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• KIA Sportage - RAC Clearing Fault Code to get you back on Road 2 Jan 2020 (Forum)
  Amazing response from dealer and after two hours of complaining and going round in circles im at a dead end. I now have to wait until my car breaks down (hopefully not with the wife and young kids in it) and send the car on the back of a truck into dealership. Anyone been caught out by this? Can i force AC to look at my car somehow?
• Peugeot 3008 1.6THP - Broken down again, 4 times in 17 months, what now? 24 Feb 2013 (Forum)
  Waiting for Puegeot Assist breakdown to come out to me. I have had the car 17months, it has broken down 4 times, it is barely run it (22000 miles) and has never been reliable. Apart from selling it quickly after this next repair, any suggestions?
• Subaru Impreza II fl 2 (2006 - 2007) - Subaru Brakes 29 Nov 2007 (Forum)
  I have also checked the servo operation, by holding the pedal down and then starting the engine, you can feel it sink. I had it at the dealer and they looked at the brakes and drove the car and say it is exactly the same as any other Subaru and that there is no problem. Any ideas guys? Edit: I just had a look at HJ's car-by-car breakdown for the Impreza. Under 'What's Bad' he writes, "UK stocks of I.5R sold out in its first month on the market.".
• Citroen C5 (2001 - 2008) - '01 HDi - Strange 'knocking' through the steering 1 Nov 2007 (Forum)
  I'm not overly concerned because the dealer is very helpful and seems content to fix the car under warranty, but I was wondering if anyone here had any ideas upfront? I see the HJ car-by-car breakdown for this vehicle says "Limited lifespan on link rod arms and heavy on tyres" - could that be related to this?
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  Who's liable for my BMW's faulty timing chain? 25 Oct 2016 (Ask HJ)
  I purchased a used (2009) BMW 3 Series Touring 320D 10 months ago from a Lexus dealer. At purchase it had only 16,000 miles on the clock and a full BMW...
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  Which Motability car for our disabled daughter? 9 Feb 2013 (Ask HJ)
  My 16-year old daughter is a wheelchair user. She plans to take her driving test and start driving by the end of March 2013 (when the lease of our current...
• Leo the Leaf replacement 23 May 2025 (Forum)
  After viewing numerous tatty Leaf’s, and several overpriced Kia Niro’s most with zero history (so no battery warranty) and poor accident repairs, we’ve bought a 22 plate 18,000 mile VW ID3 58kwh Pro Performance Max instead - bring back L/LX/GL etc. Car is mint, approved used and as part of VW’s used car event it comes with two years VW warranty, breakdown cover, a £250 finance contribution and free servicing. If you take a PCP, which I have and will pay off immediately.
• Ford Focus ST - Engine High Tempurature 11 Mar 2018 (Forum)
  Observation showed the coolant was bubbling and whilst the coolant was just above min at the start it was way over max within minutes (clearly due to pressure); naturally the fans on the engine radiator were on. Now my issue is I’m at home can’t really take it anywhere and have no breakdown cover. Ford when speaking to them advised of the replacement extended tank but as it stands not sure; they want to pick the car up and effective strip elements of the car... sounding very expensive investigation work.
• Merc E320 CDI possible purchase 4 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  Had a loan 180k miles C250 diesel the other day, and apart from the non existent accelleration quite liked the solid feel of it. Just seen this car, would I be mad? Its at the top of my budget but comes with a new mot - private sale - and the brake pipes mentioned in the car by car breakdown have just been done and its got the indicators in the mirrors which I think is the facelift.
• Dilemma-Alfa 156 or not ? 10 Jul 2005 (Forum)
  Not being able to resist, called in and the salesman explained that it had been traded in against a new Golf GTi and was parked away from their extensive VW 2nd hand stock to promote brand consistency and had been reduced to effect a quick sale. Now, I have read 'Car by car breakdown' (no pun intended) and have also visited the owner's 156 website and have read some of the horror stories about both this car's inherent faults and also the dealer network. I am aware that this model has now been discontinued but still the urge and romantic idyllic thought about owning an Alfa exist.
