Questions from June 2011
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?...
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 filled out the real life figures for my Honda Jazz 1.2 in April /May. My figures were included and gave my true readings. However the site has taken out my readings and the Jazz 1.2 readings today are...
My unoccupied car was hit in a car park. The third party filled his report accepting blame but advised me he was instructed not to admit liability.
My broker (Swinton) put me on to carcare who wanted...
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...
My Saab 9-3 went in for a service two weeks ago and was diagnosed with a broken coil spring. To begin with I was delighted with Saabs response that they would cover 100% of the cost due to the age and...
As my car is now three years old does the £31 pm service care cost represent good value when compared to the likely service bills I will have to pay? I propose to keep the car for at least another 3/4...
On Friday 1st April I was driving along the road in my 2006 Audi A4 convertible with my three year old daughter.
All of a sudden I started to smell an intense smell of burning and smoke stared pouring...
Is the Captiva considered a 4x4? Some have told me yes and some no, now I am confused.
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...
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....
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 not sold a car privately for about 15 years and would like to know the safest way to go about this. The BMW MINI dealer only offered £3,500 for my MINI Cooper as a trade-in, but suggested I may...
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...
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...
From time to time on my travels here in Kent, Surrey and Sussex I have seen a tree surgeon who has a Lamborghini four-wheel-drive. It’s an ugly brute of a car. The Lamborghini is signwritten and the guy...
I was interested to read that you are currently running a Mazda 5 1.6 diesel. I sold my 5-year-old 63,000 mile Mazda 5 1.9d Sport prior to going on a long trip to New Zealand and am now looking to replace...
We are thinking of trading our Toyota Yaris diesel next year for the new Yaris Hybrid, which is coming soon. However, talking to our mechanic and the Toyota salesperson, we are advised that benefit from...
I’d like to make a general comment following your comments on compulsory ESP installation. I have driven many miles on snow in Scandinavia over 20 years and the worst incident I have encountered was I'm...
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 a Mercedes-Benz E280CDI, which I bought new in November 2005 and which has patches of corrosion on all four of the alloy wheels. My local dealer has sent photographs of the corrosion to Mercedes-Benz...
Like many of your readers my car was logged as overstaying a 2-hour limit in a B&Q car park. The parking company were given my personal details by the DVLA in order to track me down. The company concerned...
I am looking to change my KIA Sorento, bought 15 months ago. I have now had to give up caravanning and am looking for a smaller car with high seating and have looked at the Skoda Yeti which I am very impressed...
Some time ago you recommended a source for car breakdown cover. At the time I was able to locate the appropriate website but, as my current RAC cover had some time to go, I filed away the information in...
I have a Volkswagen Passat diesel with DSG gearbox. I believe that you have suggested that there is less likelihood of damage to a DMF with an automatic gearbox. Does this apply also to a DSG? You have...
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...
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...
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