hammer007

Even in the middle of winter in Canberra when the outside temp is freezing just 'straight' air coming through the vents is probably 10 degrees warmer than outside. I ahd this checked out by ford at the firsts ervice and was told it is normal. I find we drive around using the aircon much more than on previous cars. IIRC from earlier posts on this issue the intake vent is just near the base of the windscreen - the sheer heat coming out of the engine bay might be enough to raise the intake temp ?

One little annoying feature of the Turbo is there is no warning light when the fluid levels are low as was on my EF XR6. Consequently I get in the car and SWMBO has drained the bottle, the system dries out along with any gunk and it can be a b@tch to get going again.

Any reason for such a short lease ?

Mondie I haven't installed version 0.8 yet but uninstalled Firebird 0.7 in frustration with its poor treatment of PDF documents and plugins. It is definately a lot quicker than IE but still a few more glitches that need to be ironed out. You might also discover that the people behind firebird (now firefox) have a very dim view of poorly coded webpages and hence some pages won't display properly in Fb whereas they do in IE which is less picky about coding. All that being said about Firefox have a look at its sister companion, Thunderbird which is the email client. This is only at version 0.5 but is very good - I've ditched outlook express for Thunderbird and have had a lot less hassles.

Trumpy I have a similar creak but intermittant. If I get adventerous enough to do somehting about it one quick question. Silicone ? Is that like the silicone sealant or something different ? thanks Martin

I'd be keeping your NRMA membership - my experience with Ford Assist on Day 1 was absolutely no attempt to troubleshoot the problem but just to load my brand new car on the back of a truck. At least with NRMA they will attempt to determine the cause of the problem and fix it on the spot if they can. Just make sure you use your 'free' maps.

Scooters are notoriously dangerous in wet and dry conditions - most beginner riders would be far better off on a cheap 250cc like a CN250 rather than a scooter. Wheels are tiny and it is riducously easy to lock the rear in the dry let alone the wet. My bet would be she has either locked the rear / hit an oil patch or the riders worst nightmare the stupid white painted arrows the ACT govt delights in installing everywhere. My first 'bike' was a 250cc scooter (young, didn't know any better and broke) and I had similar problems in the wet. Most of them are very underpowered and are flat out doing 80km/hr let alone 100km along the parkway. I've shielded a few going along Tuggeranong parkway - absolute madness. Thanks :banghead: for stopping Turbodewd - many don't including the taxi driver who drove around me on the top of Hindmarsh hill when I was pinned under my bike.

I had a mate of mine on patrol boats out of Darwin who broke his jaw while riding his push bike at night in Darwin after riding into a local who was asleep on the warm road. The unfortunate part was that he was also under the 'affluence of incohol' at the time.

Finally a sensible, rational and well considered reponse. Are you taking notes Ken, no response needed, just nod quietly to yourself ?

Jo Parrish can 'heal' me anytime....

....hatchbacks, station wagons and vans have rear window wipers ? Does rain fall differently on these vehicles ? If it is to improve visibility why not have them on a sedan ? :banghead:

Venom red's not a crap colour. I wouldn't go with Blueprint again - far too common a colour. Preferences next time around: 1. Venom Red or equiv 2. Harvest/congo Green or whatever its called - I think this colour looks very classy esp in the XR8. 3. Silohuette Colours I'd like but SWMBO wouldn't approve :banghead: 1. Blood Orange 2. Phantom

Hall Bros in Fyshwick did a good job repairing door espisode #1. They are the authorised repairers for Lumley Insurance (Leaseplan insure through Lumleys). And they've got some Blueprint paint....

From what I've seen the majority of XRs in Canberra are N/As and hence the drivers may not know about this site. I'd be interested in seeing some stats on the breakdown (bad choice of words ?) of the number of XRs sold by type. I seem to recall Geoff Polites saying 1 in 3 cars sold is from the XR range. My guestimate from what I've seen in Canberra out of every 20 XRs you see maybe 15 N/As, 3 XR6ts and 2 XR8s. Although its nice that Ford has made the XR range more acceeible I think there should have been a lot more visually to distinguish the N/A and the T. I used the get nods/waves in the EF XR6 - but they were rarer...

I saw Falchoons GT in Phillip, ACT on Tuesday, red with black stripes, parked outside Kennards Hire. Funny thing to do picking number plates which don't match your initials.....

Any chance of a serious answer ? :tosser:

I followed an SS home for a bit last night and noticed a piece of mesh in the exhaust tip. Is this a spark arrestor ? I've seen spark arrestors fitted to trail bikes but never to a car ?

From my bulletin board at work: Ford BA XR8 Ute, 2003 Model Colour - Blueprint 23500 Km's (lot of Highway travel) Reg March 2004, MUST SELL BEFORE I LOSE MY LICENSE $37500, Phone: XXXX XXX XXXX PM me if you want the number - this is a real add.

Now look what you made me do - get the paperwork out. Residual is $19,500 + 10% GST (@ 45% of $43,000 base value) so total residual is $21450. If I can't get $21.5K for a 3 yr old XR6T with 75,000km there has to be something wrong.

Be aware also that you do have to pay GST if you are paying out the lease. My residual after 3 years is around 22K GST inclusive. I agree with VG that a 3 year old XR6T well maintained etc etc should be worth more than my residual so not only have I 'saved' money by salary packaging there is a potential to make a modest profit at the end.

I thought I said that.......but I didnt call it "the contribution method" Correct. You also said that paying for FBT and running costs out of pre-tax depending on income you may be better off. My experience with salary packaging is that for most people where I work are better off using ECM rather than paying FBT. I also reccomend you talk to a financial advisor but there are also some good calculators around which can help you run the numbers ie at www.mcms.com.au "My last employer took the FBT liability post tax where as my new employer takes the (reduced) FBT pre tax, effectively saving me $300/month post tax" Again depending on your income you may be better off using an ECM method rather than FBT. From what I've calculated the changeover figure for someone with a $45k XR6T doing 30,000 km per month is around $75K. Another point to remind if you work for a charity, hospital or some schools you can away without paying any FBT at all.

Just to confuse things even more you can make post tax contributions equivalaent to the FBT amount and pay no FBT. This is called the Employee Contribution Method - rather than retyping - have a gander at http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-repli...es.cfm?t=152529

Well just got my car back fron Dentking - have to say I more than concur with the previous feedback. Very happy with the job Dentking performed.

I think Blueprint is a magnet for trouble of another sought Before this I drove the 'boring but sensible' white EF Xr6 and enjoyed 4 years of trouble free motoring. With a change of colour to Blueprint my luck has turned for the worse. Since May 03: 1. 1 Dead Hare (fixed with a new fog light) 2. Damage to front passenger door episode #1 (fixed under insurance) 3. 1 Dead Cockatoo (fixed with a good deal of polish) 4. Damage to rear passenger door (to be fixed this weekend PDR) 5. Stonechip (fixed by O'Briens) Is Blueprint an unlucky colour ?

Newgel in Canberra quoted me $380 to supply, fit and paint EF XR6 bonnet vents. Big question for me is how effective are they in lowering under bonnet temps? I'm more interested in go than show.