Questions from June 2011
I am retiring in January next year, my current company (lease) car (Skoda Octavia L&K Estate 20. DSG) expires when 4 years old in December. Mileage at that point will be around 32,000.
I am considering...
I purchased a VW California brand new from main dealer in Sept 2009 for £37,000.
So far I have had 12 visits excluding regular services for fairly serious failures - from pop up roof seizures to electrical...
I had a reduced supercharger pulley fitted to my MINI two weeks ago. Three days ago while being 200 miles from home, it frayed the drive belt. Luckily (I thought) I was near the company that fitted the...
My daughter has two young girls and her and her partner need a replacement for their Zafira. They need room, economy and reliability and have a budget of about £8,000.
The standard tyres on the rear of my 3 Series Coupe will be 255/35 R18 whereas on my current car I have 255/30 R19s.
Will the overall diameter of the wheel and tyre be identical, or will the R18s be smaller?...
I recently had a grinding noise coming from my rear driver side brake.
I took it to a garage and they told me I will need a new caliper at some point. They stripped the brake, cleaned and reassembled...
Please could you comment on this statement on the IAM website as I always assumed you should put an auto into neutral at a standstill to minimise wear.
'When stationary in traffic, even for many minutes,...
In comparison to the five-year warranty on the Hyundai Santa Fe, how much is the extra two years worth on the seven-year warranty on the Kia Sorento?
Bought a brand new Jag XF in March 2010, since April 2011 the car has been back to dealer three times for an intermittent electrical fault which causes absolutely everything to stop working. The first...
I have sold my motor bike and I am not replacing it. As a matter of courtesy I informed my insurance company, Hastings Direct, so they would not issue a renewal notice. To my surprise they want a cancellation...
I've heard there can be problems changing a battery in a fob key. Is this true or can you just simply change it?
I had a Freelander 2 internal gearbox failure at 55k. Car bought from main dealer as pre-owned vehicle and serviced at main dealer according to service interval. I was informed that I do not meet their...
Bought the car new in December 2009. It has always only averaged 25mpg and several other road tests show the same. Have had a go at BMW but no joy. Have tried OFT to get this gross misrepresentation examined...
I recently went to Mercedes to try and trade in my 53 plate E320CDi Avantgarde against a 2008 ML edition 10. Both had average mileage. Parkers list my car at £6,300, but the dealer offered me £5,000. Parkers...
I have a Peugeot 306 2000 model. I drove for about a mile yesterday and the car overheated up to over 100 degrees. Water was leaking from the water tank due to the pressure. Once opened it spurted a load...
Our 2006 Renault Megane Sport has a chronic stalling problem, worse after filling with petrol. The garage seems unable to pinpoint the problem. It has done 11,500miles. Is this a known quirk or are we...
I'm considering buying an old Land Rover Defender 90 to use on my small holding, occasional school runs with three kids and short trips to the beach with the dogs etc.
Is there anything I should be wary...
The clockspring in Crossfire 2005 with 25k miles failed setting off horn. Next day I took it into dealer and airbags deployed on mechanic`s face as he drove it into workshop prior to any intervention....
My Kuga has 18" rims. I would like to fit steel wheels with winter tyres for use between Nov and March each year.
Where can I get steel wheels and studs from (your links seem to give just alloys) and...
I was recently involved in a car accident. The other driver pulled out of a side road and hit my car which was on a main road turning right into the said side road.
The other driver is now lying and...
I Have a new Hyundai Santa Fe Premium on an 11-plate.
After 3,000 miles the oil warning light came on. Checking the dipstick it was out of oil.
I phoned the local Hyundai garage and they said to top it...
Just thought I'd let you know that when my mum took her 5 year old Mercedes A class for an MOT last month, it failed due to a broken front coil spring (no doubt helped by the recent proliferation of pot...
I am looking for a small medium size family car must seat 3 kids in back, economy not an issue due to limited mileage. Performance and style important, £20k budget for used 2 to 3 years. Lots of city use...
I have a 1998 Mondeo V6 Auto. 74,000mls. Clean car with full history.
I have owned it for four months and it has been absolutely faultless. However, whilst driving couple of days ago, without any warning...
I've had this car for a few years but had a problem recently whereby it would suddenly feel like the brakes had been slammed on for an instant whilst driving.
