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• Am I getting old 9 Sep 2003 (Forum)
  On arrival at AVIS today the office had forgotten to book a rental car so I was given a choice between an Omega or a Mini Cooper. No contest I thought as I have fancied thrashing a Mini for ages. When it comes the disappointment startes to set in as the interior is a bit tacky - aluminium is OK but aluminium coloured plastic is not.
• Toyota build quality - am I unlucky? 25 Jun 2003 (Forum)
  Granted most of these are things that didn't affect the actual running of the car, but even still I'd expected more from Toyota. I'm wondering now if I've just been unlucky and got a bad one, although as it was 2.5 years old when I bought it, surely most of the bugs should have been ironed out?
• Ruined battery ? 12 Aug 2001 (Forum)
  Latest thing to go wrong is a reluctance to start - I've changed leads, dizzy cap and plugs and hoped that it would now burst into life at the merest hint of the key being turned in the ignition (as my old corolla used to), but to no avail - I still have to crank it for several seconds before it catches and finally explodes into action. The only thing I can think of is that the oil may be a little on the thick side (and rather old by the look of it - I've not had the car long but it doesn't look like it's been changed in a while) ie. 20w50, could this be a contributing factor ?
• Audi Paintwork 15 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  However, the Manager was sure that the car had had paintwork on it as the car "was to clean" for a 5 year old car with 49k on clock (Surely that is no reason to say that a car has had work undertaken?). Therefore, the car would not be covered by Audi's 12 year Anti Corrosion Warranty.
• 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
• DIY - Is it required? 16 Nov 2005 (Forum)
  I did the majority of work on my early bikes and cars, but they were relatively uncomplicated. The last car I worked on was daughter's old Beetle when she was at university - and I recently discovered my old set of feeler gauges, which along with my slide rule, must qualify as my most redundant equipment!
• Used Estate Recommendation 1 Jul 2024 (Forum)
  Currently got my eye on something like these: https://www.cinch.co.uk/used-cars/make/model/details/8f6f1aba-317b-446c-b399-252b1762e8e3? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406261128806 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202405209887351 Should I be avoiding any engines in particular?
• Cat N car, full HPI report, but no details shown. 26 Feb 2024 (Forum)
  I carried out a full HPI check using 'totalcarcheck', and this confirms it was Cat N on the 27th Nov '23, but "Not stolen/not salvage/not anything". Literally no explanation. The car did have personal plates with its first owner in 2020, added when a month old, and reverted to its original number when they sold it in Feb '22. What the heck can I do to try and find out what happened?!
• Hyundai I10 or Skoda CitiGo 8 Sep 2021 (Forum)
  This is from a main dealer, which is where she will buy the car from Anyone know what justifies this premium for the Skoda, and does anyone have views about the merits or otherwise of such cars for a newish driver who needs reliability, easy to drive and park, cheap running costs, and avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention regarding catalysts converters (the current one was hacked off whilst parked in the street at work - despite it being a 20 year old car)  
• Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV in Design trim - Predicting a car's value in 2022 8 Oct 2019 (Forum)
    I am interested in the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV in Design trim.  My monthly allowance of £330 will go towards the car, including insurance, servicing, parts and labour.  At the end of the 3-year lease Motability customers are usually offered to purchase the car (dependent upon their having done low miles and following the scheme's rules).
• Ford Focus - When is it not worth repairing? 23 May 2019 (Forum)
  However, apparently the average scrappage age is 14yrs.  So for a £14,000 new car that's depreciation at £1000 p.a., double for a £28,000 car, more in the early years, less later. So others might say keep the car until any repair estimate exceeds the guesstimate of the first year's depreciation of its replacement.
• Another which car thread! 5 Sep 2018 (Forum)
  He only needs a small petrol hatchback. He doesn’t use a car during the week for work, only at weekends, and doesn’t carry passengers or huge loads. I’ve suggested a new Sandero (I’m biased with my Logan!), but other, more knowledgeable folk than me might have better ideas, or might recommend something a couple of years old instead?
• Vauxhall Astra G Petrol Automatic 2001 - Automatic transmission problem 28 Mar 2018 (Forum)
  A friend has a problem with her automatic transmission.  The car was apparently behaving normally with all forward gears available. As she was parking the car she tried to select reverse, the T-bar moved but reverse would not engage.  The rescue service mechanic said he was puzzled because the the car crept forward when Neutral was selected.
• Polo 2011 1.2 - VW Polo 2011 electrics detective needed 24 Nov 2015 (Forum)
  My car is 4 yrs old, low mileage, never had a problem.  Went in for an MOT, came out with two warning lights (the brakes and EPC).  Taken it to two specialist garages who read a faulty code yet have no idea how to fix it, apparently the car seems fine.
• Any - Best Cars for Long Term Ownership 11 Sep 2015 (Forum)
  I have just spent a lot of time and money doing a top end overhaul on my car. Although it is now back in daily use I need a few parts to finish things off. When I went to the main dealer (Vauxhall) they could not help and were fairly dismissive saying that they do not supply parts for models over ten years old.
• Reliable automatic hatchback around £10K 6 Sep 2015 (Forum)
  My wife's Citroen C3 1.6 Manual Airdream has done around 100K miles and its time to get another car (second hand around 3-4 years old) for her. Please can you provide me any suggestions. The annual mileage is roughly 16K-18K miles so I'm planning to get an Automatic car in a budget of £10K.
• Reliabilie and economical - Buying a used car for taxi used 23 Aug 2015 (Forum)
  I only have 7000 budget for a used car but it has to be atleast 7 years old. I am thinking between avensis 1.8 petrol or e class, c class 2.1 and it has to be manual. Thanks for your time, all advice will be considered for my next step...
• Kia Sportage - Asked for Advice - was I right? 14 Oct 2014 (Forum)
  Currently overseas and last night visited a friend who bought a two year old Kia Sportage a few months ago.  He mentioned a problem with the car.  When the car is locked he can open the boot.   So I went out to the car and tried to open the boot, but it did not.
• Should I buy a small car? 6 Sep 2014 (Forum)
  My firm has moved offices and parking is limited to a small rear car park with narrow access and narrower spaces.  My S-max takes up too much space and we could probably park two small cars where mine goes. The journey to the new office is six miles of urban main road north out of Manchester with 30 mph speed limits and no obvious open road.
• PCN on foreign number plate, Code: 12 Haringey 14 Mar 2013 (Forum)
    The car in an old convertible, therefore do not lock the doors [they cut the hood]. On my return, I found a PCN a my winscreen. And no P&display ticket. I could park on the yellow line, but felt safer there.