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• Jaguar XF - 2016 Jaguar XF 2.0D 180 Reliability v 2009 XF 2.7D 22 Jul 2019 (Forum)
  I've owned my 09 XF 2.7D Premium Luxury since nearly new and have enjoyed totally trouble free motoring. I've never had any problems and have only ever needed to change the tyres, brakes and oil. With nearly 80k miles it still drives like new. However, I'm aware the car is getting on now, it's by far the oldest car I've ever run and arguably I'm sitting on a timebomb in that inevitably it's almost bound to play up at some stage as it gets older and older.
• Renault Megane (1999 - 2002) - 01 1.6 inlet valves bent on test drive after newca 17 Feb 2010 (Forum)
  (The cam belt had never been replaced previously) Once above finished they then test drove the car and subsequently told me that I had an oil leak from crank shaft oil seal or housing. They advised extra £90ish to fix which I agreed. (Don't know why they didn't spot this when replacing cam belt etc...never mind...the story goes on) They changed the crank shaft oil seal and casing/housing, put on another new cam belt (so they tell me) and then took for another test drive but this time it broke down!
• how to tell if i've done any damage to engine 12 Sep 2018 (Forum)
  i had the car in a fortnight before for a brake pad change so i took it they would have done all the checks so hadnt looked at the oil level in a fortnight... but i had done a few thousand miles since then..   anyways while driving it home that night after the light had gone off i kept an eye on the engine temperture gauge to make sure it wasnt over heating and it never went above 93 and i felt no engine stutter or limp mode etc...
• Appropriate Oil 12 Nov 2001 (Forum)
  I notice in earliar correspondence on the subject that bods tend to migrate to the more expensive fully synthetic products as being best for their needs, but so far, I have not seen any argument to balance this apart from price and conjecture. I know from reading HJ's books that fully synthetic oils scour engines very effectively, and that care is needed when changing from mineral to fully synthetic to avoid gallery blockage, that they last perhaps 2K longer between service intervals. and that Mobil ran a BMW for 100000 miles using it, with sevice intervals of 7K.
• Risks buying certain 3yr old cars 24 May 2007 (Forum)
  Its often a common policy of economic car ownership to buy at 2 or 3 years old to lose the high initial depreciation, but (IMHO) times have changed and certain models pose enhanced risks. Decades ago when I learnt to drive as a teenager (and as a consequence work on cars) any inadvertant abuse of the car was tempered by a growing mechanical sympathy due to understanding and being able to *visualise* what was going on, in for example the clutch, or oil flow around a cold engine.
• Gearbox / Service problem 14 Dec 2002 (Forum)
  He said it would be 4 to 5 hours work to strip and will cost about £300 to investigate (plus the cost of rectifying the problem). As part of the service the gearbox oil was changed - might this have anything to do with it? The cam belt was also changed - do they have to lower the engine / gearbox to change this? Call me a cynic, but I am convinced that something they did on the service has caused this problem.
• 1998 Fiesta - Timing belts & Servicing 3 Sep 2001 (Forum)
  Determined to begin to take control of some of these servicing costs, I bought a Haines Manual, (for the 1997 Model Year) and am determined to start with simple oil changes at 5000 mile intervals. However, upon reading the Haines manual, and the Ford Service guide, it states that spark plugs only need be changed at 100,000 miles, and the Pollen Filter at 20,000.
• VW Polo 2018+ - DSG type fitted to the 200BHP Polo 9 Dec 2024 (Forum)
  Hi All Does anyone know if the wet clutch or dry clutch DSG is fitted to the high powered Polo GTI 2.0L MY 2018 onwards? This would be given away by the requirement for DSG oil changes at 40k miles for wet clutch variants. Since the dry clutch was used in the 1.8L VAG cars I'm concerned that they may have pushed the operation up to 200BHP. I do not trust the dry clutch DSG to survive beyond 7 years with higher powered engines without clutchpack or mechatronic failures.
• Ford Mondeo 2014 Powershift - Sc*** or Invest 14 Dec 2023 (Forum)
  Hello! After just investing the best part of 650 to replace timing belt/water pump and oil and filter change, I have just had gearbox failures from the (what I now learn as notorious) Powershift gearbox. The fault code (as read by the AA) was 'Shift Solenoid D stuck'. I called a local automatic gearbox specialist who quoted 2800 as a minimum to rebuild the gearbox - and other damage found could add to that quote.
