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• Skoda Superb - A cautionary tale about DSG Gearboxes 2 Nov 2012 (Forum)
  An update - was told by nice RAC man 30 mins ago that the tow truck will be here within an hour. RAC man drove away as he's probably got a full day's work rescuing Skoda drivers. iPad battery almost flat so won't be able to do many emails but, fortunately, I filled up with diesel last night so can sit in the car with engine running, heater on, watching Ugly Betty for hours. Skoda lasted 33 miles.
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  Why are my rear brake pads wearing so fast? 20 Oct 2012 (Ask HJ)
  I've done just over 30k miles in my SEAT Exeo, but I am getting what I consider to be unusual brake pad wear. The front brake pads are 20 per cent worn,...
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  Which oil should I use to replace my Peugeot 307's gearbox oil? 22 Aug 2010 (Ask HJ)
  I wish to renew my Peugeot 307 2.0-litre HDi's gearbox oil (manual five-speed) as my mileage is around 100,000 and I don't know if its been done. The manual...
• Peugeot 206 - turbo failure 15 Jun 2010 (Forum)
    The first incident occurred several months ago on the 25 th of March, when the engine suddenly lost power and would not rev above 2500rpm.   A local garage, Burnley Tyre and Battery, repaired the turbo and the invoice was broken down as follows:   To supply and fit 1 turbo/fit kit 1 filter oil 5 litres oil Labour                                                  Total cost including VAT = £885.72   The second incident occurred, 29 th of April, exactly as the first, with the same invoice details and a total of £768.22 including VAT.
• BMW 3-Series E36 (1991 - 1998) - Electrical Problems with Heater Control 2 Dec 2007 (Forum)
  Hi all, I bought the above a year and a half ago - and other than having to replace a battery up until the summer this year its been fine. Now I know summer would make more of a demand on my air con, and at same time I got a stereo fitted at Halfords where I know they did make a bit of a meal out of it - and despite them faffing on, and fitting a new aerial wire thingy (technical term?)
• Main dealer import nightmare 6 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  The car has been great and had covered 40,000 trouble free miles until Sunday lunchtime when it suddenly ground to a halt with strange noises coming from under the bonnet with Oil light and battery light blinking. No problem. I thought. Call Land Rover Assist... "Sorry Sir" was the response " we have no record of your vehicle, or the chassis number, or your registration". I managed to get the vehicle recovered to my house under a separate policy I have with First Direct and called the dealer (where I bought the car from) this morning to arrange collection/repair etc and query the LR Assured problem.
• Czech Observations 20 Jan 2003 (Forum)
  A total, clapped our, rickety heap, except that the motor started first time, every time, with none of the Whir, whir, whir, flat battery, and then silence, that most British bangers would exhibit. 2) Very reluctantly, drove one of the first Favorits, also run by it's normal owner on a total shoe string. A certain UK MOT failure, it also started on the button every time, and the unassisted (read bl**dy heavy normally) steering gave plenty of feedback on packed snow.
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  The installation of a black box ruined my son's car - what should we do? 13 Nov 2017 (Ask HJ)
  My son bought a new Volkswagen Golf GTE in September for his commute to work. He changed his insurance to an RAC policy with compulsory Black Box. The...
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  Is the driver or vehicle owner responsible for parking fines? 9 Jul 2024 (Ask HJ)
  A relative borrowed our car in 2019 to go to hospital but apparently never bought a parking ticket. We have had threats for a year then they stopped as...
• Mazda CX-30 - Anything better than CX-30 in the same price rang? 29 Jun 2024 (Forum)
    The CX-30 has good reviews for general reliability of engine and gearbox, but have seen reviews here about various electrical faults: " issue with a safety warning light that displays all to often causing partial safety features to be not working plus car loses power when pulling away ", "issue with electric wing mirrors ", "Parking sensors have stopped working. Battery keeps dying & car won’t start. Had more breakdown calls than care to remember"  "periodic symptoms, with cruise controller, safety systems, parking sensors, voice control and in dash screen just not working, tailgate lock and motors noisy, rattling interior, loose break caliper ....."
