Ask The Guide

It’s a fact that the top-rung version of a particular make and model will not only get all the luxury and convenience items, it’ll also usually be the first to score new safety tech, too. That’s why CarsGuide gives car-makers a pat on the back when they make new safety gear standard across the whole range. However, that’s the exception rather than the rule here, and most car-makers, including the ones you’ve mentioned have the same policy of loading up the more expensive variants in their line-up.

But before you dismiss all-wheel-drive as something you have to pay for to get better safety gear, understand that AWD itself is a safety boost. The extra grip given by driving all four wheels makes a car safer in all conditions, but especially in low-friction conditions. So, if safety is a concern (and it obviously is for you, Mark) then I reckon AWD is for you anyway.

Besides which, even though you’ve said you only driver to the snow every now and then, when those times arrive, you’ll be very pleased you paid for AWD.

It’s not something I’ve heard of, to be honest, but there are really only a handful of ways to get wet carpet. The first is that the windscreen or side glass is leaking and allowing water in. The other chance is that there’s a rubber bung or seal missing from the floorpan that is allowing water splashed up under the car to dampen the carpet. I’ve even seen worn or damaged door seals allow rainwater to be sucked into a car on the move.

The first thing I’d check would be the condition of the door and window seals and make sure there’s nothing stuck to them. Even a tiny twig or piece of leaf-litter can break the seal and allow water in overnight.

If it’s none of those things, then you have to start looking at possibilities such as a leak from the heater matrix. This is a serious hassle as often the whole dashboard has to be removed to replace the matrix. But your car should still be under factory warranty, so I reckon it’s back to the dealership and an in-depth look at what’s going on. Don’t forget, too, that even though the water is pooling in the passenger’s footwell, it could be entering the car elsewhere.

Your question is a bit confusing Geniel, because the Ford Focus wasn’t released in Australia until September 2002. Which is to say, there wouldn’t be any 2000 model-year Focus engines lying around waiting to be fitted to another Focus. However, the original Focus was launched in Europe in 1998 and that car was broadly the same structurally as the version sold right up to 2005 in Australia.

The catch, of course, is that the Focus was sold with both a 1.8 and a 2.0-litre engine here, so you’d need to make sure that you were trying to fit exactly the same engine in exactly the same specification to ensure that everything from the fuel lines to the wiring loom and the cooling system to the gearbox matched up and fitted properly.

If, by some chance, you’ve found an imported Focus engine, be very wary of fitting that as it may not have the appropriate pollution equipment fitted to be legally registered in Australia. And don’t forget, whenever you swap an engine you need to inform the registration authorities and your insurance company of the new engine number.

You’ll almost certainly cause the dashboard to present you with a `check engine’ warning light, Brett, as blocking off the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve is an intrinsic part of the vehicle’s emission controls. Having the vehicle go into limp-home mode is a very real possibility as well.

But perhaps more financially damaging would be the consequences of being caught driving the vehicle with a blocked-off EGR. The government takes a very dim view of anybody disabling any part of a car’s emission controls and the fines for doing so can be huge.

However, I know this is a real issue for many owners of modern turbo-diesels. The problem is that soot from the exhaust gas is mixed with oily fumes from the crankcase and then ingested by the engine as part of keeping emissions down. But the mixture of oil and soot can form a black gunge that can block the intake system. Really, though, blocking the EGR is a fairly clumsy way of getting around this. My advice would be to fit an oil separator which should keep the oily mist from the crankcase ventilation out of the equation.

The Mitsubishi Pajero is one of the longest running models ever, and was first seen in 2006 in much the same form as today’s version. With that in mind, the vehicle is very much a known quantity and the trade regards the mechanical package highly.

As with any off-road oriented machine, the major thing to check is how the vehicle has been used (and abused) in the past. If it’s highly accessorised with winches, mud tyres, bash plates and lifted suspension, you can be fairly sure it’s had a tough life.

As the vehicle in question approaches 100,000km, you’ll be up for a new timing belt, as that’s the recommended change interval (some say 90,000km). While you’re in there, the advice is to change the water pump and the various tensioners and pulleys at the same time. It’s a lot easier to do it all in one hit than have to open the front of the engine a second time.

On the recall front, the big one to watch is the Takata air-bag fiasco which did affect this model.

Both the petrol and diesel versions of Audi’s V6 are high-performance units that will provide all the performance you’ll ever need. But for most people buying an A5, there’s really only one that’s the right engine for them and it has nothing to do with reliability.

The turbo-diesel V6 is only really happy if you’re regularly using it for longer journeys where the engine gets hot enough to regenerate its soot-filter. This isn’t an Audi-specific thing; it applies across the board to all modern, common-rail diesel engines with soot-filters. For most urban-dwelling Australians, the pattern of vehicle usage doesn’t include those critical long journeys at freeway speeds, and driving around the suburbs for 12 months without a regular gallop on the open road will almost guarantee problems with the diesel’s emissions control systems (including the soot-filter).