• 2011 BMW X1 1.8d - Stop/Start failed 19 Aug 2020 (Forum)
  Have had a new coded battery on dealers advice, fully charged by driving and AGM charger but still not fixed. dash fault code is CC ID 397 andd the "A" with an arrowed circle warning..forums suggest brake servo  vacuum sensor, gearbox neutral indicator calibration or I think the most likely the gearbox electrical connector as the dealer reluctantly changed the sump a while back due to threading the bung and it leaked oil everywhere (now fixed at dealers expense). Any help gratefully received.
• Car servicing, a definition please! 24 Jul 2020 (Forum)
  Ok--so most people have their cars SERVICED once a year--but apart from the oil and filter change, top ups, maybe new plugs and an air filter--most of the stuff that's listed is purely a CHECK--as listed in service books. No actual " go for it" servicing carried out at all. Being a sceptic--I can now easily argue that this (annual?)
• Ford Fiesta - Broquet Fuel Catalyst 27 May 2020 (Forum)
  At MOT, mechanics have been astonished at how low emissions from my vehicle have been. There is also a definite increase in power and torque as evidenced by less need to change into a lower gear. Unfortunately, the oil and motor trade have vested interests in bad-naming products that work well in increasing fuel economy and increasing the lifespan of motor engines. And the Broquet one does work very well, in my experience.
• Citroen Xsara Picasso 2006 1.6 hdi - Front suspension legs 29 Apr 2019 (Forum)
  I had reason to change the front legs, the garage fitted gas struts which are a very harsh ride and makes the front of the car higher, when going over drains and poor road surfaces the front suspension bangs and knocks, as I said the legs top mounts lower wishbones and tyerods been replaced also, please help it is driving me mad.... was the original legs oil type?
• Ford Fiesta mk5 1.25 - Leaking gearbox after renewing drive shaft seal 19 Aug 2015 (Forum)
  Hello, two weeks ago I changed my LH cv joint in the same time I replaced the drive shaft seal But today I noticed gearbox oil after leaving my parking space. I'm pretty sure I did not replace the seal correctly, I pushed it too far or not enough idk, i'm confused, should I push the seal or not?
• Mazda 323 - engine warning light 24 Mar 2011 (Forum)
    recently bought  on a 51 plate, low mileage 39000 and only did 1000 miles since last mot so sat idle for most of last year.  engine warning light came on and local garage said all spark plugs furred up and changed all, reset comp for £93 but light re-appeared next day.  took it back and now they are picking up a different fault code which suggests  'burning a lot of oil'???  it seems to be chucking out a lot of white smoke as well.
• Vauxhall Astra G Petrol - car intermittantly missing 23 Feb 2011 (Forum)
  hi guys ive got a 2000 astra mk4 1.6 16v and 50% of the time it drives spot on smooth and quick. the other 50% of the time its will miss when you accelerate, feels same sort of symptoms like when you are running out of petrol and it starts juddering, then it will kick in again and be fine, recently changed oil and plugs so i can rule them out, any ideas would be greatly appreciated as i feel like throwing mi trolley jack through the windscreen at the moment lol....... cheers
• Support your small garage 19 Sep 2010 (Forum)
  Car well out of warranty, main dealer quoted £ 80 for an oil and filter change( basic service), I am distrustful of these chains of tyre centres that now do servicing( not mentioning any names but have been ripped off in the past), so decided to take my car to a local family garage who quoted £ 35 inc VAT.
• Nationwide AC - Servicing 29 Oct 2009 (Forum)
  I have looked at there website and looked over what they do for a 'major service' and for the price of £260 (with AA discount) they will do the following - Oil and Filter change Plugs Fuel filter air filter Replace brake fluid and bleed system Drain cooling and replace coolant Plus all the checks. My car is a 98 Mercedes c240 sport. Do you think thats a good price?
• SEAT Alhambra (1996 - 2009) - 02 TDiSE engine temperature - running cool 15 Sep 2009 (Forum)
  I've got a Alahambra TDiSE 2002, the engine hardly ever heats up which affects fuel economy. It as been to different garages including main agents and the thermostat has been changed 4 times, I've disconnected 1 of the radiator fans and put cardboard in front of the radiator but it still doesn't warm up. The heater only gets warm. I can sit in traffic on a hot day and the water and oil temperature gauges hardly move off the stop.
• Biodiesel content to go from 5% to 7%? 24 Mar 2009 (Forum)
  It seems that the permitted maximum is due to rise to 7%, which may lead to more problems. (Some truck operators find that oil and filter changes are needed more often and some have had issues with sludge and algae in fuel since using biodiesel, though this is blamed on storage, as it is presumed OK as it leaves the refinery).