Neily

Hi all. I've not posted for quite some time but here I am again. After some long thought (and some pressure from 'er indoors!) we decided to go for a 2 litre Ghia TDCI mk3 (06 plate) Sorry back last February. I must say that I'm quite impressed with the car in general, although I have some concerns. So after five months of ownership, here are my thoughts so far . . . The good points: Comfortable, feels more like a car to drive than previous models. The folding rear seats are brilliant. It tows a caravan with ease. It's reasonably economical to run. And the bad ones: No spare wheel, jack or wheelbrace - unforgivable. I bought a spare from a scrapyard and had a part-worn tyre fitted to it, which I keep in the rear behind the rear seats Why can't we have reliable, old-fashioned intermitent wipers instead of the stupid autowipers? The seatbelt clip 'parks' too far down - it should be at shoulder height. The air con wasn't much cop on my mk1, it's still rubbish on this one. The rear seats look and feel a bit cheap and flimsy The overhead compartments rattle - all the ones in my car have bits of folded paper stuffed into the gaps. The power steering pump whistles and wheezes I could go on but I think you get the picture by now. Anyone agree / disagree? I know I've been harsh, but on a car that costs the best part of twenty grand you expect better. Aside from the poor design failures I've mentioned, and hopefully these will be addressed and resolved when the facelift model arrives, the mk3 Galaxy is a good car that I'm very pleased with and for me, the good points outweigh the bad. Still can't help thinking about the new Voyager though. Regards, Neil

George, I'm not familiar eith the cc controls / dash layout on facelift models (which is what you appear to have, looking at your avatar), but on my mk1 Gal the cc unit fascia has a tiny hole, just wide enough to gently insert the tip of a biro or pin or toothpick etc. Behind this hole is a tact switch (little button) which toggles the outside temp display between Cetigrade and Fahrenheit. There may be something similar in your car - the owner's manual should explain this. Hope this helps, Neil

Not sure about the asking price, but 92,000 miles seems a lot for its age. However, with an up-to-date FSH, this shouldn't be a problem. I agree with HJT regarding the aircon - I would think that most shaz/gal/bam owners have had some major/minor problem or other with it. Try a search, entering 'aircon' or check out some old threads to see what potential pitfalls there could be. I think the CD multichanger would've an option when the car was bought new, therefore lift the armrest flap just in front of the back door (tailgate) to check if there's one fitted - also open the little sliding door on the unit to make sure the caddy or 'shuttle' is present. Consumption - again I get exactly as HJT says but when I tow my 1100kg caravan this drops to a frightening 16mpg ! :o I bought a set of rear parking sensors from www.parkingsensors.co.uk/quanan.asp and fitted them myself - well within the scope of the average DIYer. Hope this helps. Good luck and let us know how you get on. ;)

Thanks mate, that's something I'll have to be aware of when towing then - must try to avoid steep hills! Still a bit disconcerting though. I might start a new thread concerning hills to watch out for. Cheers.

Hi All, whilst on the way to Devon for hols a few weeks ago, I had to negotiate "Telegraph Hill". I've done this a few times in the past in other cars but this is the first with caravan and found that I had to go right down to 2nd (!) on the steep bit, about 3/4 of the way to the top. Too scared to glance at the consumption display, I laboured onward to the summit, went to change up a gear, and . . . MY GOD! The clutch had gone! ;) Seriously though, has anyone encountered this phenomenon on a Gal or any other car? As the road levelled out I got the engine revs to the 'sweet spot' and got through all the gears, and after a few minutes the clutch returned. When I say the clutch had disappeared, I tried to disengage it but the pedal just flopped to the floor. I've only had this when towing and it occurred once more when under load. I have an Elddis Typhoon which weighs around a tonne when loaded. I've tried a search on this forum but no luck, and read a lot of old threads. Therefore: What could cause this to happen? Is there a risk of serious/permanent/expensive damage? I'm no mechanic, but am 'mechanically-minded'. For those interested, I got 18-19 mpg :lol: with the van and 30-33 mpg without, as Somerset is reasonably flat. Around Devon, which is fairly hilly (similar to my locale) it managed +/- 24 mpg with wife, 2 kids, no luggage. Regards, Neil