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• Extortionate recovery charges 1 Aug 2009 (Forum)
  Youngest future DiL (18) passed her test 13 months ago and just had her first accident. She rear ended a car, and in the process wrote her car off...fortunately low speed and no injuries. The attending police told her that her car could not be left at the side of the road, and gave her the number of a local recovery company.
• Peug 106 electrical buzzing noise?? 22 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  The car seems to be running ok. I dont want to spend money - or as little as possible- if i can avoid it as i am getting of the car in a couple of months although i am anxious to avoid a breakdown as i need the car for work, Has anyone any ideas of what to check for???
• Accord and Avensis diesels 30 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  IF I was feeling flush might think about the accord 2.2 diesel - but reports on Car-by-car breakdown of high oil consumptiuon and poor mpg - what do owners find here ??? What are the likely probs of these modern diesels as they get older and the miles go on - I know earlier diesels were simple things, hence little to go wrong, but will these high-tech engines be "pig" once the yget older, and cease to be worth repairing - Hence should one really be buying a higher miler car, as many of these diesels will be, or will one be in for a big bill over 120Kmiles say ?
• Volvo ETM 28 Mar 2006 (Forum)
  Is the ETM really such a problem that it should radically influence my choice of car? I really won't be happy to fork out £700 repeatedly on a car. 2. I am currently thinking of a honda prelude 2.2 VTi or perhaps a Beemer 325i, are there any significant issues with these further than the CBC breakdown?
• Recovery Organisations....Grrrrrrrrr.... 8 Dec 2003 (Forum)
  A word of warning here....... Be very, very wary about letting Mr Recovery Man replace ANY parts on your car in the event of a breakdown. I speak from direct experience, last week. Without going into too much detail, a customers 306 DT was proving difficult to start first thing....so they call the I assume Mr 'Well-known recovery service' or an agent of theirs attends to the car at the customers home address, some 10 miles distant. ...Who promptly diagnose and replace a set of glow plugs.
• Focus recall in US 5 Nov 2002 (Forum)
  It said the other concern involved Focus vehicles with Zetec engines in which potential problems with the placement of a battery cable could result in smoke, wire melting or under-hood fires. END QUOTE The article refers only to US cars being recalled, but are any UK or EU ones affected? Searching Car-by-Car Breakdown cannot find anything on battery cable replacement amongst the already long list of Focus recalls, and I couldn't find anything on http://www.ford.co.uk about any product recalls at all (surprise, surprise).
• Ford Fiesta (2000 - 2002) - 02 1,25 Heater Blowing hot air and overheating 20 Jan 2010 (Forum)
  Hi all, My son has a fiesta 1.25 02 freestyle, When he was driving it up the dual carriageway the temp gauge suddenly went up high and the fans kicked in, he called out the breakdown truck and they brought him home they said it could be the water pump have also noticed that the heater was only blowing hot air, so I pass the car on to my mechanic friend to have a look at it. he replaced the thermostat and housing and flushed the system down and refilled it with new coolant and he also changed the heater valve and he is going to change the temp sensor on friday.this has sorted the high temp problem but the heater is only blowing cold air but when I take off the electrical connection off the heater valve it will blow hot air any advice on the problem will be gratefully recived, sorry if it sounds long winded but I wanted to give you as much info as possible thanks.
• Renault Megane (1996 - 1998) - 1996 1.4 (8v) Cutting out (again) 12 Dec 2008 (Forum)
  It's a perfectly good car, but if it won't run reliably it will have to go. I'm probably going to try a diagnostic at a Renault dealer, but if that doesn't fix it..... I'm also wondering whether the increasing frequency of failure is a clue.
• Courtesy or nuisance 4 Jul 2006 (Forum)
  I gave a driver (gender unseen) a nervous breakdown on Friday last. As I approached a three junction traffic roundabout I saw a very hesitant young learner trapped there. The traffic was building up behind him quite badly. So, I did my boy-scout thing and hesitated myself, blocking both of the other streams until his instructor got him moving.
• Change of Car 4 Jul 2002 (Forum)
  I know that high mile young cars are better than old, low mile, but how long will these engines last, assuming that they have been serviced as specified? I have read the car by car breakdown, and there seem to be enough on the market to allow me to take my time and make sure that they have had the wishbones changed, check the plenum and check if the CAT is ok or has been changed and make sure it hasn't been a taxi.
