Vauxhall Ampera

unkel

wing52 wrote: »

Is you're 15m cable as tough or better than the standard. Ones?

Probably better. It is very heavy. I have it permanently tethered to my charger. It hangs in the bushes between my and my neighbour's driveway right beside the charge port of my car, for maximum convenience. The only solution more convenient than this would be wireless charging

Alkers

We've ours for a few days and love it so far.

Feels much quicker than 9s 0-100km

n97 mini

Nice! Looks well in silver.

Which model year (12/13) is it, and which trim (Positiv/Electron)?

Alkers

2012 electron and it's got high mileage (120k) but that relieves us of any of the Belfast servicing worries and have found a few places to service it in Dublin.
One scratch on the bodywork and the steering wheel is a bit frayed but otherwise it's in great condition.
Going to get a full valet over the holidays.
Only issue so far is the front splitter scrapes off the ground on the way into the driveway, it's extremely low!

slicedpanman

Simona1986 wrote: »

Only issue so far is the front splitter scrapes off the ground on the way into the driveway, it's extremely low!

Yeah, I've to watch the speed bumps, it's a low clearance alright

n97 mini

Simona1986 wrote: »

Only issue so far is the front splitter scrapes off the ground on the way into the driveway, it's extremely low!

Ours scrapes on the way out!

There is a lower profile skirt available, which I intend to fit to ours. Off the top of my head it's 10mm shallower, and I'll order it to coincide with the next the service. It's around £30, and held on by 4 or 6 screws.

Alkers

Has anyone figured out how to play music through the stereo from a phone via bluetooth? Works fine for calls but doesn't seem to pick up as an audio device.

Also, in case anyone was unsure - we've been accepted for the reduced rates toll tag.

ELM327

Simona1986 wrote: »

Has anyone figured out how to play music through the stereo from a phone via bluetooth? Works fine for calls but doesn't seem to pick up as an audio device.

Also, in case anyone was unsure - we've been accepted for the reduced rates toll tag.

As a PHEV or as an EV? PHEV will also get accepted but you don't get the full reduction that full EVs get.


AFAIR the EU models didnt come with bluetooth audio, just bluetooth calls, but I do stand to be corrected on this.

Alkers

ELM327 wrote:

As a PHEV or as an EV? PHEV will also get accepted but you don't get the full reduction that full EVs get.

PHEV I assume and I'm nearly sure that's what we applied for. Still a decent saving.

ELM327 wrote:

AFAIR the EU models didnt come with bluetooth audio, just bluetooth calls, but I do stand to be corrected on this.

That would make sense on my attempts so far!

marklazarcovic

Well that's a bit of a dumb thing .. ref Bluetooth

Alkers

marklazarcovic wrote:

Well that's a bit of a dumb thing .. ref Bluetooth

There is a usb input and a 3.5mm jack so it's not the end of the world but it does seem a bit strange

slicedpanman

I can confirm Bluetooth is for calls only. I got a Bluetooth audio receiver for mine... Nice and hidden in the center storage - plugged into USB and 3mm audio jack

Was disappointed initially (about no Bluetooth audio support in the car) but the Bluetooth receiver/dongle has decent audio quality and was pretty cheap

n97 mini

Ours was in with Charles Hurst recently and came out with a software update. I was hopeful that A2DP (aka Bluetooth audio streaming) had been added, but sadly no... the changes are subtle.

n97 mini

slicedpanman wrote: »

@n97 mini - with all the 12V battery chat on the ionic thread, do you know how the ampera handles charging it's 12V battery?

I ask as I'm also in the camp of lots of short trips and only charge 2 or 3 times a week

A bit more on this. We were in the US for Christmas, so the car wasn't used (or plugged in) for about 10 days. First drive after we came back was fine but the car wouldn't shut off... "shift to park" on the display even though it was in P. It was a 2.5 hour drive in the dark so the headlights had been on all the time. A few more oddball errors followed, but none persisted. Car plugged in overnight, worked fine next day.

