Ask The Guide

All Nissan models officially sold in Australia with a build-date later than 2004 can use ethanol blended fuel with up to 10 per cent ethanol content. That can reduce fuel costs, because E10 fuel is usually cheaper at the pump. Bear in mind, however, that you might use a little more E10 than non-blended fuel because of the slightly lower energy content of E10.

Beyond that, your X-Trail requires regular petrol with an octane rating of 91, which is pretty much the normal brew on any service-station forecourt. You can use higher octane fuels without harming the car, but there would be little to no benefit in doing so. And your wallet will thank you for not bothering.

It sounds very much like the transmission is confused electronically or has a problem with its valve body which is supposed – in conjunction with the computer – to make decisions about what gear the transmission should be in. Perhaps it's as simple as a dodgy electrical connection somewhere and the impact of potholes or buffeting from passing trucks is causing a short-circuit somewhere.

The first piece of advice, however, is to not drive the vehicle any farther. You not only risk damaging the transmission, but it's also dangerous to drive a vehicle that might suddenly select the wrong gear at random. The second piece of advice would be to take the vehicle to a dealership and have its computer scanned to see if any fault codes have been recorded. If your local dealer doesn't want to know, take it straight to head office and contact Isuzu's customer service division.

The good news is that your vehicle is still under the factory warranty, so make it Isuzu's problem, not yours. Just make sure that the behaviour has been logged as a problem, at which point it's classed as a pre-existing condition and Isuzu is still obliged to fix it even if the warranty runs out.

It shouldn't matter how old a safety recall is, it's a safety issue, so it needs to be fixed. That's why there's no actual time limit for these repairs to be made.

Here's the official response from the Department of Infrastructure: “There are no time limits applied to vehicle recalls by the department. It is expected that if a vehicle is presented for an older recall, the manufacturer will repair it as per the original recall notice”.

The potential spanner in the works there would be if the manufacturer is no longer represented in Australia or, if the parts required were no longer being made or otherwise available. In any case, this would definitely be worth chasing up with Ford as the recall was for potentially faulty brake lines which could cause a catastrophic failure with horrendous results.

No that it's any consolation, but Toyotas have, for years, had owners complaining about the Bluetooth connectivity and clarity in some of its cars. In some cases, the dealer has been able to improve things, in others, the owner has resorted to an aftermarket head unit with better Bluetooth performance.

Toyota has been working hard on this and, to be fair, later models seem to be better than ones from a decade or so ago. Again, though, that doesn't help you, nor is it acceptable that a modern car can't nail this now basic connectivity function. The advice would be to keep on the dealer for a fix. You could also call Toyota Australia's customer service division if the dealer can't resolve the issue.

This is a classic case of how long is a piece of string. Without knowing things like the car's condition, its service history, mileage and its specification, it's impossible to hazard a guess. These things sell for anything from $500 in rough, running condition with no registration nor roadworthy certificate, all the way up to $40,000 for an immaculate V8-powered, highly optioned version. So, somewhere between those two figures is your answer.

But assuming a six-cylinder car in decent condition with average mileage, with a RWC and no damage or serious wear and tear, you should be looking at something like $3000 to $8000. Sorry I can't be more specific than that.

It will vary according to what model Prado we're dealing with and, since Australia is now on its third generation of Prado with deliveries starting back in 1996, that's a fair range of vehicles. As a guide, however, a 2009-onwards Prado (the J150 model) has a rear floor measurement of something like 1910mm with the second row of seats folded away.

The best advice we can give you is to grab a tape measure and measure it for yourself. You'll need the tape measure anyway to measure the intended load in the first place.

If it's as simple as the AdBlue sensor not telling the computer that more AdBlue has been added to the tank, then yes, it would seem like a pretty simple fix. But it may not be that simple. If there's a blockage in the tank or the line that takes the AdBlue to the car's exhaust (where it's injected into the exhaust to reduce harmful tailpipe emissions) then the car may still 'think' that there's no AdBlue on board.

There could also be more to restarting an engine that has shut itself down than simply adding more AdBlue, too. Perhaps there's a specific restarting procedure that has to be followed, perhaps involving resetting the computer manually. One would imagine, however, that a dealership that sells the cars new would be aware of this.

This is an increasingly common problem for people who carry big loads and especially for those who tow heavy trailers. In some cases, as you've discovered, it's very easy to get perilously close to the GVM limit by loading up the vehicle with whatever you're carrying. And that's the catch; the vehicle's GVM includes everything on board including passengers, fuel and whatever accessories you've added to the car, not to mention the actual payload.

Earlier this year, Queensland changed its rules regarding GVM upgrades, but you would need to speak to a specialist workshop that deals with this type of work and is familiar with the QLD regulations which may vary from other states and territories. Companies such as Pedders are qualified to carry-out GVM upgrades on some vehicles and have the engineering experience to offer a package that is certified before it's fitted to your vehicle. Whether the Sprinter's body construction has any bearing on the availability of such a kit is another thing you'd need to check with a specialist.

The problem with exceeding your car's GVM is that it makes its potentially unsafe to drive for both you and other road users. You'll also find yourself in line for a fine and your insurance company is likely to disown you in the case of a crash in an over-loaded vehicle.

It's not unheard of for a brand-new component to be faulty straight out of the box. However, the more logical explanation for your car refusing to start after the crank angle sensor was replaced is that the sensor was not the problem in the first place.

Instead of continuing to replace random components that may or may not fix the problem, you really need to find the problem and then tackle it with new parts. Scanning the car's electronics will often throw up the answer, but it could also be something as simple as the car having sat for a few months and the fuel going stale in the process. The causes of a no-start condition are endless.

It's a bit difficult to imagine that a dash-cam lead (a USB lead, I assume) could totally disable the car. Even if you pulled on it hard enough to damage the USB port, that shouldn't stop the engine from starting. This sounds much more like a coincidence than a cause-and-effect scenario.

Either way, start by checking the fuses to make sure the circuit that controls the starter motor hasn't blown its fuse. To be honest, a clicking noise when you turn the key sounds more like a starter-motor solenoid that is not engaging the starter with the engine, or a battery that is very low on charge. You didn't happen to leave the dash-cam running overnight, did you? This could definitely flatten the battery and leave you with these exact symptoms.