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Questions from May 2013
I am thinking of changing my steel wheels for alloys and have found some at a good price. My current wheel size is 185/65 R14, but the ones I have found are 185/60 R14, will these be OK to use?
Today on a country walk we were on a public track (clearly marked) when a Land Rover came towards us, being driven by a child! I'd say he was about 11-12. An adult was in the front as well, in the middle,...
You mentioned in a forum that Toyota will offer a spacesaver wheel for the new RAV4. My local dealer knows nothing about this, and cannot meet my need for a spacesaver for my 2011 RAV4 with 18 inch wheels....
I put unleaded in my Ford S-MAX 2.0 TDCI.
The diesel ran low (20 miles left approx) so went to fill up, got distracted and put in 31 litres unleaded. Did not turn engine on and have siphoned out approx...
I have noted, from time to time, that you have commented about the problems of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems and it seems that you probably feel that they do not work well. A few days...
My shortlist of new cars is down to three: Mercedes-Benz B-Class, Audi A3 and Volkswagen Golf, all with automatic gearboxes. I am aware of your reviews that rate highly the latter two, but I also see a...
I often read the so-called ‘Best Buys’ in magazines like ‘What Car’ but more often than not the recommendation is for a diesel. I shall drive no more than 8000 miles a year and, given your advice about...
I need to change my car, and would like to remain loyal to the Ford Focus. I currently drive between 300 and 400 miles every week, the majority of this is motorway driving. Should I consider a petrol engine...
Last week my wife had a minor bump in Bolton town centre. She was reversing round a corner when she clipped a car that was turning out of the corner. The damage was minimal, with just a scrape, no dent...
My eldest son runs a Volvo V50 2.0D and has now covered 125,000 trouble free miles. He has never changed the cam belt and his specialist Volvo garage who has carried out all of the servicing assures him...
My daughter is interested in buying a Range Rover Evoque. She has an R-registration Toyota RAV4 which she has enjoyed driving. She drives a round trip of 20 miles to work each day and uses her car for...
My present company car is due for renewal later this and I am restricted to a diesel only selection. I currently drive a 2010 SEAT Altea XL with a 1.6TDI 105 5-gear Ecomotiv engine. My next vehicle is...
I wish to replace my BMW 525 with a vehicle that gives me a higher driving position but would like to retain the space, performance and comfort I get from my current car. I have ruled out the X5 as too...
My daughter is looking at a new Fiat 500 on a 3-year PCP from Fiat Cars. She does about 15,000 miles a year, town 60 per cent and motorway 40 per cent. What do you think would be the best engine: the 1.2...
I have a Honda Legend Coupe 1995 in very good condition. I am the second owner since April 1998; mileage is just under 60,000. Fully serviced and maintained, it has never missed a beat. I am reluctant...
I have just had the lower half of my left leg removed and will have to learn to adapt to life with a disability. It also means disposing of my Jaguar XF Premium Luxury Auto diesel with 1200 miles on the...
We will be replacing our 2004 Focus 1.8 diesel shortly. The new car will start off as my husband’s car so needs to fit a set of golf clubs and an electric trolley in the boot. He works part-time, his journeys...
I have a 2004 Volkswagen 2.0i Passat, bought new from Ingrams dealers in Ayr, now with 84,000 miles, maintained since new by Ingrams of Ayr. The car has been serviced regularly at Ingrams, and after its...
I bought a new Vauxhall Corsa for my daughter in late 2007. Gradually the paint on the front of the bonnet bubbled and rusted and she rang the dealership, which fobbed her off with a story that the bodywork/paintwork...
Early in March my wife bought a brand new Skoda Fabia. When we collected the car from Benfield Skoda in Harrogate the salesman advised us that a batch of these cars had a faulty rear window wiper. He checked...
Can you please advise me as to what small 4x4 you would recommend to buy - taking into account emissions, a good driving experience, reliability and ride quality, and a big enough engine to gave reasonable...
We are in our seventies with clean driving licences. We also have creaking joints and blue badges. We do not anticipate carrying wheel chairs, yet. Due to a low seat height it is becoming difficult to...
I am looking for a small diesel convertible with preferably low miles, less than three years old with leather etc. it needs to be reasonable to insure as I’m only 20. I've looked at 207CC, Focus, Megane...
Our daughter recently fractured her achilles tendon on her left leg and is unable to drive for some time. Her 2003 facelift model Porsche Boxster 2.7 is secure in our garage but in need of a new battery...
