Ask The Guide

It’s not possible to say what is causing the noise, it could be engine or driveline related, and without actually being able to hear it there’s no way of accurately diagnosing it. Have it checked by a mechanic, who should be able to quickly determine the cause of the problem.

A number of vehicles of your vintage using that engine suffered from a lack of oil pressure due to accumulated contamination on the oil pickup. Remove the oil drain plug and inspect the oil pickup and make sure it isn’t clogged up with accumulated crud that could affect the oil pressure.

There is one and it’s an important one. It affects the Takata airbags in the car. To get more info call Mazda on 1800 931 024.

Use a good quality 5W-30 A3/B4 oil.

Go for a car from a well-respected brand, such as a Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3 or Hyundai i30. All will give you economical motoring, low maintenance, and should hold their value quite well for the next couple of years or so.

Servicing a European car like the Audi generally costs more than one from Asia, for instance, but you shouldn’t have anything to worry about providing you service it as per Audi’s recommendation. To save a little on the cost of service, and often also on parts, you could have it serviced by a specialist Audi mechanic.

Without further information, or actually seeing the car and hearing the noise, it’s impossible to give you any advice on the cause of the noise. Your best course of action is to take it to a mechanic and have them assess it for you firsthand.

That’s a doozy. What happens if you turn the lights off before turning the ignition off? The lights should go off when you turn them off, and I wouldn’t expect them to then come back on when the ignition is then turned off. I think an auto electrician is called for here.

It would have been made in Japan. You can check the build plate, which should be in the engine bay, and will show where it was built.

Seek advice from the state government consumer affairs people, or take LRA to VCAT.