A bit of googling suggested it might be time to replace the 12v battery.

So I've been monitoring the voltage drop while not plugging it. When powered up it shows just over 14 volts (this is really the DC-DC converter output and not the battery's), but when powered off again it rapidly falls off to 12.8v. 24 hours later it's down to 11.8v. So it looks like a new 12v battery is needed.

This one is 6 years old, and it's the glass mat type. As it's in the passenger compartment (boot floor) it has to be glass mat as they don't leak acid if they get burst in a crash. I've never had a car with this type of battery before (that I know of but possibly the 2011 Prius had one). They're not that uncommon, but they're a little more expensive than regular car batteries. Halfords have a Yuasa one for about €130 iirc. Having said that the Civic IMA eats 12v batteries (a known "issue")... each one only lasts between 2 and 3 years, so overall it probably costs more.

unkel

n97 mini wrote: »

it rapidly falls off to 12.8v. 24 hours later it's down to 11.8v. So it looks like a new 12v battery is needed.

It's dead. Replace it already. A brand new battery is the cheapest way to avoid a world of pain

zilog_jones

Yeah, your 2011 Prius would have had an AGM battery too. 6-7 years is usually the most you'll get out of them, so it's certainly due a change now.

n97 mini

Had a bit of a "computer says no" moment this morning with the Vauxhall dealer that originally sold and serviced our Ampera.

Me: Hi there, I own the Ampera, reg XXX XXX that you originally sold and serviced, and I'm missing a few pages from the service history. I was hoping you could send them to me?
Lady in service dept: No, as you're not the owner we have on file, we can't send them to you, because... data protection
Me (to buy some time): Hmm, ok. Well in that case can you tell me if the 12v battery or brake pads have ever been changed?
Lady in service dept: (After lots of keyboard sounds and humming) No, the brake fluid has been changed, but the brakes pads haven't. The 12v battery hasn't been either.
Me: Ok. Well how about this... the car has been exported to the Republic of Ireland, so if I send you a copy of of Vehicle Licensing Certificate to show I own it, can you redact the previous owner's information if necessary, and send me the missing pages?
Lady in service dept: No, cos once we print them out that's it.
Me: You can't redact the personal information?
Lady in service dept: No.
Me: Ok then, thanks for your help (sic)

I didn't feel it worthwhile pointing out the fact that I have a copy of the V5C, so I already know who the previous owner was. This woman was stuck in Little Britain. I was tempted to call back in the afternoon to see if I got a non-bot, but I decided feck it. It's all centralised on the one computer system so I'll just get the missing pages from Charles Hurst or from Vauxhall HQ. I have the service book which has all the stamps which has a small amount of information on what was done (check boxes) that covers it (mostly).

Compare and contrast to when I was missing the service history for my wife's Civic IMA. Phoned Honda dealer. "No problem sir, that'll be in the post to you this afternoon". Received two days later. Granted there was no GDPR for eejits to get carried away with back then.

Alkers

I don't know where in the country you are but when I contacted BMG.ie in dublin about servicing ours, they mentioned they would be able to access the service records etc. Havent actually used them yet as we're not due a service for another few months

n97 mini

Simona1986 wrote: »

I don't know where in the country you are but when I contacted BMG.ie in dublin about servicing ours, they mentioned they would be able to access the service records etc. Havent actually used them yet as we're not due a service for another few months

Cheers, that's interesting to know. They're a 5 minute drive from my house in Leixlip.

Alkers

n97 mini wrote:

Cheers, that's interesting to know. They're a 5 minute drive from my house in Leixlip.

Let me know how you get on, were out of warranty in any case so will be getting it serviced by an indy

slicedpanman

Had an instance of the doors unlocked/Windows open issue today... Was taking my daughter to the care doc - when I came back out all doors were unlocked and all windows open.

IIRC it's something to do with a button press or long press on the remote. Can anyone remember what it is? And/or if it's possible to switch off this feature?

