Ask The Guide

On paper, yes. Both variants use the Aisin AWTF-80 six-speed automatic transmission. But whether they’re interchangeable or not is a bit more complicated to answer. You may find there are detail differences such as where the sensors are mounted and perhaps the bolt pattern itself. And there could also be differences in the specification of the torque converter in each case.

A transmission specialist dealing with these makes and models might be able to give you a clearer idea of interchangeability, but fundamentally, yes, they’re the same transmission.

This could simply be a case of the engine’s idle speed being set too low. If that’s the case, even though it’s firing on all four cylinders, it can feel rough and lumpy as though there’s something major wrong. Then, as you increase the revs, the engine smooths out and feels normal again. Even a worn or broken engine mount can amplify vibrations at idle, as can an exhaust leak.

A good mechanic will be able to tell you quickly whether this is the case or if, in fact, the engine really is dropping a cylinder at idle. If the latter is the case, you may have a dud spark plug, ignition wire, sensor or even a blocked or dirty fuel filter. Again, most mechanics won’t have a problem tracking this one down.

It’s true that the Nissan Qashqai has had a couple of safety recalls, but they didn’t affect 2025 models, so you should be okay there. But it’s worth mentioning that the Kia Seltos from the same era has also had its share of recalls and problems, including an engine glitch that saw a lot of examples needing new engines (which Kia did its best to put right). Again, though, by the time 2025 had rolled around, the problems were largely a thing of the past. Or should be.

Some Nissan owners have complained about failures of the brand’s CVT transmissions. But the reality is that these are both very new vehicles and, provided they’ve been serviced properly to this point, will also have a lot of factory warranty remaining.

Which means it really comes down to which of the two offers the space and features you need and which one you prefer to drive (which means checking things like the rear vision and anything else that is likely to annoy you). Take both for a decent test run, check the service record and go from there.

Sometimes, all it takes to inject a bit of gearshift movement into a car is a slightly worn gear-selector linkage. Wear in one of the many joints can translate as movement or vibration, along with a rattling noise as company. Is it possible the ticking noise is this rattle? If this is the case, then the linkages can be replaced usually quite easily without touching anything else on the transmission.

Another possibility would be a worn engine or transmission mount that is allowing the entire transmission to flail about under the car (particularly when the driveline moves from loaded to unloaded - ie; when the driver is on and off the throttle) when it should be held firmly by the mount. Again, this is not a huge problem to fix in most cases.

If you’re unlucky, the problem might be something actually inside the transmission, at which point the repair gets a lot more complex and usually involves removing the transmission for a mechanic to check inside. The fact that both fifth and sixth gear are the problems, suggests you may have internal gearbox wear on those two gears or the shaft that carries them, but a check up at a transmission specialist should be your next move.

What you’re experiencing is the front and rear axles fighting each other. Us old-timers call it axle wind-up and, as the name suggests, it’s what happens when the various wheels need to turn at different speeds, but can’t.

When you’re in 4H, you’re effectively driving the front and rear axles at precisely the same speed. Logic says this shouldn’t matter, but, depending on what lumps and bumps they’re covering at the time, there are times when the front and rear wheels need to travel at slightly different speeds. Throw in full steering lock, and you’ve just made things very difficult for the driveline with all sorts of competing forces being fed around the various tyres, axles and driveshafts.

This is far from limited to the Isuzu, and many four-wheel-drives without a centre differential (such as your D-Max) when driven at full lock in 4H will exhibit the same shunting and apparent loss of power. The power loss, meanwhile, is simply those front and rear tyres fighting each other; nothing to do with the engine at all.

When you shift back to two-wheel-drive (2H) the front and rear axles are suddenly free to turn at different speeds, and the sensation goes away. This whole situation is why you can’t use 4H on dry bitumen in a four-wheel-drive vehicle without a centre differential. Meantime, there’s no fix for it other than learning when and when not to engage 4H.

