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• How to buy a car 4 Jul 2007 (Forum)
  I have picked up some bits of advice along the way... 1) start off with the idea that you will buy their finance (and warranty) 2) walk away 3) aim to be buying at a "month end" 4) when you have got as far as you think you will get, ask for tax, tyres, fuel, mats etc just before you sign 5) blah de blah What tricks can one best use to drive the deal down?
• Plea to HJ 24 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  So it's your call. My car is 3 yrs 10 months old, has done 55,000 miles, serviced as per the book, using only synthetic oil and using only shell fuel. Basically it has been well looked after. I month ago the car developed a starting problem, the main dealer has spent 25 hours fault finding and cannot find what is causing the problem.
• SEAT/VW tdi pd VW505.01 oil follow up 21 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  He checked the engine code which confirmed it was in fact a pd. He then confirmed that magnatec had been used on both the 10k and 20k service. (Great!!). As a result, these are the options I've been offered: 1.An oil cange to the correct oil and a free 4th year warranty. 2.A full refund of my money. 3.A brand new car, and I pay the difference. 4.Try to locate another used car of same price, age, mileage etc.
• LPG - why is it still so niche? 20 Jan 2020 (Forum)
    This LPG stuff has been cheap and available for what, two decades now. If I go into Ford, VW, Honda, wherever, no one can sell me a new LPG car. Only Mazda offer LPG as a fitted, warrantied option on the 3 and the 6.  So one has to source a suitable used vehicle, and get it converted. In essence straightforward, but hardly convenient.
• Vauxhall Zafira B (2005 - ) - 05 1.6 When does my car require a new cambelt? 23 Feb 2009 (Forum)
  Hi all We have a 1.6 2005 Zafira Life, it has 39,000 miles and is just coming up for it's 4th service. We bought it from Vauxhall last year so want to...
• Vauxhall Vectra C (2002 - 2008) - Are they all so brittle? 26 Aug 2008 (Forum)
  I am the owner of a low mileage (40k) 2004 Vectra 1.8 estate. Nice enough car, comfy, reasonable economy and does what we ask of it. However, it has yet to pass an MOT first time. Last year it needed all 4 suspension springs replacing due to cracking, fortunatley undertaken under warranty.
• Where to service?! 24 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  When he returned my call I was even more surprised to be offered the service at the main dealer for £494, a £284 discount on the menu price! I confirmed that this new price would not mean 'less of a service'. The car is a 2002 model and is out of Volvo warranty, but has a full Volvo dealer service history. I currently have an issue with the car wandering excessively, and this will be investigated as part of the service.
• Hyundai Santa Fe - Chances in small claims court 12 May 2012 (Forum)
  After getting the car back to the dealership I was told that the car went out of warranty 5 days before I broke down and as I have not used the Hyundai network of dealerships to get the car serviced Hyundai are not willing to offer any help towards the repair.
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  Why has the air con gas in my Nissan X-Trail already run out? 27 Jun 2017 (Ask HJ)
  My Nissan X-Trail is under two years old and has done less than 8000 miles. The air con isn't working properly and I've been told by the Nissan dealer...
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  Which small car should I buy as a reliable runaround? 9 Feb 2013 (Ask HJ)
  My lovely 1994 Nissan 200SX with 99,445 miles, which I have found reliable, solid, comfortable and secure, evidently needs about £1000 of work - mostly...
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  DPF damaged by bodyshop 22 Jun 2011 (Ask HJ)
  I have a car on lease from Masterlease. Someone drove into it and hence it had to be picked up from my house by the bodyshop. When it was returned to me...
• Kia Venga 2 - 1.4 Petrol, Manual, 2016 - User Opinion 4 May 2020 (Forum)
  Hi all A few months ago, I came here looking for user opinions about the Kia Venga. It was very useful to me. I finally bought one, and after a few months of ownership I would like to leave my review and I hope it could be useful for someone in the future. My budget was around £7k to buy a used car, as new as possible, and we wanted the car to be reliable and as much wide/tall/practical enough for a family of 3/4 members.
• Ford Fusion + 1.6TDCi - Damage to locking wheel nut key 12 Feb 2013 (Forum)
  I took the car to the Ford garage in Bicester and had to get the locking wheel nuts removed and replaced with a new set, this cost me £81 for the new locking wheel nuts and labour. My gripe is with the F1Autocentre, I suspect that rather than using a bar to remove the wheel nuts the mechanic has used the air wrench, not seated the key properly and torn it to shreds.
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  Vauxahll Corsa engine failure - who's to blame? 9 Dec 2013 (Ask HJ)
  A family member bought a Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 petrol Ecotec last year (2012 - 62 plate). Despite my reminders, she has failed to service the vehicle (now...
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  Why are my tyres cracking? 22 Jul 2021 (Ask HJ)
  I purchased a new set of tyres in October 2019 for my Vauxhall Vectra. I've done 1500 careful miles since then, during which I put 45PSI in them (50PSI...
• New CAT needed at only 16months old 20 May 2005 (Forum)
  But, I would have thought that a Cat, whatever the make of car, should not fail after only just over a year and 11,000 miles. Car serviced to schedule, only ever use Shell/proper petrol. End result - £350 plus fitting and a real feeling of caveat emptor. Still like the car though.
• SEAT/VW 90 BHP TDI - Oil Pressure light 25 Dec 2004 (Forum)
  Has anyone else had this problem? I asked the dealer about the return valve - they where adamant that was not an issue. The car is under warranty, I am keen to know if this is a common fault, or if this could possibly be an oil pump or start of a more serious issue? Only other fault with this car is the extensive dashboard rattle...... :-(
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  Can I have my lease car serviced outside of the dealer network? 11 Oct 2021 (Ask HJ)
  My leased 2020 Isuzu D-Max is due its first service at 12,000 miles but the supplying dealership wants £280 for it. My local garage owned by a good friend...
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  Why won't my BMW 320i start? 7 Nov 2016 (Ask HJ)
  I have had a BMW 320i for about three months and during this time it has developed an intermittent starting fault. Basically, about every fourth time I...
• Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate - Mercedes Fault Code Advice 25 Aug 2014 (Forum)
   I took it to a garage I have used a lot and they ran a diagnostic (for the princely sum of £90) which has come up as P1731 and the car apparently needs a new Mechatronic Valve (total cost incl parts and labour £1,800). The car is not long out of MB warranty and this seems an enormous repair for such a young vehicle.