Ask The Guide

Servicing is based on time as well as kilometres, Ingrid. Fluids and rubber components are affected by the passing years, not just the passing kilometres, so if a major service is due, then the best advice is to have it carried out.

If you want to reduce your servicing costs, the best advice might be to abandon the capped-price deal (presumably at a Suzuki dealership) and find a good, local, independent workshop that is qualified to do log book services. You might find even a major service at such a workshop will be no more expensive than a minor one at a dealership. Just because you have a capped-price servicing contract doesn’t mean you have to use that service outlet.

This is a classic case of the dealer quoting you the factory price for the factory part. Which means the part will be brand-new and identical to the one that’s broken. The problem with parts like these is that they don’t tend to break very often, so there are no cheaper brands of replacement parts available.

The first thing to do would be to try an independent workshop, maybe even a Mazda specialist, who is very likely to be able to carry out this job for considerably less money (and I agree; $2000-plus to replace a manual seat base in a five-year-old car is getting up there).

Your second option is to do what older-car owners having been doing for decades and hit the wrecking yards. You’re looking for a crashed CX-9 which an undamaged seat base. Which, if it’s the same model and trim level, should bolt right in with few hassles. Make sure the replacement base you’ve found hasn’t been bent, twisted or otherwise damaged in the crash that led the car to the wrecking yard in the first place. But all things being equal, it would be a simple job for a competent mechanic and could save you many hundreds of dollars.

To be honest, like you, I’m a bit surprised at the quoted price for a new seat base, given that the adjuster is a manual one and not electrically-powered, which should mean it’s a pretty simple device.

There’s a bit of detail missing from your question, Peter, but I’ll take a stab in the dark and guess that you’re talking about the Honda Jazz city car. The MY06 Jazz was, in fact, known as the GD model, while the GE you’re comparing it with was released in 2008.

The GE was an all-new model Jazz, so fundamentally they’re entirely different cars. Yes, they share a similar mechanical specification and share a place in terms of their market segments, but beyond that, the GE is a newer design with better dynamics and superior safety levels.

If you can afford the later GE model, then it would definitely be a better car.

Designed to fill the gap between the Mazda CX-3 and CX-5, the CX-30 is closer to the smaller CX-3 in terms of interior space. So make sure it’s big enough for a pair of growing kids before committing.

The big problem as far as your preferences and the Evolve model go is that it’s not available in all-wheel-drive. I agree with you that AWD is definitely preferable in a car that will be used by younger drivers. So while the G25 Touring (the cheapest AWD model with the bigger engine) costs a cool $7000 more than the FWD Evolve, you are getting that bigger engine as well as a fair bit of equipment, not to mention the AWD platform.

The other option I’d be looking at for young drivers is Mazda’s Vision Technology package which (for an extra $1300 on the AWD Touring model) adds semi-autonomous cruise-control, front cross-traffic warning, 360-degree monitoring and driver-fatigue monitoring.

This does seem to be a bit of a problem with Prados of this vintage, Steven. Sometimes the screen goes blank, other times the touch-screen won’t respond to input. Or, as in your case, the radio just doesn’t want to wake up when the ignition is turned on.

There are specialists out there who deal with these specific problems and seem to get really good results. Clearly, since the problem is a known one, some people have taken the time to conjure up a fix. There’s sure to be a specialist repairer near you in Queensland.

This has cropped up before in relatively new Hyundais and seems to be a software – rather than a hardware – problem. The solution is to take the car to a Hyundai dealer who will be able to reload the unit’s software and all should be well.

I’ve also heard of the odd case where the entire head unit was replaced by Hyundai, but reloading the software (which should take only a few minutes) seems to be the most common fix.

A Volkswagen Golf that is already one year old will already have done a big chunk of its depreciating. The Corolla, on the other hand, will – like all brand-new cars – dump value like crazy. That said, both cars have a fair way to go in depreciation terms. Keeping them for just a year won’t help there, either, as you’ll effectively be maximising the amount you lose.

The trade regards the Corolla (as a Toyota) very highly and, as such, resale values tend to be better than a lot of cars. The VW Golf, meanwhile, still suffers from the stigma of the reliability problems many owners experienced and can be a little more difficult to unload without resorting to selling it to a wholesaler who will make you really understand what depreciation means.

Mazda recommends fully synthetic for its SkyActiv engines and 5W30 is one viscosity that is listed for this engine. It’s also worth noting that the Mazda engine requires oil that conforms to API (American Petroleum Institute) SL, SM or SN. Although these gradings have an American tag, they’re pretty universal in the industry and denote an oil that is up to a certain minimum standard of protection required by car-makers (Mazda included).

But before I bought any oil, I’d contact the workshop or dealership that did the most recent oil change or service and ask what brand and grade of oil was used. That way, you’re not mixing oils. Different oils have different additives, and mixing them can sometimes cancel out the benefits of these additives.

There may be those reading this who will question whether a new car like a 2019 Mazda should be needing top-up oil between oil changes. But it’s a fact of life that even modern, high-tech engines do consume a little oil between services. Modern all-alloy engines are possibly even a little oil-thirstier than their old-school, cast-iron predecessors. A smart car owner still makes a habit of dipping the engine oil every Saturday morning.

I’d also recommend using a quality, brand-name oil rather than the cheaper, supermarket-branded stuff. Oils ain't oils? Definitely not.

Any odd or new noises from an automatic transmission are, indeed, bad noises Gavin. Squealing or screeching from the gearbox can be caused by any number of things, but none of them are good and none of them are likely to go away on their own.

To be honest, I’ve heard of more problems with the Isuzu’s manual gearbox, with the fifth-gear synchro dragging and making a dry-bearing noise. The first thing I’d do is interrogate the car’s on-board computer to see if any fault codes show up and take it from there.

All the feedback I’ve had Steve makes me think that these extended warranties are a waste of your money. They tend to be very cleverly worded to ensure that the things that typically go wrong with cars of this age are not covered.

Have a close look at the fine print and make a decision from there. But if the warranty doesn’t cover things like fuel-injector and fuel-pump problems, or diesel-particulate filter dramas (all big dollar items on a Ford Ranger) then I’d be asking some difficult questions. And then leaving with my money still in my pocket.