I drive about 12,000 – 15,000 miles per annum, minimum journeys 15-20 miles. My new car would need to be very economical and in VED Bands A, B or C, with air con and good rear carrying capacity, petrol...
I am looking at replacing my 2009 Renault Scenic III 1.4 TCE Expression. I very much like its engine so I would be looking for a motor with a comparable performance but with a much better MPG. I also swore...
We have purchased a brand new C250CDI Auto estate from our local Mercedes-Benz dealer. In the first month of ownership there has been a problem with the brakes (rear pads replaced under warranty) and now...
We are thinking of purchasing, outright, one new car from the Honda (Jazz) and Toyota (Verso S) ranges and one new car from the Toyota (Auris) or Skoda (Rapid) ranges. Can you please suggest reliable brokers?
I recently viewed a vehicle at a Renault Dealership in North Manchester. As there seemed to be some demand for the vehicle I put £100 refundable deposit down on the car to make sure that they would keep...
I have a Mondeo Ghia 2.5T with 18-inch wheels and am seriously considering wasting some of my children's inheritance by switching to 17-inch (plus tyres of course). My concern is that a Ford main dealer...
Could you please tell me which SUV has the best legroom and roof height for OAP's with knee problems? Looking at a Honda CR-V, its swept-back roof line makes that one unlikely; so perhaps a Skoda or Subaru?
I have been driving for 45 years. Normally I buy new and trade in or sell after four or sometimes five years. I do a low annual mileage, a max of 10,000 and as little as 6000 pa. I recently put in my Focus...
I have a 2012 Ford Zetec 1.0 litre 125 EcoBoost with Stop/Start. However, it only occasionally seems to work. I asked my garage to check it at the recent service and they said it was OK. They mentioned...
I've owned a January 2005 Mark V Volkswagen Golf 1.9 TDI SE with 40,000 miles on the clock from new. Usually at the start of a journey I am sometimes aware of a very faint "whirring" type of sound that...
In a discussion on learning to drive, it was suggested that some learner drivers would benefit by having their initial training in an automatic to get them used to dealing with traffic and hazards, before...
I have owned a 1997 Mercedes-Benz C180 from new and it has now covered 97,000 miles. It has never been in an accident. I seem to remember that airbags when originally introduced had an expected life of...
My son lives in the South Pennines and had a Freelander until he replaced it with a Captiva 18 months ago. He regrets this and wishes now to replace it, and (with a bit of help from his dad) says he would...
I am hoping to buy a new car. The main uses will be daily short journeys and occasional long distant drives for holidays. Could you advise on any stylish, low tax cars that are manual, petrol and 5-door?...
I recently had a problem with my 2-year-old Ford Focus diesel whereby the car went into limp mode on the outside lane of a dual carriageway. The eventual diagnosis, some two weeks later, was that the fuel...
I am about to see my old aunt's 1995 C180 Mercedes-Benz. I have had it MOT'd, all well except for a new battery. It has only done 15,000 miles since 1995 and had one owner, my elderly aunt. Where would...
I filled up today and started to calculate my mpg using the trip meter reading, when it occurred to me that it is probably as inaccurate as the speedometer itself (in my case about 7-8per cent optimistic)....
I am looking for a replacement for my 10-year-old Mercedes-Benz C Class CDI Estate, which has been a great car. The car I have been offered is a 5-month-old demonstrator as listed above for just under...
I bought an Audi RS4 from Leicester Audi in March 2012. I quickly noticed an intermittent juddering from the brakes so contacted the dealer. They told me to take the car into my local Audi centre (Bradford)....
I purchased a second hand 2008 (58) Mini One (petrol) two months ago from a private seller. Everything had been great for the first few days until the car started to cut out in first gear when I was waiting...
I currently have Skoda Fabia Greenline estate from 2008. As we use the car just for school runs mostly and afterschool clubs, distances of under a mile to 10 miles the DPF is a continual issue. At the...
I have an Audi A4 1.9tdi Avant Sport 04 with 170k miles on the clock. I have owned the car from 6k miles and have taken great care of it both from a maintenance & driving style perspective. To date it...
I will be looking to buy a medium sized hatchback in the future. We currently lease a Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi 115 and love it and we have never had a single DPF issue. However, as we are generally driving...
For general road use in a pickup am I better off having permanent AWD such as a Hilux or is the Isuzu D-max just as good?
Could I run the Isuzu D-max in continuous AWD or would I damage the transmission...
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