• Vauxhall Cavalier (1988 - 1995) - 90 2.0GLi 8 valve automatic starting problem 5 May 2002 (Forum)
  This time it made the occasional attempt to fire, but was still no better. I am at a loss as to what this could be as the car was starting perfectly prior to the battery failure. This has happened once before when the battery ran flat, but the car did eventually start after many attempts. Once the car does start, it is cured of this problem.
• Ford Focus - Car starts then starts, then doesn't... 14 Sep 2018 (Forum)
  Hi everyone I have been the content driver of my 2010 1.6 Zetec for over a year now, but sadly I have a fault which is difficult to pinpoint and would appreciate advice. My wife was driving the car for a few miles two days ago, stopped the car then after 5 minutes it wouldn't start, she left it, came back a few hours later and it started right away, drove it home about 5 miles no problem and the next morning, same problem, wouldn't start, called out the breakdown and they said it was the battery, (still original battery),took car to chemix garage and the guy tested the battery under load and said it had plenty of life left in it and said he didn't want to change it as wasting money  and said no point changing battery,  he said probably a sticking starter, I was convinced until last night, tried the car and it tried to start engine, but could see the panel lights dimming, decided to put the lights on and it got worse and worse, left it, got jumper leads and connected it up, still same thing, took them off and was going to give up, connected them directly to battery this time (previously I had connect the negative to the body earth), It started, left it for a minute, switched it off, put lights on again and it started, took the jumper leads off and tried it again with lights on, started easily!
• Vauxhall Corsa C - Car will not start, Help please! 17 Mar 2012 (Forum)
  Hi, I have a Corsa C 53 reg (2003) 1.0l 12v The car drove fine, I parked up and 3 hours later it will not start. Breakdown said fuel pump was knackered but I have disproved that - i think. The car turns over fine, all of the instruments work normally.
• advice on 4x4 12 Jun 2008 (Forum)
  It will soon be time to change by 530d touring and I will be looking to get a car with some off road abilities and about the same size as the 530. I have decided that the idea of buying an expensive car in the hope that it might be better built and less prone to breakdowns is somewhat flawed so I really am not interested in a nice badge.
• Citroen XM advice 18 Jul 2003 (Forum)
  Said specialist would be quite prepared to give a car the "once over" at a reasonable cost which I'll probably do. Would that be enough to find a good car? What about running costs, tricks to longevity, problems experienced, joys of driving etc?! Am very concerned about having a ton and a half of unusable iron and hydraulic fluid sat on my drive after 6 months along with a nervous breakdown!
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  Insighting a conflict 27 Jun 2009 (Ask HJ)
  I live in Portugal and have a 1997 Mercedes C180 Classic estate, petrol 1,800cc. It's done around 350,000km and the Mercedes dealership had fitted a new...
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  Car damaged due to contaminated fuel - who's to blame? 21 Oct 2013 (Ask HJ)
  I purchased a two year old 19,000 mile car from a large car supermarket three weeks ago. I collected the car and drove it the 50 miles to my home. Within...
• Poor service from motoring organisation 22 Nov 2005 (Forum)
  I know that cable is kept on the motoring organisation?s vans as many years ago I had an identical breakdown. That was repaired at the roadside, meaning this recovery was not necessary. After a chat with the man and their office I was advised to have the car taken to my home as the motoring organisation would come to the house to fix it.
• Suspect MOT put on used car 27 Jul 2012 (Forum)
    Hoping someone can help with where I stand on this. In a nutshell, bought a used car last Friday. Dealer said MOT had been done day before. 5 days later, find alloy severely cracked... Tyre garage says this would of been a long standing problem (and wheel had been repaired once) Here's a breakdown of what happened: Viewed, and test drove car on 14th July.
• Renault Clio - Proof of work done to Bodywork 12 Feb 2022 (Forum)
  I have got all the paperwork from the first repair and today i dropped the car off to get the front door replaced. I asked the lady on the desk if she can give me a up to date paperwork showing all the work that was done including the new front Passenger side door for the car's history, She replied , To be honest , Your better not showing the repairs in the history, People don't want to buy a car that's been in a accident.