Saw a 5 series yesterday with a homemade for sale sign in the window.

Nothing unusual but the sign was in the middle of the windscreen and the car was being driven along the A5.

Was it the driver's way of showing she was a genuine, and not bleached, blonde? Read more

Dear Motorist,

I am unhappy with Ford Motor Company regarding the repair of a common fault on the current Mondeo range, namely rear suspension / sub frame bushes, which come loose and cause a disturbing knocking noise from the rear of the car.

I exercised my consumer rights and brought the car to my local non franchised mechanic who I have happily used for 17 years with complete satisfaction, he duly informed me that the bushes had gone, which was a relatively common repair. I enquired if the repair would be covered under warranty as the car was under 3 years old and had less than 60 k miles on the clock, he said that it might be but would check.

I also checked with Ford by phoning their customer service line, they told me that it was a wear & tear item and not covered by warranty, I challenged this and the customer service representative said "we can argue this point all day long but it is not covered by warranty, goodbye" and duly put the phone down on me, hardly good customer relations!

I then instructed my mechanic to effect the repair. He replaced two of the four bushes, however, shortly after the repair was carried out the knocking noise returned, so my mechanic took the car back and replaced the other two bushes. However, within hours I was aware that the problem had not been sorted so the mechanic drove with me in the car to listen to the noise and he decided to carry out further checks on the drop links. He found that the drop links were fine and drew a blank.

I then took the car to the nearest Ford franchised dealer, who reported that the original fault was a warranty repair but because I had the repair carried out before and that that repair was defective that they could not rectify the fault under warranty.

My grievance is that I believe in the first instance I was mislead by the Ford Customer Service helpline who told me that it was not a warranty repair. The fact that I then exercised my rights as a consumer to use a non franchised dealer to effect the repair is neither here nor there.

I spent over an hour on the customer service line speaking (very calmly) to the representative and then to his supervisor, who as I thought latched onto the "non-franchised" repair and said they could not help me.

I was seeking a common sense resolution to the problem, namely for Ford to repair the (common) fault, as they would have done had they given me the correct information in the first place, and the cost (£198) to Ford's warranty scheme would have been the same, i.e. cost neutral plus a satisfied customer. However, what they have is a customer who is out of pocket, unhappy with the service and lost all credibility in the Ford brand.

I feel that in part due to the Ford's global financial problems there is a conspiracy against it's customers and that staff on the customer helpline are panning customers off by telling them the fault is not covered by warranty, when they and even the service receptionist at the franchised dealer knows that the knocking noise from the rear suspension of a Mondeo means the bushes need replaced and to ask me if I could "leave the car for 24 hours to allow the glue to set" and not to worry about the cost as it usually a warranty item.

I really feel my rights have been violated and wonder what if any course of action is left open to me?

I have ordered a new vehicle, not surprisingly it's not a Ford!!

Yours sincerely

Kevin Lynch

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Hi all, need a little guidance

I have a 1998 peugeout 306 2.0 XSI and recently i have been problems with its idling.
The needle on the rev' counter oscillates between 300 - 1500 rpm, and more often than not the engine just cuts out. The problem occurs when the clutch is pressed down. This problem is intermittent, it will happen on only a few days in a month, but when it does happen it will continue throughout the entire day!

I have read similar problems on this forum, along with their solutions, but no one has really come back and said that the problem has been fixed

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance guys!
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I have recently aquired a C15 diesel, the later 1868 Peugeot (?) engined version. Tonight, in the monsoons we are having, of course, the battery warning light decided to come on permanently and lots of electrical bits stopped working, like wipers and indicators. I'm not well up on modern car electrical systems and I don't have a handbook or manual for this van. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, I'm leaving that till the morning. What am I likely to find? Could this be as simple as a belt snapping, or am I looking at something more complicated like alternator / regulator (do they have them? ) problems?
All help tonight gratefully appreciated. And while I'm on where are most C15 bits sourced from? Is it the AX model? Read more

Is it on the gearbox, or a front wheel?
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