Full size spares

In May I shredded a tyre while in France. I was glad to be driving a Mondeo with a full-size spare. I was able to replace the tyre with an identical Michelin the same day. What would have happened if I...

Family/ Learner car compromise

My daughter turns 17 later this year and will start learning to drive. We run a Toyota Auris 1.6 and while I think it would be ok to learn in I suspect the insurance may be prohibitively expensive, so...

A new car for touring

I want a comfortable, well appointed, easy driving car with good cargo capacity and weight/torque ratio, towing and soft off-road capable. Please rate my short list and any I may have missed. Freelander...

ESP light flashing

My esp (skid) light has come on, the esp button does not appear to do anything but I hadn't noticed that before the light came on. Not sure what the button is supposed to do as the manual is terribly...

Could a broken pollen filter seal be causing water ingress to my Volkswagen Passat?

I know that wet footwells in pre-2005 Volkswagen Passats come up time and again, but can you please remind me of the possible causes? From memory, I gather that the seal on the pollen filter, if faulty,...

Which used Passat?

I am looking to buy a VW Passat estate. I heard the 2.0 tdi 140 bhp are the best, but after searching on the net and reading blogs I am confused about which one to buy. Would it also be dodgy to buy private?...

Passat pollen filter

How do you change the seal on the pollen filter on my Passat?

Recommend a small family car

Hello, our Ford Focus 1.6 has recently died (broken cambelt), and urgently need a new car. Like the medium sized cars, and need plently of boot space. Have a budget of approx £7000. Happy to use petrol...

Passat Estate - Is it worth repairing?

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...

Excessive oil consumption

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...