neiluk

As I'm picking up my Galaxy tomorrow I think I'd better change the SEAT badge to a Ford badge in my information. I have tried several times to do this but failed. How do you do it? Thanks, Neil.

Thanks very much tdi90 ;) . Are yours reinforced or not? 94 and higher I believe. Thanks, Neil.

Are Mk1's OK with non reinforced tyres then? They are just about the same weight as a Mk2 arn't they? I'm picking up my Mk1 1999 2.3 Ghia tomorrow and I will have a 250 mile motorway trip home with it. What pressures should it's tyres be at to be safe? Thanks, Neil.

Hi Mum, I saw a great sounding one for sale and I'm going on trust. I know it's a bit risky but I'm a trusting kind of guy, and I've been assured that everything inside and outside of the car works as it should :o . The car was too far away for me to see it. Collecting it will mean a 500 mile round trip, but at least it will give me chance to get used to driving it :o I've never had 2 cars before. I will be selling my old one soon as I was suprised to find I couldn't have both cars insured with my no clames discount. They said I would have to start again with my Galaxy! I managed to change my no claims over to the Galaxy, but that means I have only 14 days left to sell my current car ;) Anybody after a nice reliable Daewoo Nexia GLXi ? I was hoping to keep it for a month or two incase of Galaxy teething troubles and to use while I get front and back parking sensors put in. Never mind, that's life for you, Neil.

For every engine Except for Ford's own 2.3 which still makes do with the 5 speed box I believe.

Hi All, I've just purchased my first Galaxy, a Mk1 1999 2.3 Ghia and keenly looked up the specs on the Parkers website. I was suprised to see that the Mk1 2.3 has a 0-60 time of 10.1s compared to 12.3 for the Mk2 http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/data-d...spx?deriv=13022 http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/data-d...spx?deriv=19344 The Mk2 is only 20kg heavier than the Mk1 and the bhp is the same for both at 142 (but I thought Mk1's had 145?), so would the difference be due to higher gearing in the Mk2? Iv'e just noticed that Parkers says that The Mk1 and Mk2 2.3's are both fuel injected but What Car says only the Mk2 is. Who is right? What Car says that the Mk1 has peak torque at 4500rpm compared with 2500 for the Mk2 which is a bit of a disapointment as I was looking forward to the low down torque. How flat is the torque band of the Mk1. I don't usually go anywhere near 4500!!! Thanks for your help, Neil.

Forgive my ignorance but why would this be a problem? If someone wanted to know a registration number of a galaxy they could just walk down the street. Whats the difference in showing a picture of yours on the net? I'm asking as I just happened to read this post on the way to putting on pictures of MY FIRST GALAXY!!! Yes, I've finally bought one :-))) though I haven't actually seen it yet :-/ . Thanks, Neil.

I've just given it a test drive! And I'm still confused! The car is http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...A:IT&ih=006 It has the Ghia X badge underneath both side indicators and says Ghia X in the service log book. The Ghia badge is on it's rear sides. It doesn't have the rear fan speed switch for the middle seats but that might not count for anything. I was very tempted to buy it but the Air con needs recharging after a condenser (or something) was changed and not filled with coolant again. The thing that really stoped me was that the ABS light came on soon after starting my test drve and stayed on. The breaks seemed to work well but were rather soft in their action and had to be pressed quite a way down to stop quickly. The car had its battery disconnected as it hadn't been used in a few months and the radio had to have it's code put in to get it to work. Could this have upset the ABS system? I think I read somewhere that this can take a while to reset itself after things sometimes??? Would this usually be expensive to fix? Would my capable local garage be able to fix the ABS or just Ford garages? Thanks for your continued help, Neil.

Hi all, I'm still on my quest to find my first Galaxy and have yet to find one for sale close to me! . I have found a good candidate but it's spesification confused me. It's a 1996 (P) car and has Climate Control, Electric heated seats, Parking Sensors, and a CD multichanger and was called both a Ghia and Ghia X in the ad, but it only has a 1998cc engine. As the 2.0l engine never came out in Ghia or Ghia X I'm guessing the car is a GLX with the 'Luxury Pack' added. Can the owner now reasonably call his GLX a Ghia X with the luxury pack as it seems to ve very similar in specification to one now. I cant see any trim badge on the back in the photo. Did Ford leave it off in cars with the added luxury pack? Please can someone piont me in the right direction to some photos of Mk1 2.0 and 2.3l engines as I have asked the owner to send me a picture of his engine for clarification (just incase he has a 2.3l and doesn't know it!). The engine has done 160,000 miles but is stated as running very well. How many miles can I reasonably expect it to have left without huge bills? Does the 2.0l have a cam or chain belt? Thank you all for your help, Neil.

My 'other' is a Daewoo Nexia which has got what's probably the closest ratio gearbox on any car! I'm still looking for a Galaxy Ghia/X or Alhambra SE this side of the SSC (Cardiff). Neil.

