Ask The Guide

I’m not sure the 'vents' you’re looking at in the luggage compartment are actually air vents. The five-seat Jolion has air vents in the rear of the centre console for back seat passengers, but since there’s no third row of seats, there’s no need for vents in the cargo area. Even if they were fitted, they’d direct air from the air-conditioning unit, not the outside where they could funnel rainwater inside.

A tail-light seal is a common source for boot leaks, though, so maybe it’s worth checking this again as the new seal may have been damaged when it was being fitted. But the real culprit is likely to be the rubber seal around the tailgate opening. This seal occupies a huge surface area, and even something is simple as a tiny scrap of fluff or a stray leaf or twig stuck to the rubber can cause a leak into the car.

The best way to chase a leak like this is to put somebody inside the cargo area with a torch, while you hose off the car’s exterior. Be sure to hose down the whole car (not just the area in question) as water leaks have a clever habit of starting in one spot and ending up in another. Hopefully, your observer will be able to spot where the water is entering the boot, and from there, you can home in on the leak.

This is far from an unknown problem, and there seems to be a couple of major causes.

The first is a failed or failing 12-volt battery that needs to be replaced. It seems odd that the conventional 12-volt battery could have an effect on the high-voltage e-Power hybrid system, but the 12-volt battery is actually critical for initialising the car’s various systems when you start it up.

The second cause we’ve heard of is a clogged or failed EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve which forces the car into 'limp home' mode to avoid further damage to the engine.

Your car is under warranty, so that should cover things, but we’ve heard of some owners waiting long periods for replacement parts for this model. Either way, it’s back to the dealership for this one.

It remains a mystery to some of us why car makers ever switched from the old-fashioned manual levers for four-wheel-drive engagement to the rotary dial or electronic switch type. Pretty much everybody who has owned a 4X4 with the electronic engagement will have experienced a situation where the electronics just don’t seem to want to select four-wheel-drive when they should. This is usually a momentary problem, put right by trying the dial or switch a second time, but it’s still annoying.

Your problem is likely to be a poor electrical contact in either the selector dial or the actuators under the car that physically engage four-wheel-drive and/or low ratio. A quick check under the vehicle might expose a loose wire or broken fitting, but otherwise, a trip to a workshop that knows this make and model is your best bet. The good news is that the problem should be pretty quick, easy and cheap to fix once it’s been identified.

Your car has what’s called a dual-clutch transmission rather than a conventional automatic. And this transmission – which is used in many of the Volkswagen family’s models – has been known to give trouble. Failures of the clutch packs and electronic control units are the most commonly reported, but many experts reckon the dual-clutch in your car is a problem waiting to happen.

The situation is worse if you have the dry-clutch version of this gearbox, and in that case, failures from cars built around this time are relatively high.

A transmission specialist should be your first port of call. They will be able to assess what’s wrong and give you an idea of your next step. You might just find, however, that the cost of repairs is equal to, or greater than the value of the car.

But don’t give up hope just yet, it could be something simple and easy to fix. It’s just that experience with these cars suggests it could well be the opposite.

This is a pretty common fault on modern cars and it will usually lead a mechanic to one line of enquiry. And that is a check of the fuel pump.

Electric fuel pumps have a finite lifespan and when their time is up, they just stop. So the next time you try to start the car, it will turn over normally, but there’s just no fuel getting to the engine.

So try this: turn the ignition key until you get dashboard lights and then listen carefully. You should be able to hear a faint buzz or thrum that is the sound of the fuel pump whirring away. If you can’t hear it, that’s a strong suggestion that it has died. The other thing to try – if you’re a bit more mechanically minded – is to disconnect the engine’s intake trunking and spray some starter fluid down the engine’s throat. If it fires and then dies straight away (once the starter fluid has been consumed) you’re definitely looking like a new fuel pump is in your future.

This problem could also be about a hundred other things, of course, but eventual fuel pump failures on cars like yours are about as certain as death and taxes.

You have two issues here. The first is the transmission problem, and, to be honest, on a late model car like this, an automatic transmission specialist is where you need to go. A slipping transmission can be caused by all manner of things, starting with the simple low fluid level, to the catastrophic mechanical failure. In between there are also electronic possibilities to be investigated.

Your second problem is that you’ve spent otherwise useful money on an aftermarket extended warranty. All too often, these warranties are carefully worded to exclude a range of possible problems you might experience. You might be lucky and the warranty will cover the repairs (it’s definitely worth a try) but don’t be surprised if the fine-print scuppers any chance of the warranty paying out.

The most likely cause of this is a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) that is either blocked or on its way to becoming blocked and needs cleaning. Soot build-up in a DPF can restrict the flow of exhaust gasses, at which point you might also find the car’s computer will limit performance to avoid doing damage to the engine.

You can either try to force the DPF to regenerate, or you may have to have the DPF manually cleaned or even replaced.

The other possibility is a problem with the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve which can also become clogged with soot and affect the vehicle’s performance and emissions. Either way a check up at a workshop with the appropriate scanning equipment is necessary.

Not really, and modern cars have proven they should be easily able to cover this distance with plenty of life left in them. That, however, is on the proviso they’ve been serviced and maintained correctly.

Even the best, most robust cars can fail long before 169,000km if they’ve been neglected, particularly with regard to oil changes. So the real answer to your question will depend on the car’s service history. Check the history carefully for any signs of skipped servicing. We’d buy a high-mileage car with a full history over a low-mileage example with no records every time.

Your Honda has what’s called a CVT which stands for Constantly Variable Transmission. That means it’s not a conventional transmission, but uses a system of cones and belts that allows for different drive ratios. Generally speaking, when a CVT displays this type of behaviour, it’s often time for a new transmission which won’t be cheap.

But in the case of the Honda, the problem is not always terminal. Because Honda designed and built its own CVT (rather than just buy one in) the engineering in it seems better than most. And experience has shown that often, problems with a Honda CVT simply means the fluid that provides the drive and lubricates the CVT, needs to be changed.

That said, refusing to select Drive is a pretty major fault, so a trip to a specialist might be in order. But first, check the level of the fluid in the CVT to see if it's low, as that could be the root problem. Even so, you’ll still then have to find the leak as this is a sealed system and shouldn’t require top-ups.

Code 79 on the dashboard (along with the little spanner icon) means your engine is low on oil. You should top it up before driving anywhere as running an engine with a low oil level is tempting fate and could lead to a catastrophic engine failure.

The best advice is not to rely on this warning code to alert you to low oil level, and instead make a habit of checking the engine oil level on the dipstick every couple of weeks. This takes just a minute or so and can save your engine in the long run. Your owner’s manual should tell you how to check the oil on this engine, but it’s not difficult. Just make sure the oil level stays between the high and low marks on the dipstick and you should be fine.

Don’t forget, all engines use some oil in the normal course of things, but as engines age, this usage can increase and that’s when owners who don’t do regular checks get caught out.