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• Mazda 6 - Mazda6/2009/Diesel - Engine failure oil blockage 17 Apr 2015 (Forum)
  Next day morning I got call from service centre stating that it might be a engine failure with carbon blockage in engine oil tank. However, I have to pay £90 for diagnosing the car. Mentioning that I have Mazda approved used car warranty they said I have to agree for the charge and if the warranty is approved I will be covered otherwise I have to pay out of my pocket. Having said that, they said they have an appointment for warranty assessor for coming and assessing the car on 31/03/2015.
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  Our cars were damaged by a roof fitter, can we use our insurer even if it wasn't a road traffic accident? 2 May 2018 (Ask HJ)
  Our next door neighbour had a roofer installing fibre glass in their roof during, which resulted in both our cars being covered in fibre glass and resin....
• Subaru Legacy 2.0 RE 2006 - Timing belt horrors 20 Sep 2010 (Forum)
  He took off the cover, and said the belt was sloppy, and perhaps the timing belt had jumped, maybe it needed a replacement tensioner, and they'd fit one for me. So the local garage took it away. The invoice reads (complete with typos) "Check for fault with car cut out, found the timing belt loose, dismantle as req, drain off coolant and remove radiator, unbolt and remove timing covers, found two bolts seized in timing cover, found timing bolt tensioner bolt snaped, removed timing belt and tensioner, drill out snaped peice of bolt, supply and fit new tensioner with new bolt, torque tensioner bolt to 35NM.
• Paint work warranty - worth nothing! 16 Jul 2007 (Forum)
  It could only have been there for a couple of hours, but it has seriously damaged the paintwork (the laquer has lifted). No problem, I thought (how naive!), it should be covered under the paint work warranty. How wrong I was - bird droppings are an "external influence" so the damage isn't covered. I know bird droppings are corrosive - this is why I use a quality wax, and wipe them off when they occur, but surely paint should stand up to a dropping for a couple of hours?
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  Discovered that my car was first registered in Cyprus 2 Jan 2012 (Ask HJ)
  I bought a Ford CC1 in 2010 and this was registerred by the Wright Car Centre and DVLA on 1st March 2010, I was advised I would have a 2 year warranty....
• What constitues 'mechanical failure'? 27 Dec 2006 (Forum)
  The leak has appeared within one of these rubber jointing sections - not at the union, but within the joint itself. So I called the extended warranty number, and was told that leaks in the waste pipe are not covered; all that is covered is mechanical or electrical failure. I was told that the pipe is not covered, as I could have damaged it myself (I didn't). There is no such exclusion in the contract - the chap on the end of the telephone helpfully read out all the exclusions to me (I could read them myself on my copy), including the one regarding lightning strikes or storms or civil disturbance.
• Using UK reg car abroad long term 17 Aug 2017 (Forum)
  (I imagine It's not possible to get an Italian policy for a non-Italy registered car...?) Finally, given the above, is it possible to buy breakdown/recovery coverage in Italy on a UK registered/MOT'd car? If not, would a UK breakdown policy cover use in Italy(Europe) not solely for short-term/vacation coverage?
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  I recently bought a car and now I'm being advised to change the cam belt, is this right? 26 Aug 2022 (Ask HJ)
  I recently bought a Volkswagen 1.5 TSI EVO 150 GT 5dr DSG and my dealership called me today and told me that my car is five years old and we recommend...
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  Car damaged in accident - should the other driver's insurer cover our costs? 1 Jan 2015 (Ask HJ)
  Someone hit my daughter's car while it was parked outside her house. The driver's insurance company has been in touch and offered her £10 per day in lieu...
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  Is it worth my friend selling his 1958 Porsche 356 in the UK? 7 Dec 2013 (Ask HJ)
  A friend in Holland has a fully restored 1958 Porsche 356 fixed head coupe with right hand drive and may one day have to sell it. He has owned the car...
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  Doesn’t figure 24 Oct 2009 (Ask HJ)
  Just over a month ago I bought a March 2009 Mazda3 1.6 Sport. Under the technical details of the car the Combined fuel consumption is 40.9mpg (Urban 31.7...
• Motoring Journalism 5 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  In the dim and distant past our information on cars had to be gleaned from the specialist car magazines - Motor, Autocar etc as there was little cover in newspapers and on TV. These magazines depended on advertising and loan cars to survive and to say their reporting lacked objectivity was an understatement.
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  Driver who caused crash has fled to Romania - what should I do? 5 Jan 2016 (Ask HJ)
  My partner was driving along and hit by a Jeep SUV that was pulling out of a nearby driveway. We called the Police and the driver took responsibility over...
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  My grandson had his black box insurance cancelled for speeding - can we ask for proof? 5 Nov 2018 (Ask HJ)
  My grandson has had his car insurance cancelled as they have said the black box showed that he was speeding. They have also kept £200 for a months car...
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  Why did a hardwired dash camera void my insurance policy? 11 Jan 2018 (Ask HJ)
  As it was close to renewal, I advised my car insurance supplier that I had had a dash camera hardwired into my SEAT Ibiza. They were quite taken aback...
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  Is my used warranty legal? 15 Mar 2014 (Ask HJ)
  I have just collected a second hand Vauxhall Corsa from our local car dealership and have been given a 'six month specific warranty'. The warranty details...
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  Is a cold-start knocking in my Superb Estate the result of contaminated diesel or a failing DMF? 3 Aug 2013 (Ask HJ)
  Having given my local Skoda garage £370 to flush contaminated diesel from my Superb estate, a serious cold-start knocking issue persists as bad as ever,...
• Any - An example of new-car depreciation 30 Aug 2019 (Forum)
  My son (22) has just changed cars, he's been saving hard for years to treat himself.  He bought a manufacturer-approved used model, registered 1st September 2018 with 13K miles, balance of manufacturer's warranty remaining, free roadside / breakdown cover for the duration of the warranty etc.
• Diesel cars in the US 21 Aug 2009 (Forum)
  Having been working with some americans recently and got chatting to them about the differences between US and the UK. Having first covered the important subjects, the price and quality of beer in our respective countries ;-) the conversion changed to cars specifically diesels there was a strong believe that they would struggle to start in the cold northern states in winter.
• £105 to have car theft investigated 18 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  New value for money intiative, covered in today's Sunday Times. Basically, if your car is stolen and then found by the police, either they will tell you where it is and you can collect it, end of story, or they will charge you £105 to do forensic tests on it in an effort to to determine who stole it.