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• Dependable Estate upto £5K 23 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  Whats everyone elses opinion? What would you do in my opinion...everytime I read anything about them on the car by car breakdown....I'm put off for life....the Sigma gets the best write up in that but finding a decent one for decent money (whatever bought will be sold within a few months of coming back) as the Sigma doesn't look like an easy car to sell.
• Rover 75. Major fault advice please.... 13 Mar 2007 (Forum)
  After further examination the garage decided that it was the water pump at fault and replaced it along with a new timing belt. This morning after my wife left for work in the car I noticed a damp patch on the drive. Later in the afternoon my wife called to say that the car broke down on the way home having over heated. The breakdown guy said that there was a small amount of oil in the remaining water and vice versa and that that the headgasket had gone.
• Mitsubishi Colt 27 Aug 2003 (Forum)
  Being as I'm having some problems finding local Corollas, I thought I'd see if any other vehicle matched my requirements, especially as I'd ruled out every other manufacturer! I like what I see (and read in the Car by Car Breakdown) about the Colt and surprisingly there's one locally, an "96 N Reg Mitsubishi Colt 1.6 GLX, Petrol, Hatchback, 56,000 miles , 3 Doors. 1 owner and full MITSUBISHI history, 3 Doors. airbag double, Body Coloured Bumpers, Catalytic Converter, Central Door Locking, electric sunroof, Electric Windows, Heated Rear Screen, In Car Entertainment, Manual Transmission, Paint Metallic, Power-Assisted Steering, radio/cd, rear spoiler, Rear Wash/Wipe, £2,350" There's hardly any problems mentioned in CBCB unlike the great long list of Fords etc faults, but having done a quick search through the archives here it seems that Mitsubishi parts can be hard to source.
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  Turbo failure whilst towing a caravan - who should pay for the repairs? 6 Oct 2013 (Ask HJ)
  I purchased a used 2006 Kia Sorento 2006 a few months ago. The car cost £10,995 from a Kia dealer and had 70,000 miles on the clock. We took out a HP agreement...
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  Can you recommend an economical, reliable car for local journeys? 28 Sep 2013 (Ask HJ)
  My wife and I are looking to change our Chevrolet Matiz, first registered in March 2010 and would welcome your suggestions as to a similar sized replacement....
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  Why aren't Volkswagen customers told about timing belt changes when they buy a Golf or Polo? 10 Aug 2013 (Ask HJ)
  I am writing to thank you for the reply you gave to CS of Woodstock recently relating the changing of a camshaft belt on a Volkswagen Golf. My wife owns...
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  I think my Peugeot 406 Coupe, converted to LPG, meets the requirements of your correspondent BL. 2 Apr 2012 (Ask HJ)
  BL had £5000 for a car needed for a 400-mile weekly commute. I had to make this choice about four years ago. My choice was a 2.0-litre 2001 Peugeot 406...
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  Cats 22 19 Sep 2010 (Ask HJ)
  I have just had the unfortunate experience of being landed with an unexpected bill of £1,262 for a replacement catalytic converter at 72,000miles in my...
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  Best policy 28 Aug 2010 (Ask HJ)
  I thought you and your readers might like to hear of the excellent service I received this week from a local independent garage, F R Pulleyn of Station...
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  Asked main dealer to change cam belt but he didn't - is he hoping the car fails so I have to replace it? 5 Jul 2017 (Ask HJ)
  I want my 207,000 mile 2007 Vectra 1.9 diesel to keep going for a while. I asked the main dealer to change the cam belt and give a full service, put a...
• Nissan Qashqai - Engine revved itself to death 31 Aug 2016 (Forum)
  I got over to the hard shoulder and that was it, engine no go go. At least no fire, family ok. So my breakdown cover got the car taken to a Nissan dealership in Spain, who quoted £6000 for a new engine and turbo. Now I'm getting the car repatriated to the UK, to be assessed and repaired. Which brings me to my question: The used engine replacing / re-manufacturing industry seems particularly dodgy and a total minefield.
• 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.