Hi Neil If you are looking to see if it has been a taxi check for wiring through the bulkhead and any rubbing marks around the opening of the rear hatch, the coaxial cable tends to leave a dirtywear mark on the tailgate and sealing rubber. You can also check the carpets around the rear seats, if it has been regualrly used by adults in the six and seven seat arrangement then the carpets will be worn at the rear. You can also feel the steering wheel as one driver will naturally hold the wheel in one area, indicating the same driver over 100,000 miles is actually quite a good thing as may drivers would indicate a lack of care for the vehicle, fleet or company taxi. Careful checking that the cambelt has been changed and regular service maintained should ease the worry, my first did 220,000 miles before I gave it away and the second is now at 120, 000 in under three years. reliability is key if the car had not been reliable it would have be "got rid" long ago if it were a taxi so even if it was the 100,000 mile tag should actually re-assure you of its worth. Other areas to look at would be the tips of the mirrors as they tend to get tapped as you navigate little lanes and parked areas, the drivers footwell carpet normally takes a permanent depression near the accelerator pedal and the recesses behind the exterior door handles tend to get scratched evenly if its being used to carry passengers, where as the tendancy for private vehicles if to use the passenger side more to access the rear of the vehicle. Hope some of this is usefull as I have a Taxi and have been totally pleased with it having covered the 110,000 of the 120,000 miles in under two years. Thanks for the information all. It will come in handy when looking for my Galaxy. I'm afraid I'm slowly going off this car for a number of reasons, lot least of which id that blue dashboard! I just dont like it. I know it's the same plastic as the grey dash, but it just looks sooo much more plasticy :-( Sorry Mumof4 if I broke forum etiquet by doing seperate posts. I just thought that there might me more chance of my questions being answered if I placed them seperatly. On with my Galaxy hunt, Neil.

WOW Wolfie! That's an impressive set of brochures you have there! So the buttons have definately been removed on that Galaxy then. I take it there would not be any other way to open them manually? I have read that they sieze up so the buttons were possibly removed to hide this fact. Does anyone know if they are usually easily fixed so I could have the buttons replaced. Thanks, Neil.

But my 1996 edition 1 brochure says Ghia's "have rear electrically-operated opening quarter vents with 'global' closing" Could Ford have removed this feature for the 1998 spec? Neil.

Don't you have to have a Ghia X for heated seats and climate control? Neil.

Hello all, I have read on this forum that the Aspen has 2 rear storage compartments compared to 1 on all other versions of the Galaxy. Is this due to more electrics being stored in this location in the higher trims? Thanks, Neil.

Hi all, Looking at this Galaxy front passenger door handle ware, would you say that it is normal in a car that has done just less than 100,000 miles or could it indicate Taxi use in the past? Sorry the pic didn't come out too good. http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/Neilwuk/galaxyhandle.jpg Thanks, Neil.

How many miles (to the nearest 10,000) would you say this 1998 Galaxy clutch peddle has done? I'm curious to see if the stated milage for the car is realistic. Thanks, Neil. http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/Neilwuk/Galaxyclutch.jpg

Thanks Wolfie. So as the car is advertised as having "Electric Windows all round" and it's a Ghia, it should have these quarter lights buttons shouldn't it? Neil.

Hi all, Please could you have a look at this pic and tell me if you think this pipe (bottom left) is in OK condition. If not, would it be a big job (ie expensive) to get it fixed. Thanks Neil. http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/Neilwuk/enginesmall.jpg

Hello all, As I still haven't been able to find a real Mk1 Galaxy to sit in I keenly opened my 1996 Galaxy brochure from Ebay thinking it would answer my question, but unfortunately it doesn

Thank you very much all. I would never have thought of some of those! I will try out your suggestions as soon as I find the right car :-) Neil.

Hello all, I have read several posts here regarding the Auxiliary heater for Diesel Galaxy's to help them warm up quicker in winter but none regarding petrols. While hunting for my Mk1 Galaxy on ebay etc I have seen mentioned petrol Galaxy's with Auxiliary heating. Can petrol engined Galaxy's have Auxiliary heating? If so, does this work in the same way as on the diesels except for burning petrol? I was thinking that petrol engines wouldn't have one as they warm up quicker than diesels. Thanks, Neil.

Thanks for your help both :-) . I'm glad I've been a good boy! Neil.

Hello. Under my Forum name and Seat badge there is a line which says ' Warn: (0%) ' followed by 5 blue squares. Please can someone shed some light as to what this means. Thanks, Neil.

My 2000 Ghia (I understand they dropped the "X" bit by then, and just loaded up the Ghia with toys before the new model came out) is fitted with window switches on all doors, plus both fronts on drivers door. It also has dash mounted controls for both rears (middle row), and offside rear quarterlight. (Only the offside opens when fitted with climate control). Hope this makes sense and is of help. Right! So the window control's are in two different places for the driver. I hadn't thought of that one! Thanks very much! Neil.