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• 
  Catch it if you can 1 Oct 2011 (Ask HJ)
  Our daughter had a very lucky escape from injury last Saturday when the bonnet on her Renault Clio flew open at 60 miles per hour. She was joining the...
• Renault Scenic 1.5 Turbo Diesel - Renault Scenic Turbo Failure 15 Sep 2010 (Forum)
  My Son in Law had to pay the renault garage in the region of £300.00 for having stripped parts to obtain access to the turbo. I I am an experienced outboard motor engineer and have worked in a garage on cars many years ago. The main points we were told to watch out for in fitting the turbo were: 1. Make sure there is a good oil supply to the turbo. 2 Refill with new oil of the approved type.
• Renault Megane (1996 - 1998) - 96 1.4 (8v) Failure to start after running fine - 5 Aug 2008 (Forum)
  Turned over fine but wouldn't fire - seemed pretty much like an immobiliser problem again. When the breakdown truck arrived 20 minutes later, it started first time! It didn't seem to pick up cleanly from idle, and the mechanic thought it sounded as though it was running rich. I have recently changed the oil and filter plus new spark plugs 6 weeks ago.
• MG MG ZT (2001 - 2005) - 03 2.0 (135)fuel lift pump 8 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  Transported to main dealer near Caen Waited 2 hours for someone to look at it by which time it started no trouble and we continued on our way,yet again!By this time beginning to loose all faith in the car but felt unable to change it due to the Rover bankruptcy and the huge loss we could ill afford to incur.Since then we have had another loss of power at high speed in the outside lane of the M25, rescued,another episode whilst towing a caravan,middle lane of the M25,each time taken to main dealers in the local area by breakdown company and supposedly repaired either by fitting new fuel lifter pump.Had all work done last year in france again when it failed again after running perfectly for 12 months.
• Box van worries 14 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  The truck was supposed to be delivered at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. In actual fact it, it's just been delivered now. The two drivers have parked it in my flat car park, reversing it rather hard into a hedge to try and make it fit, have given me the keys and left. I have no paperwork of any sort, and although I have rung their office and had confirmed that my rental doesn't start until Saturday morning in the period between the delivery drivers ringing and them actually getting here, I'm feeling rather exposed.
• Skoda Superb (2002 - 2008 ) - Misuse of vehicle recalls. 6 Nov 2007 (Forum)
  A few weeks later - a recall notice. This is for the well known tandem pump cover bolts on the PD diesels (see C by C breakdown on old Passat). Knowing that only one maker of the two possible makes of tandem pump is affected, I 'phoned the local dealer to see which it was - my car is busy earning money and there is at least a 50% chance that no action is required.
• Pre-reg Honda Civic 9 Mar 2004 (Forum)
  Am toying with the idea of replacing one of the family Puntos with a pre-reg Honda Civic that has caught my eye on the "approved used" bit of Honda?s website. Having checked the Car-by-Car Breakdown on here, I feel (as a FIAT owner of some years' standing) that I could probably cope with the things mentioned in "What's Bad"! The model in question is a Civic 1.6 Inspire S, which as far as I can make out consists of an '03 MY 1.6 S with various bits added from the SE spec (air-con, alloys etc.)
• 
  Touran sick, parked 26 Dec 2009 (Ask HJ)
  I purchased a VW Touran, 1.4 TSI Sport model, in July 2007 from Motorpoint. It was second-hand and was first registered on 01/09/2006. In September 2007...
• Ford Puma - Car insurance claim advice please 25 Apr 2019 (Forum)
  Another 2 days later, I received a call from an agent who offered £760. I still feel that is low for a car in excellent condition and only 100,000 on the clock. I asked about buying back the car and they said I could buy it for 10% but then said no, it's a Cat B. I told them there is no way the car is a Cat B and asked for someone to at least look at the car.
