Ivor_E_Tower

Sounds like we need to find someone who has an old brochure lying around. What is the date of reg of the Aspen you are going to see?

Aspen is the name given to the base, stripped-of-almost-everything model, to make it sound more attractive. Some were sold with only 5 seats and no aircon (I think these were added later on in the model's life) so take care when looking round before buying. Could try something like Parkers or What Car used buying guide to see if they list more detail of trim differences. HTH Ivor.

How hot is hot? Hot enought to burn through your pockets - then that's too hot. But quite where the heat is coming from is another matter. Brakes - mine are the same; felt wonderfully re-assuring prior to the service and now they need a much firmer shove, but this could be down to pad glazing with lack of use as I try to keep off the brakes (expecting 70,000 mile pad life minimum but with asbestos-free, it's not as easy as it used to be). I've had a pad seize in a caliper through lack of use before now (Not on the Galaxy though)......

If it lasts for about 3 seconds, err could it be that your tailgate isn't shut properly? Maybe the tailgate closure thingys need adjusting, and the tailgate moves just enough as the vehicle body distorts during connering to trigger the closure sensors? I sort of had this porblem once - the tailgate appeared to be properly closed but when I tried to start the car, the warning message and bleep appeared, so re-closed it and the problem went.

...and you win on short journeys too. In a petrol car, the engine is running rich when cold, using more fuel and therefore also putting out much more CO2 etccompared to when it's warm. Our previous petrol car did about 35mpg around town, 45 on long runs but only about 20 on the School Run, whereas the diesel Scenic replacement does about 45mpg on the school run, in town and on longer runs. The Galaxy hasn't done the school run yet (hooray) but is turning in about 32 mpg around town and nearly 45 on my daily commute. Two journeys of about 100 miles each last week on M3 and A303 dual carriageway saw about 50mpg. Oh - and our formel petrol car's exhaust rotted through annually on the school run whereas previously it lasted 4 to 5 years. Lucky I bought lifetime cover when I first replaced it, so the approx 8 sections replaced afterwards didn't cost me a penny!

Modern diesels are clean - there are the usual scare stories about particulates, but it is rumoured that petrol exhausts put out more finer particles than diesels - so fine that it's almost impossible to trap them and prove that they exist! As to clean diesels - well I used to work for a supplier to Jaguar cars, and with a trap fitted to the exhaust, we could drive our van into the factory, alongside the production line to top up stocks - talk about "just-in-time" deliveries! 0- and this held true for any diesel-engined delivery vehicle that could fit through the access doorway. Petrol-engined vehicles were banned! Black exhaust smoke is due mainly to badly adjusted diesels which are using too much fuel. As to running costs over 4 years, it's hard to say because there are so many variables. How much extra do you pay for a diesel in the first place? Fuel costs for a diesel Galaxy will be about half those of a petrol. Servicing will, I suspect, be much the same except if you need a cambelt change (diesels) as most of the petrols (well, Ford 2.0 and 2.3) seem to use chain drive. Exhausts should lst much longer on a diesel too. Insurance costs are likely to be similar.

Sorry. I'm south of London and don't know too many good used car places in Scotland. Perhaps we could set up a thread for Site Members to sell/buy Galaxys to each other? What do others (and Kevin/GTEUK) think?

...when I collected by Gal after getting the aircon fixed, there was a disgruntled man at Service Reception with "his" salesman - he'd bought a brand new Mondeo 3 weeks earlier and the battery in the key for the remote locking had gone flat. They charged him for it, even though the salesman kept a straight face when saying something to the effect that it wasn't covered under warranty.

Ouch! ...but I've been quoted in the region of

Should be covered under warranty. Main dealer should know a trick to release it, if not then the AA, RAC etc. Usually involves pushing a fork-type object through the grille in the right place!

I should add...remove the new battery and boil a kettle of water; wash/pour this over the area where the old battery had leaked. Dry it thoroughly with a rag (mind you don't scald yourself) then paint or otherwise protect the area affected by the leak, especially if bare metal was exposed.

