Ask The Guide

The Elantra’s 1.8-litre engine has reputation for piston slap and ticking noise, hence the offer to cost of the parts. Carmakers will often make an offer like this, they pay for the parts, and you pay for the labour. They usually argue that you have to bear some of the cost because you’ve had the use of the car for a period of time. If you want to pursue it try to convince Hyundai to come around to your way of thinking by direct negotiation, or enlist a government body like the ACCC to help you.

If you happen to damage a windscreen you’ll have to use a genuine replacement ’screen. It can be fitted by a windscreen service, but if it needs to be calibrated they would have to send the car to a Holden dealer for that to happen. If you go ahead and buy the Calais make sure you’ve got windscreen replacement coverage on your insurance policy.

The Mazda 2 certainly meets your requirements of safety and reliability, but so too does the Toyota Yaris or Corolla, Hyundai i30, Kia Picanto or Rio.

I doubt that it is a low oil pressure problem; it’s more likely to be an electronic issue with the car’s computer or a sensor associated with the ECM.

It’s probably just the way it happens, there were probably no signs of impending trouble at the time of the service.

It’s not a good idea to be towing in fifth gear into a head wind or uphill, or in other adverse conditions. If you do the gearbox will shift back to fourth, or lower if need be. I wouldn’t be too concerned about towing a larger van, providing of course it doesn’t overload the MU-X. You could upgrade the turbo with a chip or other device, but in my view you’re risking trouble by doing it.

The auto in your car is a continuously variable one, and the sound you describe sounds like the noise you get from a CVT. If it has become louder in recent times it might be a good idea to have the transmission replaced.

It could be that the engine is getting hot, and leaving it for a period gives it time to cool down. Have the cooling system, thermostat, electric fan all checked. It might be worthwhile having a compression test done to see if it’s leaking head gasket.

Clearly there’s something under the floor generating the heat. Check things like the exhaust to make sure it’s away from the underbody, check the catalytic convertor to make sure it’s not partly blocked, and check the transmission cooler to see if it’s damaged.

Semi-synthetic oil a blend of mineral oil and synthetic oil, it’s kind of a compromise that suits new and older engines, and fully synthetic oil is better for modern engines.