jackthewelshman

Bump - I need some kind of scratch remover for my car - for a few light, and a few deep scratches. Also marks on bonnet from stone chippings. I was thinking of just getting some T-Cut scratch remover, and T-Cut polish. Simoniz do a clear pen too - but I'm dubious on whether it would work - maybe for the light ones? Does anyone have any tips / experience on what works best? Its annoying when I see these problems when cleaning my car.

Right I've decided on some things, and will probably go for an 8 gauge kit, as the only upgrade I'd do beyond this is adding a sub, where I'd get a new amp. I'm going to get ordering, and trying to buy some things used to stretch the cash. Are there any good guides on how to install new speaker systems? I have found a couple of basic guides here of taking panels off, and fitting new front speakers into position - but nothing to do with wiring or amping. As I'm a total noob to this I could do with a guide or tips, none of my friends have done this kind of thing.

1. Yes I think they can be tightened and slackened no problem. When I had my clutch quick fixed until a new on arrived, he tightened it up (and did something else I dunno), this made the bite point seem a bit high, it wasn't to my liking at all (kept stalling and over revving etc haha). But now, with the replacement, the clutch feels right, more 'normal'. It went from it feeling upper middle / upper being the bite, to about the middle (position of my foot being raised). 3. It depends on what engine, it can be costly, but work can be carried out by any mechanic I believe.

I get crappy unreliable internet as a punishment for living in S.Wales This is my average or above average speed. Still, better than some can get. If people want to know how to work out they're megabits from their megabytes - 8Mb = 1MB, just divide Mb by 8 to convert to MB (there are 8 bits in a byte).

^^ That could be a good quote. Its hard to say, as a first time driver, and if your age is about 18 then it could be a good one for where you are / your situation (age / postcode area / job make a difference).

Thats priced up at £110+ delivered (plus import tax @ 17.5%), its free USA shipping. Sorry, I can't advise as I'm looking for advice too! However those Alpine's are on my shortlist too, they seem to have decent reviews.

<caution, long winded post> I've been looking around on here for helpful posts and topics, I have found a few, and have looked at different advice (on the forum and online). I do realise they are two different setups, and are hard to compare - but within the same price range (i.e. a £90 coax vs a £80 component setup) I have read that you can compare as you'll get similair sounding results. The thing I know least about are head units and amps, so you may need to grill me or help me with this. At the moment I'm thinking of fitting it myself, as long as its not too big of a job as I want to keep costs down. I think I'm prepared to try, although if it turns out to be complicated, I could always get it fitted afterwards by a pro. The components are probably a little more difficult to fit than the coaxials, which is why I'm slighty detracted to them - however, the layout of them would appear to offer better music quality. Out of interest, how much would someone half decent charge do you know (i.e if I had no connections for someone cheap) - would it be something like £30 + £30 per hour? Music interest: I am mainly into Metal / Rock music, or 80s crap too. I don't need to play it mega loud, just better quality than the ones fitted. Head Unit - no spend or £75 max spend (unless advised otherwise of getting a good one) I already have a Panasonic CQ-C3301N head unit (click for spec) fitted by the previous owner, nothing fancy, a budget one - it just reads CDs and MP3 CDs, I may buy one with an aux input to replace it, as the s***ty FM thing I have for my Zune doesn't offer very good quality sound. I'd just look for a bargain, but branded one (e.g. a £70 Sony or something), or see if my parents have one with an aux input that I can trade with. Now I don't know much about head units - is it important to get a good one when buying an amp? As I have considered getting a good head unit and no amp, or a reasonably priced head unit and a reasonably priced amp. I don't know whats best (* advice?). Speakers - £80 max spend Coaxial I'm not looking at spending much, I know $$$ = quality, but I want to keep my budget down. I have found some Pioneer TS-E1702iS ones reccomened by TalkAudio. This is realistically at the top of my budget. Their nominal power rating is 60w (is this similair to RMS? or RMS?), but happy to play with more power apparently. What do you think of them? I may drop slightly lower in price to some Alpine ones I've seen, or some Infiniti speakers. I'm open to reccomendations in the £50 - £80 range, I think anything cheaper wouldn't be worth the upgrade judging from other posts I've looked at. Components The components I have found in my price range are the Alpine SPG-17CS, they are 70w RMS (apparently thats a conservative number). The Alpine's are £77 delivered. Alternatively I have seen som Vibe Blackair 6 speakers too, 100w RMS rated. The Vibe's are £67 delivered. Amp - none or £70, Cheap as possible with enough power I don't know yet if I really need one. If it will mean better music quality, then I should probably just to get the best out of my setup. However on the low budget build above, is it worth amping or not? I'm a bit confused with the whole 2 x 60w @2 ohms then another rating at 4 ohms (I know the ratings are different as they are for different resistance, but I don't know what different resitstances would be for, apart from safety of your speakers? I haven't a clue). As you have seen above I don't need too much power, so hopefully you'll tell me I will need a budget 2 channel amp if I want one. TalkAudio review pricing is all out of my range, which makes me think I am making an unwise decision at a cheap amp. Sub - £none - hopefully I won't need one Wires - no clue, hopefully most packages will have some included. Or I could use the already fitted wires. Willing to buy some though if reccomended - ie if I need a cheap amp accompanied by some decent cable. Sound proofing - £15 (one of those packs with two lightweight squares), or spend about £25 for more extensive use of proofing if reccomended. BUDGET TARGET: UNDER £180. I'd like to target £150 for the main components needed (ie speakers/amp or speakers/head). Then all extras kept down low as possible, ie £20 - £30. However if another component is needed, ie head unit, then I will have to think if I want to go ahead with this, as it will be another £70 - £90 gone. Thanks for looking, maybe you can help me out with some advice, or reccomendations. Or run me one or two scenarios that could work.

