Questions from October 2012
Having driven round France with extreme caution on a recent holiday, I have just received an "Avis De Contravention Au Code De La Route" through the post. It was sent unregistered to my home in the UK...
My partner, who has MS, forgot to display her blue badge at Lincoln Hospital following an emergency dash to see her mother who had been taken by ambulance with suspected heart failure. Our appeal to TPS...
I bought a car from a dealer for £20,000 which was 100% financed via Hire Purchase through a finance broker.
I picked the car up from London and drove it home, some 400 miles. When I got home I noticed...
I have a Ford Ka special edition 2001 (X) reg. I have been told that the suspension and the clutch needs doing. Also there is a bump on the boot lid and the drivers window does not work, repairs would...
My daughter bought a Volkswagen Golf 2009 1.6 manual from a Volkswagen dealer with a one year parts guarantee. Shortly afterwards the handbrake failed while the car was parked and it rolled back into a...
I am thinking of buying a VW Golf or Audi A3. I dont want to spend more than £4K. Would a car with over 100k miles be a sound investment?
I'm from Northern Ireland and would like to know where in mainland UK is the best and largest car auctions to purchase cars to sell on.
I am aware of British Car Auctions, are there others?
A recent reader wrote saying that Mercedes had turned down a Warranty claim because the car had been serviced at an Independent garage.
My understanding was that provided the service was to the recommended...
I am buying a Berlingo Multispace and am interested in the e-HDI 90 Airdream with semi or full auto and stop/start. Is this a good choice and does the system work well?
We have owned a Subaru Forester X 2.0 since new from 2003. It now has 106,000 miles on the clock. It has become too expensive to run and we want to trade down to a smaller car which will only be used for...
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for all your advice. Purchased a new Hyundai ix35 via Drivethedeal, which I have been driving now for just over 1 week, and I am very happy with it. I found Drivethedeal...
Where can I buy an outside temperature gauge ?
I am looking for one that is connectable to the car battery system not one with its own battery. I bought one made in China and it was meant to run of...
My 2006 SEAT Altea has now had four heater rheostats, the last one only surviving for four days. The blower works fine but only on speed four once the rheostat has failed. SEAT are demanding we pay for...
Can you tell me the technical reasons why a 2007 118d 3d is 123 g/km but after September it's 119 g/km when they seem identical cars?
BMW could not say, only said cars manufactured after September 2007...
Are all Tiguans four-wheel drive?
Is a 140 ps TDi Bluemotion Oct 2010 Mk1 two or four-wheel drive?
Advertised as 4x4 by dealer, but buyer not sure.
which type of coolant do I require for a Sept 2009 Peugeot 207cc 1.6 VTI petrol engine?
I have a 1.6-litre Renault Megane auto which is regularly serviced.
While out driving today, car started juddering as if being starved of petrol. First a warning that gearbox needed checking, followed...
I bought my Passat (2004) in for an MOT retest on Saturday morning at 11am to a garage and they had my car until I called at 16:45. On first starting my car, a warning message came up on the dashboard...
I am about to buy a Audi A5 TDI 2010 reg, fully loaded.
Having test driven the car, I am quite happy with it. But have a few questions that I thought would post here.
1. Though it is a S Line, there...
Is £16K reasonable for a 51K mile, May 2009 Shogun Elegance (with sat nav and reversing camera)?
Car was last serviced at 42K miles in March 2012 - should I get another service done before I buy? car...
Our friends are moving to Dorset and want a small 4x4 for country lanes and have asked me to research. Requirements are diesel, leather upholstery, decent load area and able to drive safely through a ford....
My car is under three years old and the lacquer has lifted from the centre 4" of the alloy wheels.
I bought it second hand from a Mercedes dealer and although I have some minor scuffing caused by me,...
I am looking to buy a Jaguar X-Type estate 2.2D automatic in either SE or Sovereign trim and I believe they are all fitted with DPFs. I commute 25 miles each way to work and do 15,000 per year. Should...
I bought a T5 Caravelle second hand last year. All was fine until we did a long journey to Cape Town (we live in Namibia) and before heading back the car started vibrating when accelerating.
In CT we...
I have a 2003 Seat Leon TDI SE 130hp (remapped). Under medium acceleration the car lurches or chokes and there is a kind of sucking noise from the engine. Don't know much about cars but any help would...
Soon I shall need to replace my 2 year old Giulietta 1.4 multi-air for something that is good on steep hills, mud and rutted tracks so will need fairly high ground clearance. What would be a good choice...