• Mazda 3 - Engine check light codes 15 Jan 2024 (Forum)
  A sensor fault i) The sensor's heater is faulty (burnt out) and it or the whole sensor needs replacing; ii) A grounding issue or 12V connection to the battery; iii) A wiring issue - often caused by heat (it's near the exhaust [where the sensor is] and CAT) and/or physical damage via some means or age-related. 3. A fault with the car's ECU.
• Renault Clio 2017 - Best car ever, Why change 20 Dec 2020 (Forum)
  (when i say hold its value, I mean i expect it to drop each year, but by how much) I guess the next car will be electric, But the price would need to come down by quite a bit and battery life would need to improve, plus charging areas need to improve, at the moment, there is no value in buying electric cars, But i can imagine the gov offering incentives to change to electric in the coming years.
• Vauxhall Meriva - 2011 meriva crank no start 21 Mar 2019 (Forum)
  I have done a voltage drop test from the SCV loom plug and there is 2.5v being read between battery negative and plug negative, my understanding is that anything over 0.5v on a drop test is a problem - Could this cause a no start like I am getting. Any advice or questions gratefully received as this car is pushing me close to the edge lol
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  Having constant electronic issues with a new car - can I reject it? 17 Jul 2017 (Ask HJ)
  Five months ago, my daughter purchased a new Vauxhall Astra 1.0 turbo from a Vauxhall dealer. Two weeks ago she started to have major electronic problems....
• Renault Modus - Faulty Renault Modus 1.5dci,Legal Advice required. 11 May 2016 (Forum)
  The car had 93k on the clock,on day of purchase the car broke down on the way home(turned out it required a new battery,had it fitted and the cost was shared 50% each way) I also had the car serviced. On the 18/3/2016 37 days after purchase a fault code occured "Check injection", parked it up over weekend and took it to the local garage,took 3 attempts to start plumes of white smoke on the 21/3/2016 had a diagnostic £20,3 codes that wouldnt clear :DF029 Cylinder 4 injector circuit at minimum limit.DF025 Preheating diagnostic connection and P0170 Cylinder balancing.I phoned and texted the dealer on the same day,he replied it was only a 30 day warranty and the best he could do was have his mechanic do it at cost.
• 2003 1.8l Mondeo Estate, 144k miles - Ford Mondeo Mk3 Hesitates and Stutters during acce 23 Apr 2015 (Forum)
  Possibly the engine management system has not adjusted properly to the various changes. Sometimes disconnecting the battery for an hour to clear the data in the system can improve performance. Only do this when you have chance to take it for a reasonable run (30 mins or 20 miles) immediately afterwards, so it can 'learn' the engine characteristics once it's fully up to temperature.
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  Why is my Peugeot 106 overheating? 14 Jan 2015 (Ask HJ)
  I have a Peugeot 106 and over the past week I have noticed the temperature light on my dashboard flashing up from time to time. I recently had some work...
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  Nissan Note has electrical faults - has it got flood damage? 1 Mar 2014 (Ask HJ)
  I purchased a used (previously two owners) Nissan Note 10 days ago. It is now showing odd problems. The battery saving 'lights off function' suddenly failing...
• Vauxhall Vectra B facelift (1999 - 2002) - 00 1.8 EM light/ECU? 17 Feb 2014 (Forum)
  Since then having rooted about on here and other forums I have re- earthed the yellow wire from the maf and the brown cable from the temp sensor using the battery negative as earth instead as found here http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=59721&v=f As it stands now, I still have the EM light and still using fuel like crazy. I don?t know the best way to explain this without the correct terms, but I have noticed that when you take your foot off, that moment a few seconds later when the revs sort of cut into idle mode has become really jerky, as it is when you put your foot back down again.
• Lexus, Toyota, GM, others - Hybrids - good to drive? how about 2nd hand 24 Jan 2014 (Forum)
  Ideally I would like something that has been around a couple of years so I can look for a 2nd hand one at dealers, but when I did look at the 400h (and before deciding it was too big for me), I also learnt that most used car warranty schemes do not cover the electric power train of a hybrid (such as batteries). With the Prius now being around 10 years, its a good time to ask,  are Hybrids a risky second hand buy? So two questions   1 ) recommend a hybrid  - not a CT-200h, smaller than an RX400, but something good to drive, and  a bit exclusive.