Which means that for the vast majority of A5 buyers, the petrol V6 is the only way to go. While you will be losing a little fuel economy over the diesel, the petrol V6 is actually a nicer engine to use and live with. It’s faster, smoother and definitely more refined. And you won’t smell like a semi-trailer every time you fill up.

This is sounding like one for Consumer Affairs, to be honest. Clearly, the vehicle is not safe to be driven in its current condition (for a variety of reasons) so I think Nissan should come to the party and at least offer you a replacement vehicle until your is fixed. And if your vehicle can’t be fixed, I don’t think the option of a replacement vehicle or a full refund should be out of the question.

The factory warranty is there to protect you, but in cases like this where the problems can’t be resolved in a timely manner, the warranty isn’t worth much at all.

Check out consumer.vic.gov.au and follow the links to the section on cars. It would also be worth informing your dealership that you’re about to get serious; it might make things happen a bit faster.

By the way, PO226 is a generic fault code (not specific to Nissan or this model Navara) and relates to a fault in the range or operation of the throttle-pedal position switch. But your other problems including the Bluetooth and reversing camera failure all point to a bigger electrical problem. Has the vehicle’s body computer been checked?

If you can’t see coolant on the ground where the car has been parked, you need to start a more thorough investigation. Your car is now 17 years old, so every hose, clip, clamp and junction that carries coolant is a prime suspect to be the cause.

The lack of any evidence could mean that the coolant is only disappearing when the engine is running and/or the engine is hot and the coolant is under pressure. So a close check of things with the car up to temperature and idling is a good start. Don’t forget, though, that a running engine has all sorts of belts and fans to get tangled in, and that the coolant – if it is spraying out anywhere – will be scalding hot.

The other possibility is something to which Falcons of this era are a bit prone. And that’s a faulty transmission cooler which can fail internally and allow the coolant to escape into the automatic gearbox. At that point, the transmission is usually damaged to the point of needing replacement, so it’s a big deal, but it could explain the mystery disappearance of your coolant.

As for the central locking, these functions are handled by the car’s body computer. Again, it’s common with this model Falcon for the computer to start playing up and require replacement. But before you do that, check that the battery in the remote unit hasn’t gone flat. If it’s not that, a trip to an auto electrician is the wise move. But if both the body computer and the transmission need replacing, you might just find that the repairs will cost more than the value of the car itself.

The short answer when it comes to differences between the two is "not much". The Prado (or 150-Series in Toyota-speak) has now been on sale in much the same form for more than a decade now. As such, it’s been refreshed and facelift no less than three times, making the ones you’re talking about the Series 4 version.

The thing is, the last major refresh was carried out in late 2017, and since the car continued to dominate its market segment, Toyotas hasn’t really seen the need since to carry out any further refinements or make other changes to the specification of the GXL version.

So, again, the short answer is that there’s very little to choose a 2019 model over a 2018 car. Both were quite wisely updated in the 2017 re-hash, with the GXL gaining pre-collision warning and autonomous braking, active cruise-control, lane-departure warning, LED lighting and a rear differential lock on automatic versions.

The best way to pick which is which is to look at the build-plate in the engine bay as that will give you the definitive answer. Don’t necessarily take the seller’s word for the car’s year of build as the date of first registration is not the same as the build date. Since the trade uses the actual build date when it come to valuing a car, you should too. In fact, that’s the other difference between a 2018 and a 2019 Prado; the price.

You have a very common-sense approach to this Neil, and I agree with your theory 100 per cent. Towing a heavy load in an overdriven gear – whether it’s a manual or automatic gearbox – is not a great idea. Some gearboxes are obviously stronger than others, but even so, I reckon it’s just a good policy based on the principles of mechanical sympathy.

Towing in overdrive places huge stresses on the mechanical components of a gearbox – a piece of equipment that already has its back to the wall with 2.3 tonnes of caravan trying to drag it to a stop – and limiting the load and stresses by sticking with a ratio no higher than direct-drive (1:1) just makes sense. Think of it like your legs when riding a push-bike: Using a higher gear is fine until the driveline starts to load up, such as when climbing a hill (or towing a caravan in your car) at which point you need to shift to a lower gear to avoid your leg muscles exploding.

You’re right in suggesting that your car heads for the higher gears in a hurry to reduce fuel consumption, and this is one of those times when the manufacturer has placed the official fuel-consumption number on the windscreen sticker over common-sense. Not that Mitsubishi is the only offender (far from it) but it remains that the engine and gearbox have been calibrated for maximum fuel economy rather than maximum mechanical sympathy.

Ands let’s be honest, with a big caravan hitched up behind, no vehicle is going to record brilliant fuel consumption figures, is it?