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• letter from the colonies vol 14 18 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  He has saved for months from his pocket money and his weekend burger flipping job at The Home Of The Whopper to buy a mid 1990's Civic Hatchback, redone in a sort of metallic white, with green headlights, purple tail-lights, pretty chrome wheels, snazzy interior and of course a sound system capable of belting out knuckle dragger tribal noise at a great many decibels.
• Smallish 4wd cars 27 Apr 2024 (Forum)
    At idle, it sounds like a tractor. I chose not to buy one partly because it's a bit small and a bit rough.  It s a lot of money for something with no great comfort or space.  I was also worried about the twins it's reliability.  I have no particular reason to suspect it, but I know they're vulnerable to the wrong oil and so possibly a risky second hand buy.
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  What's the best medium sized van to buy to pull a trailer? 22 Jan 2024 (Ask HJ)
  I'm looking to buy two 3.5t vans. They will be running very heavy using the entire payload most of the time. Usually long journeys with a mixture of country...
• Toyota RAV4 - Toyota RAV4 - Dodgy MOT/Ripped Off? 18 Jul 2023 (Forum)
  We got it out of storage and it developed a little rattle prettry quickly, had a feeling it was the bushings so we decided to take it in for an MOT which came back with: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 99,200 miles: Repair immediately (major defects): Nearside Inner Integral body structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced sill excessively corroded multiple patches (6.1.1 (c) (i)) Offside Integral body structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced sill excessively corroded multiple patches (6.1.1 (c) (i)) Nearside Rear Inner Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (5.3.6 (a) (i)) Offside Rear Inner Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (5.3.6 (a) (i)) Nearside Front Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (5.3.2 (b)) Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm pin or bush excessively worn Rear bush debonding from arm (5.3.4 (a) (i)) Offside Front Lower Suspension arm pin or bush excessively worn Rear bush debonding from arm (5.3.4 (a) (i)) Offside Front Outer Drive shaft joint constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (6.1.7 (g) (ii)) Repair as soon as possible (minor defects): Offside Rear Registration plate lamp inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (4.7.1 (b) (i)) Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories): Front Inner Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Sub-frame corroded but not seriously weakened Front and rear (5.3.3 (b) (i)) Nearside Rear Coil spring corroded (5.3.1 (b) (i)) Offside Rear Coil spring corroded (5.3.1 (b) (i)) Nearside Front Coil spring corroded (5.3.1 (b) (i)) Offside Front Coil spring corroded (5.3.1 (b) (i)) Rear Suspension component corroded but not seriously weakened All suspension arms/shocks (5.3.3 (b) (i)) Offside Rear Anti-roll bar linkage pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (5.3.4 (a) (i)) Offside Rear Inner Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrule (1.1.12 (f) (i)) Nearside Rear Inner Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrule (1.1.12 (f) (i)) Vehicle structure is corroded but structural rigidity is not significantly reduced (6.1.1 (c) (i)) Nearside Front Inner Suspension component mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive (5.3.6 (a) (i)) Offside Front Inner Suspension component mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive (5.3.6 (a) (i)) Offside Front Shock absorbers has light misting of oil (5.3.2 (b)) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The guy that did the MOT said it's scrap and it's going to cost way more than it's worth to fix it.
• Renault Clio II (2001 - 2007) - 01 1.2 16v Orange coil light coming on 19 Jul 2021 (Forum)
  Well, I am 6 months pregnant and a few weeks ago the car decided to cut out on my whilst doing somewhere in the 70's on the motorway which was quite frightening. I managed to turn the engine off and on again whilst hurtling along and with a lot of revving in a lower gear the light went off and I continued the journey.
• The best first wheels 23 Jan 2021 (Forum)
  People seem terrified of older cars, believing them to be unreliable and unsafe but I argue that they’re not and to land young drivers with a crippling monthly bill is unwise and only delays the day they can stand on their own two feet with head held high. They’ll be with you in their 40’s if they get into the PCP/Lease trap of a costly new car every few years. My neighbour has a nearly new VW Polo GTi at age 19, which is taking most of what he earns between HP and insurance. It’s c******d him and he now can’t stand the loss of face that would come from downgrading in his mind as all his friends are doing the very same.
• Honda Accord 2002 - Car failed MOT, need advice (do I keep repairing?) 30 Aug 2020 (Forum)
    8k a year... cheap motoring ?  Or am I out of touch (why buy a car that costs me £000's when it's just going to get 8-10k driven out of it).  My only worry is that it'll fail more and more on rust and not be saveable (the body car paint, whilst dented/scratched etc has no rust....).
