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• buying advice for a relative newbie 23 Jul 2004 (Forum)
  I'm probably looking for something of a similar size or slightly bigger as it's difficult to park where I live. Unsure of my mileage at the moment as my work situation has recently changed and I'm now mainly working from home but I have to go into the office usually once a week which is a 100 mile round trip via motorway / dual carriageway (Newcastle to Stockton) so 1.0L engines are out.
• Anyone care to value 1997R Polo? 7 Nov 2003 (Forum)
  Our Polo is going to be up for sale very shortly because we are buying a new MR2. Can't wait! It is a November 1997R with 110k miles, FSH with additional oil changes, 12 months MOT. Recent disks/pads and drums/shoes. I am the 2nd owner and have owned it since Nov 1999 and 22k miles. Bodywork is better than most of the age I have seen though obviously not perfect.
• My 414 finally dead. 18 Nov 2002 (Forum)
  It is with great sadness I announce the death of the Rover. [1] After over 3 years and well over 25,000 miles it got very hot today near Southampton. There's plenty of water and the water pump is fine. Could be the thermostat but the change in shade of the water in the expansion chamber hinted at oil/exhaust contamination. Must be the head gasket. It came home on a RAC lorry and will be emptied of camping kit etc before undergoing one last journey to the scrappie.
• Importing Sprinter: comment/servicing question 6 Sep 2001 (Forum)
  The oil rep assures me it's fine... any thoughts please? Is this just part of a greater strategy to improve spares sales?! Cheers, Simon Howes
• FIAT Panda (2003 - ) - Panda in Austria (review) 5 Nov 2008 (Forum)
  An unusual sight was two Porsche Cayennes driving past each other in Kitzbuhel. A friend told me that because of rules about the disposal of used engine oil in Austria, it was virtually impossible for an ordinary bloke to change his own oil - it really has to be done by a professional. And yes, I drove the Grossglockner road (Großglockner Hochalpenstraße) which was great.
• Drove a few cars yesterday 10 May 2009 (Forum)
  I've now owned this for over 6 months, which is a relative eternity for me ! It has now passed 14K miles and had its first "service" (expensive oil change) a few weeks ago. It has been faultless since I've owned it and consistently returns around 30 mpg in mainly urban use and up to early 40's on the motorway. The most impressive thing about the car is undoubtedly the engine, which is smooth, quick and has almost diesel like low down torque.
• Mazda 2 - Honda Jazz - Toyota Auris - Help Finding The Most Reliable Car 16 Jan 2025 (Forum)
  Cons: It's small, gearbox is "sealed for life" which means I'd have to buy a low mileage one and change oil myself.  2) Honda Jazz 1.3 CVT 2015-17 - CVT isn't sealed for life, so shouldn't be too difficult to change. Very spacious on the inside, small on the outside. Engine is (non turbo).
• Peugeot 2008 1.2 130 EAT6 Allure Premium - The first thousand miles 3 Jan 2020 (Forum)
  The EAT6 box is excellent, even though the relaxed 6th gear (just over 30mph per 1000 revs) is rarely engaged on B or even A roads, although you can persuade it to trundle along the level and downhill bits by nudging it manually into 6th. It won't let you labour the engine, changing down even in manual mode if you try.  And even 5th gear is 25mph per 1000 revs, 5mph more than the manual 5th gear in a rorty revvy 80hp 1.2 Pug 208 we hired recently on hols.  For overtaking you can press the S button to drop down a gear, or just floor it and it goes like a rocket, spooling rapidly to smooth 6000 rpm change-ups.
• 2010 Ford S-Max 2.0 Powershift - Ford admits fault after warranty expires ! 19 Aug 2017 (Forum)
  I returned vehicle again a week or 2 later with same problems and they said Ford Technical told them to change gearbox oil and filter (£205.00) as it was coming up to 3 yrs old (July 16th). Vehicle taken but fault returns a couple of weeks later, go back to Ford dealership who say Ford Technical told them to do a gearbox 'software update'.
• Returning the car I traded in 10 Mar 2016 (Forum)
  Hi all, right here goes, I just traded my Renault Megane in last Monday for a Vauxhall signum, the following morning on the way to work i noticed black smoke coming from the exhaust, I got a friend from work to have a look, the swirl bar was off and one of the pins it connects too was broken, my mate says it will probably need a new inlet manifold , then on the way home the car started squeeling every time I slowed down and even more black smoke when I sped up, I decided to contact the dealer I got the car from and told him about the problems, I took it up to him, he said he will fix it and asked me to buy a swirl bar off eBay and he will fit it, I said ok, while waiting for the bar to come, the car felt even worse, two days later I decided enough is enough, I contacted him and said I wanted my old car back, he said I can't do that, he said he spent money on my car putting it through mot, and fitting a new timing belt, he said he serviced it too, altogether he said he spent 500 pounds on my car, i just wanted my car back so now I'm down 500 quid, when I got my car home I checked it, there was no new timing belt on it, the service was not down because the oil was still black, my tyres where worn down so it couldn't have passed mot, he changed the wheels so it would pass mot then put my old ones back on, I know this because the bolts on my wheels had been changed and my locking nuts where missing, my question is, do I have any rights in getting my 500 pounds back, even if he had done work to it, I'm glad to get my car back, the signum would have ended up costing me a fortune
• 2010 S-Max 2.0 Powershift - Ford admits fault after warranty expires ! 10 Sep 2013 (Forum)
  I returned vehicle again a week or 2 later with same problems and they said Ford Technical told them to change gearbox oil and filter (£205.00) as it was coming up to 3 yrs old (July 16th). Vehicle taken but fault returns a couple of weeks later, go back to Ford dealership who say Ford Technical told them to do a gearbox 'software update'.
