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Honest John Ask Honest John » January 2010
Trending topics in January 2010
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Questions from January 2010
Whilst on holiday last year in Sardinia I hired a couple of scooters on two separate days, from a hire company in Alghero. Last week I received a summons (all in English) from the Comando di Polizia Municipale,...
I had a wonderful, carefree holiday in South of France, until we came to return the Avis hire car at Marseille Airport. The car had acquired a small chip on the windscreen not a problem I though since...
After its last service at our local Honda dealer, my wife was told her November 2004 Jazz (37,000 miles) needed new rear pads and discs, pads through wear (ok) but discs because they were suffering from...
I am considering buying, from new, one of either a VW Golf plus 2.0 SE TDI 6 speed auto DSG, or a Seat Altea 2.0 SE TDI DSG auto, and would appreciate your advice as to which you would recommend, bearing...
My Renault Megane has a tyre pressure monitoring system fitted. Recently it alerted me that one tyre had low pressure. I drove to the garage to put some air in. However when I removed the plastic valve...
I hope you don't mind me asking, but you mentioned an insurance company that insures young drivers, 18 years old. I am trying to get insurance for an 18 year old on an Audi A3 and am having difficulty.
Could you please let me know what you think are the top three automatic 4x4s based on the lowest petrol or diesel consumption.
My left knee requires surgery, and I drive a considerable number of miles to work. I have been looking for an automatic diesel saloon (preferably 4-wheel drive), and have had little luck. Do you know of...
I would like your advice please. My friend whose brother has just died has a 1924 Alvis to sell. She lives in Herefordshire and is not computer literate. What is the best way to sell it? I understand it...
I have received a notice from Athena ANPR Ltd., PO Box 306, Chertsey, KT16 6ED, issued 12/01/11 for a "reduced charge" of £45.00 if I pay by within two weeks [otherwise £90.00] for an overstay of 13 minutes,...
I was grateful for all the help you gave me in the past so I thought I would give you a feed back on the effect of these high fuel prices in country areas of Sussex. I know you rely on feedback for your...
Another 2 years have gone by and I write again to wonder why people still talk about miles per gallon. Is it not now time to be honest enough to promote miles per litre instead? When was petrol last sold...
On the Vectra C forum the spring failure count is now 801. The latest post from ‘Kristian’ was a corker: “Both my rears and the front drivers failed. My front spring failure was the scariest as it went...
In which year were particulate filters first fitted to diesel engines in cars? My 5,000pa mileage is made up of short runs of 5 miles each way and longer runs of 125miles each way about 6 times a year....
I'm prompted by PS's and AB's letters in today's Daily Telegraph motoring section to follow up my recent email re the Protection from Harassment Act. Generally, your readers will have already suffered...
I have recently bought a used 4-berth medium-sized caravan, for the first time. I am safety minded, and a bit concerned that my current SAAB 9-3 Sportwagon is a little lightweight compared to the recommendation...
When I recently bought a new Auris hybrid, I was offered various "extras" in insurance and protection and wonder which, if any, you would recommend taking out. These are: 1) 3 years guaranteed paintwork...
My wife has decided to cease driving for health reasons and reluctantly must part with her 1986 Mini that has been with her for almost all of the past 24 years. The car is garaged, very low mileage, gold...
Last year I stayed 17 minutes longer than the free two hours at a shopping complex car park in Kidderminster. I duly received notice of a £40 fine from Excel Parking of Sheffield to which I replied with...
Early last summer I was delighted to take delivery of a new BMW 320D Estate but regrettably it has not lived up to my expectations, BMW has, and is continuing to deal with clutch judder and engine management...
My cars are insured with Aviva. Last year my car was broken into. I phoned Aviva and gave them the details. Shortly afterwards I had a call from a Basingstoke garage arranging to collect my car and leave...
I would appreciate some advice regarding the annual running costs of diesel versus petrol. We have been running two diesel cars. My Audi A4 is 08 registered diesel - currently just under 42,000 miles on...
I live in Dorchester and have decided to buy a little car to go to work in. The car will do a very short journey (about 1 mile) twice a day. I would walk to work except that I have to carry heavy items....
Recently I hit a pothole that wrecked a fairly new tyre on our Volvo V50. (This was the second tyre ruined in 12 months due to deep potholes.) The pothole was impossible to avoid because of oncoming traffic....
