Ask The Guide

I wouldn’t recommend using ULP, you’ll lose performance, economy, and possibly affect the reliability of the turbo engine.

You’ve possibly drowned something. I doubt it’s the coil, because it seems for your description that the starter is not working. Dry everything in the engine bay that could have been affected by water and see if that cures the problem. You could also try jump-starting it.

It sounds like it is going into ‘limp home’ mode, which cuts the performance of the car but still lets you drive it at a much reduced pace to get it fixed. But it appears to happen at random, which makes it hard for mechanics to trace and fix. It is most likely a problem with the electronics, so if it continues to occur I would suggest you sit down with the dealer and work out a plan of action to hopefully find the cause and fix it.

Try a Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3, or a Ford Focus. All would seem to fit the bill.

Carefully read your insurance policy to see if it specifically covers mechanical failures. They rarely do. Normally you have to take action against the person who supplied with the crook fuel, or the fuel company involved.

There sounds like an issue with the cruise control rather than the engine. It could be a computer or sensor malfunction. Have a mechanic check it.

In terms of life expectancy and durability I would expect both to be about the same, but I would expect the Polo to have slightly better resale value than the Clio. Both are good cars, but I would choose the Renault because of its longer warranty.

If it’s still under warranty take the car to your dealer and request it be fixed to your satisfaction. If you don’t get any satisfaction you could take the car to a car radio/sound specialist and have them try to fix it. It could be that it needs a better antenna.

There is little chance of anything else being damaged as a result of the transmission failure. I understand your concern about the safety of the car given your experience when the transmission failed and left you in a precarious situation, but the chances of it happening again are pretty slim now it has been repaired.

This is always a tough one, because there is no law that requires a carmaker to replace a car or refund the cost of its purchase. It comes down to negotiation between you and Hyundai. Hyundai has told you they will fix your car, and providing they do that they will have lived up to their responsibility, but I understand your concerns. I would suggest you lodge a claim with Hyundai with all the supporting information you can assemble, and trust that they will come good with a goodwill gesture that satisfies you.