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Questions from February 2012
I have a new 4WD Suzuki SX4.
My first attempt to use it in the snow and it failed to get up my drive with a shallow gradient (about 7 degrees) in 4 inches of fresh uncompacted snow.
4WD was locked...
I have just changed the indicator stalk on my Mercedes-Benz A-Class and the ESP and BAS lights have come on.
Does this normally happen? Or have I put the connector on the wrong way around?
Indicators...
I need to buy a smarter second hand car for work to look more successful.
I am considering an E-Class and a 5 Series - both diesel. I am tall and need a big boot but do not want an estate and fear the...
My husband (aged 86) is finding it increasingly difficult to get in and out of our rather low-slung Vauxhall Vectra Club, so we are looking for a used car that offers easy ingress/egress for the not so...
I have a 2004 BMW 330Ci Sport convertible. It is a lovely car except for the rock-hard ride caused by the sports suspension with 18-inch wheels and 35/40 profile tyres. Since it will need two new tyres...
My daughter hit a pothole in a local lane. The hole was nearly 6 feet long, 12 inches wide and 6 inches deep. She had to have a new tyre and the tracking realigned at a total cost of £140. I contacted...
I have an Audi S3 just out of warranty and owned by me from new. It has just 36,000 miles on the clock. Around a year ago I experienced a problem that felt like a slipping clutch but only in fourth or...
We might buy a 2-year-old Jaguar XJ. Is there any different in ride quality between a SWB and LWB version?
I understand the objective of stop-start, but it seems to contradict something I have always done after a long or fast trip: leave the engine to idle for a few minutes. I can’t remember why exactly I do...
Last week, when preparing to leave my parking space in a car park, on putting my automatic Hyundai i10 into ‘drive’ it shot forward at alarmingly great speed, completely out of control. By great good fortune,...
I read that the new KIA Rio 1.1 CRDi ecodynamics (85 g/km CO2) does not have a DPF, despite achieving Euro 5 emissions. If that is true then it can only prove more popular for short journey motorists who...
Please could you advise me regarding a car for an 18-year old man who has recently passed his test. His parents require a safe car (good crash test results) and a car with a reasonable insurance premium...
My wife and I are looking to change our Subaru Forester for a smaller car. We are both in our 70's so our criteria are: Safety and economy; comfortable high seats and ease of getting in and out; automatic...
We live in Spain but have a holiday home near Brighton, where we had a small car we no longer required and wished to sell. Following recommendations of Sure-Sell from your column I contacted them. Everything...
Letter from Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge to reader PT of Cambridge):
"Thank you for writing to me and drawing my attention to the loophole which exists as a result of the Data Protection Act and...
Are there any drawbacks in changing your car insurer every year to get the cheapest quote?
I usually throw away the motoring section, being more than content with my previous and present Rover 75 estates. But in a bored moment I read your column and was impressed by your friendly knowledgeable...
I’m looking for a quiet-running tyre for a recently acquired Rover 75 diesel with the (sensible) 15-inch alloys and 195/65 R15 tyres. It came on unidirectional Goodrich Profilers, which are wearing well...
I have owned from new a 2006/56 Toyota Prius for five years. At 15,000 miles per year, the current mileage stands at 75,000. It has been maintained by Toyota throughout, and apart from the failure of the...
I am eighty, and have a fourteen-year-old Toyota Corolla automatic that has given me no trouble at all, and continues to do so. I am thinking of changing, and require a car the same size as the Corolla,...
My wife and I, both in our 70's, are looking to replace our ten-year old Mazda Premacy 2.0-litre petrol automatic with a similar MPV. Its successor, the Mazda 5, would fit the bill perfectly but apparently...
I first went to Liverpool Victoria via Frizzels in April 1966 and have been with them ever since. Back in the 1980s I had ‘any driver’ fully comp, when my second daughter was driving and the car was written...
A modest insurance policy has just matured and sitting in my garage for the last 20 years, or more, has been a 1936 MG sports car. Do these cars represent a good investment? Or would I get more mileage...
My wife has driven Fiat Pandas since their re-launch in 2004. She likes the high driving position and manoeuvrability, but dislikes the harsh and noisy ride over uneven surfaces. Notwithstanding the shortcomings...
I recently acquired an excellent Yeti Elegance 4x4 from SMC Exeter who provided me with superlative service. The car replaced my Volvo V70 which, with its very poor turning circle, proved incapable of...
