aph1101

Not quite sure where you got that figure from... Our fiesta has done 32k miles and the brakes still have plenty of life in them. If i remember correctly, at its 25k service, the brakes had about 50% left in them. My mum had a Volvo S40 and that had 55k miles from new on it when she sold it and its brakes didn't need to be replaced.

Love the look of the new C30 :) I'm sure you'll love it, but just a little word of warning, my mum had an 05 S40 (effectively the same car) and we had huge ECU problems where the car wouldn't start due to electrical problems :) I think it went through about 4 ECUs in the end! Otherwise, built like a rock, and extremely comfy :)

Pfft.... :P

Congratulations Dan, all the best :)

Hell yeah :D Will be nice to meet you all after so long!

Definitely up for a meet. MK is good for me, but 31st July isn't sadly :( Start of August is better for me

I haven't been on in ages! Been busy with these really fun things called A-levels :P Will probably be on a bit more now school is over!

I've found the bp ultimate diesel does give slightly better MPG but not enough to justify the difference in cost. It also makes the car run smoother and quieter and it seems to give ever so slightly better throttle response and acceleration, but that my just be a placebo. All in all, it makes a nice treat every now and then, but doesn't go in as a matter of course

On the subject of wheel brushes, I recently bought the Silveline wheel brush and I can't reccommend it highly enough. It's dirt cheap (£2.50), about a foot long, very soft, and can fit all the way through the spokes of the titanium 16" alloys. Dead chuffed with it!

Sounds good! I'd be interested to hear how you find ironX.... Looks an interesting product. :)

Very good!

I don't think clay affects the plastic trim, but neither does it do any harm. No need to steer clear! I used about 2/3 or 3/4 of the bar I linked you above to do the whole fiesta. I would cut the bar into four and kneed a quarter into something between the size of a custard cream and a digestive biscuit. (can you tell I'm hungry?!). I would then fold over the piece of clay every now and again, maybe once or twice per panel, or until it looks too dirty. Some panels, such as the roof, youll be able to do the whole thing and it will hardly pick anything up. As you clay, you'll see that the clay bar picks up the crap off the surface and becomes dirty itself. You'll need to throw the clay away after you've finished with it. Remember, you can never use too much lube! The more the better in my opinion. :)

No problems! That clay bar is actually much better than the one I linked you to.... It will be more than ok :) If you ordered that concentrate that I linked you above, then you can use any bottle you like. It's just like making up ribena! Add a little of the concentrate to the bottle, and then top up the rest with water. The wax will go on and off very easily after claying. After claying, the paint will be so smooth to the touch, and perfectly clean. :D My personal preference is to just rinse the panel I have clayed with some clean water, move on and then give the whole car a 2 bucket wash afterwards. I'm not sure you absolutely have to do that. If you want to get a more definitive answer, then just have a look on the detaillingworld forums. Hope that helps, and let me know if you have any more questions.

I would imagine, from your description, that this is indeed where claying comes in. It removes the bonded contaminants, and leaves the paint very smooth and free from the crap you mentioned :) You may choose to use a tar remover, such as tardis, if you don't wish to clay, but I wouldn't if I were you. To clay, you need a clay bar and some lube. My reccommendation is: Lube (The concentrate will last you ages. You'll need to get a bottle and chemical resistant sprayer.) I4D Clay This is the clay I use, and have found it to be adequate. One issue with claying is that if you do not do it properly and don't use enough lube, you may end up with some marring. Also, some people (myself included) believe that claying removes wax layers, but as far as I know, this isn't absolute fact!! Hope that helps :D

Good post... As far as I know, Jmurray is 14 or 15 and doesn't have a driving license... MPG is never going to be as good as quoted. Our 1.6tdci gets about 52-54 instead of the quoted 64ish after 19k. That said, it is driven hard, so we're quite pleased with that figure! Quality is not crap, but its not great. There are many cars with better quality, and also many with worse quality. Overall its ok, but there are a few too many rattles and squeaks, not to mention some cheapo plastic in places.