My car (2012 Mercedes-Benz E250 CDI - 4000 miles on clock) was swamped whilst travelling on a flooded road. My car insurers have agreed to pay for a new engine. The Mercedes authorised repair garage wants...
I recently bought a 2009 BMW 3 Series Touring from The Car Shop in Northampton. I saw the car advertised on Auto Trader's website and then checked the car out on their own site. In the ad they state that...
I have a 1999 Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI estate with 142,000 miles which is suffering from severe penetrated rust in the rear floorpan. I was put in touch with Mercedes-Benz Customer Relations who asked if...
I recently purchased a 2011 Audi 2.0-litre Allroad Estate. I am generally delighted with the car, as I wanted a four-wheel drive estate but I do have a pet hate, which is that it excessively follows the...
I am about to trade in my 2003 BMW 320d for a 2011 example of the same model but with automatic transmission. My current car is manual and does not have a diesel particulate filter, but the new one does....
I have seen a 2002 Porsche Boxster 3.2 S for sale at a local garage. It will be a part-ex for my 2007 MX5 with 6000 miles on the clock and a full main dealer service history. The Porsche is £12,000 and...
With three young grandchildren my beloved BMW 3-Series convertible is becoming less practical. I am reluctant to part with it and so I am considering a used inexpensive runabout with seven seats for when...
My 2001 BMW 320i is a joy to drive and has only done 56,000 miles. It is used mainly for longer runs and can return almost 40mpg. My wife's car is a 2003 Yaris and is used as a runabout and was, until...
I have a 2009 Mercedes-Benz C220 CDI. Over the last week a single bleep has started emit from the centre console area every four to five minutes. This happens both with the radio/CD player on and off....
I have a problem with the self-dimming interior light in my 2007 Nissan Qashqai 1.5dci. On numerous occasions we have discovered the battery flat after a weekend, and the dealer says diagnostic scans find...
My 2007 Skoda Octavia diesel, which has covered under 40,000 miles, recently developed a fault involving the steering, speedometer and ABS. The car was taken to a Skoda garage and the ECU had a replacement...
I have a 2010 Subaru Outback Boxer diesel which has covered 23,000 miles. I had planned to keep it for a further two years but due to the possibility of problems with the DPF, dual mass flywheel and the...
My car was damaged in a Tesco car park. On Friday I tweeted the link to my blog about this to Tesco's customer service Twitter channel. I received a reply saying that they want to help. On Friday and Saturday...
The airbag light came on in my Subaru Forester about one month ago and stayed on. I contacted Airbagman because of Honestjohn's recommendation in Saturday Motoring. They called me back within two days....
I'm looking for a new SUV and am attracted to something environmentally friendly. I'm finding it difficult to ignore the Peugeot 3008 diesel hybrid. Is the FWD diesel, RWD electric and 4WD combined concept...
I intend to replace my Motability Ford Focus with the 1.4-litre B-Max. But my Ford salesman tells me that Ford is currently doing a special deal on the C-Max 1.6. Which do you feel is the better car?
I...
I am relating this experience in the hope it will reach a wider audience and serve as a warning of what they can expect when taking up the police offer, as a first time offender, of taking a speed awareness...
Failed to tell the insurance company about a TS10 'Failing to stop at traffic lights.'
Now I have had an accident and they are trying to void my insurance. I was not trying to avoid paying a higher premium...
Should I expect the satellite navigation system in my 2012 Nissan Qashqai to be up to date for European roads? I was disappointed to find, on a recent trip near Evian, France, that there was one part of...
Can you tell me how I find out if there is any finance outstanding on a car I am thinking of buying?
Please pass this on to Mike Rutherford in relation to his item about dealers selling cars “at cost”. Many years ago David Brown Senior was at a lunchtime cocktail party in Huddersfield when he was approached...
My daughter has a 2007 Mazda MX-5 and now has a 20-month-old son. She has been driving my Fiesta and I her MX5, but I need my car back. Should she keep the MX5 until he no longer needs a car seat? Garaging...
Under The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) British military personnel and civilian support staff serving in Germany are entitled to purchase a new car (New Means of Transport) free of VAT. Once the car...
The parking brake on my 2005 Land Rover Discovery 3 has just failed at 70,000 miles, and the local Land Rover dealer is charging me £1100 to repair it. This seems to me to be an unutterable waste of money...
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