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• Volvo S40 (2004 - ) - 06 2.0 Starting problem 20 Oct 2009 (Forum)
  Initially it had a software download, which failed to cure the problem, then a new ignition switch, which was similarly unhelpful. The car then would not start at all, and was towed to the garage, outside warranty. It had the "sludge" cleaned out of the tank and a new fuel pump. This would have cost over £1000, but Volvo met 60% of the cost and the dealer the rest. Sadly this has not cured the problem, and the car is still very unreliable when starting.
• Mazda Mazda 3 (2004 - 2009) - 05 1.6 Engine blown due to Oil Pump 15 Aug 2009 (Forum)
  Whilst driving the car last week the oil light came on and within 1 min of the light coming on, the car virtually siezed - she managed to pull over on the A34 stopping one lane of traffic at rush hour! Anyway it was towed to Mazda who have stated that the car will need a new engine!! Unfortunately the car is out of warranty but given that they replaced the Oil filter and sump plug washer on the car during the service 2 weeks ago, surely this could have caused the problem?
• Ford Fiesta (1989 - 1995) - 1993 1.1 - Starting problems 10 Mar 2009 (Forum)
  Sometime if I leave it an hour it will start ok. Battery is good and spark is evident. Without exception if I tow it for a bump starts it starts ok after 25 yards and runs fine immediately. Have tried various numbers of accelerator pumps pre turnover and holding pedal to the floor, cleaning breather, taking of air filter etc but cannot find a single reliable 'trick' to get it going.
• Peugeot 106 (1991 - 2002) - 1995 1.5 Diesel engine problems - tud5 14 Jan 2008 (Forum)
  The RAC managed to get it to rev as long as you were extremely gentle on the throttle, but gave up on being able to diagnose the fault and towed me home. While idling on my drive the engine cut out again and now won't restart. There was no abnormal noises/smoke/ect noticeable other than what I've already mentioned. I replaced the stop solonoid about 50 miles ago, but I'm not sure if a fault with that could cause these symptoms.
• Ford Fiesta (1989 - 1995) - 1993 1.1 - Starting Problems when Cold 29 Dec 2007 (Forum)
  Battery is good and spark is evident. When it does start it immediately ticks over and runs perfectly. If I tow it for a bump starts it starts ok and runs fine and seems to restart fine when the engine is warm. Have tried various numbers of accelerator pumps pre turnover and holding pedal to the floor, taking of air filter etc but cannot find a single reliable 'trick' to get it going.
• Driving in Italy 10 Sep 2007 (Forum)
  KRAZEEE breakdown trucks - our hire car pegged out and was recovered - wife and kids went in the cab of the tow truck I was sat in the car on the back of the truck, which was a faintly surreal experience - I felt a bit like Maggie in the opening sequence of the Simpsons Cheap parking We also had a Passatt with sat-nav - what a PITA that was- really useless - directed us completely wrongly on at least two occassions eg it had the name of our hotel pre-programmed in it and it took us to trading estate on the wrong side of Lucca and when you ignored it, it would simply go of in a huff and stay silent for 30+minutes at a time, before suddenly coming back to life when you reached the next town.
• Help with Peugeot Dealer and dead car 27 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  So I left the garage travelled about 1/2 mile was waiting at a junction, suddenly engine started to rev on its own, turned off but would not stop, lots of smoke and banging, stalled it and walked back to garage. They towed it in and then gave me an estimate for £6050 to repair it as the engine was completely destroyed and needed replacing, this was then upped by a further £1186 as the injectors were stuck in the head and could not be removed, this was then upped again when I was informed the intercooler and associated pipework was also damaged.
• Peugeot 306 locked brakes 23 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  He took the wheel off to try and release the brake disc etc, it had pretty much ceased on. They eventually then (another 2 hours later) sent a tow truck and has dropped my car at the local garage. What sort of cost am I looking at? I admit the brakes haven't been changed since I've owned the car (3 years) and my aunt who had the car from new can't remember when she last had them done.
• HELP! - Problems with VW Passat 25 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  They said it needed its radiator replaced, which was done on the Friday. The next day, it broke down and we had to have it towed back to the garage. On Monday last week when they opened they had a look over the car but needed some more time to give us an idea of what was wrong. They phoned us up at the end of last week saying that the water pump has seized causing the turning belt to break and the cylinder heads to malfunction - bill for repair: almost £2000 Now, I am very unhappy about this espically as the car was fine prior to service and for this to happen when it had just been in the garage the day before for the radiator replacement.
