Ask The Guide

If replacing the actual sensor doesn’t fix the problem, then you could be looking at a problem with the wiring that connects that oxygen sensor to the car’s on-board computer. Did the mechanic that changed the sensor check the condition of the wiring? This equipment all lives very close to a very hot exhaust system, so damage from that is not unknown.

There’s also a chance that the computer itself is throwing up a bogus fault code when it’s interrogated. Temporarily swapping the computer for another one is a reasonably simple way to rule this out. There’s also a chance (and it’s more common than you might imagine) that the brand new oxygen sensor you had fitted was a dud straight out of the box. This has definitely been known to happen, and it’s the first thing some experienced mechanics will think to check.

Your problem could be a gear-selection issue within the gearbox or the selector linkages, but it’s also very likely to be a clutch problem instead. Many people think that the first sign of a worn clutch is one that slips when you accelerate. And in many cases, that’s so. But sometimes, you can have a clutch that wears differently and, in that case, an early symptom can be difficulty in selecting gears from a standing start as the clutch refuses to disengage completely. As the problem progresses, you might find it difficult even to select higher gears once you’re moving.

A workshop should be able to diagnose what’s going on, but we definitely wouldn’t be rushing out to replace the gearbox when a much simpler, cheaper clutch replacement might very possibly put things right.

A fuel blockage is definitely one possibility. When was the last time the fuel filter was changed? But in the case of the earlier, petrol-powered Challenger, don’t disregard other things such as an ignition problem which could involve spark plugs, ignition leads or some component of the distributor or coil(s). Has the vehicle sat idle for any length of time? Modern fuel goes `off’ pretty quickly and poor or rough running is a classic symptom of that phenomenon.

If your car is the later diesel version, the same comments regarding the fuel filter apply, but the situation is magnified as the fuel systems on these modern, common-rail turbo-diesels are quite complex and run at enormous injection pressures. Sorting out a rough running problem in one of these Later Challengers is best done by first electronically scanning the vehicle to see if its on-board computer throws up any fault codes. Those messages can then be decoded and you’ll have a much better idea of what’s wrong. Frankly, the problem could be anything form a high-pressure pump failing to a throttle-position sensor sending false information back to the computer.

It could very well be that there’s something amiss in the car’s ignition barrel (which lives on the steering column, remember) or its wiring and connectors that is causing the power to the ignition to be cut when you turn the wheel. The problem could also be a short-circuit somewhere in the wiring in the column (and there’s plenty of it) that is causing the problem. Either way, you need to get it fixed immediately, as having a car cut out when you least expect it is can lead to all sorts of extremely dangerous situations.

Another possibility is that there’s something wrong with the car’s power steering system which is overloading at the point you turn the wheel hard and causing the engine to stall. Again, it needs to be fixed now and I wouldn’t be driving the car anywhere other than to a workshop for diagnosis.

While there’s no doubt that Peugeot’s quality has improved after the terrible days of the 1990s and 2000s, there remains a school of thought that suggests the brand still lags behind much of the Japanese and South Korean competitors when it comes to build quality and reliability. Not that some of Subaru’s engineering in the last couple of decades has been beyond reproach, either (a batch of dodgy head gaskets did the brand’s reputation no good at all) but on balance, a Subaru is more highly regarded by the trade on the subject of reliability.

Like any modern turbo-diesel, the one in the 3008 can suffer if your driving habits don’t suit the way the engine and its particulate filter are designed to operate. In a nutshell, unless you do at least some highway driving every month, then a modern turbo-diesel is probably not for you (and that applies to all makes and models, not just Peugeots). Other complaints about the 3008 we’ve heard involve the heating and ventilation system, and random electrical glitches are not unknown. The diesel version of the current-model 3008 has also been recalled for a potential engine overheating problem as well as a possible fuel leak problem on a batch of early-build cars.

As for after-sales back-up, it’s fair to say that some dealerships are better than others, regardless of the brand they support. The difference might be if you live in a relatively remote area where Peugeot’s 30-dd dealerships can’t offer the coverage of Subaru’s 100-plus dealers.

The short answer seems to be no. Back then, Toyota required you to spend up big and buy the VX version of the Prado in order to get a height-adjustable driver’s seat. It seems a bit odd that this feature was not included on lesser Prados, but at least you could adjust the height of the steering column as some form of compensation.

The 2020 Baleno was not tested as part of the ANCAP program, but without standard autonomous emergency braking (AEB) which some of its competitors now have as standard, it possibly wouldn’t have been a safety front-runner anyway. That’s not to say it’s an unsafe car, simply that AEB is a proven life-saver and it’s a shame the Baleno didn’t have it.

Meantime, while it wasn’t crash-tested locally, the Baleno was crash tested by Euro NCAP in 2018. A relatively poor result in the pole-crash test saw the Baleno emerge with just three safety stars out of five.

You’re right, there’s a lot of commonality between the various engines from Skoda, VW and Audi. There are many examples of engines from these brands that all use the same basic bottom-end (crankshaft and pistons) architecture. And yes, in some cases, the main differentiator is the turbo-boost pressure.

But that doesn’t mean that’s the only difference; differing boost levels require different engine management, so the electronic control of the various engines can be very different. There can also be hardware differences such as the actual turbocharger unit and fuel injectors. That’s why it’s not quite as simple as raising boost pressure to arrive at a higher output. Revising engine management to do this requires somebody who really knows what they’re doing. Even then, a moderately powered version of an engine might not have the oil-cooling or strengthened internals of what appears to be the same engine with a higher output.

The VW-Audi group is not the only manufacturer to take this approach, of course, and many other car-makers use the same strategy of producing a variety of different engine tunes from the one basic unit. It’s a great way of differentiating models within a range and, of course, saving money in terms of research and development.

A fault with the fuel supply can certainly strand a vehicle in its tracks, but there are a thousand other things that could be causing your problem. It would be worth checking the operation of the fuel system, though, as this is a common problem with modern turbo-diesels. Has the vehicle been run out of fuel recently? That can cause all sorts of knock-on problems when you try to restart the engine. Contaminated fuel (often containing water which modern diesels hate) can also cause this sort of problem. A properly equipped workshop should be able to carry out an electronic scan of the vehicle’s systems and diagnose quickly and efficiently what the problem is.

It could be that the gearbox linkages are poorly adjusted, meaning that the gearbox is not fully selecting fifth gear, allowing it to jump into neutral. But it could also be that the selectors themselves are worn or that there’s internal wear inside the transmission that is allowing the gearbox to leap from fifth to neutral all on its own. Either way, it’s a problem that could lead to a range of potentially dangerous situations, so it needs further investigation.

It’s probably worth mentioning that a batch of five-speed manual Lancers made between May and June 2014 were recalled to fix a problem with the gear selectors which could see them suffer gear-selection problems with reverse and fifth gear. Your car, as a 2011 model, shouldn’t be affected by that, but it does seem a bit of a coincidence.