Ask The Guide

All cars have some degree of lumbar support, but whether that’s enough for you is something only you can determine. I’m not aware of any carmaker that offers anything to increase lumbar support. I would suggest you consult a company that specialises in seats for people with special needs, a company such as Recaro.

By all means you can try, but I doubt that you will have any success. The car is six years old, and the steering wheel is something that is subject to wear simply from being handled.

If you’d had your car serviced by the Mazda dealer you would have saved yourself the cost of the replacement alternator, and the inconvenience of trying to sort it out.

No, it’s not, but it does depend somewhat on the way it’s been driven. Diesel engines in trucks and taxis do a lot of kilometres, partly because they are running all the time and rarely cooling down, but a family car driven around town does a lot of sitting around not going anywhere, which means it regularly cools down and warms up again. That leads to engine wear, and lower engine life. I wouldn't expect 240,000 km to be an issue.

It’s most unusual for a fuel-injected car to suffer from fuel vaporisation as you suggest your daughter’s does. Check the fuel pump, make sure the fuel return line is not blocked, and check to see the fuel lines are not too close to the exhaust. It can also be affected if the car is running hot for some reason, so make sure the cooling system is up to scratch.

It’s certainly something that should be fixed under warranty, but it’s not something that would normally be the subject of a recall. Recalls are for issues of safety where there is a risk to life and limb.

It’s a difficult one for the dealership to fix, as it seems like it only happens after being driven for some time at high speed. It’s hard to do that at the dealership. But it would seem like the steering is losing assistance. Check the pump.

You could, but it’s a lot of work and I wouldn’t recommend it. If you really want to do it the best way might be to buy a wrecked petrol-engined Falcon and swap over the engine and fuel system. You could also extend your range by fitting a second LPG tank.

Make sure the coolant is topped up, check for coolant leaks, check the operation of the thermostat, and check the operation of the thermo fan.

Clean the throttle body and check the throttle position sensor.