• Peugeot 406 (1996 - 1998) - 03 2.0 Engine cut our power loss problem 11 Aug 2008 (Forum)
  I have serviced it regularly at a local garage not wanting to Pay main dealer costs and I have had the timing belt changed. The cut out problem was present before I had the timing belt changed so it is not related in my opnion. My car seems to intermittently cut out and I do not undetsand why, It can happen once a week or maybe even once a month, more worryingly it has been happening about 2 to 3 times a week.
• Cavalier steering vibration (again!) 27 Aug 2003 (Forum)
  All was well until a little while later I changed the oil and filter and took the driver's side front wheel off (being careful to mark the position of the wheel on the hub so as to put it back in the same position) and the vibration came back again, this time quite a lot stronger (always between 60-68 MPH).
• Omega V6 noisy idle after repair..... 1 Sep 2002 (Forum)
  At the same time he took the opportunity to replace the HT leads and spark plugs and have the auto box's oil changed. The rocker covers/gaskets were sourced from Vauxhall's and the HT Leads and sparks were from Autovaux. All parts were supplied after the engine number was given so he's confident they were correct.
• Vauxhall Vectra B facelift - Vectra timing belt problem/dead engine? 17 Jan 2011 (Forum)
   It's done less than 60,000 miles, but has not had full servicing lavished on it in the five years I've owned it.  I have changed oil and filters annually, but only by myself, an enthusiastic unskilled amateur. So with ten years and sixty thousand miles looming, I thought it was time to replace the timing belt to avoid the horror stories of cylinder head/valve damage due to belt breakage.
• Honda Accord Tourer (2003 - 2008) - i-CTDi long term update 31 May 2008 (Forum)
  Non-scheduled weeks off road in dealer: 8 Calls to AA because I've been left stranded at side of road: 6 Minor faults not remedied by dealers: 4 Calls returned by Honda UK: 0 Fuel lost during unnecessary filter change: 1/4 tank Number of times the oil has been overfilled by more than a litre by dealers: 3 You might be able to tell that I've been less than thrilled with the overall ownership experience. Every time the car has been off the road for a long time, the fault has eventually turned out to be precisely what the original AA guy thought it was; an over-volting alternator and a faulty EGR valve were both correctly diagnosed within seconds by the AA, both kept the car off the road for a month while Honda faffed and messed me around.
• BMW Z4 Coupe - Help needed please, mis-sold BMW approved used car 6 May 2012 (Forum)
  This seemed very fishy so I was straight onto the dealer the next day. The car should have had an oil service at 12/15k and in any event after two years. He said he would look into it. In the meantime I called the BMW £1 a minute line and was told that the only time it has visited was in September 2010 (at 12k) which is the brake fluid change.
• Jaguar XF - Reliability & Smoothness of 4cyl petrol '18 Jag XF 26 Apr 2021 (Forum)
  I read in Autocar a couple of years ago that that the new shape XF is the lowest ranked car of its class in reliability surveys and that were many recalls including oil leaks, engine cut outs, cracked sills etc. Is the 2018 XF petrol a reliable car and is there anything I should check for? I'm planning to keep it for a long time so will be running it many years after any extended warranties are available.
• Ford Focus mk1 - Speedo jumping and abs light on 9 Jul 2020 (Forum)
  And also the abs light is still coming off and on when it pleases. So we decided to jack the car, wheels off checked abs sensor seemed fine. Decided to change gear box oil. Took the car a run and abs light went off but Speedo kept jumping. Then when I switched my headlights on the radio turned off. When I tried to get it to do it again it the lights came on and the radio stayed on.
• Corsa D - Lack of power/chugging/ 21 Jun 2019 (Forum)
  - Blocked up exhaust - Burnt out valves - Clean up the throttle butterfly - EGR valve (hesitation at light throttle) - Connections to ECU (damp, or oil residue from changed filter) - Loose bolts around bell housing (causing electrical fault) - Camshaft sensor (jerking at constant speed, loss of power when idle/neutral) - Any other electrical fault?