I have no idea, I know that gears 1 and 2 are a bugger - I got mine re aligned / re configured by a mechanic a few days ago though - so don't know what you are supposed to do.

I'll give you an idea now I have some info. Choose the one based on your model. I'm using a Glass's guide here to give you some sort of estimate. Old shape X-Reg, 43k, good condition, some history, with some tax and a good MOT Due to low miles you should be able to fetch £1800 (private) and get a fairly quick sale. You can probably get more i.e. £2k+ if you advertise well and wait around. You can probably get a £1600 trade in without much of a problem (however some dealers don't like cars over 10yrs old). New shape X-Reg, 43k, good condition, some history, with some tax and a good MOT Due to low miles you should be able to fetch £2100(private) and get a fairly quick sale. You can probably more, i.e. £2400 if you advertise well and wait around. You can probably get a £1900 trade in without much of a problem (however some dealers don't like cars over 10yrs old). Its all a bit of luck though, hopefully if you do advertise you'll get the right kind of buyers looking. You need to alter the price based on condition, and take away money if there is little / no history, or add money if there is FSH or something. If there are any mods it can devalue the car, unless the right person comes around. If I were you I'd keep it - unless you have your eye on something cheaper to run, or another little fun hatch.

Well you are going up 3 groups for an Arosa Sport, or going up 4 groups for a Lupo Sport. If you are paying £1350 on what you've got, and it was a good quote for your situation, then I reckon you are looking at about £1750 - £1850 as a good quote. However as a female, the price you are paying currently sounds quite high, I would have thought you could get a much better deal than that (unless you are unemployed, a student or have an undesirable occuption for the insurer, and in a bad postcode area). Did you shop around for it? Good luck - get searching! And phone up your current insurer to see how much a change would cost if you haven't already.

What year is it, and does it have tax / mot and what kind of service history do you have? If you have more details like this, and possibly a pic or two we can give you a good estimate.

I have no idea, there isn't any plastic protector or anything shoved in there so it can't grip? Or something silly like that? Other than that I haven't a clue, could just be faulty I'd say.

It depends on your situation, and on where you live. Realistically as you are a female, you should be able to get a much better quote of at least below £1500 I'd say. Give us more a little more info - how much are you paying currently will give a huge hint, then we can give you an estimate of what we think is about right (although we are not insurers, you need to contact them). Tips Remember try a couple of comparison sites out (ie GoCompare / Confused are two good ones I've used, many others out there), then try a few other insurers that aren't included on those types of sites (Adrian Flux / Direct Line and many others available) - you should be able to get a very decent and fair quote then, as it will likely be the cheapest around after you have done that. And all that can be done in under and hour if you're quick! @treblet - I feel your pain @p900rty - awesome price there, that is really really cheap! When mine comes up for renewal I'll give them a call.

Looking good! And I like the plates - one of the things I enjoy seeing are clever or creative plates. However its only a matter of time before Plod start having a word with you about that - depends what they're like about that in your area. By the sounds of things this will various mods in no time.

What a great looking car, so shiny! Especially the engine bay! Well done.

Give us some more details (mainly tax, mot, problems), like the way pro3mark has set out, then we can give you our opinions on the price it would be standard (so you can alter the price yourself) and what we think of the value as modified.

For the Arosa 1.4s for the year and mileage the standard car is worth £2300 for an easy sale (as you've described it, with MOT / service, but without any body repair). With the mods, it can add to the price if you are lucky (listed on here or pistonheads), but a lot of the people out there (local / auto trader /freeads) will prefer a standard car. If I were you I'd try listing it at £2800, then drop it from there if there is little interest (and keep an eye out for standard wheels! So you can put them on and sell your wheels with good tyres on).

