Ask The Guide

Since the Bluetooth is refusing to respond to either the head unit or steering wheel controls, it’s likely to be a problem with the unit itself, rather than a simple switch failure.

In any case, your car is still under factory warranty, so take it back to the dealership and make it Suzuki’s problem. Sometimes these units can be reset by disconnecting the power to them for a period of time, but unless you know the factory procedure, you’re flying blind. Back to the dealer.

Four-wheel-drives like the Patrol tend to do big mileages, so you often see them advertised with overhauled or reconditioned engines. That’s not a problem provided the work has been done properly and quality parts used.

But you also need to talk to the seller and determine exactly what they mean by `overhauled’. A true overhaul will have included reconditioning the cylinder head, boring the cylinders, new pistons, new bearings, rings and even things like a new water pump and fuel pump. The receipts form the rebuild will tell the full story.

Our bet would be on the car you’re looking at having had a piston failure (number three or four piston) which was too common on the ZD30 engine. At which point you need to find out whether the engine was completely rebuilt, or simply had a new set of pistons and a new turbocharger fitted.

I’ll assume you’re talking about what Nissan calls the Pulsar’s `Accent Lights’ which are fundamentally LED daylight running lamps. I have heard of these failing, and the cause was a poorly soldered connection which should be pretty easy for an auto electrician to put right.

Finding the fault will involve checking for power at the lights and then working backwards to the switch to see which component is not playing. Even though they’re LEDs, trouble-shotting is no different to any other electrical component that appears to have lost power. Again, a good auto sparkie should be able to figure it out.

The newer the car, the more economical it’s likely to be in the real world. If you’re chasing outright fuel economy (and that’s a powerful argument with current fuel prices) then a conventional hatch is likely to be a little more frugal than an SUV of the same size thanks to the latter’s higher ride height (for reduced aerodynamic efficiency) and chunkier tyres.

A CVT transmission arguably offers a more efficient solution, but not everybody likes the way a CVT feels to drive. The other choice to make is whether to go petrol or diesel or even hybrid.

Since you’re driving is largely suburban, I reckon that rules out a diesel as you’re likely to have ongoing issues with the vehicle’s emissions control system which won’t appreciate that sort of use. Diesels are better for country running, and that’s just the way it is. A diesel car is also likely to cost a bit more to service over the years.

That leaves petrol and it’s a fact that the newer petrol engines are a lot closer to diesels in terms of outright fuel economy. But if you really want to save fuel costs in a suburban car, then a petrol-electric hybrid is the solution. These will cost more to buy, but with 40km a day, you’ll probably get that money back in a reasonable timeframe.

Look at the South Korean makes (Hyundai and Kia) as both brands have a large range of SUVs and still – unlike some brands – still bother with conventional hatchbacks. Check out Toyota, too, which has a good history in hybrid small cars.

The reality is that, in 2022, a car maker that can’t make a car that can be parked in a seaside suburb without corrosion setting in, doesn’t deserve to sell you a car at all. If you look closely at the fine print of a modern car’s specifications, you’ll often find that even though the car is covered for five, six or seven years, it will also carry ten years of warranty against corrosion perforating the body.

Older cars were notorious for rusting, but modern galvanising and coating techniques and products have reduced this to the point where you shouldn’t need to worry about rust taking hold in the first decade at least. It’s different in Europe where the authorities apply salted grit to the roads in winter to reduce accidents. This grit is very corrosive and can eat through a car’s metal skin and inner structure in no time flat. But in Australia, this doesn’t happen.

Beyond that, you can ensure that the car is kept clean (washed regularly) and you can consider applying a coat of quality wax to the paint to give it an added layer of protection. And when choosing a particular make or model, ask the dealer if there’s a corrosion-protection limit for added peace of mind.

You don’t have to fit run-flat tyres to your car, but it can be a lot more convenient. A decade or so ago, it was quite common to replace run-flat tyres with more conventional tyres as the ride quality of run-flats was relatively poor. These days, that isn’t the case to the same extent, and run-flats have come a long way.

But if you can’t get them in the correct size, then you have a problem that can be solved by fitting conventional tyres of the correct size, speed rating and load rating. A tyre shop should be able to sort this out for you.

The catch, of course, is that a conventional tyre won’t get you home if it deflates for any reason (as a run-flat is designed to do). The knock-on problem there is that a car designed for run-flats will not only not have a spare tyre, it won’t even have a physical space to put one. The solution then is to find a repair kit of the type found in many cars today. This amounts to a tin of repair solution which is added to the tyre through the valve and the tyre reinflated with the attached compressor.

This will come down to what roof-rack system you choose. Good quality brands have load limits of 80 to 100kg, and that’s a fair bit of weight to be placing up high on the roof of an already high vehicle like the Territory. By using all that capacity, you’ll be moving the vehicle’s overall centre of gravity and that can have an effect on handling and stability, particularly in a cross-wind. You’ll also use more fuel even when the roof rack is empty. The rule of thumb is to always put the lightest gear on the roof.

If the ABS and overall braking system is working properly, then the warning light you’re seeing is probably being caused by a sensor or part of the electrical circuit involved in controlling the ABS. An electronic scan of the car’s on-board computer should give you an insight into what’s wrong and you can work forward from there. Simply replacing bits and pieces in the hope that they fix the problem is often a very time and money consuming way to go about this. Most workshops will be able to scan the car and interpret the fault codes.

The Fiat Ritmo is a pretty rare car here, having been on sale for only about two years and failing to inspire much interest from Australian car buyers.

As far as the clutch goes (and the Ritmo was only sold here in manual form) I believe it uses a hydraulic actuation. On conventional hydraulic systems, there should be an adjuster somewhere down near the slave-cylinder which varies where it acts on the clutch fork. By altering this setting, you effectively change the distance the fork travels and, therefore, introduce more or less movement into the clutch itself. But the Ritmo uses a concentric slave cylinder which lives inside the bell-housing and is not adjustable nor serviceable without removing the car’s gearbox.

That would make the Ritmo’s clutch self-adjusting. Either way, when the system has run out of adjustment, that usually signals that it’s time for a new clutch assembly as the clutch itself is worn beyond the point of serviceability.

But, before you worry about any of that, check that the clutch master cylinder contains the correct level of clutch fluid. If there’s a leak in the system, the clutch will not disengage properly. If your problem is one of the clutch slipping, then it’s more likely you have an actual worn out clutch.

The CVT transmission in the X-Trail has caused plenty of owners problems over the years. Jerking or shuddering is usually down to one of two things: Either the metal belt inside the transmission which provides the drive is worn and is slipping, or; the transmissions valve body is faulty and needs replacement. Either way, it’s a fairly major repair.

But what you haven’t told me for certain is that your car is, indeed, a CVT-equipped example. In the off-chance that your car has the much rarer conventional manual transmission, then the problem is more likely to be something wrong with the engine that is causing the problem at a particular engine speed (2000rpm in your case). Changing the plugs is a decent first step, but in the longer term, you’ll have more success by having the vehicle scanned and seeing what fault codes are thrown up by the car’s computer.