Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Malta, Montana

Malta, MT Car Consumer Discussions

no title

by steve_ on Tue Jul 20 12:07:36 PDT 2004

Don't know where to post this but here goes: "Julia Dalesandro was driving home from a trip to Redfish Lake last week when her car was struck by lightning near Malta. Cassia County Sheriff's Deputy Larry Thompson says the charge totaled the 1996 Subaru, blowing out all four tires and creating a fireball underneath the vehicle." Lightning totals moving car (KTVB) Steve, Host

Re: Try this one... [hudsonthedog]

by magnette on Thu Jan 03 13:53:15 PST 2008

The situation here is different. Basically, although I'm in UK, for the purpose of grey imports this really only applies to countries outside EU. Individuals can bring in cars from elsewhere ie US, South America, S Africa, Asia, but if they do, these have to be basically roadworthy, or old... If someone imports cars secondhand from say Japan, then they can bring in cars which don't conform directly to EU standards, ( presumably so long as they were built to conform with JDM standards in this case), but only in limited numbers - no more than 50 of a particular model ( per year I think) - but that is all importers to Britain, so between them they can only bring in so many Figaros per year - I'm not sure about the exact regulations, but different trim versions of the Figaro seem to count differently, for example. Once they are here and legally registered they can and are used as regular cars - not just "show & display". This is really to bring in cars that the importer - ie Nissan - didn't put through EU crash tests, or something - it's meant to allow rare and exclusive cars to come in, so some really exotic car made in US could turn up, but in practice variants of common Japanese cars that we haven't had here come in too. In Britain Nissan builds the Micra, which is basically the March in Japan, but I've seen a number of imported Marchs too, which have been brought in second-hand... The give-away with imports from Japan is the numberplate size. Japanese plates are a different format from any used in Europe, being a sort of half way between small US plates and the generally larger EU ones. Because Japanese cars have panel which is designed to take these plates, the imported cars also have a funny size plate made up - again this is allowed in our regulations. I suppose most Japanese grey imports are to Britain Ireland or places like Malta, which drive on the same side of the road, but I think the same basic rules apply to imports of US cars to Europe - not all American cars are offered on export markets even in left-hand drive areas. It makes car spotting quite interesting here, because we get weird JDM models, but also as so many foreign cars show up in Britain from other parts of the EU, ie France or where ever, we get some of their oddities that were never sold here - ie those never made in RHD. This is of course particularly true in London, where I live, as we have a more varied and multicultural population - you don't tend to see so many odd cars out in rural areas, ie Wales, where I'm from originally.

Re: Disappointed by 2008 CTS [readerreader]

by blueguydotcom on Thu Sep 20 09:29:02 PDT 2007

Professional journalists make their money and enjoy a fun lifestyle expressly because they bend over for car companies. In the end, they moderate their opinions so they get invited to (and flown to) the next press junket in Malta or Hawaii or Geneva. I don't believe it when they say that a BMW is good or a Caddy is fun because their opinion is untrustworthy. The only opinion that should count when buying a car: your own. Nobody from Edmunds is going to buy the car for you, so while Karl Bauer may like the CTS, unless he's paying for my car, I'd don't give a hoot how he views the CTS because he has a vested interest in not offending Caddy.

Re: ... [plekto]

by hungarian83 on Thu May 04 23:24:02 PDT 2006

You are forgetting something important though regarding a few things. Japan and UK are only a few of the countries that have the Fit/Jazz that drive on the left side of the road. The car since January 2002 is already sold in many markets that drive on the right side of the road. In those countries the Fit has the fuel filler door (locking might I add) on the left side. That sort of design is universal and if it is located on one side for one market, it will stay that way regardless of which side of the road people drive on. Since the fuel door is on the left side (passenger for Japan), it will remain on the left side for Europe, US, etc. The issue of the fuel pipe location is particularly relevant in the Fit, since the exhaust pipe runs along the far right edge of the car. Switching the fuel pipe location would interfer with the exhaust pipe, and then you would have to redesign the entire undercarriage...probably not the simplest thing. Lot easier just to keep everything in the same location. The height adjuster is available on every European Jazz regardless of price...so it's there on the 1.2i S (base model) and the 1.4i ES Sport (top end). Also, I believe the United Kingdom (with Ireland and Malta) is one of only three countries in Europe out of 40+ that drive on the left side of the road. All the rest drive on the right and all the rest have driver's side seat adjusters. Hungarian-market Jazz 1,2i S Cool (pre-MMC ~MY2003) (Note the seat height adjuster and intrusion of the fuel tank into the driver's footwell) Taillights are actually identical to the European market with the sole exception being the reverse and turn signal lights switched. I think Japan is the only market that gets the fancy LEDs (doesn't mean US/Canada couldn't also though :P ) Other things like the dead pedal location (or lack thereof), the center seatbelt, and the fuel tank design are present on all the cars worldwide. Just some of the quirks to deal with when a car is designed for the Japanese market. Oh, and there is no dead pedal on the JDM versions either...but there is more space for the foot it looks like. As for the dashboard, I'm perfectly fine to have it reversed. I would rather they spent a little extra to design, build, and store LHD and RHD dashboards then have Toyota's "cost-saving" center dashboard design. "I wish I could import one from Mexico...All the minor troubles would not be there." No you don't. The "troubles" would all be there and you would be getting a car with less features and less safety equipment. I don't know about the mirror on the visor, but everything else is just part of the cars design, and is not flipped no matter what market.

Re: BMW car accessories! [malta]

by jlbl on Tue Sep 27 01:25:48 PDT 2005

I am sorry, I don't. I know of one based here in Spain though I don't know whether they ship to the USA (www.elrincondelautomovil.com)—the language used in there is Spanish, anyway. I have very few time at the moment to browse through the web. (This is the cause of my delay in answering to your post.) I apologize for it. Regards, José

BMW car accessories!

by malta on Thu Sep 15 04:28:14 PDT 2005

Am looking for a good website, which sells BMW 1 Series accessories. Would you mind knowing a good website which does? Many Thanks Andrew