The Transporter

Hmmm I'm struggling to picture how the bolts can snap off yet still be holing the wheel on. Has the head of the bold snapped or has it snapped at the threaded section? For a garage to fit wheel bolts and overtighten them is an outrage, any decent garage would torque the wheel studs of bolts correctly with a torque wrench. Once you do get them off If there is none on there, then I would reccommend that you smear the mating faces and studs with copper grease to make life easier in future

Crikey! It was dishonest of them to not tell you of the fault that they are supposed to have found before you paid the bill. Although there can be times where a fault can be found or can develop while a car is being repaired it is usual for the customer to be informed of this whilst they are still working on the car so giving you the option of letting them fix it whilst the car is still in pieces but to put the car together, and say nothing until you have paid the bill and tried to drive off sounds to me dishonest. Sadly you are a long way away from me otherwise I would pop round to have a look and see if I could help... Good luck I hope that you get it sorted

Although when a new car is designed, engineers do have some input but sadly accountants have the greater say.. As an IT guy you should know that the processing speed of the average ECU isn't that fast.... It doesn't need to be. The process of fueling and firing a cylinder and then monitoring crank acceleration or deceleration although to us is pretty rapid, to the average laptop would be seen as pretty slow.... Again the marketing men trying to convince us that the electronics on a car are sophisticated and powerful when the electronics are cheap and built down to a price... I ask you which engineer in his right mind would design a vehicle with aluminium alloy pipes secured with steel clips? or would feed a diesel engine with it's own exhaust fumes? come to think of it, when Catalytic converters were first introduced to Europe, the engine management systems of the day were perfectly capable of controling the combustion and achieving the required emissions without a cat, I suspect that this is still the case but a large European catalytic converter manufacturer pressed cats as the only solution to the problem (A nice little earner for them and the parts suppliers).... As for Carbon Dioxide reductions (Part of my work is in the renewable energy industry and most of it is total hogwash but it makes me lots of lovely money) If they were really interested in CO2 reductions then why are the car designers not far more bold in their approach? Hybrids are greenwash as are electic cars. When you look at an engine, why do we need a cylinder head? why do we need a camshaft, why do we not make an engine run at a fixed speed and vary the speed of the vehicle using an infinately variable speed transmission, no gear changes required.... Operating intake and exhaust valves electrically (No it cannot be done using 12 volts) The ultimate variable valve timing would give us an engine that would give us lots of power or incredible economy from small engines with very low emissions.... What we see now is not high tech, it is overcomplication for the sake of overcompication with very small gains and massive losses. 28mpg from a 4.4 turbo aint bad if you only look at mpg but if you are constantly shelling out for new parts on a car that achieves this then you will find it an expensive car to run. As you are aware, the IS is not a frugal vehicle but in the seven years that I have owned my little 200 the only parts needed over and above service components (timing belt and components, oils, coolants and other fluids) was a water pump so it is looking like the thirsty IS can start to appear to be a frugal car to run......

Feel free to qualify your assertion.

Hmm Modern cars don't really frighten me but I refuse to be raped by the manufacturer... A recent example was a current shaped Range Rover Sport that one of my customers he had on one of his ramps... The electrically controlled parking brake motor had decided to lock itself on although no warnings were given on the dash. The driver had driven for some time not realising that anything was wrong... By the time it was at the garage, the motor linkages, discs and pads all needed replacing, bill was over a grand... Point is the park brake didn't need to be so complicated or so expensive.... Just like your super fast changing gearbox, who needs it? Perhaps if your name is Schumacher then yes but to drive up and down the B455.. get real! More important is for the system to be reliable and affordable.... You may still be young and dumb enough to be impressed by gizmology and slick marketing, I am far too old and grumpy for all that. As a guy who is into computers, then you should know that what you call Information Technology is actually Misinformation Technology... the bulk of the internet is based on adverts and marketing, fuelled by suckers who swallow what the internet tells them... That is scary.... You need to wise up Yep, I shall keep my little IS until the wheels fall off and I will be very pleased if it gets to 2040.... What does a modern car do that the IS200 doesn't?... With the exception of the engine management there is nothing on the car that I cannot fix.....My buddy still runs round in a 1964 Humber Imperial with leather seats that you just sink into, air conditioning, ride adjustable shocks (There is a switch with 3 settings on the dash) and separate heating in the rear and blower to demist the rear window and an engine that is even smoother and quieter than the Lexus I6 Owning a car that can be repaired is something worth bearing in mind as Western Europe teeters on the brink of becoming the new third world. See you when your super sonic hover car has to be scrapped when replacing the headlamp bulb is too costly to replace...

Yawn...... It would seem that you do not know any of these engineers. My background is in engineering and as such tend to look at things from the viewpoint of an engineer..... Good engineering is to keep it as simple as possible, to make it easy and cheap to repair, especially in the field. I am very critical of new cars and their many shiney baubles and trinkets that make guys like you a marketing mans wet dream. Although I dislike automatics with torque converters they are in the main tough and give a effortless floatiness to large cars.... Modern autos are *****, pure and simple.... Sure they feel nice and crisp but they are of very poor quality, not easy to repair with expensive parts and because of this many otherwise servicable cars will be scrapped before their time.... I fear for people buying these vehicles second hand. Virtually everything you post appears to be based on stuff that you have found on the internet and not based on your own knowlage and reasoning, you simply repeat what you are told as long as it matches with what you want to believe.... Most of it is marketing from the car manufacturers. Lets go back to your original post, inane as it was. I have used the oil that you asked about, it was free from a rep and it was exactly the same as the oil that I use regularly..... No magical properties, it looked like oil, it smelt like oil. Would I use it again? Not unless it was cheaper than my regular oil because it didn't do anything differently, the container that it came in was pretty though

So what old saying is this? Admittedly the DSG is a very quick changing gearbox but the service costs on a clutch pack will have the main agent bending the customer over the bonnet... Just what you need on a diesel Skoda. I too am stunned at the inabillity of people to understand exactly how their computer works and how to write software.... The country is becomming a nation of lazy, stupid people.. Changing brake pads is hardly being a mechanic, it is basic DIY... It is scary too how many people have no idea how to check their cars fluids before they go on a trip

A very general statement. and wrong you are entitled to your opinion but it is without any basis in fact Really? Which bit?