KCross

slicedpanman wrote: »

Had an instance of the doors unlocked/Windows open issue today... Was taking my daughter to the care doc - when I came back out all doors were unlocked and all windows open.

IIRC it's something to do with a button press or long press on the remote. Can anyone remember what it is? And/or if it's possible to switch off this feature?

That’s a common feature of alot of cars. Keep the unlock button in the fob pressed and it will roll down the windows. Keep the lock button pressed and they should go up.

slicedpanman

KCross wrote: »

That’s a common feature of alot of cars. Keep the unlock button in the fob pressed and it will roll down the windows. Keep the lock button pressed and they should go up.

Half confirmed
Press and hold unlock on fob and all doors unlock and windows open
Pressing and holding lock only locks the doors, nothing happens to the windows.

A bit annoying, you have to get back in the car, power on and then close all windows.

Would still like to disable the open window feature - can't see any benefit and prefer not to leave my car open for anyone to have a rummage in

KCross

slicedpanman wrote: »

Half confirmed
Press and hold unlock on fob and all doors unlock and windows open
Pressing and holding lock only locks the doors, nothing happens to the windows.

A bit annoying, you have to get back in the car, power on and then close all windows.

Would still like to disable the open window feature - can't see any benefit and prefer not to leave my car open for anyone to have a rummage in

That doesnt sound right. I'd have a look at the manual or give the dealer a shout.

Maybe the Ampera has a slightly different method of closing but any car I ever had that had the feature it was always just keeping your finger on the lock and unlock buttons.

n97 mini

KCross wrote: »

That doesnt sound right. I'd have a look at the manual or give the dealer a shout.

Maybe the Ioniq has a slightly different method of closing but any car I ever had that had the feature it was always just keeping your finger on the lock and unlock buttons.

Holding lock doesn't put up the windows. I'm guessing it's for safety reasons as the remote has quite a range.

grogi

n97 mini wrote: »

Holding lock doesn't put up the windows. I'm guessing it's for safety reasons as the remote has quite a range.

No, it's not for safety reasons. Otherwise other cars would not have it either.

I have it in my bus. It will also close the windows on its own when the rain sensor detects rain...

KCross

n97 mini wrote: »

Holding lock doesn't put up the windows. I'm guessing it's for safety reasons as the remote has quite a range.

Why would they treat lock and unlock differently though?

They didnt in any car that I had. I could hit lock and keep my finger on it and it would put up the windows. Seems perfectly reasonable if the unlock puts them down.

n97 mini

KCross wrote: »

Why would they treat lock and unlock differently though?

They didnt in any car that I had. I could hit lock and keep my finger on it and it would put up the windows. Seems perfectly reasonable if the unlock puts them down.

Putting the windows down isn't a safety risk, it's a security risk. So, they're not the same thing.

The only time I've put all the windows down was by accident, when a key or coin pressed the unlock button in my pocket. If I left the dog in the car on a hot day with the windows slightly open while I went into Tesco for 20 minutes and accidentally closed the windows... You get the idea.

As I said, I'm only speculating. I'm glad it doesn't have auto up, and wish it didn't have auto down either.

grogi

n97 mini wrote: »

Putting the windows down isn't a safety risk, it's a security risk. So, they're not the same thing.

The only time I've put all the windows down was by accident, when a key or coin pressed the unlock button in my pocket. If I left the dog in the car on a hot day with the windows slightly open while I went into Tesco for 20 minutes and accidentally closed the windows... You get the idea.

As I said, I'm only speculating. I'm glad it doesn't have auto up, and wish it didn't have auto down either.

You know that every window regulator has an overload protection - it will disconnect power if there is too much drag - exp. from a finger... ?

n97 mini

Also, the driver window is the only one with auto close on the button. The others you have to hold up to get to close. Implies no pressure sensors on three windows, so possibly an even bigger safety issue. The dog could get his snout chopped off!