What nonsense...

Consider yourself lucky then. Even as a VAG fanboi, I'd consider that a mental idea. You need VCDS or a dealer computer to change the rear pads.

Now also available from Vauxhall & Toyota. Vauxhall have the switch arranged so it applies the brake when you push it down, rather than pull it up & Toyota hide it under the dash so you can't reach it easily it driving.

The VAG electronic 'hand brake' is excellent, though.

Press to apply and auto release.

Better than the arrangement in the Prius, where the 'P' button is a transmission brake, and there's still a footbrake arrangement for parking.

That's a challenge for hill-starts, as the transmission brake isn't strong enough to hold it on steep slopes.

RD has brought this to us :

That is because the slave is inside and the gearbox has come off, added to which the slave wasn't the best quality. You can get it done for £400 to £600 if you shop around though. It is actually DIY-able, and can be done leaving the gearbox in, just moving it to one side.

Most cars these day only need basic servicing and that not so regualarly as the used to and rarely do they actually break down, so that mitigates the expense of the occaisional one. The roads used to be littered with cars that had broken down - for the number on the roads today, only rarely do you see one broken down.

I drive the prius (and any auto) using two feet and had no problem with hill starts, even in Scottish hilly bits, the owner of the car did have a surprise though when it needed more urge to start it when pulling away in a hilly car park.

The Renault auto handbrake seems to work very well.

"more urge" - what does that mean?

Having just traded in my Rover 75, I was left with various items I no longer needed. A hefty socket that fits the plastic cap on the BMW type oil filter housing. A special service reset tool that I made up myself from a blank OBD plug and a Maplin 'push to make' switch, a Haynes manual - and the MG/Rover 'RAVE' service manual on disc.

I have managed to sell all of those items to members of the Rover75/MGZT owners club - so the cost to me, having used them for almost ten years with two 75s, has been minimal. Certainly a damn sight cheaper than regular dealer/independent servicing.

he drives it in a very flat part of the country, so just releasing the brake will normally get it moving, but when it was backed down a slope, it needed a firm footfull of go before it pulled away, he had not come across that before.

Odd, given that max. torque is delivered from 0rpm.

Haven't noticed the requirement to particularly 'boot' it myself.

me neither, perhaps he was just having a senior moment and missed the pedal.

My Golf, with the DSG gearbox, has 'hill assist' for setting off on hills. Release the handbrake, take your foot off the footbrake - and the car won't roll back for several seconds and, by that time, you are moving off.

The DSG box has taken some getting used to in relation to getting into my garage, however, because I have a quite steep drive leading up to the garage door.

The DSG box does not have a torque converter of course, and while the footbrake is depressed, the conventional clutch is disengaged. On the flat, once you have released the footbrake, the clutch engages and the car starts to creep forward. On my driveway, however, the 'creep' is not powerful enough to overcome the slope and so you have to apply some throttle. The problem is judging just how much throttle - because manoeuvreing into a narrow garage cannot be done comfortably other than at a crawl. If you sense that you are going to fast and release the throttle - then the clutch disengages and the car starts to roll back! (The DSG box has a 'freewheel' function. Release the throttle completely during normal driving and the clutch disengages - allowing the car to just 'roll' on. If you want engine braking then the first touch on the footbrake re-engages the clutch to give you that).

Things are not helped by the fact that the footbrake on the Golf is very sharp. At very slow speeds, the lightest touch and the car virtually stops dead.

All of this combined, makes moving forward slowly up a steep slope and into my single garage far more tricky than with my previous conventional autos...

It's not *that* difficult. If Mrs H can manage that kind of stuff with an Alfa Sillyspeed....

now that sounds like the early fiesta with the auto box with an engine speed centrifugal clutch, combine that with a carburettor and cold weather and you get a really dangerous vehicle to manouevre

Wasn't the Fiesta auto a CVT?

autos still need some kind of clutch or torque converter. the early fiesta had a centrifugal conventional clutch plus a cvt type box, the later ones had an (two, one reverse, one forward I believe) oiled multiplate auto clutch plus a cvt type box, both types are absolute rubbish. The early ones roll back down hills and the clutch is easy to wear out, the later ones develop the most violent clutch action you have ever known in forward when cold, luckily reverse is still ok, so owners tend to park them nose in to ease the cold start fault.

The flaw in the logic is that if modern cars are so complicated how come Kwik-Fit staff can service them ?

I put 'Smart Car Oil Change' into Youtube and got a video of someone in the US changing the oil, I didn't think it could be THAT complicated...

But it would seem that someone at least in the early days decided to prove me wrong. (c:

Hmm. Not really out of reach to the DIYer though, oil vacuum or sump removing accessories in the case of the Smart notwithstanding.

Torx bits aren't exactly difficult to come by however, nor are they particularly uncommon on cars made in the last 20 years in my experience.

Driving a car on to a couple of bits of wood in front of, or instead of traditional ramps is pretty easy.

My Father has an Audi A2 which doesn't have bonnet hinges, only a flap where the grille would be which you can open to put skoosher fluid and top up the oil, this makes everyone inhale sharply through their teeth and tell you you're now at the mercy of the £100 an hour fuckwits at the dealership. However, once you've taken the engine lid off its just a Polo.

On Sun, 12 Dec 2010 22:46:26 +0000, Douglas Payne boggled us with:

I got a full set of Torx keys and Allen Keys for £6 at a shop in Reading a few weeks ago. I can undo every such fastener on the car with them.

I also got a set of "weird" drain plug tools for £3 from the local hardware store. I didn't go in looking for them, but they were there and will come in handy one day.

Suspension to high. Axle stand under jacking points. Even easier.

Damn. That's lucky. When I open the bonnet, I have Activa-ness and it's associated mysteries under there.