather than the 36 months of "genuine" UK cars. Also, if anything untowards happens that may not be covered by warranty, or just outside warranty, Ford UK will give consideration to making a contribution to UK-sourced cars, whereas imports will not be looked upon in such a favourable light - the same holds true for almost all manufacturers with regard to UK cars versus imports.

Kev - read some of Nimrod's (and others) earlier posts in this section of the forum. The aerial in the Gal is fixed to the side window glass and has a separate amplifier that is powered from the radio (head unit). Without the correct bit, you will suffer from almost no MW and LW reception. FM reception will be reduced too. The bit you need only costs around a tenner and just plugs in, the work of a few seconds once the head unit is removed.

Still under 3 year warranty - cost nil.... Otherwise expensive as I suspect that the unit injectors have to come off the head to get at the top of the engine - plus little experience of these engines outside the main dealer network.

Welcome. If your knock on start-up lasts for under a second, it is IMHO normal. If not , check that the correct type of oil filter is fitted (with anti-drain valve). The other sort of noise you describe appears normal, especially if you can only hear it from outside or with the window open!

You don't see the elements when it de-mists - they are much finer wire and much closer together than the rear screen heater wires. If you look closely in daylight, you should be able to see them.

You've got a problem if it won't! Even the 115 will break the magic ton figure where it is legal to do so (or where it isn't, if you want to take the risk).

Dark tinted front side windows will mean (1) MOT failure and (2) breach of construction and use regulations meaning that you are breaking the law if you have them, whether or not the windows are raised. Don't do it!

Well, mine was built in October 2000 but not first registered until the end of January 2001. When I was looking at it, there was another Gal of similar age and mileage - registered in March 2001 - that did have the 3-point belt for the middle seat, and it was also the revised spec with steel spare wheel (whereas mine has an alloy) and the "transparent" design of headrest whereas mine are "solid". ISTR that the centre belt could be specified as a 3-point one as an option for a while, so I don't know when it became standard.

He'll be a lot safer in the third row with a 3-point belt rather than in the middle seat with just a lap strap. My Gal only has lap strap for centre seat but with only 2 kids, it is not so much of a worry for me, especially as they are now so tall that they don't need boosters any more! At 11 and 13, they are almost as tall as my wife, and taller than my mum!

Latest shape 4S? Hmm, maybe in a few years' time...... As to the low water level, we had a recent posting on this topic, and it was the same light flashing that drew attention to the problem, so it looks like it is an undocumented feature that the temp light flashes to indicate low coolant level.

Oh dear, not still using Focus Seat or whatever they are called now, are you? Tried Wiltshire and sons in Farnham? Maybe time to start getting Seat UK involved, not been having much luck with your Alhambra, have you? - or maybe bite the bullet and trade it in for another one?

Purchase price may be the limiting factor. Petrol 2.3s are usually significantly cheaper to buy than the diesels because the diesel is so much better. Depends on mileage you do, the type of driving (round town or on the open road) and your own driving style. Usually there is not much difference in insurance costs between 2.3 and diesels, but the Ghia-X is usually a group more expensive to insure than GLX or Zetec. Things to look out for on a car of that age are the indoor swimming pool under the front passenger seat, check all electric items work, full service history, check tyre wear is even. I'm sure others will add more things to look out for. Good luck and welcome to the clan!

Was unaware that the suspension has been changed on 130ps vehicles! Do you mean anti-roll bar bushes? We know that drop links on these are a problem.......

They will just stick black tape over the lights in the shape outlined on the TIS CD, unless you have Xenons in which case there is a hidden lever that they move. Don't expect too much - we are talking Ford dealers after all!

Curry and ale - that's what I meant by "in theory"!!! Opening a door to get in - the air in the cabin will be changed within a few minutes by the forced flow ventilation once you are on the move, and don't forget that the air recirc will automatically revert to the fresh air intake after about 20 minutes as a safety precaution to prevent CO2 causing drowsiness etc. Opening a window is perhaps the only "get-out"

In theory you don't need a filter when in recirculation mode, as the air has already been filtered on its way into the cabin.

..and I will also agree that a compression test would be very wise at this stage of the proceedings. If possible use a local garage so you can stand by the mechanic performing the test and ask him what he thinks. I once had a mobile tuning company service one of my previous cars and they could knock one of the cylinders out in turn during testing and flag up all sorts of impending problems. May be worth getting this done too. Good luck.