I own a 2004 MG ZT 2.0 CDTI (BMW 47 engine) with 117,000 miles. The clutch has always been heavy but seems to have become worse. My friend with a 320d BMW Compact, which I believe has the same engine,...
After many years of high-mileage commuting, mostly in Audis and Subaru Legacys, the time came for a smaller car. I narrowed the choice down to five and after your positive remarks I tried an ex-demo Mazda2...
I have Honda Civic 2.2 and it is getting near the time for new tyres. The wheels I have fitted at the moment are 18-inch with low profile tyres, and with the roads as they are, are rattling my old bones....
Your reply about the new MoT made me think that perhaps I should consider changing my 2000-registered Lexus IS 200SE. As an 80-year-old we do around 5000 miles a year, with a high percentage of short journeys....
What happens to all the ex-Motabilty cars after the time comes when they have to be handed back? I am looking to replace our currant car and need a medium sized car that must be an automatic, make and...
My rudimentary experiment proves to me that when a driver turns his head quickly from side to side, his eyes close during that head turn. The quicker the turn of head, the longer the eyes are closed. I...
I normally add some lead substitute to the tank of our 1980's Series III Land Rover. The other day I didn't (because the garage didn't have any on its shelves and I then forgot about it). So with a full...
I am the owner of a 2006 Volkswagen Touran 1.9 litre MPV. I have had an ESP traction warning light on my dashboard for some time. To date I have had two mechanics have a look at the issue, but after trying...
There has been lots of flack recently about satnav and I can add to it. Despite recent updates, I was misdirected and going around in circles many times last week in Loughborough by my TomTom. It has the...
I am looking for a suitable new car with automatic transmission for my wife. Annual mileage will be about 6000. Current models being considered are Astra 1.6 auto, Corsa 1.4 auto, and Fiesta 1.4 auto....
I am considering the purchase of a new 4-door BMW 118 SE. The spec includes a turbo petrol engine. I am wondering if the turbo is likely to encounter the same overheating of bearings as bedevilled earlier...
My pensioner partner has recently been issued with a PCN by Civil Enforcement Ltd. by post, for failing to display her Blue Badge whilst parking in a disabled bay on a Tesco car park in Leigh Lancs. No...
I find it hard to believe that your correspondent ES was caught doing 54mph in a 50mph zone, as the leeway guidelines are 10 per cent plus 2mph, i.e. 57mph. I have been driving past a 50mph speed camera...
Going back to AF and his Hammersmith & Fulham PCN for his motorbike being driven by an unidentified garage worker on the wrong side of a 'keep left' sign, H&F parking dept has told me the PCN was issued...
After reading of ES of Newton Abbot’s speeding and subsequent Speed Awareness Course, I thought I would add my thoughts after attending a course earlier in the month (56mph in a 50mph). The course is run...
My wife has a 2006 Vauxhall Astra Design Twinport 5-door hatchback. It has become progressively more humid inside over the last two years. I have noticed water on the inside of the LH and RH front door...
You have a lot of experience of motoring in Thailand (I have often hired cars there, but driving is the limit of my experience). Is there any way of importing a car there to avoid the massive import duty,...
In June 2009 I parked my wife's Saab convertible between two empty spaces in a shop car park. When I returned, the space on the Saab's driving side had been taken by a large SUV type vehicle. It was parked...
I purchased a new Peugeot 107 in late September 2008 for my wife. It has always been serviced where it was purchased: Robins & Day in Morden London. It has completed 16,000 miles. Recently it developed...
I have just ordered a Volvo V60 SE Lux which comes on 17”wheels with 215/50 R 17 tyres.
Bearing in mind your mantra about the disadvantages of large wheels with low profile tyres I requested 16” wheels...
I refer to the problem of the hesitancy associated with the VW DSG gearbox and the danger this causes when pulling out of road junctions and entering islands. I know you have covered this subject before...
Which model should I buy - i have a budget of c£25k and hope to pick one up with about 50k on the clock. Is there any truth in the rumour that they "start to go wrong" at 80k miles? I'm looking at TDV8...
Can you advise me where to find the engine identification number on a Ford Fiesta 1.2 R-reg?
I want to keep a car at my parents, it will be used once a month and kept off road but not garaged.
I have a Golf mk2 1988 1.6 cl 32k miles which is a brilliant car and a 1990 Mazda MX-5 also excellent....
I drive a petrol Ford Focus mk1 which is 8 years old. When overtaking cars on I get to about 6,000 and then change gear. Would revving the engine to these revs damage the engine especially at the age...
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