Very easy - just insert a small, flat bladed screwdriver from the front and gently lever them out. You don't need to remove the radio or push them out from the back. I took one out this way to drill holes to mount my phone bracket on. New ones are only a couple of quid, so it's cheap to cover up when I sell the car on.

The limiting factor on oil change intervals tends to be the filter not the oil. This was reported in motoring mags a few years ago when 12,000 mile intervals were introduced. This resulted in larger sized oil filters yet now, they seem to have shrunk back down to where they were in the early 1990's. In any event, change at least once per year or 12,000 miles maximum. What I cannot understand is how the grade of oil to be used should differ depending on whether or not the change interval is fixed or calculated by a computer! I've not phoned Castrol yet, but looking at their limited website, it appears that this expensive SLX II stuff should be suitable for all engines. As for changing the oil on the Gal yourself - how easy is it to get through the undertray to the drain plug? On my old Rover 820, I could either remove the undertray ( a bit of a pig, 6 or 7 bolts of which usually at least one had rusted and didn't want to come out) or else remove the front offside wheel, which proved easier! Haven't tried my Scenic yet, but same potential problem as Galaxy with undershield that has a screw-off cover under the drain plug. Don't know if I can jack it high enough to get proper access.

I doubt it - it will probably be treated as "fair wear and tear" albeit I've never known a car key to wear out so quickly!

You've been robbed on 10 days but it may be your fault. If you took the V5 registration document to the garage that did the MOT and left it with them, asking for the MoT to be dated from date of first registration then they can do it. I know it can be done, I did this with my previous car and I hope to do it again with the Gal next January....

Assuming you didn't change the battery yourself, whoever did change it should have checked the charging voltage at the time. If not, buy or borrow a voltmeter and check the voltage across the batterty terminals with the engine at idle, and then when reving it slightly eg to 2750rpm. If it exceeds about 14.5volts at 2750rpm, then there is a problem with overcharging. If it remains under 13.2 volts at idle or at 2750rpm, its not being charged enough. The leaking is unlikely to be due to high under-bonnet temperatures but more likely to be a faulty battery case or poor manufacturing.

Oh dear, I think you've been plain unlucky. I used to work somewhere where the guy who worked for me swore by old Cortinas - he'd had loads and never had much problem (whis was as recently as 3 years ago); he's still working on fitting a Granada 2.8 V6 to a Cortina mk 4 body. On the one occasion when he treated himself to a then-modern car, a VW Scirroco that was just a few months old, it gave him nothing but expensive trouble so he sold it and went back to older Cortinas! What I cannot understand is why, if car manufacturers produce so few lemons, when one comes to light, they don't just replace it to save all the bad publicity, both on TV/radio, and word of mouth by the disgruntled owner.

Yes, but you need an adaptor plugged into the back of the satnav system and a linking cable from the VHS output to the adapter. There are at least 2 posts somewhere on this site detailing what has to be done; I think Jakey247 is the acknowledged expert on this.

Oh dear, I didn't mean to upset you! "my" 115ps engine uses the lesser grade but even after the service it was black - just not as sludgy and slightly less opaque than before it went in. Think I'll have to give Castrol a ring...

Depends how and where you drive; 19-23mpg in town (but be prepared for that to fall too if the traffic is heavy); nearer 35 on dual carriageways if you stick to 70mph max!

No problem with fuel sloshing noises;

Try looking at the Securon web-site (www.securon.co.uk or .com, can't remember which). Should be possible to fit it in a saloon, possibly in a hatch or estate. Needs a solid mount for the reel mechanism and, of course, the buckle. HTH Ivor.

Following on from recent threads about oil grades for the new 130PS engine, I found that my local Halfords is now selling this Castrol SLX II stuff, at the famed price of

The subject of antifreeze is interesting (to me anyway) - from new, most cars seem to have stuff that the manuals say should be changed after 4 years, then every 2 years. Recently I have noticed that eg Halfords sell some long-life antifreeze that should be changed every 4 years - used it in the car I traded in for my Galaxy. So, is it better, or more convenient, to use this stuff rather than change every 2 years? What do others think?

...certainly does. Mine was fixed under warranty and I didn't get a copy of the bill, but I did manage to sneak a glance at the paperwork when I collected it. Prices were something like