taztastic wrote:

EYorkshire wrote:

Seeing Graeme has a manual it will be a first if it starts in second when he's in first

I forgot they still do DIY boxes

I saw one on 'Antiques Road Show' last week.

simont wrote:

Go on I'll say it again ...

Isn't the auto starting in 2nd gear solved by the fitting of an earth cable to the gearbox

Not on mine it didnt

The salesman for my MY57 auto told me that the car would always start in second and if need be to use command shift if I wanted first. I think it was a factory setting...... presume my MY10 auto is the same...... JT Upgraded to an ex demo, 7 mth old, Rimini Red/Ebony Napoli Auto HSE on 28th Jan 2011, added roof rails, mudflaps and side strips.
Gone - A great 57 Plate, Auto SE, Bought Feb 2009, Roof Rails and Mudflaps added on purchase. Blue colour, anything but drug dealer black.....

Thanks JT

thanks for the reply's gents, getting some vibes the manual box is not the best.

have a really annoying ticking from the b pillar and i am going to try this tread at the weekend.

http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic3177.html?highlight=b+pillar

also i have some side steps to go on at the weekend to stop the doors getting dinted at Sainsbury's. they are the three bracket type using a rivnut tool. hoping i don't get to many problems

still loving the car, got 500 miles out of my first tank which aint to bad

In my opinion, having owned 2, the there is nothing wrong with the manual gearbox. I find the gear change to be smooth and as responsive as I want. I also drive an auto at work sometimes and it is also a good box. Down to personal choice at the end of the day.

In my opinion side steps are not that good at stopping the car park dings. What are better are the side protection strips which are fitted about half way up the door panel and protrude far enough to catch carelessly opened doors before they come into contact with the door/paintwork.

The Freely is taller than most cars therefore an opening car door will hit the Freely raised bottom door skirt before touching the door or the inserts half way up if fitted.
If side steps are fitted this would stop anything that doesn't stand as tall as a Freely, although I don't have them fitted.

This is a guess and may not be true