notice the other day i had a slight squeek when i put the handbrake on, put it down to salt and stuff

Today i thought the car was a little bit noisy on my way home, just a slight whirring noise, but put that down to the new road i was driving on

Got home and the handbrake when applied went really far up, about 10 or 11 notches

Think it might have been jammed on or something, so will now need to ring the dealer yet again  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Last edited by npinks on 3rd Mar 2009 12:08 am. Edited 1 time in total

Mine now only goes up 2/3 clicks before fully on since the PTC recall was done, seem's to have also cured the vibration I was getting due to build up of brake deposits/poor adjustment on the hand brake

Not sure how many notches my handbrake goes up, but it's always been . Going in for service at the end of the month so i'll tell the stealers to have 'another' look. Seems to be a weakness on these cars. Mine barely holds on a steep hill  Gone - TD4 XS Auto, Sumatra Black, Mud flaps and side strips, clear indicators, private plate, privacy glass

A good strong Yorkshire arm applies the handbrake easily, maybe Kentish folk are a bit weak? no problems with my brake...yet  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

My handbrake has always held very well, though with varying degrees lever movement.

It was last adjusted when the PTC recall was carried out, holds well on five clicks, rock solid on six clicks.  Stornoway Grey GS ... What a fine motor ... but not any more ... ... psst look at my gallery!
Company cars ... a thing of the past - May 2013.

spoke to my dealer, could get me in Wednesday without loan car or saturday with one

Drove home this evening and i think the noise was louder and don't really want to risk it any further

So I now await LRA, as i don't want my wheel to fall off or brake to jam Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

........10 notches is about 6-7 too many, compared to mine after the heater re-fit (which incidentally, vastly improved the effectiveness of the hand brake).

It's a bit odd that there is so much extra travel now with the handbrake. Seems like something is missing (eg a brake pad) or that the cable (to 1 of the rear wheels) has broken............

Can you see anything............

if you have too much travel on the handbrake just prise out the rear coin tray and adjust the take up nut by hand it does not require a spanner

chicken george wrote:

A good strong Yorkshire arm applies the handbrake easily, maybe Kentish folk are a bit weak? no problems with my brake...yet

Must be all that Hovis bread you eat!  Gone - TD4 XS Auto, Sumatra Black, Mud flaps and side strips, clear indicators, private plate, privacy glass

car gone now

offered a Ford Ka or a Daewooowwoow matiz, told them to go jump

Now setting off to collect a larger car from the leeds Depot in a few mins Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

npinks wrote:

............offered a Ford Ka or a Daewooowwoow matiz, told them to go jump

You turned down a chance to enhance you motoring experience, I'm surprised....


I'm not trying to defend Daewooowwoow at all, but Mrs Avtur does have a Daewooowwoow Lanos hatchback (1.6 auto) and this is our experience.

OK to be honest in soooooooo many ways it is a crap car. BUT ... we bought the car in Sept 2002, i think we paid £3500 for it. It has given us 6 1/2 years totally reliable service. It is used as a shopping trolley and only does about 3000 miles a year on average, it is used daily but they are all short journeys. All we have had to do is replace one set of brake pads, other than that it has had nothing apart from maybe a couple of oil changes. We keep sending for MOT expecting the worst but it keeps passing first time

The next crunch time will come in Sept this year, next MOT, something must go wrong this year .... and if it does then its hardly worth spending a penny on it, might as well ditch it and buy another.

Wouldn't be my choice for a motor, but this was bought for minimal cost motoring and to be honest that is exactly what it has delivered. Stornoway Grey GS ... What a fine motor ... but not any more ... ... psst look at my gallery!
Company cars ... a thing of the past - May 2013.

I know I have made a mistake in not accepting their first offer, but

I now have a Brand spanking New '09 Vauxhall Insignia 2.0 CDTi Elite with only 7 miles on the clock

For some reason the tyres have 50miles wear on them already

First thoughts are,
Whys the satnav disc in the glove box, wrap in cellophane, soon sorted that
Whys the rear mirrors so small
How hard is it getting into a low car
How dirty a new car looks because its black, sorry Sapphire Black
Plastic seat cover are a big NO NO on leather
Boots very large
Xenons and good
Cruised well at speed
Ambient Lighting over the center console is missing in the FL2
I don't like dialy type control systems (similar to BMW iDrive)
£500 Enterprise Excess is high, Small £20 excess waiver charge is worth it as i not responsible at all if i crash it

Might be a nice option for you Avtur  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

whats elite about a vauxhall? At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

I have heard the Insignia has a few toys on it, and something about it reading road speed signs (didn't find that feature)

This one has adaptive xenons which automatically go on to Full beams if there is nothing in front of it, so tonights little 50 mile trip down the A64 duel carriage way then across country lane meeting back up with the A1 was quite a good drive. Also has the extra corning lights that come on when doing tight turns. The adaptive lights where good, the slight change in the direction they was pointing was something i hadn't really seen and this system worked well, but did give a swaying side to side pattern when you tricked the car into thinking your was turning by doing sharping left to right movements on the steering wheel.

Motorway avg was 36.7mpg at 80, then that dropped to 33mpg at varying speeds across some very straight country lanes which are ideal for speed runs.

All in all, the car seems to be very well put together (comparing it to my last Vauxhall Sri '53) the ride felt harsh compared to my FL2, it also felt a little floaty light when corning on a long bend at 70 but tight and stable on slower hard bends, and liked been thrown round. The driving positing whilst having lots of adjustments, felt strange, but this might belt fine tuned tomorrow.


Would i drive the car full time if I was a sales rep........ Maybe
Would I buy one now ....... No, I would look at other makes first but it would be on the list
Do I like the FL2..............Absolutely, the driving style is totally different and I like it

If i had to seriously think about getting a saloon/hatchback I don't think i could actually go back to driving one when the car change comes. This is something i have been pondering on as i have had lots of sportier hatches in my time, and sometimes i do miss the feel like your cornering on rails on small country lanes and the thrill of the speed.

For now i think I like the pottering around in a 4x4 and will do for some time to come all been well Might have to spend a little more money on the wifes car and get her a sporty hatch

npinks reporting for Freel2 Motoring magazine Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

got my FL2 back tonight

Rear wheel bearing needs replacing

And guess what its on back order

Dealers assured me its safe to drive, if it gets worst i'll just dial the friendly LRA again

I have to say LRA and Enterprise where excellant in the providing of the car and collecting mine, even though they was only offering a little pokey thing first Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis