March 2025
Hoping someone a bit savvier with cars than myself can help.
For a few weeks now my car's been struggling to start. It eventually does start which seems to be some kind of compression issue in the diesel engine. This is despite a change of glow plugs so it's not that. ... Read more
I recently purchased an 07 Antara from a dealer and on the test drive I queried what the pedal and gearstick vibrations were, to which she replied "oh, I've not noticed that before". She said she could get the mechanic to look at if I wanted but I declined as I thought it was probably me not being used to it and we settled on me calling in if the issue was still there in a few days. The issue was still there so popped it back in and the lady drove it around the forecourt and said, "ah yeah, I see what you mean, it could be the clutch but it's an old car so it's not unreasonable to expect this type of problem". I asked if her mechanic could look at it and she agreed but would have to call me with a time to come back in.
She called me 3 days later and asked to bring it back up so I drove to the garage where she just drove it around the forecourt again and said "I get what you're saying but as I said, it's an old car and you've got to expect these problems, it's fair wear and tear so we can't do anything about it".... Read more
It's actually been well maintained with regular services and no major issues on MOTs, just the usual brake pad changes and suspension bits and pieces and only minimal surface rust under the body which is why I thought it was a good deal for me.
In terms of warranty it came with 3 months warranty, but my main issue is that there was no mention of a potential clutch/DMF problem and was described as being in an "excellent, well maintained condition" so I don't think it would be unfair to to assume it should have been in working order and any potential problems should have been noted in the advert. Also only admitting there seems to be a problem after the sale seems a little bit slippery....
My front passenger side shock absorber has failed completely (oil everywhere in front arch) and lots of knocking and banging.
Bought a new Sachs Shock for my mechanic to fit but he's had to put the old one back on as its missing a bracket that goes up to what we've identified is the levelling sensor for the Xenon HID headlights.... Read more
I saw those....
They are for converting standard Tein shock to one with the bracket....
Hi there,
I live on the South Coast and work in the water sports industry. I am looking to buy a large MPV that I can take the seats out of and use as a van from time to time.
I have to take both students and large/long equipment away from time to time (don’t want to put the equipment on the roof), so an MPV is ideal in its versatility. And I have £5k to spend
I’ve had crew cab vans before, but they were too utilitarian for long trips, and got broken into too, so not looking at those anymore.
I’ve had the Renault Grand Espace before and it was good for my needs, very comfortable on long trips and towed well. I also liked the opening panoramic roof (not available on the Ssangyong), and the looks were different too.
However, the Ssangyong does look a very good car, comes in 4x4, and is of similar size with the seats out.
This car will need to tow a light boat, and will also do a lot of miles, with regular trips to the North East of England as well as around 2 trips a year to France/Spain.
I have £5k to spend, and both fit nicely into this price range,
I just wondered if anyone has any advice or opinions on each, or what else I should look at? A Chrysler Voyager looks nice too, but not as big.
Many thanks Read more
£5k is banger money these days. A Ford Galaxy with the 2.0 Psa engine would do the job . Espace and Voyager are best avoided.
I've been thinking about getting one of these scanners to give me a bit of information prior to taking family cars in for servicing.
I'm no mechanic so I shan't be doing any repairs.... Read more
Cheap obd scanners generally only read engine data . If you need to read other electronic systems , then you’ll need something with more capabilities. It’s all down to budget. The more you spend the more systems can be accessed with increased functionality.
A few years ago I was stopped for not obstructing a box junction. Photo above in link... Read more
A few years ago I was stopped for not obstructing a box junction. Photo above in link...
Friend just bought a Pug 2008 and on the MOT for the past 4 years there has been an advisory as below. Any Ideas?
The selling Garage have sorted everything for him and it has a clean MOt no advisories except for a cut in a tyre, which they replaced with a new tyre.... Read more
Friend just bought a Pug 2008 and on the MOT for the past 4 years there has been an advisory as below. Any Ideas?
Passenger seat(s) missing at time of test all rear...
In September 2024 I purchased a used SEAT Arona 21377 mileage, registered 30/03/2022, from a SEAT main dealer 60 miles from my home. On 26/2/25 (outside 30 days but within 6 months) the vehicle developed a fault and was taken to my nearest SEAT main dealership 5 miles from my home. Mileage was 23,604. After inspection we were advised the car needed a new engine because of a Crank Thrust Washer problem. This garage however refused to honour the warranty claiming the vehicle had been serviced twice at a Seat dealership outside the manufacturers’ guidelines on time & mileage. The original dealer claimed the other garage were being pedantic and promised to honour the warranty but insisted I get the vehicle to them at a cost to me of £336 for recovery from one garage to the other. I also incurred costs to travel by train to Crewe to collect a courtesy car. The original SEAT dealership has agreed to reimburse the recovery cost but have yet to pay this despite two emails requesting they do so. They have also been asked to cover the train cost but have yet to agree to this. SEAT customer care were informed of the issues on 26/2/25 and have opened a case but have yet to provide any form of response. They have been sent a message on 23/3/25 chasing up a response and posing three questions 1) Why was the warranty declined by my local SEAT dealership. 2) What will happen if a further warranty claim arises. 3) Why was a car sold that did not have satisfactory service history which led to the warranty being declined by my local Seat dealership.
... Read more
Also the used approved warranty isn't as good in terms of cover as the manufacturer's. Limited to £1,000. I need to sort out this cover with SEAT. We have a 2 year service pack with SEAT.
I have a 2016 Citroen Grand C4 Picasso diesel and today, I unlocked it with the key fob but the wing mirrors didn’t unfold. When I got into the car, it wouldn’t start and the main display for the radio etc was off. After some fiddling about, I pressed the button next to the display and the display came on and then I was able to start the car although a very brief message came up in red about the battery but it was so quick that I wasn't able to read it. When it started, 2 alarm sounds went off and have done on the 2 other times I've started it since. This did happen about 9 months ago and I had the battery checked and it was fine and there was no moisture in any of the fuse boxes. I got lucky this time in that I got it going whereas I couldn’t before - it just sorted itself out after a couple of days. I'm concerned it might happen again and I'll get stuck somewhere. Does anyone know what this might be please?
Read moreThis is a common problem on PSA cars of this era - it will be the battery protection unit (BPGA) which sits in front of the battery. There's probably a fault code for protection relay stuck open or something if you scan it. Almost certainly once it does decide to start, it does so normally without struggling - likely you get a warning about faulty fog lights as well?
The part is not that cheap (c£300) but it's plug and play, no coding required. Seemingly you can get cheap ones from AliExpress, but not sure I would trust them....
Friend/colleague is in a quandry regarding an insurance claim:
October 2024 she was reversing out of her driveway, paused at the edge of the pavement looking both ways for traffic, wheels just into the road (for context, residential road in the suburbs, two car widths wide). She is then hit from behind by the neighbour opposite reversing out of his driveway at the same time. At some pace according to my friend. Both parties get out of their cars, friend says How did you not see me? Neighbour says My sensors didn't go off.... Read more
Aren't you supposed to reverse into your drive, so you can then drive out frontwards into the traffic?
I and two others in our road reverse in, the rest go in forwards, apart from the dozen who can't be bothered to put their car in the drive and leave it on the road.
How old, how many miles and what engine? It might not be worth chucking £1k's+ at it.
Bubbling noise can be lack of coolant and air within the cooling system - the noise usually comes from the heater matrix inside the car....