First things first. 'Mercury' has joined our garagehold. He is a silver metallic 1987 345A Variomatic with 42,000 genuine miles on his clock. His general condition is absolutely first class and he is a credit to his long term first owner. In many ways he seems almost as new. There is minor corrosion round both rear wheel arches and at the base of the NS 'C' pillar ahead of the rear wheel. This will receive professional attention this week. Mechanically things are also generally excellent with two areas of minor'?!' concern. On these I would welcome expert advice.

Firstly is what I gather from a forum trawl is fairly commonplace, namely very heavy steering at manoevering speeds. Remedial work will need to be carried out professionally as I am no mechanic and in addition I am an elderly old buffer with Parkinson's Disease! Can anyone recommend a sound garage within a reasonable distance from West Kirby? Are likely needed spare parts available - where from?

Secondly I feel that the variomatic drive is too willing to change down when I endeavour to accelerate gently from 40mph to higher speeds. 24 mpg is the order of the day. My recommended mechanic will need to be 'Vario' savvy in order to check everything out. Perhaps I should mention that I have been driving Dafs for many years and still use a 1973 '33' daily so I am fully conversant with the 'vario' system from the driver's point of view.

I aim to have as good a car as possible as soon as possible. All advice will be welcomed and acknowleged on this forum. Thanks.

Marcus H.

Welcome to the forum Marcus.

The most common cause of overly heavy steering is the strut top mounts and the top bearings. With everything in good order I find the steering to have a nice feel but some will still find it heavy. I stock a vast range of parts for the 300 series.

I am based on Anglesey so not a million miles away but not exactly on your door step either but I know what I am looking for on these cars