I have some experience of the Mercedes Mobilo 30 year body warranty. In 2004 I bought privately a low mileage 1999 Mercedes S500 (W220), made in the dark days of MB quality control. It was silver, which...
Recently the police took my car away from me on the premise that I did not have my license to hand, (the DVLA had not returned it from the six month ban I received in May 2010). This ban ended on 7th...
My 2003/53 Jaguar S-Type has been off the road for over 10 weeks because of the = unavailability of outer CV joint kits - both of the existing N/S and O/S joints are corroded. Regular updates from Jaguar...
My wife ordered a new Polo 1.4SE DSG on 15 June 2010 against a specification/price list dated 1 April 2010 and brochure 1 March 2010. We collected the car 15 November 2010. We later noticed the car had...
I have a 2008 BMW 118d owned from new with 30,000 miles. In the last few weeks the clock has lost the time three times, the low battery light has come on sometimes on start up, the stop/start has quit...
In the early hours one morning last week, my driver's side mirror was clipped and damaged by a passing car while I was in a roadside shop picking up a paper. The driver of the car not only stopped but...
As a full car license holder of many years, I am allowed by law to sit in the passenger seat of a car driven by a learner driver, assuming they are insured to drive that car, etc. But what is the situation...
Which is worse: petrol in a diesel car or diesel in a petrol car and why?
Last summer I purchased a used Toyota Yaris from a local main dealer and in this purchase was given a 12-month warranty. Recently I have had to return the vehicle for warranty repair, leaking wheel cylinder,...
My Audi TT 3.2 Quattro broke down with an almost complete loss of power on a dual carriageway in late December during the freezing weather. The car just about staggered to the verge without anyone colliding...
Are you picking up any adverse comment on the gearbox of the Toyota Yaris 1.33 TR? My son bought a new one in May 2009 and from the word go it seemed difficult to engage gears. He wanted to reject the...
My VW Touran 1.9TDI ESP light came on in February and sure enough I needed a new ABS control unit. This was diagnosed in March at my local VW dealership where my car has been fully maintained since I bought...
I have an Audi A6 diesel 3 litre Allroad which has 19” wheels. Would it ride better on 17” wheels, and would it cope better in winter in snow and ice. I would value your advice and hope to hear from you...
As a fan of the small claims track at the county court you should warn your readers that it can take up to 8 months to get a hearing date. This will alter from court to court.
What's the situation regarding daytime running lights please? We've just tried out a new VW Polo and the salesman emphasised the fact that it already had daytime running lights and that they would be mandatory...
If I can help in the campaign against speed cushions, please let me know. I run a small telco and have facilities to host a website on this issue. If I can get some material together, I rather feel like...
Is everyone aware of this Government’s intention to deprive motorists of the right to a Court hearing before Magistrates? The fixed penalty system has been systematically extended over the last twelve...
I recently bought a 2006 1.4 Vauxhall Astra Estate and, although it is the base model, I was originally very pleased with it. The 1.4 engine does an excellent job pulling such a heavy car but is still...
I have recently purchased a 2009 Audi A3 TDI 3-door 1.9 diesel and have a problem when refuelling. The nozzle of the garage diesel pump is too large to go fully into the opening of the fuel tank. This...
Please can you give me some advice re the sale of a 10 week old FIAT 500 1.2 Pop. We bought it under scrappage as my daughter was starting work and needed a more reliable car, but in the knowledge that...
I was returning from Oxford yesterday afternoon on the A4074, when I came upon a queue of traffic of about a dozen vehicles doing 30mph. What was causing this moving holdup: a tractor or a milk float?...
My daughter has a W Reg Rover 25 on which the electrics fail periodically. No faults have been found in a full auto-electric check and the battery can be reactivated with jump leads. As she carries young...
Last July I purchased 4 new tyres after 33,000 miles. They were fitted by a well-established company. Two weeks ago my car failed an MoT for having directional tyres fitted the wrong way round. Whatever...
The turbo on BMW 320d failed after 7 years and 53,000 miles. A new unit was fitted but the engine ran roughly and misfired. A scope fed into the inlet manifold revealed that a flap valve was missing...
Some weeks ago you wrote that when buying a new car using the scrappage scheme the unused road tax was not redeemable. On October 7th 2009 I traded in my old car and took delivery of a Mazda 3 from Colliers...
This weekend I viewed a small Mazda car on display in a Guildford mall. When I expressed interest in the automatic version on show and on trading in my wife's old Ford Fiesta, I was advised that scrappage...
 

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