P38A Odd things not matching with previous experience.

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DanClarke

DanClarke

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Location
Benfleet, Essex
I picked up the "NEW" car today. 2000 4.6 Vogue in almost showroom nick with <13K on the clock.
A few immediate "niggles" that in all honesty I was too eager/stupid not to spot in the first look-see visit.

  1. Cruise Control bust (perished vacuum lines) ...... fixed but seems to want to accelerate all the time rather than stay at the set speed... hoping it will settle down with use.
  2. Weird door-locking. On my HSE if a door/bonnet/boot is open and you hit the "lock" button on the fob you get a "mislock" alarm beep-beep. Not so on this. Bonnet up, fob-lock all doors, no mislock. similarly, drivers door wide-open, still no mislock.
  3. Operation of drivers door key does NOT cause the sidelights to flash (as it should for EKA operations).
  4. Lazy-locking..... totally missing.
  5. Mirror-dipping when you go into reverse..... nope!
Now I thought (maybe wrongly) that the Vogue was above the HSE in terms of spec. i.e. a superset not a subset, but I cannot find a side-by-side comparison table.
Are some of these "features" BeCM programme-options dependent...to be set by the dealer?
Heartwarming, helpful answers on a postcard (please?) :)

Or, is she a lemon? LOL
 
HSE was top of the range, until they re-introduced the Vogue line to boost interest in the range a bit.

Mine's a MY'98 HSE with full walnut interior, HK sound system, and all the trimmings, but you couldn't buy a Vogue in 1998. Had it been ordered a year leater I think it would have been one.
 
It's also worth mentioning that whilst an HSE was "Trim Level 3", there was an options list as long as your arm that made all the HSEs very very different dependingon what the original order from LR looked like.
 
get it on diagnostics as some of those functions you mentioned can be enabled or disabled according to your preferences.
 
Everything you listed can be activated or deactivated within the becm settings, except the reversing mirror's. These need to be set by the buttons on the side of the drivers seat.
At 13k miles, I can't see any faults festering on this vehicle. You just need to get the correct diagnostics to set up your requirements.
 
Rick-the-Pick said:
Everything you listed can be activated or deactivated within the becm settings, except the reversing mirror's. These need to be set by the buttons on the side of the drivers seat.
At 13k miles, I can't see any faults festering on this vehicle. You just need to get the correct diagnostics to set up your requirements.
Click to expand...
And see if the mileage has been altered
 
I was going to mention the mileage, as anything that low needs investigating. But there's no way to tell with diagnostics.

Through experiance, anything that low has a high chance of being in an accident & has been sitting for a number of years before being put back on the road.
But we won't mention that yet & upset him.
 
I see it all the time. The cars that are sold within the first 3 years are the worst. To this day, people buy a car just approaching it's first MOT. 100,000 miles can easily be removed to bring the mileage down to 13 or 14k. & no one will ever find out. It probably happens more now than ever before.
 
Thanks everyone.
Mirror-dipping restored (silly me).
The warnings re-damaged/stored/repaired and punted out to a "mug" are well received and it might indeed be the case.
I have some of its MOT History (again, not a foolproof audit of activity) and there is a semi-credible story around its history.
The thing "seems" sound (stop chortling at the back there chaps) and the general feel of it is good and compares favourably to my HSE.
The engine is (by comparison to my HSE @ 119K miles) like a sewing machine at idle revs and very quiet; and aggressive kick-down's on the road don't produce any blue-smoke (yes, there is oil in it).
If I've been had-over well it will prove the old adage about a fool, age, and money.

Assuming its not a Cut-n-shut horror, where (other than a main dealer) can I take it to have the relevant options enabled at a reasonable price?
Are there any recommendations the group can give? I live in Essex (but please don't hold hat against me, we've all got to live somewhere).
 
If you fancy a drive round the M25 to Bucks I'll stick the Nanocom on it. Otherwise it is main dealer of there might be a Nanocom member in South East London?
 
Grrrrrr said:
If you fancy a drive round the M25 to Bucks I'll stick the Nanocom on it. Otherwise it is main dealer of there might be a Nanocom member in South East London?
Click to expand...
Wow! Thank you Grrrrr. That is very kind indeed.
I am off on Thursday for 2 weeks Trike-Touring in Holland, but when I get back I would love to take you up on this most generous offer (unless of course some other member pops-up right on my doorstep ;) )
When I get back I will give you a nudge.
 
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