Ask The Guide

This isn't really a job for the novice or a person who is inexperienced when it comes to cars because, if you get it wrong, you could end up with under-performing headlights or blinding other drivers! If you haven't adjusted modern headlights before I'd highly suggest taking the car to a dealership where trained technicians can align them for you.

Yes, there’s no reason to be concerned about buying a Commodore of that age and kilometres.

Use a trim removal tool to pop the trim cover behind the door handle so you can remove the screw there. Remove the Phillips head screw from the armrest. Starting at the bottom of the door panel, gently (but firmly) pull the door trim from the bottom and pop it out of its clips, working up. Lift the door panel up as you remove it, and then unclip the wiring from behind.

The car is now out of the 3-year warranty, so if you can’t prove that it did fail within the warranty period you will have trouble mounting a case to be fully compensated. The offer VW has made is a standard one typically used by carmakers.

Corollas do not come with an alarm standard, though all new cars sold in Australia for the last couple of decades have immobilisers fitted to the factory ignition system. To disable these you will need to be handy with wiring, or get an auto electrician to do this for you.

The engine is probably worn and needs honing and new rings.

It is quite difficult to make a petrol T6 Ranger faster without spending a lot of money. Diesel Rangers (2.2-litre and 3.2-litre), however, have a large range of options, starting with improving the tune in the ECU to optimise the air:fuel ratio (normally 25% increases in power and torque, and 10% improvement in fuel economy), and blocking the EGT system. After that you'll find excellent gains by upgrading the air intake, exhaust and intercooler system (with a new tune to suit the modified parts). After those modifications you're getting pretty wild with turbo and fuel system upgrades. Be mindful to check with your local department of transport to see if these modifications are legal before commencing any work.

The engine light is telling you that there is a problem, and the diagnostic check indicated it was a problem with the DPF, which needs replacing or cleaning.

It’s not covered by the warranty, as it’s a normal wear-and-tear item. On the surface it doesn’t appear that you are being unfairly treated.

It’s not good that the gearbox bearings need replacing on such a new car, but Jeep appears to be handling it in a positive and helpful way. Despite your misgivings, I would recommend you go through with the exercise, and hopefully they will come good with their offer of a goodwill gesture.

It’s impossible to know if it will get worse, all you can do is closely monitor it and keep a record of what you observe. I’m tempted to believe that there’s nothing wrong with it, that it’s just the CVT transmission doing its thing.