I potentially need to hire an estate or people carrier to transport a large item from the UK to Austria. I need something with a load length of a minimum of 2 metres. What seemed like a simple piece of information seems impossible to find on several manufacturers websites I tried. I don't want a van. I want something that is fairly common and likely to pop up on hire car fleets - candidates I considered were a Passat, Insignia or Laguna estate. I can see that a Galaxy has around 2.1 metres but I need to find a company that hires one out.

There is a slight complication in that I need to hire the car in Austria as I live there, so I need to find a car that is available in Austria on the "for hire" list. A Passat estate is an eye-watering 800 euros for 10 days so I'm trying to find the smallest (read cheapest) car with the longest load area. Any ideas? Read more

I'm having real difficulty getting some replacement front wheel bearings for my 2007 (57) Mazda sport 2L diesel. Having purchased a wheel bearing from Mazda I set about replacing an extremely worn front off side bearing. Having removed the offending item I was dismayed to find the new bearing was too small. I returned to Mazda with both bearings and got a refund, however they where unable to identify a new replacement bearing stating that the one that they supplied was the correct one for my car; obviously not!!!

I tried several other motor factors all with the same result, all of them having the smaller bearing. Now this leads me to believe that I have some 'Hybrid' components fitted to my car, curious in it's self but the real killer is that I still haven't got a replacement bearing.

I have tried Industry bearing distributors and manufactures and have still had no luck. The bearing is stamped up with KOYO DAC4584W-5 and measures 45mm (internal bore) x 84mm (external diameter) x 45mm wide on the outer race. I've passed on these details to the bearing people but they have been unable to identify the bearing, even Koyo's UK 'Master Distributor' has failed.

I've emailed Koyo UK but after 4 days have still not received a reply and they are un-willing to speak to me on the phone as Joe public.

I know I could replace the whole front arm and drive shaft but I'm trying to avoid this, thinking that I may have to do that to both sides for safety reasons. Unfortunately the car has done 86k and is out of warranty so dumping it on Mazda might prove to be costly.

Has anyone else come across this and if so how did you resolve it?

Has anyone got any further ideas and know somewhere I can get a replacement bearing?
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Hi, My focus is failing to start. It was recovered by the RAC and he seemed to think there is no fuel getting to the engine. It has a quarter of a tank.

The garage have run diagnostic and it is coming with a P0606 error and P0089.... Read more

I replaced my thermostat when the temperature guage suddenly shot up above 3/4 one day. I checked the old thermostat and it was indeed faulty.

Then a new problem appeared. When warmed up, my engine temperature now fluctuates between 1/4 and 1/2 according to the guage. It never reaches a steady operating temperature, cycling between 1/4 and 1/2 continuously, every 30-40 seconds. Which is scary when driving!... Read more

Have seen 2 cars for sale. One advertised as Punto Dynamic 1.2 and one as Punto Grande 1.2 Dynamic. Both are year 2006 and both with same body shape.

Can anyone tell me what the difference is? Read more