It was diagnosed as due to faulty wiring...
I have a 58 plate Golf GT Sport 1.4 TSi and during the first 20,000 miles I did not need to add any engine oil between services.
Since then the engine is using about 1 litre of oil in every 4000 miles...
Which would you recommend the most out of Mazda 3, Skoda Octavia, and Kia Cee'd?
Bought a new Tiguan in October 2010, current mileage 10,104 and I have just had a flywheel replacement under warranty.
I hope this will not ber a regular occurance! I am concerned. Is there anything...
Considering Mercedes CLC '08/'10 180 Kompressor petrol auto.
Daily drive is five miles, weekly some 30 mile trips, monthly an occasional 60+ miles.
Should I go for a diesel auto though? Don't like...
I have a 51 plate C240 Mercedes, with 73k miles on the clock.
It has had the front and rear shock absorbers replaced as well as the front bushes.
It has 17 inch wheels. Over normal road conditions...
I have just taken delivery of a new Audi A3, which is excellent. However as a senior citizen with slight hearing difficulties I find that I cannot always hear the turn indicator beeper as well as I would...
I have just been quoted £3,600 by a BMW dealer to fit a tow hitch to my BMW 530D GT. I was told the car would have to reprogrammed for towing and electrical work would have to carried out. A local tow...
The item in the recent issue of the Telegraph on the DoT issuing an uncompromising formal warning to drivers to "get insured ahead of a new crackdown" has provided me with topical food-for-thought. My...
I was recently involved in a car crash. The resulting damage to my car has meant that it has been written off by my insurance company. The car is a Ford Racing Puma and was insured for £6,000. An independent...
Our local paper recently detailed the treatment a crime victim had when his car was damaged by vandals which I hope will be of interest. It is a good example of what is wrong with this country - too soft...
This is a subject that really irks me. I spend a lot of time in the Canary Islands and mainland Spain. It is not an uncommon sight to see UK-registered vehicles being driven openly on Spanish roads. Some...
I was recently stopped by an unmarked police car and accused of exceeding a temporary 40mph speed limit on a dual carriageway at 9.45am. I maintained 40mph throughout the road works and accelerated to...
I purchased a Honda CR-V ES 2.2iDTEC in May 2011. I am pleased with it but hope you can answer two questions. I understood that the road tax for this vehicle was £165 per year as compared with £140 for...
What, if anything, is the difference between a "pre-registered" car and a "nearly new" one?
I read in your column today your advice on insuring teenage drivers. My granddaughter is approaching 17 and the problem of insurance raises its head. You say that a discount may be obtained if a seasoned...
My son is looking into the purchase of a campervan for recreation through the year. His mileage is likely to be fairly low. Having looked at a number of vans, the majority would appear to be powered by...
We purchased a Hyundai i10 1.2 Auto Comfort in September of last year and last week my wife, when passing parked cars, drifted in a little and clipped a mirror. Our mirror shattered instantly and a second...
When my wife's 12-year-old BMW needed replacing she was delighted to acquire an 18-month-old Jaguar X-Type diesel. The car joined my own 9-year-old petrol X-Type, which is still going strong after 120,000...
I have a Volkswagen Passat CC GT that is just over a year old. For some time I have been aware of rusting on all four wheel hubs which, apart from being unsightly, gives me cause for concern over possible...
Over the last couple of weeks my wife, who has a prestigious German car, has been contacted twice by our local dealer. He advised that because the car was five years old they were obliged by Health & Safety...
My wife recently bought a low mileage used Volkswagen Golf automatic from Partingtons of Woking. We were very impressed with the pre-handover service received, with various items such as broken wing mirror...
I have just read your response to a reader concerning how to join a motorway. The reader wrote that drivers joining the motorway have no right of way but your reply says otherwise. You wrote: “The priority...
Having, regrettably, had to sell my pristine XJS convertible through lack of winter garage space, I would be most grateful to know which "Eurocar" convertible available, at least three years old and no...
The new requirement for continuous registration seems to be very a very unjust regulation biased in favour of extracting even more money from the hard-pressed motorist. This prompts me to enquire how the...
I have an old motorbike registered in 1994 but not taxed since 1999 (I think that was the last date it was taxed). I bought it in 1999 to do track days on and have never used it on the road since. I don’t...
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