Ask Honest John

Most recently answered consumer rights questions
I am about to trade in my old Ford Focus for a year-old Focus. I've just noticed an item on the quote listed as "Documentation and Taxation" with a value of £74.73 plus VAT. I don't recall this being...
We had a problem with a knocking sound on our 2005 Toyota Avensis. We extended the warranty in September 2009, and had the car serviced and MOTd under their terms. We were shocked to hear that we would...
My wife has a Merecedes-Benz A-Class bought just over a year ago from one of the car supermarkets. It still has outstanding warranty on it and runs well. It is low mileage, but has been used daily by ourselves....
My son-in-law has purchased, two months ago, a 2005 Vauxhall Astra CDTI (1.7-litre turbo diesel). The car is a saloon hatchback with only 31,000 miles on the clock. My son-in-law uses the car daily, but...
I just bought a Volkswagen Golf GTI and I have a warranty of either 3000 miles or three months. Trouble is, the garage serviced the car before I bought it and changed the timing belt and pulleys. It is...
In October 2008 we bought a new Skoda Fabia 2. Recently the electrics all blew and the engine died. I phoned Skoda Assist, the car still being in warranty. They sent the RAC to me and a very nice man arrived...
I bought a 55-plate Ford Focus with 51,000 miles on the clock back in February 2009 for £6500. It has now developed an engine fault that my local Ford dealership tell me will cost either £400 plus VAT...
I bought my car from a dealership in 2009. It's an one-year-old ex-demo with low mileage. No problems with previous service history. This year in Feb it started having problems. The engine indicator lights...
I have a Peugeot 207 SW with just 30,000 miles on the clock. It is still within its three-year warranty and at 29,000 miles the clutch went. Peugeot would not repair this under warranty and the new clutch...
Regarding the email from MU in Saturday's HJ column, what is a "private dealer" please? I thought private car sales are exempt from consumer rights protection.