^^ sounds like a reasonable price for a trade in if you want a quick sale, nice one . You probably could have fetched £1500 private as you said though, without much of a problem, as that's what the bottom book price is - but then again, it can be hassle selling a car.

There are no best company really - they all spit out different numbers for different situations. Try the comparison websites, then try direct with some of them mentioned here like Adrian Flux or whoever (they were no good for me as a new driver). I recommend Endsleigh personally, they were always giving competitive quotes when I was looking, and I went with them when they were the cheapest for me. They do a student policy if you are one - 18 month policy, you pay for 6 months, then you get 1 yr no claims bonus to renew with them, then you pay for the final 12 months, then you get 2 yrs no claims bonus at the end to use with any company. Once again a different insurer may have been better for someone else in my area if they have different circumstances or a different car. When I had my first car, age 17 (I think, if not just 18), 6 months driving experience with an insurance group 3 Peugeot 106 the best quote was £1120 for 1yr, third party fire and theft. So today I would have probably been looking at £1220 in the same situation with all the rises even though it was about 14 months ago. EDIT: If you are driving a Sport (group 5) and a young new driver, as you are a girl you may be looking at about £1000 third party as a good quote, depending on what area you live in. This is just pure speculation though, shop around and reply here with what quotes you get . And its worth trying to add a mum or a dad to the policy as a named driver, just to see if it brings the price down (it made no change to my price).

Ah right, I know what you mean, you could be tight. I'm not sure if he checked, but I think he did as he said when I first went to him that it sounded like the pedal box, and originally said he was willing to weld it if it was the problem (and looked up the cost @ £30 - £35 for a replacement pedal box - but longer job), but then he said it was just the clutch cable that needed doing in that area (along with the gearbox / linkage alignment).

Welcome! Good choice of car (however I went for an Arosa), I'd go for the 1.4 Sport or 1.4 S/SE/TDI - depending on if you want insurance saving and a slightly cheaper car or something a bit nippier. You can check out the stats of the Lupo here. They aren't too bad reliability wise, just check the forums on what to look out for before buying. If you do get a problem there is a lot of advice on here, parts are normally easy to get and a lot of the time can just be small fix for something that seems worrying,

The only thing I can think of is check general maintenance. Check if the clutch pedal matches up near, or in aligns with the brake pedal - if it doesn't, it needs slackening / loosening which could help - or it will need replacing (like mine) or the pedal box will need a weld / replacement. If the gears don't seem to go in easily, and some seem tough to get into it might be worth checking if the linkages are configured correctly (if they've ever been changed etc) - I've had the clutch cable replaced and gear linkages re-set and mine goes much better. If the car has done a lot of miles, or is getting on a bit, it might be worth checking if the gearbox oil needs replacing if it hasn't been done yet. Not sure about anything else - I'm new so some of this could be crap .

Just to update - I've sorted out the gearbox / gear change problem - got a mechanic to re-configure the linkages, and he replaced the clutch cable too, seems to run smoothly now - better than ever. Also fitted a K&N air filter (just a panel filter). Lucky I had the car looked at when I did though (for more details see my post in the mechanical section).

I bought the Arosa a couple of weeks ago I've been having slight problems with gear changes - particularly with it being stiff going into 1st and 2nd, also the clutch was below the brake pedal. I had it looked at by a mechanic in his spare time, as he had a good rep, and knows lot about Seats. He saw the the clutch cable was too slack, tightened it up for me as a quick fix and said it would be better to replace it due to the wear etc, also he said he'd reconfigure the gear linkages for me, as that seemed to be the problem with selecting gears - they probably weren't set correct when some linkages were replaced about a year ago. I managed to get a great deal Spark plugs changed Oil and filter change Replacement clutch cable Air filter change (I supplied a K&N panel filter) Gear linkages re configured £120 inc genuine parts and labour (excl air filter). I was chuffed with that, top bloke. However while doing this job he found a much more serious problem which he sorted. The engine mounting was loose!! It was missing a bolt, one was half screwed on, and another one apparently had 3 more threads in it before going! Apparently he could sway it from side to side! Much more driving I could have really f***ed up the engine, so I'm glad I gave it to him, and didn't postpone it for another week or so. He just tightened them up properly, and put another bolt on. Anyway the Arosa should be good for a while now, this has been a decent service. I treated her to some premium unleaded too, it had to be Total Excellium 97 though, the only one nearby.

I think this is just a photoshop of other work, I haven't heard of it and it doesn't look like a real Seat prototype drawing. However I don't mind the look of it, I like the rear but not the front - it needs a centre exhaust though