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• Peugeot 508 - Peugeot 508 2019 engine and clutch failure 2 Nov 2023 (Forum)
  To further irritation, they are replacing the battery at £175 and the robbing swines at Peugeot breakdown assist charged me £96 for a 2nd tow as the dealer was shut at the time! Peugeot have declined any goodwill and have said it is a pure wear and tear item. They also reckon their extended warranty is through a third party company, so my complaint lies with them, not Peugeot!
• Ford Fusion (2002 - 2008) - 04 1.4, EAC fail - (petrol) re-curring TPS fault 3 Apr 2022 (Forum)
  GOt back to southampton ok, and the next day we started out going back. It went 30 times between southampton and oxford. Got the AA to tow from Oxford to nottingham Being a bank holiday i then had a day when i couldn't do anything. Got it to a garage, explained the fault and they replaced the tps/accelerator pedal. £150 Got the car back and due to a wedding had to drive all the way back to southampton again.
• Renault Clio Mk3 - Nasty ball joint failure on car bought 1 month ago 16 Dec 2021 (Forum)
  In retrospect, the only warning I had was a slight squeak from the right wheel after making a right turn the evening before, which soon disappeared. The car had to be towed and is now in for a £450 repair. I am still thanking my lucky stars I was going at low speed on a quiet road when it happened. I was just 60 seconds from joining the motorway sliproad. I am now nervous and concerned that a car in such seemingly good nick with an innocuous looking MOT could harbour such a dangerous weakness.
• Vauxhall Insignia - Vauxhall Insignia engine replacement 8 Sep 2021 (Forum)
                                  In brief, we bought a 87k miles Insignia from a Vauxhall Drive garage last June, we have driven 7k miles in it so far and had a full service from a independent garage 1k miles ago. Since then the car broke down, and after paying a good chunk of money towing it about, and having to pay Vauxhall for an engine inspection, they have concluded the Aux belt has snapped, been sucked onto the engine and killed the engine. The last service we did confirmed and noted that the belt would need replacing at 100k miles, so wasn't necessary due to age or miles at 93k.
• Family car recommendation 5-7k 29 Jul 2021 (Forum)
  The Civic has been great in all respects of the above but a bit more space will make more sense. I also tow occasionally but only motorbikes, nothing heavy. I'd like something 2012 onwards, mileage under 80,000, petrol preferably (or a super reliable diesel), half decent mpg (ie. around 40 or above), budget 5-7k.
• Any - Poor breakdown service - Missing the obvious 4 Feb 2020 (Forum)
  The operator said it wasn't something they could deal with on the drive. We would have to call and pay a garage ourselves but Britannia would cover up to 10 miles of tow fee if necessary. Some readers will be ahead of me here but the "knocking" would slightly better be described as "clicking". Classic signs of a simple flat battery and relays not holding. A typical breakdown service driveway job if ever there was one.
• Audi A3 - Accident claim - Black-Box 16 Apr 2019 (Forum)
  The young chap held-up his hands, but was very keen no to go via his insurance company "as losing his NCB would "c******" him". His car did not have as much damage as mine outwardly - good job I didn't have the tow-bar attached. I was too busy to do anything about sorting-out the aftermath straight after the event, and was mulling how to proceed on the journey home, when his insurance company called me literally pleading to "take care of me" and get me in a hire car.
• Mazda 3 2010 turbo diesel - mystery fault.. please help! 11 Oct 2018 (Forum)
  A couple of weeks ago my beloved Mazda 3 1.6ts diesel...died on the motorway    It was towed to a local independent garage, where £800 later the turbo was replaced, the dpf was filled with fluid and regenerated and oil + oil filter replaced.  It ran ok after that for about 2 days... then the dreaded limp mode began..
• Meriva A CDTi 1,7 diesel - spanner light fixed it 30 Oct 2017 (Forum)
  Awfully cramped and fiddly in that engine bay Car still difficult to start so a new battery was put in and it starts  just like new Last three fuel changes needed car to get a jump start,  Maybe with new battery it will pull the fuel through and I wont need a tow Hope this helps as this problem had annoyed me for so long       
• Vauxhall Astra left hand drive 2004 - Vauhall Astra wont accelerate and then gears stuck 10 Jul 2017 (Forum)
    Then last night the gears kept sticking and wouldnt be moved, we had to keep driving as there was no hard shoulder and no where safe to stop. We made it to a carpark where it died and had to be towed. Any ideas what this could be and what are our chances of the dealership backing down when I threaten small court action against them AND finance company as the onus is on them to prove the fault did not exist previously right?
