Ask Honest John

Most recently answered maintenance and servicing questions
My Honda CR-V has an intermittent fault, when in first gear - it jumps out of gear. I've taken it to the dealership, who've said they have put it on their machine and can't find anything. They say nothing...
I have a 1969 Volkswagen Type 2 campervan. It starts as sweet as a nut when it's cold, but once it's warm it struggles to tick over. Once running, it's fine. Any ideas what the problem is?
Our 2011 Volkswagen Caravelle broke down suddenly (no warning lights) a month ago. A local, non-franchise Volkswagen garage replaced the number one injector. The van broke down again on a long run last...
The other day I was driving my 2012 Renault Scenic 1.5 DCi when the Check Anti Pollution System Message came on with a slight loss of power. I managed to get the car to a mechanic. He took the vehicle...
My Ford S-Max needs a new automatic gearbox at three years, 47,000 miles. Ford will not accept liability. How should I proceed?
Our Renault Clio only covers about 3000 miles per year. The pollen filter is changed at each annual service but I feel that this is a bit overkill. Should I stretch the replacement interval and save some...
Whilst driving along, my 2012 Mazda 3 1.6d (39,000 miles) suddenly juddered and went into limp mode. I cautiously negotiated to the hard shoulder with the dashboard lit up with maintenance, ABS, and warning...
I bought a 10 year old BMW 3 Series cabriolet from a private seller two days ago. It had 74,000 miles on it and nearly full service history (missed 1 in 2013). I drove it for two days with an intermittent...
I've been told by my local Skoda dealer that my 2012 Octavia 1.8 TSi DSG Estate needs a new DSG as it suffered a failure. They found metal debris in the gearbox when they stripped it. Any ideas why it...
Is it usual for a belt tensioner to go off centre and shred the belt? This was the case with our Peugeot 3008 at 28,000 miles.