alan333

Bear in mind a windscreen claim is still a claim so it needs to be declared in subsequent years of insurance quotes.

Low oil pressure will kill an engine. Get the oil pressure checked - your problem could be as simple as a faulty pressure switch or as complicated as a full engine build required.

Personally I wouldn't want a panoramic roof. A big un-insulated glass panel above my head doesn't sound too cosy in winter.

It could also be a cracked cylinder head.

Both problems are completely separate and unrelated. For the clutch - put the car in 4th or 5th gear and try to move off with the handbrake on. Use appropriately high revs. If you can let the clutch all the way out, or almost all the way, then the clutch is worn and needs replaced.

Coolant flows through the engine and heater until it gets hot enough, then the thermostat opens and sends the hot water to the radiator. The rad cools it and cold water returns to the sytem.

I'm pretty sure that could be easily classed as dangerous. Consider starting the car with the key in your jacket pocket, then giving the jacket to your cold daughter on the driveway, then driving to the extrememly busy road end, hypothetically 99 yards from home, then pulling out into fast moving traffic just as the engine shuts down.

Swap your tyres front to back first and see if the symptoms change.

A good charged battery should be between about 13.5 to 14.7 volts, and it should be in the same range with the engine running. If yours is down towards 12.5v then it's either faulty or not charging, and you'll have problems starting the car. Given that your battery seems to have a leakage problem then, personally, I'd fit a new battery and check the voltage on the new one with the engine running. If it's in the aforementioned high range then your problem is almost definitely solved. If not then the charging system is faulty. I also note you've replaced the alternator at some point. Could the old one have overcharged/killed the battery?

What happens when you press the right hand big knob repeatedly? Does it just scroll through bass/treble/bal/fade or is there a usb option there?

Usually if the lights dim while trying to start it would suggest a low battery, and yours isn't perfect at 12.78v. However you say the engine is turning over at the normal rate, where if the battery was a bit flat it should turn over a bit slower or restrained. Can you try jump starting it and see if it starts easy? If so then it's probably your battery.

The auto box in the 1.8vvti T25 eats a fair bit of the power up and the car feels flat above about 50mph unless you're booting it on. The 1.8 valvematic with the cvt in the T27 is much more powerful but the box is a bit revvy, especially up hills at motorways speeds. The T27 is a much better/newer feeling car to drive.

Define "died" please. And give us more info about the non starting - is it turning over or not etc.

Using too much fuel has nothing to do with the alternator - it's job is to charge the battery. Alternators can be quite expensive (maybe towards £200) but can also be rebuilt quite cheaply. Try phoning a car electrics specialist for a quite to remove, rebuild and refit. Alternatively take a gamble on a used one from a breaker or ebay and have someone fit it for about an hour's labour. An ignition coil shouldn't be too expensive and would be easy/quick for a mechanic to fit, probably half an hour's labour. The same electrics specialist could do that job too, along with reading the codes to correctly diagnose the problem in the first instance.

Any vehicles I've used with climate control work the same - the heater fans don't kick in (or do, but only at the lowest speed) until the engine starts to warm up, then increase as the engine warms. Usually there's a screen defrost button which puts the air flow to the screen, puts the air con on (even tho it doesn't work below at certain temp, usually 3 or 5 deg), and puts the fan on high. The police can't insist you have all windows clear. You need the screen, the front side windows and the wing mirrors clear (ie the same field of vision that a van/truck driver has at all times) . Except if you don't have a n/s mirror - then you also need the rear window clear.