diy maintainable car by design

Hate to disappoint.

That's one reason, at least in the labour respect.

Other reasons are that few people know the Ka better than a Ford garage, and they'll also know what Fiesta / Puma bits could work too.

For things like the headlamp replacement, whenever you take the bumpers off the front of the Ka you usually lose a clip or two. These are really cheap and easy to fit but driving to the dealership for that 17p clip with the bumper flapping about isn't a good idea. :)

For the strut brace, a couple of the header tanks had to be relocated and it's rather cramped under there...

For the suspension, it's a Ford Racing kit so they have the instructions, the necessary tools, the expertise and as it happens, the cheapest quote too.

Oh and they usually give me something larger with TDCi written on the back "just to borrow for a few hours, Dervy." :)

So why do we have big cars, small cars, diesel, petrol, LPG, hybrid, three door cars, four doors, five doors, estates, front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, all wheel drive, automatic, manual, four, five, six, seven speeds...

All computers are designed to compute. No matter what the memory, processor, input, application or code, they're designed to interpret a series of instructions and produce an answer.

They're both the same as much as they're different in their design respects.

Oh and some cars are designed to be seen in, to arrive in, to get from A to B via C, D, E and F...

There is that too.

Yes, I had a fight with one of those pesky bumpers.

I know that too ;-)

I think more people are being surprised by dealer prices now.

And, to quote Top Gear, a hire car handles so much better than anything else!

They're quite happy for me to geek about on the parts database. Actually the chappy gave me the idea of using the Sportka anti-roll bar.... :)

I guess it's partly because Ford tells them that to change the springs and dampers it's 2.5 hours of work, whereas Joe Scruff's reckon it'll be two, but could be three hours...

Hehehe! I always have to say to Charlie, "oh no, not the Mondeo ST TDCi again" and then explain all of its faults... :-/

Yes, we do tend to stick by manufacturers set labour times, whereas a Joe Scruff (as you so well put it), is open to making up his own time.

LOL.

Hmmm Kermit, thats a Muppet innit

Yup; I drive a Muppet.

maintenance

Close enough though. You can't work on kitchen or bathroom electrics without appropriate qualification. Of course all work has now been back dated to December.

Strictly, you can't do any new installation work yourself including adding an extra socket or light - unless it is checked and certified afterwards. You can, however, repair an existing installation.

It's total nonsense. Electrical fires in a house - or accidents - are far more likely with appliances and things like overloaded extension leads - even people tripping over them. And if you're not allowed to add extra sockets or lights yourself - or the cost of having it done by a pro goes up - then trailing extensions being used sort of permanently will become the norm.

I'm just going to ignore it like other stupid regulations. The chances of being 'found out' are less than zero.

If I come to sell my house, it will be a matter of who pays for a wiring check and the certification as needed - ie no different to before Part P. Same as with gas and central heating, damp and woodwork warranties, and a million and one things about the structure of any old house.

afterwards.

chances of

I think that's what I'll be doing (if and when I get a house). The punishment probably isn't much, they never are. Having said that, it probably will be a lot, it's usually only the killers etc that get away lightly. In my opinion it'll be my house and I should be able to do what I want. Of course, if the house burns down due to something I did, I may have trouble claiming from insurance, and not getting fined.

You're me, you are. Can you still get drums of black and red cable ?

However the output can vary by a wide extreme. It can be visual, audio, control.

Only if you have a very narrow knowledge.

Yup - although you might need to search a few wholesalers. FWIW, some large institutions are saying they won't allow the new colours to be mixed with old for H&S reasons - although it would be a pretty stupid sparks who couldn't cope, IMHO. So it's likely to become available again pretty easily - although perhaps not in the sheds.

More likely to have an accidend doing your own gas work, which CMIIW is still legal.

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

Exactly. I'm not planning to sell this place anytime soon, and if I do I'll make sure that any wiring I've done since this spring is cunningly concealed.

Interesting, thanks.

Only if you're competent.

However, all new stock cable is likely to be marked with the year of manufacture - regardless of the colours. ;-(