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• any - Overall feelings about reliabilty 15 Feb 2011 (Forum)
  I have read lots of posts here about reliability, which set me thinking about all the cars my wife and I have owned in almost 40 years of driving. Maybe I am tempting fate here, but in all that time I have only ever been stranded twice, and only once had to call a tow truck. Maybe we have
• Renault Clio 1.5 DCI mk 2 2002 - Oil in coolant, what is wrong with my car! 21 Aug 2010 (Forum)
  . This all happened within a matter of minutes. The car was towed home and left for a couple of weeks as we were going on holiday. Three weeks later, the car starts first time and the engine seems to run fine. I am told that the oil has come up through the coolant. There appears to be no coolant
• Ford Fusion (2002 - 2008) - 04 1.4tdci - unreliable starter..any ideas ? 30 Jan 2010 (Forum)
  fail warning came on and the car gave up. the aa came out again, couldn't see what was wrong but that there was still air bubbles. the car was towed home but started first time when i got home. the aec fail light has never cam on again but the car doesn't always start. Sometimes pumping the fuel
• Volvo V50 (2004 - ) - Insulted at the Volvo dealers 3 Jan 2010 (Forum)
  The alternator in the Volvo (2004/05, 75k) died whilst in my nearest city and so it was towed to the nearest main dealer. The AA man told me of a recent client who had got a stonking part ex deal on a new toyota - something like 2-3k down and they replaced their current motor with a new one - same
• Volvo S40 (2004 - ) - 06 2.0 Starting problem 20 Oct 2009 (Forum)
  to run out I booked the car into the local Volvo garage. Initially it had a software download, which failed to cure the problem, then a new ignition switch, which was similarly unhelpful. The car then would not start at all, and was towed to the garage, outside warranty. It had the "sludge" cleaned out
• Mazda Mazda 3 (2004 - 2009) - 05 1.6 Engine blown due to Oil Pump 15 Aug 2009 (Forum)
  managed to pull over on the A34 stopping one lane of traffic at rush hour! Anyway it was towed to Mazda who have stated that the car will need a new engine!! Unfortunately the car is out of warranty but given that they replaced the Oil filter and sump plug washer on the car during the service 2 weeks ago
• Ford Fiesta (1989 - 1995) - 1993 1.1 - Starting problems 10 Mar 2009 (Forum)
  it wants to go but won't catch and fire up even when I connect my jumpstart battery booster. Sometime if I leave it an hour it will start ok. Battery is good and spark is evident. Without exception if I tow it for a bump starts it starts ok after 25 yards and runs fine immediately. Have tried various
• Peugeot 106 (1991 - 2002) - 1995 1.5 Diesel engine problems - tud5 14 Jan 2008 (Forum)
  as you were extremely gentle on the throttle, but gave up on being able to diagnose the fault and towed me home. While idling on my drive the engine cut out again and now won't restart. There was no abnormal noises/smoke/ect noticeable other than what I've already mentioned. I replaced the stop
• Ford Fiesta (1989 - 1995) - 1993 1.1 - Starting Problems when Cold 29 Dec 2007 (Forum)
  . Sometime if I leave it an hour it will start ok. Battery is good and spark is evident. When it does start it immediately ticks over and runs perfectly. If I tow it for a bump starts it starts ok and runs fine and seems to restart fine when the engine is warm. Have tried various numbers of accelerator pumps
• Driving in Italy 10 Sep 2007 (Forum)
  breakdown trucks - our hire car pegged out and was recovered - wife and kids went in the cab of the tow truck I was sat in the car on the back of the truck, which was a faintly surreal experience - I felt a bit like Maggie in the opening sequence of the Simpsons Cheap parking We also had a Passatt
• Help with Peugeot Dealer and dead car 27 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  a replacement for you. So I left the garage travelled about 1/2 mile was waiting at a junction, suddenly engine started to rev on its own, turned off but would not stop, lots of smoke and banging, stalled it and walked back to garage. They towed it in and then gave me an estimate for £6050 to repair
• Peugeot 306 locked brakes 23 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  and realised that the back passenger side brakes had locked. He took the wheel off to try and release the brake disc etc, it had pretty much ceased on. They eventually then (another 2 hours later) sent a tow truck and has dropped my car at the local garage. What sort of cost am I looking at? I admit
• HELP! - Problems with VW Passat 25 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  Hi Just wanting some advice. My car (VW passat) was taken in for its 50,000 mile service at a garage somewhere in Scotland a week ago Monday. They said it needed its radiator replaced, which was done on the Friday. The next day, it broke down and we had to have it towed back to the garage
• Parts for Older Japanese cars 30 Jun 2006 (Forum)
  Legacy or Forester (probably an earlier series) as I will need a car with large towing capacity for a caravan during the summer - can anyone advise on maintaining one of these ? I havea good independent guy, but obviously service parts/common spares will have to be sourced - what are they like to work
• Caravan Wheel Coming Off 23 May 2006 (Forum)
  Travelling 2 days ago on a motorway, towing folding caravan. Car seemed to be acting oddly. About 15/20miles further on, car started skidding and snaking - we thought we had a blowout. Got out car, the entire wheel had come off the caravan - we were staring at the brakedrum!! The tyre was found
• W reg Mondeo 1.8LXi - options 8 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  I have a W reg Mondeo 1.8LXi (50000 miles). Driving along the Mway at 70 and suddenly the accelerator slows the car down!!. Limped to mates with no power. Called AA and he says blocked exhaust probably CAT gone. Towed us home. He said drive it carefully to garage and they'll fix exhaust. I tried
• Volvo 850/V70 Diesel Auto - Good Buy? 2 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  asking about £6K - are these worth buying or will they just be huge money-pits ? Currently have a 12year old Toyota corolla which has 110K miles, no creaks or knocks so rather surprised with the Volvo.! I now need an economical large automatic estate car capable of occisionally towing a very large
• Breakdown: 95(N) Rover 416i, 82k 27 Jun 2005 (Forum)
  hot for a few minutes then no heat at all. 2 miles from services, dark smoke starts to appear from exhaust. Oil pressure light starts flickering just as we get to exit slip road. Bad news indeed thinks I, engine cuts out at top of slip road. Highways Agency towed us into service area. No coolant
• New engine - who pays? 13 Apr 2005 (Forum)
  not the supplying dealer). At four years of age and 60k miles he recently bought an extended warranty from the servicing dealer. Last week, he cooked the engine. The main dealer to which it was towed (*not* the servicing dealer) has delivered its verdict. The radiator had apparently corroded to such a degree
• Astra 1.4 H reg - fuel pipe cut 3 May 2004 (Forum)
  spotted petrol pouring out from underneath the car. I managed to get the car home with a friend towing me. As a temporary repair I cut a small length of lamp cable that was slightly larger in diametre to the piping that connects the petrol tank to the engine, I then removed the 3 electrical cables