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Modern cars have literally dozens of sensors around them to ensure that the engine is running safely, efficiently and not contributing unnecessarily to the car's tailpipe emission. If anything goes wrong with either the engine itself, or those many sensors, the check engine light on the dashboard can be triggered.

Think of it as a malfunction indicator lamp or an engine warning light, but don't ignore it. Th big question of course, is what does the engine light mean? Usually, it will be seen as an orange or yellow pictograph of an actual engine (as imagined by interior designers) and it means that something isn't right.

In the old days, cars had a limited range of warning lights, usually covering the oil, oil pressure and coolant temperature. But as the car became more and more electronically controlled (and efficient as a result) a need was seen to monitor all those controls and system. Ultimately, laws were made that forced carmakers to monitor these systems and to notify the driver – via the check engine light – if there was a problem at any point in the car.

As for what could cause the check engine light to come on, there are hundreds of possibilities. Perhaps it's a stretched cam-chain that has allowed the engine's crankshaft and valves to become out of synch (at the worst) or maybe it's just a sensor that reads the exhaust content that has stopped working (not so serious).

The point is, that single little malfunction indicator light covers a whole range of possible issues, some major, some minor, but all of them worth checking out when the little engine icon lights up on the dash. By the way, the icon won't usually be a flashing on and off warning, it'll just light up and stay lit until you do something about it.

It doesn't matter whether you drive an SUV like a Holden Captiva, or a conventional hatchback like a Ford Focus. Even owners of traditionally reliable brands like Subaru ad Toyota have seen this warning light.

So what do you need to do when the light flicks on? You don't need to stop driving the car. If there's a bigger problem, the car will itself go into limp-home mode or stop itself, so the check engine light is not an instruction to drop everything. But it does mean there will be a mechanic in your future, because the only way to know what the precise problem is is to have the car electronically scanned.

This involves hooking the car up to a computer so that it can have a conversation - computer-to-computer. Once that's done, the results can be decoded and a mechanic should be able to figure out what needs attention or replacing.

Ignoring the light means you might eventually do more damage to the car or, at the very least, be using more fuel than you should be and spewing out more emissions. There's one other reason not to ignore the check engine light, too; it's actually a roadworthy fail if the light is illuminated.

The first thing to do is take a look at where the car was parked. You’re checking for a pool of transmission fluid that has leaked out over time while the car has been stationary. A low of fluid can cause all sort of problems in an automatic transmission, including the one you’re experiencing.

However, the transmission in this vehicle is well known for noises when selecting gears from Park, particularly after it has been sitting for a while. The problems were usually traced to the valve body of the transmission and some valve-body assemblies were replaced as part of a technical program conducted by the manufacturer.

The catch, though, is that the service bulletin involved suggested that only transmissions in cars built up to 2014 were affected, and since your car is a 2018 model, it shouldn’t have the same problems. But it wouldn’t be the first time a problem thought solved by a car-maker has resurfaced in subsequent models.

The triangle symbol is universally used in the car world to suggest a problem. So, more universally, is the colour red. The combination of these is a sign that something, somewhere in your car, all is not well. Actually, on that model Falcon, the warning triangle will be lit as a yellow light for mild problems, and only switches to red for a major issue. Which is what you clearly have. This could be a major safety issue, so don’t ignore it.

You can either have a workshop or Ford dealer check this out for you, but the first step is to press the 'SEL' button which should take you to an information screen with more details about what the car thinks is wrong with itself. After that, it’s an electronic scan to home in on the problem.

I would reject the assertion that all modern engines ping because they run lean. Pinging (or detonation or pre-ignition, call it what you will) is a symptom of a problem (usually with the ignition timing or fuel mixture) and it’s not something you should expect to hear. Over time, continued pinging will damage the engine’s internal components and then you’re faced with a huge bill instead.

The knock sensor should detect the first signs of pinging (even before you’ve heard it) and adjust the engine’s ignition curve (generally) to stop it happening. So, either the knock sensor’s not working or the computer that is supposed to control the engine’s settings isn’t operating correctly. The fact that a tankful of 98RON fuel stops the problem suggests that the engine settings are off.

Kia recommends normal 91 RON ULP for the Seltos and says that E10 fuel is also compatible with the vehicle. So there should be no need to buy the more costly 98 RON stuff just to prevent the engine pinging. Your vehicle is still well and truly under warranty, so make it Kia’s problem to fix it. And don’t be fobbed off by `they all do that, Sir’.

