Car (or bike) Chat!

[spendorman]

Bugger. My faithful old trolley jack just blew its seals. I've had it thirty years and it's been a very handy bit of kit. I'll have to rebuild it now. I value my tools and workshop gear.

(bought a cheapy from eBay locally just now to tide me over, still to pick it up)

Found mine had failed a few years ago. It was old when I bought it something like 30+ years ago. Brand name of Epco (I think), It's different as it does not have the usual two castors, has four wheels. Seems to give better stability.

[walpurgis]

Yup. Mine has four wheels too. Nice and stable. About six inches longer than the average home trolley jack too. Fortunately I have a full set of spare seals and diagrams.

[spendorman]

Just found a pic of the same model as mine, the model is probably much older than I thought

Epco Jack by A60man, on Flickr

[spendorman]

Yup. Mine has four wheels too. Nice and stable. About six inches longer than the average home trolley jack too. Fortunately I have a full set of spare seals and diagrams.

That is good that you have spare seals etc.

A replacement jack that I bought in Lidl when the first opened in the UK, came with a spare set of seals.

[walpurgis]

VW & Audi diesel owners in several countries including the UK could be facing big trouble.

Think about it. These cars have been sold for the last eight years or so with non-compliant diesel emissions, that have only got by the strict tests through having illegal software that only 'clicks in' during testing to show false clean readings. Now there will have to be chips retro fitted to make the cars show their true emissions.

But! The big snag is that there's no guarantee that the cars affected will then meet legal requirements. The owners then potentially owning scrap!

The governments concerned can't just adjust regulations to ease the strictness of emission tests for the literally millions of VAG cars affected, as all the other manufacturers would be up in arms.

This is the scam of the decade (apart from banking of course)

Glad I haven't got a recent VW diesel.

[StanleyB]

VW will be OK in the UK. We allow big businesses to get away with murder. From horse meat to high levels of salmonella in eggs, the UK regulators are keen to make sure we don't stop spending.

[Audio Advent]

True...

Could go either way. I can imagine local councils will demand super-high parking fees from these diesels as now they are no longer considered low emision cars (if they ever were) and owners will likely be punished for it wherever possible.

Will they even pass the MOT?

I really don't know why LPG hasn't been pushed more in this country. Although I'm happy with it that way as if it got popular, they'd like increase the tax on it.

[Audio Advent]

The EPA blew the whistle on VW when it found a "defeat device" in a number of its cars. This device can tell when the car is being driven normally (by its owner) and when it is being tested for emissions (before it goes on sale, and during future MOT and other roadworthy tests). This device communicates with the car's computer to adjust how the engine is running, reducing emissions to legal levels only when it is being tested.

"VW manufactured and installed software in the electronic control module (ECM) of these vehicles that sensed when the vehicle was being tested for compliance with EPA emissions standards," the EPA wrote in a document sent to VW. Controlled by an automatic switch, the defeat device monitors the position of the steering wheel, vehicle speed, engine barometric pressure and how long the engine has been running for, among other variables, to work out when the vehicle is being tested.

So might not even pass their MOTs without a significant performance hit to get the emissions down.

That could then bring along some civil class-action lawsuits and their UK equivalents!

[walpurgis]

So might not even pass their MOTs without a significant performance hit to get the emissions down.

That could then bring along some civil class-action lawsuits and their UK equivalents!

Yes. This is a storm that is just developing. The status and even usability of affected vehicles after recall and fitting of 'remedial' software is unknown. The legal ramifications are enormous, from the point of view of millions of owners and of course those accountable at VAG.

[struth]

Used to have a Skoda Octavia. Glad I sold it now lol