Assa

Last Friday at 5.00pm my wife opened her window and then found that it had stuck fully opened. I nipped rounhd to my nearest garage which happens to be a the Ford dealer in my neck of the woods. They did their best to fix it, trying to re-wire the switch, but it turned out tobe the distributor(?) so the whole door would need taking apart. They garaged it for me over the weekend and promised it back by lunchtime on Monday. Surprise surprise lunchtime came and went. I asked for a coutresy Ka but they were all out, but assured me it would be ready by the end of the day. Guess what... it wasn't. The problem had been fixed but the door needed re-assembling. I was told this woukld take 1.5 hours and it would be ready by lunchtime. I asked how come if they opened at 8.00 and it would only take 90 mins it wouldn't be ready by 9.30? They couldn't answer that but promised it 'mid-morning'. By 10.30 there was still no sign of iot being ready but they had found me a Ka. Finally at 5.00 I picked upo a message on my mobile that it was done. Then to really please me the service manager had a go at me for not being contactable at home (the ansafone wasn't working) or on my mobile (...isn't that what the vmail is for?). Total cost -

Bleeno - thanks for the offer of help. The labour I was refering to was for someone to install my CD changer - I don't have the cabling or the first inkling how to wire it in, so would prefer to get an expert. I'm happy to try the speakers myself though especially if I go for the ones with the right connectors someone linked to. I've also seen a few USB HUs for

Thanks BJ. I had been looking to get a Haynes manual but was put off by the fact the only one available was for the MkI. I suppose if the MkII was only a face-lift then the machanics will be the same so it should be OK. I'll look into it (I've seen some stearing wheels on E-Bay so may take the plunge). Assa

Sorry that this is a duplicate of something I posted in the newbie forum, but I've not had any response there and hope i can get some here. The grip on my stearing wheel is worn to the point where it is uncomfortable to use over a long drive. I can't find any appropriate grip replacements, and besides don't think it would look very good. However, replacing the whole stearing wheel would no doubt have to be a job for an expert (I'm not touching the airbag) and therefore quite expensive. Can anyone advise? Thanks, Assa

Thanks everyone for their input on this subject. Having done a bit more research it looks like putting my old Sony CD changer in will cost as much as getting a 6006E and fitting it myself (extra parts & labour to do the CD changer). I've realised there is an alternative to all this... I'm not a bog fan of the Ford HU look so may just change the HU for one of these fancy new MP3 units that has an SD card slot and USB input. I've got memory sticks and SD cards coming out of my ears and each will hold more than the largest CD changer. Getting the facia & cable adapters looks easy (thanks for the link, Bleeno) and doing the job should be straghtforward (if I borrow my BroInLaw for back-up). I'd like an HU with an internal HDD to save the files to rather than set up an external HDD as some others have done. However, before all that I think I need to do something about the speakers. I hadn't realised quite how bad they were util I was listening to a Foo Fighters CD - at not very high volume I was getting all sorts of distortion. FF's are quite heavy on the percussion and I think the standard speakers were struggling to handle the treble (I'm not expert in these things, but it sounded awful). One worry I have is that when searching the topic the stated speaker size of 16.5 cm has come up - but looking at the grills I can't see how there can be two 16.5 cm speakers behind them (yes, I'm looking at the front door grills - not the tweeters on the dash). I am right to think there are two behind each grill, aren't I?

Thanks Bleeno / Mumof4, Looks like the 6006E is

Hello again, my car is registered as a seven seater, though they gave me only six :rolleyes: I could probably add a dozen more seats and no goverment or insurance would care !!! The middle seat came free of charge (a friend who's a breaker) from a 2000 Sharan and used the lap belt. Far better quality fabric than my 2004 Ghia.... Some weeks ago, I found the time and fitted the roof mount seat belt Hi Strouf, How easy was it to fit the roof mounted seat belt for the middle seat? I asked my local Fraud dealer about getting one installed and they told me that it couldn't be done?! I could realy do with this so my daughter's car seat can go there. Thanks, Assa

Hi Musa, My wife is also learning to drive and is nearlky ready to put in for her test. We just cahnged our old 306 for a Gal 2.3 and the insurance company would not insure her as a provisional license holder. Have you had a similar problem? Ta, Assa

I would like to fit a CD changer to my MkII Gal. I have a Sony 10 CD changer which is about the same age as the car sitting in the garage and wondered a) would it be compatible and :rolleyes: where would be a good place to fit it? I know the standard place is in the cubby hole at the rear right of the car, but I think that's for the 6 CD changer which is much slimmer. Can anyone recommend another location or would it be easier to get a new 6 CD changer (

Hi, I got my MkII Gal two weeks ago. I've replaced the worn door handles, faded rear badge and number plates and it's looking like new, excoet for the stearing wheel which is very worn and actually can be quite uncomfortable to use over a long drive. I've seen a couple for sale on E-Bay, but I really don't want to mess with the airbag. Does anyone have experience or advice on replacing? Is this a job for the Fraud's experts, and if so, anyone give a ballpark cost? Ta

Hi Guys, Sorry for resurrecting an old topic, but it's the first one I've found on the topic of fuel consumption. I've had my Gal for a week now and had to re-fill her after a paltry 318 miles! (24 mpg - not good). I've realised this is mostly because I've been driving a puney 1.4 Pug for the last 5 years and have got used to a 'pedal-to-the-metal' style of driving just to get anywhere. I'm 50 miles into the next tank and the needles has just moved a couple of points now I'm amployeing some of the tactics mentioned above. However, is it better to brake with the car in neatral or use engine breaking as well as the break pedal? I was under the impression that 'modern' cars use no fuel when engine breaking, but I could be wrong.

First thing I did when I got my Gal last week was to order new handles. Checked EBay but with the P&P, Ford was cheaper. My gripe now is that the 'grip' bit on the inside of the handle did not come with it. Does anyone know if these come with the ones off EBay or if they can be got seperately? I'd rather not go back to Ford for these.

I've had my silver Gal for just over a week and am very happy with how it looks except that the parking sensors are black, so look out of place. Crispy mentioned that his kit suggested thay could be painted over, but that he was sceptical. Has nayone done this as I would be very keen to match them up to the silver?

Hi Guys, Bought myself a Galaxy last week. The rear windows are tinted but not the frost. A friend recommended gettingthem done (he has his Polo tinted all round), but I don't want to risk doing anything illegal. I seem to remember though that you can get UV tints or similar. Does anyone have experience of this? Thanks, Assa