Just because you can’t see where coolant is escaping, doesn’t mean it isn’t. Equally, a lack of milky oil in the sump does not guarantee that the problem is not a head gasket-related one. Even an external leak from a hose or fitting can be hard to track down as the hot coolant evaporates before you have time to find the witness mark or the coolant drips on the garage floor.

Your best bet is to have the car’s cooling system pressure tested. A mechanic will pressurise the system and leave it for a period of time. If the system holds pressure, that’s a good sign that there’s no leaking. If it loses pressure, you have a problem somewhere in the closed-loop cooling system. That could indicate a problem with a radiator, hose, water pump, head gasket or even a split bore or cracked cylinder head.

But there’s one other check to make that might save you a lot of time and hassle. Takle a close look at the car’s overflow tank. This is also called the expansion tank and is designed to catch coolant as it expands (through engine heat) before allowing that extra coolant to return to the engine as the car cools down at the end of the trip. If this tank is leaking (even from a tiny crack) coolant that expands into it will be lost and the cooling system will appear to be continually losing coolant.

It’s very likely to be a sensor problem. If the sensor in question starts to send false information to the car’s computer, the engine can do all sort of weird things. I’ve even heard of things like exhaust gas temperature senders on this make and model being mixed up during a DPF service with all sorts of problems as a result.

Beyond that a high idle can be the result of a fuel injector problem or even a vacuum leak through a split or missing rubber hose. Even the turbocharger’s trunking – if it becomes split or damaged – can cause this sort of problem, but usually the drama would be a permanent one until the problem was fixed. The intermittent nature of your problem has computer or sensor written all over it. A full electronic scan of the vehicle should be your first step. There’s a very good chance the onboard computer already has a pretty good idea of what’s wrong. You just need to ask it.

This is an older car now, and although it’s a simpler device compared to most newer cars, there are still thousands of things that can go wrong and cause a loss of performance. A full service and tune would be the first thing to do, as you may find the car is simply not running as well as it should be due to blocked filters, old spark plugs and possibly even stale fuel. A service and tune will rule out that sort of thing.

From there, you need to work out whether it’s the engine that’s the problem, or the transmission, or a poorly adjusted park-brake, or even something in the chassis like a binding brake or perhaps under-inflated tyres. All these things can make a car feel sluggish.

If you (or your mechanic) do decide that it’s the engine at fault, don’t rule out things like a blocked exhaust system, a dud sensor that controls the fuel injection or something simple like a vacuum leak as a result of a missing or burst rubber hose.

Okay, before you do anything else, take the keys and hide them so nobody can drive the car. If the rear wheels are randomly locking at any speed, you have a major safety issue on your hands and the car should be towed back to the dealership from which you bought it.

The cause of this could be anything from a faulty wheel bearing, a park-brake with a mind of its own or a problem in the transmission, suspension or braking system. But what ever it is, the car can not be driven anywhere in the interests of your and everybody else’s safety.

I would be talking to MG’s Australian customer service department to arrange for it to pick the car up and either sort it out under warranty or replace the vehicle. MG also needs to figure out whether this is a one-off problem, or something that might be a problem in other examples of this model. At which point, a safety recall may even be required.

This is not an unknown problem with some Hyundai engines, although, to be fair, most of the oil burning problems were in earlier models than yours. That doesn’t mean you don’t have the same problem, though, and it’s definitely worth checking out and finding a solution.

The first thing to do is to contact Hyundai Australia’s customer service department, and let them know you have a problem. My experience has been that Hyundai takes customer satisfaction very seriously.

The next step is to determine exactly how much oil is being consumed. The dealership will be able to help here and will probably fill the engine with oil, seal the dipstick and send you away to cover 1000km or maybe more. Then, the oil level is checked again and you’ll know precisely how much has been consumed over a known distance. Based on that information, you may be able to negotiate a deal with Hyundai that sorts the problem without you paying for the entire bill (if, for instance, it’s determined that a new engine is required).

Obviously, there are lots of factors at play here, including how many kilometres the car has covered and its service history. But it’s definitely worth getting to the bottom of the problem sooner rather than later.