• Parts for Older Japanese cars 30 Jun 2006 (Forum)
  I am also considering trading up to a Subaru Legacy or Forester (probably an earlier series) as I will need a car with large towing capacity for a caravan during the summer - can anyone advise on maintaining one of these ? I havea good independent guy, but obviously service parts/common spares will have to be sourced - what are they like to work on for the ordinary (non-main dealer) mechanic and what is independent spares availability ?
• Caravan Wheel Coming Off 23 May 2006 (Forum)
  Travelling 2 days ago on a motorway, towing folding caravan. Car seemed to be acting oddly. About 15/20miles further on, car started skidding and snaking - we thought we had a blowout. Got out car, the entire wheel had come off the caravan - we were staring at the brakedrum!!
• W reg Mondeo 1.8LXi - options 8 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  Driving along the Mway at 70 and suddenly the accelerator slows the car down!!. Limped to mates with no power. Called AA and he says blocked exhaust probably CAT gone. Towed us home. He said drive it carefully to garage and they'll fix exhaust. I tried to drive it onto my drive and it made a crunch and now won't even start. AA man says sounded like timing belt off. I've had someone else look at it since who says engine is not repairable and exhaust is broke.
• Volvo 850/V70 Diesel Auto - Good Buy? 2 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  Currently have a 12year old Toyota corolla which has 110K miles, no creaks or knocks so rather surprised with the Volvo.! I now need an economical large automatic estate car capable of occisionally towing a very large 4berth caravan during the summer - any other recommendations anyone ?
• Breakdown: 95(N) Rover 416i, 82k 27 Jun 2005 (Forum)
  Oil pressure light starts flickering just as we get to exit slip road. Bad news indeed thinks I, engine cuts out at top of slip road. Highways Agency towed us into service area. No coolant in system, radiator appears to have spontaneously disintegrated. Engine turns over but won't fire. RAC recovered vehicle to home address. I have not had a chance to look at it since, but I suspect the dreaded HGF.
• New engine - who pays? 13 Apr 2005 (Forum)
  At four years of age and 60k miles he recently bought an extended warranty from the servicing dealer. Last week, he cooked the engine. The main dealer to which it was towed (*not* the servicing dealer) has delivered its verdict. The radiator had apparently corroded to such a degree that the cooling was impeded leading to terminal overheating. They say his warranty does not cover this, the engine is wrecked and would he mind stumping up the multi-thousands required to replace it?
• Astra 1.4 H reg - fuel pipe cut 3 May 2004 (Forum)
  It is obviously a robbery of petrol from my car and I was completely flabbergasterred when I spotted petrol pouring out from underneath the car. I managed to get the car home with a friend towing me. As a temporary repair I cut a small length of lamp cable that was slightly larger in diametre to the piping that connects the petrol tank to the engine, I then removed the 3 electrical cables inside the lamp cable... and found that it was possible then to put both ends of the cut fuel piping into the lamp cables outer sheath to make a very tight fit.
• SEAT problems 11 Sep 2003 (Forum)
  After excellent response from the AA under the SEAT assistance scheme, I was also disappointed to find from the dealer the car was towed to that this breakdown is not treated as a priority, and they told me on Monday that they "wouldn't be able to look at it until Friday" (despite it being a fairly quick job). My AA-provided hire car had to go back on Monday, so I faced being without a car for most of the week (in the event, the dealer fixed it on Tuesday - they "had a cancellation").
• Civic Aerodeck immobiliser 7 Jan 2003 (Forum)
  I've tried reducing the number of keys I have on my key ring. On two occasions, I was on the brink of calling out the recovery service to tow my car to the nearest garage. This might be a conincidence, but the problem only started happening shortly after I had the rear box replaced on the exhaust, and I started using the car at weekends only about the same time too.
• Caravans are good news, apparently 12 Mar 2002 (Forum)
  Easter is coming, there will be more white boxes on the road, like it or not. Until Mr Byers in his last 20 minutes of holding office makes caravan towing illegal during daylight, you will come across ever increasing numbers of caravans. Keep your cool, live and let live. If you are in the car 4 or 5 minutes longer than you anticipated over a 20 mile journey through travelling at 50 rather than 60, is it really that important?
• BMW 320 Touring 22 Aug 2001 (Forum)
  of the rusting rear wheel arches, I was surprised to see this on a supposed premium car figuring even the italians had cracked it by this point, and I've seen older 3 series without this problem, anyone else had this problem on the E36. I'd expect the body to last a long time, think maybe this particular car had been towing something heavy..possible tyre to wheel arch contact!? Any views on the infamous high bore wear on 6 cylinder bm's, how big a problem is it? can't see BM having to rebuild the engine of every 6 cylinder in the country?