Car (or bike) Chat!

I have a theory regarding motor manufacturers' quality control:

Every component part of a car is rigorously tested, and any that appear faulty or substandard are weeded out. But instead of going to landfill, they go into making vans. Nothing is wasted. And silly sods like me pay over the odds for these vans because post-Covid alternatives to foreign holidays (ie campervans) has pushed prices up.

I could have bought a similar-age E-class for what my van cost, and here I am, paying through the nose for parts which really should last longer than 5 years. Just shelled out today £430 for a 'knock sensor', and another 140 quid for it to be "coded in" online, whatever that means :(

And it's not just Mercedes, it seems no manufacturer is capable of or willing to make vans which are as reliable as their cars. How hard can it be?:steam:

Ah the knock sensor. Bordering on pointless thing and costs a fortune

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by struth

Ah the knock sensor. Bordering on pointless thing and costs a fortune

---

Never heard of them till earlier this week. I could have got a snide one for a tenth of the price but with uncertain reliability, and I just wanted done with it.

And the thing is, there was a countdown on the dash display, starting at 495 miles, and had got to just under 300 miles when it went in for it's repair, and if the countdown had reached zero the van would refuse to start until the sensor was replaced and coded, so they had me over a barrel, the bastids :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

I have a theory regarding motor manufacturers' quality control:

Every component part of a car is rigorously tested, and any that appear faulty or substandard are weeded out. But instead of going to landfill, they go into making vans. Nothing is wasted. And silly sods like me pay over the odds for these vans because post-Covid alternatives to foreign holidays (ie campervans) has pushed prices up.

I could have bought a similar-age E-class for what my van cost, and here I am, paying through the nose for parts which really should last longer than 5 years. Just shelled out today £430 for a 'knock sensor', and another 140 quid for it to be "coded in" online, whatever that means :(

And it's not just Mercedes, it seems no manufacturer is capable of or willing to make vans which are as reliable as their cars. How hard can it be?:steam:

---

when I was in the trade we never had many issues with the Ford or Vauxhall vans but the Mercs did have a few issues even though we had a lot less of them. Worst by far was LDV, they would fall apart as they were going along. Shocking really. And all the vehicles were less than 2 years old or 40K miles. We sold them when they hit either.

Mind you that was fifteen years ago. I don't know if LDV are even in business anymore.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Macca

when I was in the trade we never had many issues with the Ford or Vauxhall vans but the Mercs did have a few issues even though we had a lot less of them. Worst by far was LDV, they would fall apart as they were going along. Shocking really. And all the vehicles were less than 2 years old or 40K miles. We sold them when they hit either.

Mind you that was fifteen years ago. I don't know if LDV are even in business anymore.

---

Still going, though they did go bust a few years ago when they were Leyland DAF (part of the Rover group, so they were never be going to be great). A quick check reveals them to be among the most reliable these days (with Vauxhall being the worst).

https://parkers-images.bauersecure.c...0-facelift.jpg

An LDV van going round a corner, yesterday

Apparently Russian owned now, so good luck getting spares...

Updates in modern cars still an issue. Tesla Model 3 has done a few updates recently. One completely changed the interface - total bummer. Not good if you're in a hurry.

Not sure if there've been a few more since - seemingly minor, but niggling concerns that some things are not as they should be. Screwing up the times for charging and getting them mixed up with "pre-conditioning" is not helpful - and puts up one's electricity bill for no very good reason.

I rather wish that more attention had been paid to more useful things - such as rear windscreen wipers (there aren't any!), heated wing mirrors (not a feature either), anti-dazzle internal mirror dipping (no evidence of that), and other things which can make driving feasible or bearable in British weather.

The graphical interface for charging is "nice" but abysmally useless. What's wrong with numeric inputs?

I still have a love hate relationship with this thing - 50/50. The (few) things it does well are very good - the others - total crap!

There was a TVR Chimera parked in my street the other day. Metallic purple paint, couldn't really miss it. You don't see many of them around, at least not here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Macca

There was a TVR Chimera parked in my street the other day. Metallic purple paint, couldn't really miss it. You don't see many of them around, at least not here.

---

Lovely car! Was the metallic paint job the one which depending on the angle of view looks either green or purple?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Barry

Lovely car! Was the metallic paint job the one which depending on the angle of view looks either green or purple?

---

Yes it was.

Candy apple flip flop.