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• A new car for my Mother 13 Mar 2009 (Forum)
  Must be 4/5 doors and for short journeys able to take three on the rear seat, Most driving will be local. I?ve persuaded her against her original idea of changing to an automatic as it has been 35 years since she has driven one but that may come back as we go round dealers. Also because of misfueling and DPFs I?m tending to advise against diesels. I?ve suggested a C-Max or a Golf Plus.
• Ford Focus II (2004 - 2007) - Focus 20000 mile report 29 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  Gives no grief, just gets on with the job. Dislikes: Handbrake set up for LHD ? and it needs a good yank to apply it. Aircon automatically comes on when you put the fan on. That really irritates me. No dimmer for dashboard lights. Tyre noise a bit high but much better with Goodyear Excellence tyres I?ve just put on. Reliability Nothing at all has gone wrong.
• Modern car gearboxes 25 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  I have had a succession of 90s Nissan cars, so perhaps I'm spoilt I don't know, but I am used to gearshifts that are: a) short throw b) the gearstick pretty much 'finds' the next gear automatically c) there is no slowness to the change d) it doesn't feel like you're pulling at bits of string to change gear e) the linkage doesn't feel as if it's made of cheap plastic, or clicks away like it's about to self-destruct f) actually feels as if there is some dampening process going on behind the scenes, without it feeling rubbery g) you don't get that strange sensation of the system "catching up with itself" once the gear has actually engaged.
• Jaguar X-Type (2001 - 2009) - Massive problem with diesel Jaguar 8 May 2008 (Forum)
  I used to own from new a petrol engine X-type. It was very unreliable and I had problems with the automatic gearbox and the heater unit. The last straw was when the power steering broke. The dealers said that there were quite a lot of problems with that model so they gave me what they called a preferential trade in on a diesel X-type with manual gearbox.
• Stop lines at traffic lights 18 Mar 2008 (Forum)
  It then means that my car, the one in the other lane, and all the ones behind us, are pre-staggered, ready to zip merge. If the stop line was staggered, the traffic would do this automatically, reducing the fight for the front or the of opposite both cars letting the other to go first, holding everyone up.
• VW Passat 2.5 TDi looses power 8 Jul 2006 (Forum)
  I recently purchased a VW Passat automatic, with 2.5 v6 TDi (AKN) engine. It is 4 years old and 111,000 'motorway miles'. I keep suffering from loss of ability to accelerate. For example, it is a bit slow from a standstill in 1st gear, but worse is when turning right at traffic lights, you can roll up and wait for a gap in oncoming traffic and press the accelerator right down but nothing much happens for 1-5 seconds, then there is a violent surge in power and a puff of black smoke.
• Good Customer Service 30 Jun 2006 (Forum)
  Came out this morning and reversing off the drive decided to try the wipers just to make sure passenger side was not going to break loose . Reverse automatically activates the rear wash wipe which started and then shuddered to a halt at 90 degrees in the middle of rear screen. No movement so I thought probably looking at a new wiper motor £100 or so including fitting- I thought well I have had a good run , the first problem with the car in four years and that was not covered in warranty.
• Mercedes B-class at 5000 miles 16 Jun 2006 (Forum)
  Plenty of room in the back. Dislikes Engine very noisy, especially while accelerating: all 4-cylinder automatic diesels are going to drone to some extent, but there could be more soundproofing. There's none on the bonnet lid for example. Idling speed irritatingly low at about 700 rpm - it doesn't stall but the whole car vibrates.
• Executive saloon purchase 13 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  The following are on my shortlist (all are old shape saloons) BMW 530 petrol BMW 735 Mercedes E320 petrol Jaguar XJ8 Essential: Automatic Petrol Leather CD stack Ideal: Parking sensors Xenon lights Climate control I am planning to buy from The Great Trade Centre, and can just about get any of the above within my £10000-12000 budget.
• A Good Laugh - Courtesy of Me 5 Dec 2003 (Forum)
  (Those of you who know Ford Central locking systems will perhaps understand) Anyway, realising this was a stupid thing to do as it was central locking, the locks automatically flipped back to unlocked as the door was open. Or so I thought.... As soon as I closed the driver's door, *clunk* Whoops. What the hell's happened here? ALL of the doors had locked with my keys in the ignition and the engine running!
• Ford Euro IV Diesel Info 3 Oct 2003 (Forum)
  Introduction of a DPF system is possible through the development of latest-generation common-rail engines and a new ceramic filter. The filter not only traps particulate mass during normal operations, but also automatically regenerates itself by burning off those trapped particles.
• Hidden Volvo HU-803 menu options 21 Aug 2003 (Forum)
  No problem! The most interesting to me was displaying vehicle speed (only in km/h) as used in the automatic volume control function. This appears to be incredibly accurate from measurements I have just made. In fact, whilst the speedometer itself over-reads (I am sure deliberately) even though it probably gets its' digital feed from the same source, the stereo head unit uses it without any filtering and with close to 100% accuracy.
• Best secondhand motor for £10k? 22 Feb 2003 (Forum)
  Economy or outright speed not an issue here in Guernsey (44p/litre, top speed 35mph), but must be able to take a lot of town driving. He's not an automatic transmission fan. Personally I suggested a new Focus straight away (no VAT here in the Channel Islands, his p/ex is a totally crackered 1992 Corolla so I think the deal is possible), but bizarrely he's not interested because "the loud indicators drive me mad".
• Subaru Legacy & LPG Conversion 22 Feb 2003 (Forum)
  I test drove an Outback recently and was very impressed with the vehicle, but I have read in many reviews, and was told by the dealer that they tend to be quite thirsty... I would be intending to buy a used 4or 5 year old 2.5 estate or outback, automatic, and have the vehicle converted to LPG. I need the estate carrying capacity, so the LPG tank would need to be sited away from the load area (in a spare wheel well tank I assume) as I have heard some conversions have a cylinder/tank that goes in/on top of the boot/luggage area.
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  I need a big SUV for £10k - what do you suggest? 20 Aug 2025 (Ask HJ)
  I’m looking to buy a large SUV and have around £10k to spend on it. I work for the Coast Guard and RNLI as a trainer in the South West, but also do a lot...
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  Are petrol particulate filters problematic? 10 Feb 2025 (Ask HJ)
  My daughter's three month old Kia Sportage mild hybrid petrol automatic recently flashed up an instruction to re-generate exhaust filter having covered...
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  Can I reject a used car because it has MoT advisories? 28 Jun 2023 (Ask HJ)
  I bought a Nissan Qashqai from trade centre on HP as well as part exchange, I was told it had passed the MoT in April but did not receive the certificate....
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  Hyundai Tucson actuator failure, just out of warranty - will I have to pay in full? 10 Dec 2021 (Ask HJ)
  Just over two months ago my Hyundai Tucson diesel had its final service within its five year warranty, having done just under 26,000 miles and received...
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  Which Caravelle is best for £20,000? 7 Sep 2021 (Ask HJ)
  I have been looking to buy one of these second hand and would like some help. I appreciate the fact that these vehicles hold their value incredibly well...
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  What's the best entry-level sat nav? 16 Oct 2018 (Ask HJ)
  What's the best entry-level sat nav?