My Passat is rusting on the seams of all doors, boot and bonnet.

VW will not replace doors but are going to repair as discribed below:... Read more

Our Punto has developed an intermittent loss of power steering. Our garage has reset the steering parameters on the onboard computer and last week cleaned all the electrical connections. However we lost power steering again today. It can be restored by switching off the ignition and restarting but this could be dangerous in heavy traffic.

We are advised that the ultimate solution is to replace the steering column at a cost of approximately £1400 which to us is a major amount. The car was bought second hand in October 2012 with a mileage of 18,000.... Read more

The clutch failed at 10,500 genuine miles on my car that was just under 4 years old. Out of warranty, I had a local garage change it in March 2012 at great expence. I thought a proud rivet on the pressure plate was the cause, but since then it was reported in Honest John's web that AP and Borg & Beck clutches were failing due to poor materials, and being replaced with Luk. I did not like the look of the flywheel, and bought a Luk.

The garage replaced the AP with another AP, although I was under the impression they were fitting a Luk. This burnt out last February 2013 at 17,090 miles. Four independent clutch experts examined the two units, and they all said they had not been ridden. All Jaguar Customer Services have offered is 50% off the next service. My last message to Jaguar is that I feel badly let down, plus a few more comments; I am sure there is an issue here regarding Sale of Goods Act 1982? Read more

Living in North Nothumberland we already suffer from a shortage of Honda Service Centres, the nearest one being in Edinburgh, 60 miles away. Having a Hybrid makes this worse, as specialist equipment is required to service them. Does anyone else in the area have the same problem, and if so have you found anyone closer to home who can deal with them? Read more

My wife has a 2007 Mini One 1.4 auto with 25000 miles on the clock (purchased by us 2 years ago with around 21000 miles on the clock). She covers about 150 miles every month - mostly town driving. It does get a run down the motorway every couple of weeks. It has a full BMW service history.

I have noticed that it uses about 1 litre of oil for every 800 - 900 miles it covers. My Vauxhall Astra 1.9 CDTi auto ( also 2007 reg - 34000 miles on the clock) has not required an oil top up since its last oil service (about 6000 miles ago). My Astra covers about 500 miles every month around town with a motorway run every couple of weeks. It has a full service history.

I know nothing about how cars work (and have very little interest in finding out!!!). However I do understand the importance of maintaining them correctly - both cars are serviced when required and the oil level/tyre pressures etc are checked at least every 2 weeks.

I was wondering if it is normal for a low mileage Mini to use such a lot of oil. The Ford Ka my wife drove for 4 years prior to getting the Mini never used any oil between services.

Thank you in advance for any help! Read more