• Audi - Reversed into pedestrian - any thoughts 4 Feb 2020 (Forum)
  Goes without saying that I was horrified at what I'd done, the young lady (in her early 20's) was lying on the road, but after some time, the only external injury seemed to be a grazed (no blood) right elbow. Obviously she was shocked at what had happened, but she rose to her feet after a few minutes, and one of the local shops provided her with a chair to sit on, I got back in the car, reversed it back a few more yards so I wasn't blocking the road anymore.
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  What is the best child car seat for a Nissan Qashqai? 20 Nov 2019 (Ask HJ)
  We're having our first child in the new year and unsure about which child seats that we should be looking at - it's all so confusing. Do you have any advice...
• Lexus RX400h - RX400h owner's review for gordonbennet 20 Jun 2019 (Forum)
  Costs: Other than the 90K cambelt service (+£700 to usual service bill) there haven’t been any extra costs associated with running the car, I ditched the horrible squealy half-worn Bridgestones Duallers when I first got it and fitted road biased Toyo Open Country HT Mud&Snow tyres, the fronts are now down to 3mm after 40K miles and need replacing (I didn’t rotate them). They grip impressively in the wet and yet don’t squeal like most M&S tyres in the dry – I tend to corner hard and they really impress. My exuberant cornering style has probably caused another issue – I’m starting to get wheel bearing noise from the rear, I think there’s probably 10K before I’m facing a sizable bill!
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  What has happened to make insurance premiums go up so much in the last 12 months? 16 Jul 2018 (Ask HJ)
  Last July I insured my car for £240. This year, with no changes to my circumstances (other than the value of the car having reduced) the renewal quote...
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  Can I drive a Spanish registered car in the UK? 20 Apr 2018 (Ask HJ)
  I'm a UK resident, but I was stopped by police while driving my Spanish registered, right hand drive car. They said UK residents are not allowed to drive...
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  With many classic cars going off the road for winter, can you offer any storage advice? 1 Dec 2017 (Ask HJ)
  With many classic cars going off the road for winter, apart from connecting the battery to a trickle charge and over inflating the tyres to prevent flat...
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  Is there a known fault with the DSG on my 2012 Skoda Octavia? 20 Aug 2017 (Ask HJ)
  I've been told by my local Skoda dealer that my 2012 Octavia 1.8 TSi DSG Estate needs a new DSG as it suffered a failure. They found metal debris in the...
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  Which hatchback should I buy? 12 Jan 2017 (Ask HJ)
  I have a fair budget for a used car, preferably a petrol hot hatch with reasonable MPG consumption and also suitable for everyday car use. I am thinking...
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  Nissan will pay 75% of the parts cost for my broken Nissan CVT gearbox- is this reasonable? 8 Jan 2017 (Ask HJ)
  I purchased a Nissan Qashqai Acenta 1.6 CVT approximately in October 2015. It was an ex-motabilty, done less that 8,000 miles and had been serviced 3 times...
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  Can a failed DPF regen cause oil contamination in the engine? 29 Nov 2016 (Ask HJ)
  My 2013 Mazda 6 diesel recently had a low oil pressure warning light come on. I stopped driving immediately and got towed to my Mazda dealer. They changed...
• All makes and models - All cars are unreliable according to this site 11 Aug 2016 (Forum)
  I am totally baffled by all this stuff I read online about what I always thought were the best cars in the world coming up at the bottom of the list of reliability and those cars that I always thought were rubbish (French, Korean for example) are coming up top. Am I just out of date and stuck in the 80’s? have things changed. A chap at a Honda dealer recently told me that French cars are way more reliable than German cars, is this true? Your suggestions please on a 'reliable' car that won't break down every day and that won't cost a fortune to repair when it does.
• Toyota MR2 - Used Car Taking Dealer To Court Help! 9 Jul 2016 (Forum)
  Rear brake calipers seized. Brake pipes corroded require replacement. Hand brake inoperative, N/s electric window inoperative Bulbs missing from rear brake light and tail lights both sides. Power steering pipes corroded causing leakage, require replacement. Extensive corrosion to vehicle and suspension components.
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  Dispute with the AA 18 Jun 2015 (Ask HJ)
  We recently bought a Volkswagen Scirocco from a dealer in Birmingham. Before completing the sale we employed the AA to carry out a so called 'Comprehensive...