For a start, you can rule out the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) as the culprit as these weren’t fitted to the LandCruiser until many years after 2006. Nevertheless, if there’s a smell of anything when the vehicle is idling, there’s either something wrong with the mixture the engine is burning or there’s a leak in the exhaust system somewhere.

Since the problem has suddenly occurred, it’s probably the latter and you need to check all the joints in the exhaust system, the system itself for rust holes or damage, and even the turbocharger plumbing which can become loose and allow a leak.

So why do you only smell it at idle? Simply that when the vehicle is moving, the movement of air around the vehicle is whisking the fumes away. When you stop, the fumes `catch up’ with the vehicle, and you can smell them. This needs to be checked out as exhaust fumes can be very dangerous to humans, up to and including carcinogenic.

The popular MG3 is the model you’re referring to and you’re right; it hasn’t been locally crash-tested. But it does lack some important safety gear. Enough, we reckon, to knock it off your short-list. The MG lacks, for instance, important driver aids such as autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring and lane-keeping assistance, nor can these features be had by spending more on a fancier version.

Which leaves us with your other two choices, the Hyundai i30 and Kia Rio. Even then, you’ll need to option up beyond the base-model to get (some of) those safety features, but these are not expensive cars to begin with, so the jump might not be as bad as you think.

The other car to consider would be the SP Pure version of the Mazda 2. At $23,690, it’s not over-priced but it does have low-speed (up to 30km/h) autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring and lane-departure warning as well as rear cross-traffic alert.

And a manual transmission? The MG 3 no longer offers one, both the Hyundai i30 and the Kia Rio are available with a six-speed manual option. The Mazda 2 Pure SP is automatic only, but you can get a six-speed manual on the base-model Mazda 2.

I agree that youngsters taught to drive a manual car tend to be better drivers, but that’s not a universally held view these days. And the fact is that most young drivers will never be presented with a clutch pedal in the future, raising the question of why learn in the first place? The reality is that learning to drive a manual car gives you extra mechanical awareness and extra ability to multi-task behind the wheel.

As fuel prices continue to spiral upwards, the idea of using the slightly cheaper E10 (petrol with up to 10 per cent ethanol content) becomes more attractive. Unfortunately, not all cars can run on E10 with that ethanol component causing damage to other parts of the fuel system and engine.

But in the case of a 2003 Ford Falcon, it’s good news. Your car is E10 compatible and using e10 will not adversely affect the vehicle in any way.

Transmission problems are not unheard of in the Ranger and problems usually stem from either the oil-pump gears wearing or problems with the valve body. If caught early enough, sometimes these problems can be fixed without changing the entire transmission, but in your case, it sounds like the wear or damage was terminal.

If the transmission was to fail again in another 120,000km, would you spend another $6000 on a vehicle with 240,000km on its odometer? That’s the real question here, and given the price of second-hand dual-cab utes, maybe you would. The option would be to sell the vehicle now, using the brand-new transmission as a major selling point. If the thought of another transmission failure is keeping you awake at night, then that’s one option.

Also, talk to the workshop that fitted the new transmission and ask if the replacement unit was fitted with updated mechanical parts that are likely to reduce the chances of the same problem happening again. Often, the industry develops these improved bits and pieces as a reaction to common failures and faults. If the replacement unit is better than the original, maybe it’s worth persisting with.

Perhaps the clue here is that the problem only occurs when the fuel level reaches one-quarter or less. That suggests that there’s a problem with the fuel pick-up in the bottom section of the tank. Typically, this will involve a split in the fuel pick-up line.

When the tank is full of fuel, fuel covers the split, allowing the pump to pick up fuel normally. As the level falls, the split is exposed and suddenly the pump is sucking air instead of fuel.

Alternatively, your problem could be bleed-back of the fuel pressure when the car is parked, but that would potentially affect things regardless of how much fuel was in the tank at the time. Unless the bleed-back is being caused by the split we’re talking about, in which case you’re back to square one. Either way, it would be wise to check pump pressure and delivery rate (litres per minute) to see that the pump itself is working properly and at correct capacity. Don’t rule out something like a blocked fuel filter, either, which can seriously reduce the flow of the fuel to the engine; critical in any cold-start situation.

Failures of brake-light switches is quite common in modern cars. This is the tiny switch that is located either on the brake pedal itself or somewhere near the brake master cylinder that senses when you’ve applied the brakes and switches the brake lights on to warn following vehicles that you’re slowing.

In the Colorado’s case, the switch is located on the brake pedal, so you’ll need to locate the old one and replace it with a new unit. Most mechanical workshops can do this quickly and cheaply, but if you want to tackle it yourself, the replacement switch can be bought at a parts store or online.