Posted in Audi, Audi A3, Audi TT, VW Golf, Volkswagen on 06/05/2007 08:47 am by FollettmotorsVWAudiBlog
The Audi TT is a car ‘most at risk’ of being stolen according to Home Office figures
Car Theft Index - Audi and VW
An article in The Times over the weekend highlighted the sentencing of the most prolific car-ringing gang in Britain in the past decade. Many of the 306 cars stolen on the orders of the gang were taken after the keys were stolen from owners’ homes. Although Police have recovered 190 of the cars stolen, they are still looking for the £4.5 million amassed by the criminals between 2000 and 2004 regarding cheap phentermine diet pills
What is interesting is how Audi and Volkswagen featured in the list of cars specifically targeted by the gang:
Top targets
Audi TT Quatro
BMW (6 Coupé)
VW Golf (V6)
Porsche Boxster
Mercedes 500SL
Ferrari 360 Modena
Ferrari F355 Spyder
To some degree, this reflects the findings of the Home Office Car Theft Index 2006 which covers thefts occurring in 2005 and which shows the cars stolen by car type and phentermine weight loss pills
Specifically focusing on Audi and Volkswagen, the majority appear to be classed as ‘medium risk’ which is defined as “between 3 and 13 cars in every 1,000 on the road stolen” or ‘lower risk’ - “less than 3 cars in every 1,000 on the road stolen”.
However; cars classed as ‘most at risk’, whose definition is given as “more than 13 cars in every 1,000 on the road stolen and at least four times more at risk of theft than the lowest risk cars” include: phentermine cheap
Home Office Car Theft Index 2006 - Cars ‘most at risk’
Audi
Audi S (S3 Quattro, S4 Quattro) All ( 2003–05 / 2000–02 / 1997–99)
Audi TT (2000–02)
Audi 100, 200 (Pre 1991)
Volkswagen
Volkswagen Polo C (Pre 1991)
Volkswagen Polo CL, CX (Pre 1991)
Volkswagen Golf Mk1 (Pre 1991)
Volkswagen Golf Mk2 (Pre 1991)
Volkswagen Golf Mk3 (1991-1993)
Volkswagen Jetta All (Pre 1991)
Volkswagen Corrado All (Pre 1991)
Volkswagen Scirocco All (Pre 1991)
Whilst the findings of the survey are open to some debate and interpretation, unsurprisingly; older models feature prominently owing to their relative lack of security, but clearly the newer Audi S and TT models are deemed to be at higher risk.
Posted in Audi, Audi A3, Follett on 04/18/2007 08:40 am by FollettmotorsVWAudiBlog
1987: A Princess Diana-esque Paula Hamilton dumps the man….but keeps the car
2007: Kate dumps the man….but gets to keep the Audi A3
Currently reading Piers Morgan’s latest installment of his diaries (”Don’t you know who I am?”) and it’s interesting to see that one of his entries notes some strange-but-true similarities between 1981 and 2005 - eg
Prince Charles gets married
Liverpool wins the Champions League
The Pope dies
(*the thrust of all this being the next time Prince Charles talks about getting married, someone really ought to warn the Pope…)
Similarly, there may also be strange-but-true similarities between the iconic 1987 Volkswagen “Changes” Commercial featuring Paula Hamilton as a Princess Diana-esque figure and press speculation concerning Kate Middleton’s recent acquisition of a new Audi A3 .
In the 1987 commercial, Paula Hamilton is seen leaving her husband, posting her wedding ring back through the letterbox and ditching her mink coat, chucking the house keys at the cat, rejecting the fur coat and pearl necklace - but keeping her VW Golf Mk2 car keys. The tagline of the commercial was the eponymous “if only everything in life were as reliable as a Volkswagen”.
Curiously, the current edition of Private Eye magazine (pg 6) speculates on Kate Middleton acquiring a new Audi A3 1.9 tdi in early April 07 and notes coverage in the Daily Mail newspaper which purports that Kate Middleton “managed to negotiate a cut-price deal on her Audi A3 coupe thanks to her royal links”
Given events over the past few days, perhaps the same tagline might well be best applied in this instance too……
Posted in Audi, Audi A3, Audi Specialist, Follett, Timing Belt ('Cambelt') on 04/04/2007 10:50 am by FollettmotorsVWAudiBlog
Water pumps with plastic impellers may not be as reliable as those with metal impellers
The benefits - or otherwise - of using water pumps with plastic impellers
The water pump circulates coolant between the engine and the radiator and part of the water pump is an impeller which rotates, thereby circulating the coolant.
You can see the impeller on the above photo – it is on the end of a shaft in the top right hand corner.
Impellers are made either of plastic or metal.
The photo above shows a broken impeller which is made of plastic - it has clearly cracked. Clearly; this is not good.
In our experience, we have found that water pumps with plastic impellers appear to fail more quickly than those made of metal.
This would seem to imply that the benefits of saving weight by using a plastic instead of cast metal impeller could be over-rated……
Therefore, if you are having your timing belt changed and are having the water pump and associated belts changed at the same time, our strong recommendation would be to press your independent specialist to use a German water pump which has a metal impeller.
As Company policy, we ourselves use only German water pumps with metal impellers.
