i have a groaning noise from the front of my touran. it sounds like springs turning on the spring mounts. none of them are broken. when the car is jacked up the sound goes away. none of the ball joints look to be worn. the link arms seem ok. any idea,s would be greatly appreciated. cheers rich Read more

Hi,

My Dad has a '98 Merc C240 Elegance Auto owned from new, fully serviced at independent and showing only 66K. Intermittent fault is when accelerating hard from standstill with the box in Drive, sometimes the gearbox seems to lock in 1st gear - car will only do about 20mph and engine revving high. So far when it's happened, switching car off then restarting cures problem, and pulling away more gently.

Independent garage has run Merc diagnostics which come back all clear, any ideas? Would just a fluid flush do the trick - he's looking at over £1,500 just for a recon box so if there's a specialist in South East please let me know!

Thanks in advance,

Cheers

Al Read more

Hi,

Hope you can help.

I have a 1.4 Vauxhall Corsa D, 18 months old with only 5000 on the clock.

Yesterday, when I was driving along (I think I was in third gear), I pushed down on the clutch to change gears and there was a very slight resistance - then a clunk noise. I could still change gear okay but somehow it doesn't feel the same. The biting point feels different and it juddered this morning in first gear.

What could have caused the clunk in the clutch pedal - how do you tell if the "clutch has gone".

Advice appreciated. (Car is still under warranty) Read more

I need to change the timing belt on my Focus 1.8 tddi. This is a job I have done several times over the years without any problems and am quite confident about doing it. However, this is the first car I have had where a Clavis guage is needed to set the tension. I know these are expensive, and I can't find anywhere that hires them. I notice, though, on the Clavis website there is a formula for converting the frequency to a tension in Nm. I was wondering about using this and then setting the tension using a standard belt tension guage. Is this a good/bad idea, and how accurately would I need to weigh/measure the length of the belt? Are there any other ways to accurately set the tension i.e. without risking the belt failing or drastically shortening its life? Thanks Read more

Right then, our VW Touran is one year old today. And it is in for its 1st service, at just over 9000 miles. Time and distance regime.

Booked the car in 5 weeks ago, received text confirmation of booking along with reservation for a courtesy car. All good. Yesterday, received a text reminder that tomorrow is the day. Bring licence and insurance for courtesy car. Excellent, well done Mr Dealer.

Arrive this morning at Service Reception. "Mr B**** here, got my Touran for you to service." "Oh really?" he says. "No record of the booking on the computer, sir." So I showed him the text messages, and a slot was freed up for me somehow after 10 minutes of tooth sucking. Then, of course, I remind service man that I have reserved a courtesy car. Ah. Could be a problem. 10 minutes of running around and a reasonably nice, clean VW Polo is produced. That'll do the job nicely, thank you.

"OK, Mr B****, the invoice will be £150.00 on collection. See you later", they say. "We'll call you when it's ready."

"Oh no it won't be £150.00", says Mr B****. "When I bought the car, we got three years servicing thrown in, included in the price. Also, can I check the contact number you've got for me?" Turned out the mobile number spat out by the computer was completely wrong, despite me having received text messages correctly from someone. Also, my home number was wrong.

So more faffing about to check my story. Do they think I'm stupid and will just cough up? I distinctly remember questioning whether the service department would be aware of the free servicing when the time came, when we bought the car. Of, course all assurances were given at the time, but come the time there has to be a hullabaloo about it. And where they got the random phone numbers from, heaven only knows.

So, all in all, it took absolutely ages to drop the car off, when it should all have been easy, and listed on the computer when my reg number was tapped in.

All is sorted, but I really do begin to doubt the ability of a dealer to do a proper servicing job if it can get its admin so badly wrong.

Two more free services, and I think the Touran will then be getting swapped for a Mazda 5. And I'll be checking the condition of the oil filter when I pick it up.
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