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Hi everyone,
Having now been in Salies-de-Bearn for 6 weeks,we are trying to get a Carte Grise for our beloved Toyota Landcruiser.We have been reading past threads,but please could someone clarify,do we need to totally replace the English headlights or is it sufficient to use the plastic stick-on beam adjusters? Yesterday in Orthez we even had a garage suggest we should break both headlights and claim on the insurance,we could not believe this!!

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We have French car for use when we can come over to the villa we own.
However our insurance provider insists that they cannot issue insurance on a basis that we only use the car 6 weeks a year.
We only do 2000kms a year as we are in the U.K. being wage slaves!

Can anyone help us to find a good insurer who will accept our insurance needs & insure on the basis that we only do 2000kms.
Thanks Carolyn

Carolynā€¦ so what you are looking for in Insurance with Limited Mileageā€¦ rather than with limited period of useā€¦

Allianz have both our moderns on Limited Mileageā€¦ not sure how low it actually goesā€¦ but one is 7k and the other 4kā€¦ I thinkā€¦:wink:

Do a Google search: assurance auto avec kilomƩtrage limitƩ

Hi, could anyone tell me what ā€œfaire vidage rapidementā€ on our dash warning system is referring to please?
Our first assumption is that it means to drain the oil but it doesnā€™t say anything about oil, when we need oil it tells us it needs oil. The manual says nothing about this warning :woozy_face:
Thanks in advance.

Oil change is required.

Might well involve changing the oil filter and anything else associated (or at least checking them). Your handbook/service book will give you details.

Presumably this is a new car (new to you). Oil changes are done regularly and are associated with passage of time (years) and/or mileage.

Speak with your garage - this may be urgent, maybe it can wait a little without damage (?) , ask them now rather than letting it drift.

Hi Stella,
Oil change was done a few months ago but the car drinks oil so it makes sense it needs it again. OH does all our mechanical stuff but just wasnā€™t sure of the warning, weā€™ve had the car four years and have spent an absolute fortune on it, you know when you replace a few things on a ā€œnew to youā€ car then before you know it youā€™ve spent far more than you paid for it and canā€™t afford to sell it even though itā€™s costing an arm and leg to keep going. At the rate weā€™re replacing parts itā€™ll be a completely new car inside an old body! We bought a Renault assuming French car so parts would be cheap-ish to buy, sadly thatā€™s not the case! It cost over 3,000ā‚¬ just in the last year, and thatā€™s without labor costs as OH does it.

Oops, meant to say, thanks :blush:

Hi Dizzy, if the oil change was done a few months ago - why was it done??

When Oil Change is done the thingy on the carā€™s computer needs to be reset to zero (?). Sounds like that may not have been done and now the car is telling you what its computer is telling itā€¦ :wink::upside_down_face:

If OH did the change and did not reset the computer - phew - relax.

It might be an idea to ask OH if he changed/cleaned the oil filter (whatever) 'cos if not, this may be causing a blip that needs checking.

A list of things done to reduce emissions for CT, also had new steering rack, all engine mounting replaced, 2 wheel bearings, new break discs and pads, and other bits I canā€™t remember, itā€™s burning oil like crazy and needs oil at least once a week. . . . and it still has something making a weird noise we canā€™t find. Reset was done but he thinks the excessive oil burning must be causing gunk to build up.

Sounds like it is time to have a professional mechanic check the vehicle over. No disrespect to your OH. Mine does nearly all our vehicle stuff, but once in a while we visit our local garagiste - the cost has always been worthwhile.

Definitely an oil problem - is it burning oil, or losing it?? Either or both, it needs attending to.

Son in law is a professional mechanic, thatā€™s where the OH gets all his specialist tools from :rofl: Heā€™s also spent hours going over it and canā€™t find the problem, tried all the tricks he knows but still no joy. Catch 22, need to get rid of it but spent so much on it we canā€™t afford the loss or a new one at the moment. We canā€™t just get a little runaround as we need a large car for 2 disabled adult sons, dogs and work tools, we basically need a bus :rofl::rofl:

Has OH put the car on the computer to get it checked-out? No idea if that would show anything, but worth asking the question.

