Hi,

I’m thinking of changing my car, the Mazda 3 skyactiv 2.2 Diesel look good, and the specs sound good, but what are they like ? any like engine problems? Read more

Is there any evidence for or against long life service intervals ie 20,000 miles for a modern petrol engine such as the one in my Polo?

My understanding is they were created to satisfy fleet owners, many of which flog cars when two years old, and others have high annual mileage. These people probably don’t keep a car beyond 100,000 miles or six years, possibly less. Car manufacturers probably do not care once the car is six years old, their legal obligations are by then discharged. Read more

I'm in the market for a used car with about £4,500 to spend. For me it's a toss up between a Honda Jazz or Skoda Fabia. I like the extra room of the Jazz, I very slightly prefer the way the Fabias drive. I will get a newer/lower mileage Fabia for the same money.

As a very approximate perceived average of what's out there, it seems that £4,500 will buy me a 13 plate Fabia that's done 50k, or a 60 plate Jazz that's done 60k

Any thoughts/preferences? Read more

I would love to hear from any owners of pre 2016 Audi’s with 3.0tdi engines who have experienced the same as this To whom it may Concern Tuesday, 05 February 2019 Audi A7 First Registered 30 June 2015 Current Mileage 23900 approx. On the 22nd January 2019 I presented the above vehicle to Huddersfield Audi for the second and final service under its initial service plan. I was advised that there was an emissions software upgrade available. I declined to have this applied to the vehicle at this time. Upon arriving to collect the vehicle. I was cautioned not to drive it further as a rattle had been “discovered” emanating from the rear off side of the engine. My service representative and the service manager together attempted to demonstrate this rattle to me but I was unable to hear it. However, this I was assured, was indicative of a serious defect of the timing chain tensioner. Failure of this part was liable to cause catastrophic engine failure and damage. The only recourse, I was informed, was to strip the engine down and replace camshafts and belt tensioners. The garage was familiar with this fault which they informed me they had come across before with the 3.0 V6 TDi engine. It had indeed been the subject of a Technical Service Bulletins from Audi, the manufacturers. I have an email from my service representative, containing the following text, "Following on from the conversation with Audi UK, as I mentioned to you on Tuesday as a centre we have experienced similar noises on the A7 3 Litre's previously. Along with & we this a modified Camshaft has in fact been released from Audi as opposed to the original camshaft fitted within the vehicle from factory have confirmed similar faults with our technical team in Milton Keynes." Given the serious nature of this defect, I felt compelled to leave the vehicle where it was whilst I explored the options available to me. It was initially suggested to me, that under the circumstance, given the age of the vehicle (just seven months out of warrantee) and its low recorded mileage, there was a good possibility that Audi UK would meet the full costs of the replacement of the faulty parts. They would replace them with the redesigned afore mentioned parts. From this, I assumed that this garage had knowledge of customers who had the same repair carried out free of charge. As this was a 35 hours service operation @ approximately £100 per hour plus parts and VAT the final cost was somewhere in the region of £5000 +. Unfortunately it transpired that Audi UK informed the garage that I was required to make a contribution of some £2100 towards the cost. When I asked why I had not received the same generosity as other clients, I was informed that these matters were dealt with on a “case by case basis”. I have asked what criteria are used in determining an individual case. I have yet to receive an answer to this enquiry. As my vehicle is just out of warrantee and with a very low mileage the only criteria for making this discriminatory decision can be my age. At sixty nine, and relatively close to finishing driving, my potential loyalty to the brand must be somewhat limited. I left the car with the garage on the understanding that no further work would be carried out until I had been given a chance to take the matter up with Audi UK. I exchanged e-mails and telephone conversations with a Mr Mohammed Nasar, apparently the senior decision maker at Audi UK. Despite the information supplied by my garage as to the common nature of this fault and a number of website references from Audi owners club and many other sites the addresses of which I have supplied as an attachment, Mr Nasar insisted that there were no other recorded instances of this problem. When informed that Huddersfield Audi had experience at least two others he actually said to me “There must be something peculiar about Huddersfield.” I pointed out that I had purchased this vehicle in Beckenham to no avail. I received an email from him stating that there was no further assistance forth coming from either Huddersfield Audi or Audi UK and that my case was being archived Under these circumstances I saw no other option than to agree to have this work carried out. I negotiated further with Huddersfield Audi and agreed to pay £1500 inclusive of VAT. I made it clear both verbally and in e-mails that I was agreeing to this arrangement under duress and that I intended to seek redress later. Initially by a submission to the motor ombudsman whilst simultaneously seeking the assistance of consumer protection lawyers. When I came to collect my vehicle I requested that the paperwork be marked “paid under protest” This request was refused. In anticipation of this I had prepared a document a copy of which can be supplied, which outlined the circumstances leading to the repair and asked for an acknowledgement of my “paid under protest” status. The service representative said he was unable to sign this document but he would refer it to his line manager. The service manager has refused to sign this document and confirmed his refusal in an e mail. A simple trawl of the internet turns up many references to timing chain tensioner faults with a number of different engines fitted to vehicles across the VW/Audi group. It would seem that VW have settled a class action claim in respect to this in the USA. I would contend that this is a safety issue. The catastrophic failure of an engine in moving traffic would surely create the potential for accidents. Under these circumstances a general recall of vehicles likely to be affected should have been made. Read more

Hi,

Was just driving the all of a sudden 4 warning lights came on. The ABS one, the TC one, and the ESC warning light, as well as the light telling me the ESC was switched off!! I got home, left it... and when I went out for another drive all the lights had disappeared... a week later (and driving it most days), it's now reappeared.... Read more