Your fleet running reports

[Ascender]

Apparently the problem is that it's so generic. My salesman has seen this a lot. Most common causes are false alarm but even things like a tracker subscription expiring can do it. Car is running absolutely fine though and there was nothing happening at the time to trigger it so have been told to just crack on.

[mik]

If it’s sporadic then yeah - can just be caused by a (momentary) signal loss etc.

If it pops up every time you start the car (as ours did) then some kind of intervention is needed…..

[Jobbo]

My Audi occasionally gives me the SOS unavailable message. I've assumed it's to do with poor mobile signal for whichever network it runs on. Always seems to clear itself.

[DeskJockey]

Been told by Renault that the nav/live traffic/connected bits in the Zoe are now end of life. The active licences will run until 3G switches off, after that it just doesn't work. They're not planning on offering anything to extend the life of the connected capability.

For a car that's not yet seven years old that seems rather poor. It'll obviously still work as a car, but the smart(ish) stuff will be pointless.

[Jobbo]

7 years is pretty good. BMW/Audi/Merc stuff runs for 3 years and stops if you don’t pay through the nose for out of date tech. Can you use CarPlay?

[jamcg]

If it’s sporadic then yeah - can just be caused by a (momentary) signal loss etc.

If it pops up every time you start the car (as ours did) then some kind of intervention is needed…..

My old skoda used to give me this error all the time because it parked in a complete signal black spot. Turn it off and on again in a different spot it went away

[DeskJockey]

7 years is pretty good. BMW/Audi/Merc stuff runs for 3 years and stops if you don’t pay through the nose for out of date tech. Can you use CarPlay?

No, but I don't have an iPhone. There's a modification that enables Android Auto, so I'll be figuring that out at some point.

[Rich B]

carplay (and presumably the android equivalent) is an absolute game changer. being able to use your favourite nav apps on screen just highlights how bloody awful every single car manufacturers systems are!

Even the little things like when you put a destination into google when you’re getting ready to go somewhere to see how long it’ll take you, now when you get in the car it just transfers straight to the car screen and off you go.

[IanF]

Not exactly what you want Alex, but there was an article in Autocar the last couple of weeks about how cheaply you can get electric ex-demos currently; the one that stood out was a new Leaf for £13999! Evonomics eh?

[Jobbo]

7 years is pretty good. BMW/Audi/Merc stuff runs for 3 years and stops if you don’t pay through the nose for out of date tech. Can you use CarPlay?

No, but I don't have an iPhone. There's a modification that enables Android Auto, so I'll be figuring that out at some point.

If getting Android Auto running is a pain, it's almost worth getting hold of a cheap iPhone and a cheap data SIM specifically for the car. I'm with Rich in that I wouldn't be without it; simply relying on Google Maps or Waze for traffic info alone would be enough to make it invaluable. I don't distinguish between Android Auto and Carplay by the way since the functionality is pretty much identical, though I know car makers do (and the one with presumably higher licensing fees is the one which is more common - don't understand that)

[Jobbo]

Mildly embarrassed to have driven to work in the MX5 with the roof up this morning. First whole journey completed with it up. It was plenty cosy enough but my intention was never to do that. The weather was dry and I thought I'd end up putting it down but I was in a suit and it was still a bit dark...

[DeskJockey]

7 years is pretty good. BMW/Audi/Merc stuff runs for 3 years and stops if you don’t pay through the nose for out of date tech. Can you use CarPlay?

No, but I don't have an iPhone. There's a modification that enables Android Auto, so I'll be figuring that out at some point.

If getting Android Auto running is a pain, it's almost worth getting hold of a cheap iPhone and a cheap data SIM specifically for the car. I'm with Rich in that I wouldn't be without it; simply relying on Google Maps or Waze for traffic info alone would be enough to make it invaluable. I don't distinguish between Android Auto and Carplay by the way since the functionality is pretty much identical, though I know car makers do (and the one with presumably higher licensing fees is the one which is more common - don't understand that)

I have a phone holder, but the design of the dash means it sits awkwardly (I think) on the A-pillar. I'm honestly less bothered by the nav, but without the car app I'll have to move to turn on the remote heating, check the state of charge, set the charging schedule and so on.

[240PP]

I have a phone holder, but the design of the dash means it sits awkwardly (I think) on the A-pillar. I'm honestly less bothered by the nav, but without the car app I'll have to move to turn on the remote heating, check the state of charge, set the charging schedule and so on.

My phone’s always on the passenger seat. If I have a passenger then it’s in a cup holder. Edit: the phone, not the passenger.

I wouldn’t be without CarPlay now. It was the only ‘must have’ on my last car purchase.

[Sundayjumper]

I'm not rushing into anything, too many other bits to fix first, but this remap is interesting. Not the +20% headline figure, but rather the reduced lag discussed in the blurb (which is very noticeable when driving), and the low-down performance. If you look at <1400 rpm both power & torque are up more than 50%.


https://www.jrtuning.co.uk/articles/lan ... ning.shtml

[NGRhodes]

Steve the CRV has a slipping clutch, so going into the garage next week.
Borrowing my Dads Jazz and this morning the battery stopped holding charge, called breakdown and got a replacement battery, exactly same price as Eurocarparts, so saved a lot of hassle, but still took 4 hours of my day away in total (including getting to the car at Jen's work, trying jump leads before calling breakdown).

[Sundayjumper]

A short rest part way through the Disco rear end. It was the osr upper wishbone that failed but for no particular reason I started on the other side first. Interesting. Here’s the nsr upper wishbone bushes that didn’t fail the MOT:

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IMG_2236.jpeg (67.22 KiB) Viewed 1470 times

The first one was fully detached from its shell and freely moving. The other. Well. It’s just totally shagged.

At the hub end it uses nice spherical bearings, both were in good condition but the bolt for the upper was firmly seized in place so it was angle grinder time to get it apart. I’m putting new upper & lower bearings in.

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[Matty]

Mildly embarrassed to have driven to work in the MX5 with the roof up this morning.... and it was still a bit dark...

Gotta watch out for that murderer targeting middle aged men in MX5's!

[Sundayjumper]

Nearside almost done. Just waiting for drop links & parking brake shoes to arrive, they’ll be an easy weekday evening job.

But bugger me, this has been a lot of work. I’ve spent nine hours on this so far and apart from some wire brushing and spraying oil I’ve not started on the offside yet.

And bugger me again, I ordered the wrong brake discs and only realised while looking at this photo 325mm where I need 350mm. The compatibility chart said they were the right ones but just goes to show it’s always worth double checking. At least I noticed before trying to drive anywhere.

IMG_2263.jpeg (169.64 KiB) Viewed 1414 times

[mik]

At least I noticed before trying to drive anywhere.

I’m always paranoid that I’ll receive the wrong sized discs/pads.

[mik]

what’s the yellow gt3 comment about? inside joke?

No, apparently it is the only RHD speed-yellow 996.1 GT3 in existence. I’m repeating what I was told though - I haven’t actually checked the accuracy of this statement.

I would now to like challenge this fact…..