But you still don't get away from that torque converter and all of its losses..... As I said, ideal for the terminally baffled. Had a 300 a while ago, very nice but not for me, I prefer to drive a car, not point and squirt.... though If I had the time I would like to fit a six speed to a 300, that would be fun I can't be arsed to have a look in wiki but I guess that the ISF and the like have electically or hydraulically operated clutches, a bit like the VW DSG system.... Fantastic when they work but more difficult for a DIY mechanic to repair and in reallity designed to bend the customer over when they break or need service. I like cars that I can fix myself...I don't think that I have ever paid a mechanic to repair any vehicle that I have owned..... I am shocked at the number of people who have no idea how to even change brake pads or timing belts these days...

Automatic transmissions are for fat Yanks, the disabled and the terminally baffled.... A decent driver can drive a manual as smoothly as an automatic and the gear change will be precisely when the driver wants it... And none of the losses of the slushy torque converter

I replaced my cam belt a few weeks ago and was unpleasantly surprised that at only 50k my water pump was weeping so whilst the belt was off I fitted a new pump.

Hmmmm..... No, I'm not sure that I do.... Not with an automatic gear box....

Wow...... 110 million miles...... I'm impressed

Hmm..... Perhaps there is something in long life oil after all, I have just noticed that according to your signature, you car has done 109 million miles

The purpose of long life oils is to satisfy the tree huggers...Less oil changes are good.. Yes? Well yes, good for the manufacturers because once the car is out of warranty then the sooner the vehicle is scrapped the better.... In theory, my van is supposed to go up to 18k between oil changes but all of my peers who have stuck to this regime with a long life oil are now having problems.... in fact they all now have newer vans than I have 'cos the engines were shagged at barely 150k and they have had to buy new vans... I use the standard life oil and change the oil at 10k.....The oil that I use isn't half the price of the long life and I'm changing almost twice as often but I don't need to shell out £26k for a new van yet... Now you do the maths. The added benefits of shorter service intervals are that you get to check the brake discs and pads more often so you get more wear out of these and other components which would otherwise have to be changed to make it to the next 18k service.. Long life oils are only good for vehicles on contract under 3 years old, stick to decent quality servicing and your engine will last longer than you will (Judging by the way that you say that you drive).

All you have to do is spend 5k and hey presto.... Don't break a finger nail....

I love this.... Is one 5w30 synth better than another 5w30 synth?...... Errm let me see now....... You wouldn't even be able to tell if the oil was semi synth....99% of folk don't even know what the difference is and why one is better than the other..... Or even if your car needs fully synth... As has been already stated, as long as you change your oil and filter at regular service intervals, then the stuff from your local motor factor is perfect... A bigger factor of making your engine last longer is the type of driving that you do, the number of cold starts, letting the enging warm before you give it some beans rather than buying oil with a fancy name and lots of advertising

If you have more money than sense then go for it....It'll make your IS go faster than an M5 too...... I know it's true 'cos I read it on the internet....

I'm afraid not, I used to do a lot of car air con but now only do it for friends and family, modern car ACs are so cheap and nasty they are more grief than they are worth, plus I got cheesed off by folk phoning up for the price on recharging a scrapper saying that the cowboy up the road can do the job for £30 can I beat that price. The refrigeration system on the IS is a good, simple and robust system

You are probably best contacting a reccomended auto aircon specialist and simply explain that you felt that the airconditioning was causing considerable drag on the engine and could they check it out... Personally speaking I would check how the compressor felt, check that the correct, uncontaminated refrigerant was used with my refrigerant analyser, attach my gauges and run the system at about 2000RPM noting the high and low pressures. check that the electric fans are working and that the condenser isn't clogged with road debris.... Then I would decide what my next course of action would be

Or alternatively take it to someone who knows what he is doing with car air con..

With the engine off grab the clutch plate and turn it.. it should be free and smooth and silent... If it feels like it is grabbing or it is stiff, then it is on its way out... It may also be a bit noisy when the aircon is running with the engine on though these compressors can be a little rattley. If a leak sealer has been used then blockages can produce high pressures in the system. Any undue pressure or drag in the system or compressor will cause a greater strain on the engine so the engine has to work harder to drive the air con.... I cannot feel the compressor cut in and out on my IS200 but it can be heard at tick over. Who serviced the air con and how did he do it? how much refrigerant and or lubricant did he add?

Either it is overcharged, has air in the system or your compressor is starting to sieze..

If you are genuinely losing 10% then you have issues with your air conditioning.. Has it recently been recharged?

Could be anything.... Have you got under the car to see if you have collected a supermarket carrier bag? you could have a small oil leak running down the outside of the exhaust but you are going to have to get underneath and have a close look at the exhaust/ manifold