• Mazda 3 - Brand new ball joint failure caused damage 18 Apr 2017 (Forum)
  They came straight out and said the new ball joint had failed. As it was good friday they couldnt get a tow truck so offered to fix it on the drive. They decided to put a new wishbone and ball joint on and send the old wishbone and failed ball joint back to the manufacturer. I have driven the car this weekend just around the area and the car feels wrong.
• 
  New cam belt has snapped - who's liable for the repairs? 25 May 2016 (Ask HJ)
  I had the cam belt replaced on my KIA Sedona 11 weeks ago. However, last week, whilst driving, I heard a clunk and lost all power. The car was towed to...
• Vauxhall Corsa C - Diagnostic Problem Not Showing 3 Dec 2014 (Forum)
  Took car to a garage for a diagnostic and it showed gear box problems next day son went a journey of 3 miles again car struggled on inclines and on return home he found the coolant bubbling. He ran number on his warranty they came out and also diagnosed gear box problem they towed the vehicle away. Yesterday the car was taken to a garage used by the warranty they state the fault is not registering but thye can see it as a problem so they asked the warranty if thy can carry out further tests and they not sanction this.
• Vauxhall Meriva - Easytronic Gearbox "F" on dash HELP!! 6 Jul 2014 (Forum)
  So 120 later we had our car back! Until Thursday when the dreaded F appeared on the dash. Car was towed to nice garage and this morning they got back to us to let us know what was going on. I'm going to have to ask you to bare with me because I'm totally stupid when it comes to cars but as far as I know the actuator needs replacing but he also mentioned something about the boards which was going to cost 2000-2500.
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  Renault Megane blow blue smoke and refusing to start - what's wrong? 7 Oct 2013 (Ask HJ)
  Yesterday, on the motorway my Renault Megane started puffing blue smoke out of the exhaust. About a mile later the on-board computer appeared with the...
• Vauxhall Zafira - Zafira Won't Start - Help! 29 May 2013 (Forum)
    We had it towed to the garage we normally use. After looking at it they couldn't find a problem with it either. When they sprayed easy start into the air intake the car started and ran but once stopped spraying it stopped again.
• Golf TDI 1.9 - 2006 Golf TDI Disappointment!!!!!!!! 12 Dec 2011 (Forum)
  called green flag, after popping the bonnet i was informed that the cause of the problem was over tightened timing belt. paid 500 pound to get towed to garage that had repaired timing belt as i was only covered 10 mile radious. 3: garage argued it wasent there fault but agreed to re-do in the end after a few arguments. 4: picked vehicle up after about 3 weeks??????
• Focus 1.6TDCI Estate - Focus Diesel Problems 13 Sep 2011 (Forum)
  Off to France safe in the knowledge that the car was ok or so we thought. 800 miles in on came the engine warning light. The car was duly towed to a Ford dealer where it took 2 weeks to fix! £610 for a new EGR valve Kerching! Back to blighty another 800 miles , 2 days after getting back on comes the warning light again, loss of power... drove slowly to our local Ford garage to be told that the DPF was clogged and must be replaced cost...
• Peugeot 206 1.4LX - Insurance Claim 6 Jul 2011 (Forum)
  When I first spoke to investigator, I explained that when I first bought the car exactly the same thing happened, but as I had only purchased the car a week before the seller had the car towed and fixed, this was five years ago. How do I proceed with this, should I have my own mechanic look at it (when they finally tell me where it is!)? I have spoken to him and he says they can loosen and work themselves loose?
• 2003 Ford Focus CL, Manual, 5D hatch - Acceleration issues 27 Oct 2010 (Forum)
  This time, however, when I put my foot on the accelerator to try and pull away, there was little to no response and it almost sounded like there was a blockage. Anyhow, had to have the car towed back to Sydney - $300 later. It's been to the garage where I bought the car 2 years back and they say they've road tested it and can't find a problem....they go on to say they can replace the fuel pump for $1500!