• Vauxhall Astra 1.4 Petrol LS Version 53 plate - Over Revving Problems 13 Mar 2013 (Forum)
  Im am at the end of my tether now. In October we started to experience problems with our car the EML light came on, we called the breakdown service out who diagnosed it as misfire on Cyl 3 & advised we needed a new coil pack. We purchased a Delphi Coil Pack which apparently is who Vauxhall use for their genuine parts £120.
• New Year, New Car 10 Jan 2010 (Forum)
  Only downsides are that it's right at the top of my budget, and though the spec's OK, I might have to sacrifice one or two creature comforts. I also saw HJ's car-by-car breakdown was pretty lukewarm. And the golf, it's just so... ubiquitous! Number two is a good spec Peugout 308 HDI SE. Probably not as classy as the golf in a lot of ways, though had a poverty spec one for hire a while ago and was surprised how good it was.
• Is there any wonder we are suspicious of dealers? 20 May 2009 (Forum)
  I notice hidden on the second sheet that the my trade in was £1200 less than was quoted on the original purchase invoice. The breakdown of the car cost was extensive with tax, new car tax, VAT element, delivery etc etc etc. Bottom line is that although the balance was exactly the same the figures have changed to reflect a lower value on the new car and a lower px value on mine.
• Fiat Brava 1.4 timing belt. 24 Aug 2001 (Forum)
  The second belt snapped at 70000 miles (after 34000 miles of use) resulting in a bill for almost £1000." On the Car by Car breakdown HJ mentions... "Plastic timing belt tensioner pulley can shatter without warning. Best to change timing belt and tensioner every 3 years/35,000 miles." Well finally I have pushed the customer into a timing belt and tensioner pulley change at 44,000 miles.
• 
  Volkswagen Golf starting problems 20 Oct 2016 (Ask HJ)
  My daughter's 2009 Volkswagen Golf has broken down four times in recent weeks and on each occasion it refuses to start. Our local garage has replaced the...
• Renault Megane - Exorbitant high charges by AA Patrol 13 Sep 2015 (Forum)
  Hi Brethren, I have full membership of AA Breakdown. So, I called the AA man to check fault with engine of Renault Meganne. He found that one of the four ignition coils is gone.
• FAQs 16 May 2003 (Forum)
  Firstly, I'd guess a good few people who enjoy your column or have some motoring issue and have recently acquired a family computer spot your website address in the Telegraph and go for a look there. No doubt suitable impressed by the car-by-car breakdown etc but many people who rarely or are very new to the internet don't actually realise what the term "FAQ" even means (I know it isn't a "net" term as such but it only seems to get abbreviated here).
• 
  Faulty 300C Touring - what should I say to the dealer? 24 Mar 2015 (Ask HJ)
  My son bought a Chrysler 300C Touring five months ago with 30,000 miles on the clock, one owner and full service history. It broke down last weekend with...
• Car hire troubles 11 Sep 2006 (Forum)
  I have hired lots of cars, in UK and abroad, over many years, mainly for work-related travel. I've had the odd breakdown and minor problem but nothing serious. I always stick with the big multinationals. Anyway, I few weeks back I booked a car for collection at an airport in France.
• Number plate insurance glitch - but HPI, DVLA OK 12 Jul 2018 (Forum)
  Some of them let you enter the details manually for a quote, but then won't actually supply. I got an email reply from DayInsure saying that because their computer could not match the car plate, they could not insure at all. However, after a bit more digging I found the plate is recognised correctly by DirectLine, and they gave a decent quote. It also comes up OK with e.g. Green Flag for breakdown and AutoCarParts.
• Vauxhall Astra 1.6 - Spark Plugs And Coil Pack 31 Oct 2024 (Forum)
  Car seems fine and we make it to Devon with no further problems. So spent just under £300. I call Spoticar warranty phone line , to ask if these parts were covered. However, the kicker is , and I didnt realise this, was that under the warranty, we also got break down assistance and were supposed to call that number in the event of breakdown.