At just under 3 yrs old and 60,000 miles my 2.0 hdi picasso needs a new front pipe and back box at a price coming in around £500. The catalytic converter is integral with the front pipe, thats the big cost. Car is mainly used on long journeys - 2 hrs plus, driven to get there as such.

This is a shock to the system. I thought that diesel exhaust systems had an easier time rustwise than petrol jobs due to less condensation?

I've been driving around in various 'sheds' all these years and never had to replace a front pipe. First brand new car and this happens. Is this normal? Do they make exhausts out of cardboard these days and do you think I have any comeback against Citroen?

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

AlanFC Read more

{Thread made Read Only. Reason should be apparant in one or more of the posts subsequently made by chasman below. DD}

Dear John,

I have a VW Passatt TDI 130 bhp (or used to!)

At just over 100,000 miles there was loss of power which was caused by turbo failure.
This was rectified by the local VW dealer (turbo boost valve) who was not prepared to offer a sympathetic warranty despite it being only 4000 miles over the warranty. I have had no problems with the engine until this time.

At motorway speeds the engine seemed lumpy and the fuel consumption reduced to 35 mpg, about 12 mpg what it usually is. I mentioned it to the garage who suggested I book it back in but because it was driveable they wouldn't be able to look at it for at least two weeks.

After a couple of weeks it failed again with exactly the same symptoms.

I took it in again and something else was replaced on the turbo - the mass air flow sensor. According to other sources this can fail at mileage above 90,000 miles however is not something that is checked during any service.

Six weeks later the turbo exploded when I was driving at high speed in the outside lane of the motorway. There was a loud clanking sound and grey and black smoke everywhere so much so I couldn't see where i was going!

The VW dealer said that the problem was unrelated to their previous work on the car and that a bolt on the turbo had worked loose, got into the engine which and then all the oil was sucked out over the bonnet and onto windscreen. When I asked why they said that 'this usually happens'.

If it usually happens why is not reported as a design fault and checked during services? I queried this and they had no answer but to tell me that a new engine would cost £6000 to fit.

As the dealer was involved with fixing the turbo in the first place and also mentioned that the bolt working loose is a common fault then why was it not checked during the time it was in the garage and also during the service in between these times?

Please can you advise what I should do as I believe the garage or VW to be partly responsible for this known issue.

Chas Edgington
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I've a 2002 51 plate Peugeot 406 2.0 HDi(90) Rapier which I'm trying to sell. It's the 4 door saloon in silver, excellent condition with 45000 miles on the clock.

It's advertised in Autotrader, Exchange & Mart, Tradeit (local bristol freeads - sold 2 cars through this previously) and Adtrader in Wales.

Advertised at 5250 ono, but i've had absolutley no interest in 2 weeks, and its starting to worry me.

Is there something else i can do?

Thanks

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Hi all - Just got my Costco 'Passport' through and for those of you who are interested they'll be doing the following offer:

Navman iCN510 in car & mobile GPS navigation system 'premium edition' for £281.99 (incl VAT) between 7-13/11/05. This is £50 off the normal price.

Membership costs just over £20 pa but I seem to recall you can get this refunded if you're not happy at any time within the first year.

I have no idea what these units typically sell for but Costco electronics are normally very good value and they have a range of other car related stuff at very good prices.

Also, in my experience and unlike some of their internet and retail rivals, their customer service is excellent. Our Costco sourced Philips 32" TV recently conked out 2 years and 11 months into its 3 year warranty and I was given a full refund - no questions asked. All other 'returns' I've made over the years have been equally unproblematic with full refunds given on the spot. Read more

my mate has a presentable gt4 celica on a H plate, he came around the other day to show off his new stainless exhaust, while i laid in the road having a look i noticed the sills where rotten...i recon i could poke a hole as big as my fist on one side and the other would make a hole if proded

is this a common thing on celicas?? ive not seen many rusty jap cars at all...the rust is level with the back edge of the door Read more