skyhigh

Looking for something different. I've never owned the same type of car twice. I'm thinking Mazda 6... (or maybe my wife is thinking that for me....) I'll miss the extra power that's on tap when you need it. You know what they say. A change is as good as a holiday!

They wrote it off. I wasn't expecting that... Short description over the phone from the assessor (spelling?) is that the body is twisted, and there is significant mechanical damage... along with all suspension down left side. I guess I'm off shopping for a car... not quite what I had planned for the holidays, but it could be worse! SH.

Hi All. I too feel it will unfortunately be fixed... Living in hope however. And as everyone has pointed out, it serves as a safe platform to get around in! If it were written off, I do have what I would determine as a fair agreed value (my Insurer's preferred option), but it will probably make it harder to write off unfortunately... Thanks for your concern and feedback guys! Cheers, SH.

Hi All. A young bloke ran a red light and took me out and so now I have a wrecked 07 Aurion SX6 (well, its in a holding yard somewhere). Fully insured, and some CCTV evidence to confirm my claim so no worries there. Question I have is, will they write it off. In all honesty, I don't want it back as I have a few friends/family members have got cars back after significant front-end damage, and they've never been the same... Description of the damage: - Drivers door difficult to open (Not sure why as the impact is LHS). Had to really stick my shoulder into it to open. I suspect the front of the car is skewed off center and the front right quarter panel was catching the drivers door. - The obvious main impact damage is in the photos. The other car (small to medium size four door hatch) is a complete wreck. Air bags deployed in the other car and front windscreen totally smashed. - Rear left quarter also crushed (not clear in crappy mobile phone piccies). - Rear left wheel is pointing slightly off - so i'm guessing the strut/arms are bent. - Front left wheel is just in the wrong place. I think the lower arms are broken - but not entirely sure... - Radiator and air-con (or is it oil cooler??) also damaged so I'd imagine the front cross members are toast... At the end of the day, everyone walked away without injury (apart from being sore) and its just a car. I'll let the insurance deal with the rest... So I could be p....d off about it, or I can just accept that it is a risk you take when you choose to take to the roads. I'm choosing the latter. Cheers, SH.

UPDATE: They have (after four visits), replaced the intermediate shaft and presto - problem gone! Cheers, SkyHigh.

I had exactly the same thing and 8 days later my battery totally died. I didn't realise how weak the starter was until after the battery was changed... These things crank pretty quick! rang a dealer and they said it is likely to have been a low voltage issue. So, maybe your battery/alternator/regulator? Anyway - as DJKOR suggests, I wouldn't jump to the fuel conclusion either... the actual cause of mine (nearly 18 months ago and no fault since) only showed up 8 days later! Cheers, SkyHigh...

Before I moved, I had about a 25 minute commute to the train station each way (about 24ks) and averaged 8.5l/100. I found that most of the fuel burn was actually during the cold start program. If I went on longer journeys on the highway, I would easily see 7.5/100 and even as low as 7.2 on a really long trip (i.e. > 2hrs) (and no - I don't drive it at granny speeds, and I don't believe my speedo at 100 is actually 100 - if you get the drift). And on a trip to western QLD, i saw 6.9l/100... (I set tyre's before leaving). Now I have moved into BNE and we hardly use the car. When we do, it's to run up the road and is pretty well always running cold-start. We're now seeing about 12.5L/100... But I only fill it once every two months so I can't complain! I will tell you what got us by surprise was how we took .5 of a litre off our commute (and some may b sceptical, but we proved it twice - i know - not a good sample but good enough for me). We almost never wash our car (we sit inside it - not outside). I know - I've probably upset most of the forum members by saying that. So, needless to say, it got absolutely filthy and covered in dust/grime/oil/bugs e.t.c all over. We spent a day cleaning it and waxed it, and immediately noticed a drop in fuel consumption on our commute. Again, over a period of about three months, this slowly crept back up, and we cleaned/waxed it again... Fuel efficiency gain of .5 again! In fact, I it was closer to .7 for the first week, but that could have been a number of factors that gained the extra .2 on the first week. There is something to be said for keeping your car clean! Cheers, SkyHigh.

Hi All. First post here! Anyway - to the business at hand. I have an 07 Aurion SX6. Done 57,000ks and warranty ends in about 6 weeks. I took it in for its 60,000k service early to have the following looked at: - Dash rattles so much you'd think it's about to fall off. - Drivers air-vent rattles and moves from where you adjust it. - Oil Line recall. - Radio buttons back-light would go out (you know - the bright blue one that you simply can't miss - that took me nearly an hour in the car to figure out what was 'different' the first time!). - And what appears to be the infamous 'clunk'. They have refitted the dash under warranty - CHECK (but now auto-headlights don't work). They have replaced the CENTER air vents - will try that one again with them. They have done the Oil Line recall - CHECK. They have replaced the radio unit (and didn't bother to remove my CD's before doing so - I would have had I'd known it was a full replacement job). So hopefully will get them back!!! They have told me that the problem was a loose engine mount - I think not - nothing has changed since they torqued that up. So - my symptoms... - I have the exact same knock that unique shows in his iphone video (although I'm not sure if this really is a problem, and if it is even related???). - As I pull up, I sometimes get a tap through the steering. - As I pull away - most of the time (not always) I get anything between a tap/tap tap through to CLUNK in the steering as I pull away. (Yes - sometimes I get two taps) - I have found that in a perfect straight line, I get little to no clunk, yet if I pull up with a smidge of lock on, or put a smidge of lock on as I pull away i get the tap/tap tap/clunk!. - If i am pulling out of somewhere and putting lock on to turn, i get some tapping happening as well. So guys - I ask you this - you reckon it is either the rack or intermediate shaft? It has to be one of them! Is there anything I can do at home to help diagnose? (I can't lift the car up in any safe manner where I live at the moment so can't get under to have a look). Looking forward to ringing the dealer again on Monday. I'll be honest, a loose engine mount doesn't feel like the symptoms I have. From past experience with a dog bone mount loose (previous car), as soon as you back off the throttle in my experience you get a reciprocating thud/clunk/tap. I only get the minor tap as i pull up. Cheers, SkyHigh.