• Mazda 6 2.2 diesel (183BHP) (2009) - Replacement engine 13 Dec 2012 (Forum)
  Hi I have had a Mazda 6 sport 2.2 diesel (183bhp) since December 2009 and I have been having heating problems for the last 18 months or so.  The car has been into Mazda 3 times (the last time in March) when it had the head gasket replaced under warranty as it was cracked.  This fixed the problem for a few months however on the 26 November the engine had a major breakdown and stalled on the motorway slip road.
• Peugeot 306 (1993 - 2001) - 99 1.9HDi will not start 20 Dec 2009 (Forum)
  is there an easy way to check? Any assistance would be much appreciated as the car was a very good runner up till this incident, and has only done 60,000 miles with full service history. Thanks
• How gullible are some people? 28 Mar 2008 (Forum)
  She was having to give every personal detail, details of other insurances, breakdown insurances - the full works! When she came off the phone I commented that it was an awful long call to get a cover note - apparently this was the insurance division of the large motor retailer and she had been told by the salesman that she had to phone them to get the free 7 day cover so that they could tax her car!
• Unhappy Accord gearbox 7 May 2002 (Forum)
  This is what HJ's car-by-car breakdown has to say about the UK Honda Accord 98 onwards. <<<< What's Bad Reports of problems with manual gearboxes. Serious problem with the printed circuit boards that control the automatic load compensating headlamp beam adjusters of Type Rs which may become the subject of a safety recall. >>>> Can anyone elaborate on what the "problems with manual gearboxes" actually are?
• Dacia Logan MCV / Ford Mondeo - BHP & Torque 28 Jan 2015 (Forum)
  I am a computer geek rather than a car guy so would really appreciate someone advising what these actually mean to me in terms of the above scenario.  My dad keeps saying to me that I need to get a 2.0L or 2.2L car and they are becoming rarer these days.
• Ford Focus Saloon 1.8 TDCI 2003. - diesel pump and injector nightmare! 27 Nov 2013 (Forum)
  I had a major breakdown a few months ago car lost power and died. The problem was traced to the fuel pump, at which the insides decided to go through the fueltank and injectors. Anyway i have had the pump replaced, and got 2nd hand injectors which the salvage yard gave me two weeks to have them fitted to see if they were ok.
• Car stood over Yuletide, will it start? 8 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  On the 'news' section i notice the headline about 5th Jan being breakdown day. As my ageing car has been stood since Christmas Eve, i got my trusty battery charger out and gave the battery a good charge up yesterday. I'll be starting up at about 4.30am Monday, so i don't want to hear the ominous sounds of slowly turning engine followed by the heart stopping sounds of clicking starter.
• Vauxhall Vectra B (1995 - 1999) - or alternative 'bangernomics' estates. 12 Sep 2007 (Forum)
  I'm looking to spend £500-£1500 on as tidy and late an estate car as possible with as few mechanical pit falls as possible. Vectras *seem* a good buy and there are a good few pre-1998 examples local to me cheap. Is the cost/effort of a clutch replacement (as mentioned in the Car by Car breakdown here) a significant reason not to buy a pre-98 Vectra?
• Autoaid 16 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  Evening all, Earlier on I had the pleasure of coming off the Polegate roundabout, going into 3rd, lifting clutch, and....nothing - no drive! The drive shaft on faithful car has broken :-( Straight on phone to Autoaid (my choice of breakdown cover) and within 20min recovery lorry turns up (not bad for a Sunday!), I tell him what's wrong so he doesn't waste time fixing it, loads up, and drives me back home to Brighton.
• Replacing a Focus, am I mad? 21 Dec 2006 (Forum)
  Am i stupid to be considering these things, selling the Focus and replacing with: a) 98S Alfa Romeo 156 1.8 TS, 90,000 miles. £1,500. b) 99S Rover 420 GSDi, 88,000 miles. £950. Here's the thing, I love my Focus, but a car is just a car (possibly the worst place to say this)...and the value of the Focus (offered £2,500 by a local as a car for his wife whose just learnt to drive...) could be put to better use (like possible deposit on mortgage).