If oil is leaking - it will leave traces which can be seen quite easily as you say a lot of oil is going somewhere.

There will be different traces if it is being consumed - blue smoke on startup is one sign.

If oil is being burnt, it could be bypassing worn-out piston rings.
Check for heavy carbon deposits on the valves = worn valve guides and seals.

Just a thought Dizzy

When checking things over, we have found out the hard way that simply saying - itā€™s ok Iā€™ve replaced that (whatever) - is not good enough, check it again.

On one car, OH had put a part/seal/whatever back to front (an easy mistake apparently with that particular thingy). It took us some months of hair-tearing and investigations to find the culprit - he kept discounting that ā€œthingyā€ as being in any way to blame 'cos heā€™d done it. :hot_face:

Lol, yep, also learned that one! SiL acts as ā€˜tutorā€™ and checks the work done, he does all the computer diagnostic jiggery pokery. Itā€™s a pretty old car and it does a lot of mileage, has to cope with a diabolical unmade lane to our house that has meant the suspension has been wrecked twice, it really is nearing the end of term, so to speak but we need it to last a little longer yet. Heā€™s changing the oil and filter tomorrow then SiL will reset it and hopefully that will keep it happy for a while :roll_eyes:

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Hope that works.

If it is worn pistons etc it could be expensive.

Have you tried Pattern Pieces - so much cheaper than Original Manufactured Equipment. We are guided by our local garage/agent and have never regretted it.

Itā€™s a difficult decision - whether to do just sufficient work to keep a vehicle running, or ā€œbiting the bulletā€ and doing major stuff. As we know, choosing ā€œlittle and oftenā€ can turn out more expensive in the long run. :thinking::zipper_mouth_face:

Pattern pieces? Nope, do you have info. Stella, please.
All sorted now and reset (on one of the sticks on the steering wheel), we had actually done the 20,000 kl since the last change! We clearly cover far too many miles :roll_eyes:

Your son in law will know all about pattern pieces. Spare parts from the Original Manufacturers are always expensive, but there are many reliable firms who manufacture cheaper parts to the correct ā€œpatternā€.

Experienced garages will know which manufacturers of PParts to use and which are best avoided - (some are cheap and nasty) :wink:

As i understand it , the new , tougher (?) CT tests now allow for the stickers to be used . May I suggest that you just put your Landcruiser in for the test and see what faults appear , as you have 2 months to rectify the faults . You will have to have it done before you get a Carte Grise . I am sure there was just a switch on my Landcruiser to switch the headlamps , but that was over 9 years ago , so ā€¦? Depending on the age , diesel smoke is the one to be weary about .

If this is so it must be going somewhere and I find it remarkable that where from has not been established.

It is either leaking from somewhere, which should be easy to ID - there will be a puddle any time you park up for a minute or two and also, the underneath of the car will be all 'orrible and oily. Great unofficial rustproofing but not what you want. Dangerous if it sprays onto the rear brake discs.

Or the engine is burning it. If it ā€˜drinks oilā€™ in this way this must be evident by the blue haze you drag along behind you. Worn piston rings, as S.W. mentions, will be adding oil to the fuel and the result will be blue smoke out of the exhaust pipe. Worn small ends/big ends will advertise themselves as a clattering sound - small ends a higher pitch than big ends. Either spells imminent dooom.

You donā€™t want to be out there with the passengers you described when a piston goes through a cylinder wall ā€¦

That car is a liability. Cut your losses. A ā€˜garagisteā€™ with a suitable replacement may look kindly on you for all the parts he can scavenge off it. I was once paid - back in about 1988 - Ā£100 for a Volvo with terminally seized brakes, blown brake-line seals and seized camshaft bearings.