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• Expected Battery Life 25 Jun 2004 (Forum)
  I know that usage patterns affect a battery, but in my case, the car rarely sits in the garage for more than three days before a decent shopping trip run of between 20 to 35 kilometers each way is done. There are other journeys of course but the pattern is not that of a two or three kilometer run a couple of times a week. I used Skoda Assist when the car would not start and the driver of the breakdown truck used a power boost to start the engine.
• Audi A4 Coolant Loss 23 Jun 2004 (Forum)
  Instead of the temperature gauge sticking like glue to 90degrees it now goes up when I accelerate hard but then after a while returns to 90. The radiator is hot across the top and this morning after a 60 mile run was warm in other places too. With the engine hot and running I have tried to hold shut the top line to the radiator after the T to the expansion tank in the hope of seeing water puped into tank to confirm water pump is working but to no avail.
• Fuels: detergent or non-detergent 13 Apr 2004 (Forum)
  There may also be issues with oil leakage which can results in further deposits on combustion. Engines run on stop start cycles will be much more prone to deposit build up than those run continuously over long periods of time (probable explanation for the test bed comment). Most major motor manufacturers now recommend detergent fuels.
• Car-by-Car Breakdown 21 May 2003 (Forum)
  'Re J Clarkson not every one can affort to waste 40 - 60k on a car , unless it can be written off for tax. The avarage punter needs a good cheap to run reliable car for A to B running. And ALL manufactures build lemons at one time or another, if you took HJ car reviews to heart you would not buy any car. What would be useful would be HJ total car type sales per month vis compliants/known faults as a percentage.
• Renault Laguna 1 1.9dTi Cambelt 11 Apr 2003 (Forum)
  Does anyone have experience of changing the cambelt on a 1.9dti I have just replaced mine, complete with new idler pulleys, couple of odd things, first checked out timing marks, i.e. crank tdc, pegged crank with timing pin in cyl. block, fuel injector pump, ok. but noted camshaft alighment to pointer on camcover appeared 1 notch out. Although engine running fine. I've fitted new belt and left marks as i found them, and all still seems fine, plenty of power, no smoke, or starting problems just seemed strange. Anyone else done this work?? I'm still a little concerned over the correct tension of belt, I've set it able to twist belt on longest run by approx. 45 degree, same as noted before removing the old belt.
• petrol tank air lock 15 Mar 2003 (Forum)
  I've never had this problem before and it's damned annoying! My only other solution of course is to persuade my husband to do the petrol run. Cheers Carole
• Late running-in Diesel 6 Mar 2003 (Forum)
  In December I purchased a 2000 156 2.4JTD with 7500 miles on the clock. It had undergone the appropriate annual services and was fully serviced prior...
• Car smash - urgent advice req'd 7 Jan 2003 (Forum)
  I need some urgent practical advice following someone running into my car while it was parked outside my house. I’m in the process of selling this car having transferred my insurance to a newer vehicle. Fortunately, I have the full name and address and insurance details of the person who crashed into my old car.
• Buying 4x4 for export to Sri Lanka 22 Apr 2002 (Forum)
  A friend of mine is working in the United Kingdom for two years on a fixed length contract - 20 months remaining - at which point he will return home to Sri Lanka. His intended plan is to buy a secondhand 4x4, run it for the duration of his UK contract, and then ship it back to Sri Lanka, for use as the family vehicle. His monthly budget to buy and run the vehicle whilst in the UK is £500, and obviously, at the point of leaving the UK, any finance should have been paid off.
• Vintage Merc or a Skoda Octavia ? 27 Mar 2002 (Forum)
  Since I live in the middle of town, I presently run a small Suzuki Alto (used by SWMBO on kindergarten run - difficult to find amongst SUV's) and a Honda Civic. The Honda is 4 years approaching 40 k miles and used for commuting, it is great for parking and town use but nothing is wrong it except that there is not much space for long journeys with a 3 year old daughter or visiting in laws.
• Polo diesel poor starting 31 Jan 2002 (Forum)
  I read HJ's coment on a recent post that he thinks VW diesel injectors should be changed at 80k miles and this got me thinking. This seems quite an expensive job, but if that's the problem I'll do it, because I intend to run the car another few years yet. Thanks for reading my long and involved post - I look forward to any wisdom you might be able to offer. Andy
• Running diesels on Gas (Update) 14 Dec 2001 (Forum)
  Following on from previous questions about using LPG in diesel engines I saw the following today in 'Professional Engineering'. Referes to natural gas,...
• Wheel bearing - "play" whats acceptable? 22 Nov 2001 (Forum)
  The symptoms are that sometimes on an open clear motorway I get vibration through the steering - other times not, sometimes worse than others. Today was a classic example of two 20 mile runs on the same road, this mornings journey was ok - this evenings wasn't. If I go to the time hassle & expense of changing the bearings (£100 in parts plus say 3 hours labour) will I notice any difference?
• Used cars of the year 13 Oct 2019 (Forum)
  Sub £4,000 Mazda 2 1.5 Sport 5dr I’d still give the wee Mazda the win here even in previous gen. The 1.5 Sport is a great option with nippy performance and low running costs. The chain driven petrol engines will run and run if looked after properly and they resist rot better than earlier Mazdas too. Best small family hatch £8,000 Mazda 3 2.0 Skyactiv SE These are only just slipping in below £8,000 with sensible mileages now and as with the Mazda 2 they’re brilliant things.
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  Honda CR-V heater on driver's side does not warm up, how can I fix this? 28 Jul 2023 (Ask HJ)
  Having done the due dilligence (HJ Reviews etc) I took a 13 plate Honda CR-V for a test run two days ago which was a warm day so was pleased that the air...
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  I did a 250-mile, 7-hour trip in my diesel car. How would an electric car have coped? 7 May 2021 (Ask HJ)
  Last bank holiday Monday, I travelled the 260 miles from Edinburgh to the North Midlands in my diesel Hyundai. I still had enough fuel for another 250...
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  Hyped drid 31 Jan 2009 (Ask HJ)
  As a pensioner, I have to minimise the running costs of my car so I traded my 3-Series BMW for what I thought would be a much more economical car. I chose...
• Suzuki Vitara - Replacement bulbs cost 12 Aug 2025 (Forum)
  I need some help with my 3-year-old car, which is still under warranty. The daytime running light on the left side has packed in, and the LED headlight on the right side isn’t working either. I thought these were just easy bulbs to swap out like in my old cars, but I was told to ring the dealer.
• A cheap to run luxury(ish) car? Tough one... 25 May 2023 (Forum)
    At the same time, he's seen a few imported Mercedes which far exceed all his tech and aesthetic boxes, but in my mind completely miss his needs for low running costs/reliability. I'm very, very slowly getting him to get a Golf mk 7 which I truly believe he will like, and he admits he does, but he's convincing himself that an imported Merc would get him everything he's ever wanted.
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  I need a small but family friendly car for £11,000 - what do you recommend? 17 Aug 2021 (Ask HJ)
  My wife currently has a 2015 Honda CR-V 1.6 diesel. I have recently purchased a Volkswagen Kombi van which we now use for all family trips, meaning the...