My 2016 Holden Barina keeps showing a warning light on my dashboard when I'm driving. Is it being caused by the emission's monitoring system?

The only real way to properly overcome a dashboard – or a 'check engine’ – warning light is to fix the problem that caused it to light up in the first place. Cars like yours have lots of sensors dotted around them to keep an eye on things like the emissions controls and a small glitch in one of these can cause the warning light to illuminate.

The best way forward is to have the car electronically scanned at a workshop equipped to do so. From there, the car can tell the mechanic what’s wrong and you can pinpoint the exact problem. Otherwise you’ll be stabbing in the dark, as these systems can be very complex and made up by lots of different sensors and triggers, all of which can give the same warning light.

Beyond that, a car’s oxygen sensor (which lives in the exhaust system and sniffs the engine’s emissions) is a likely culprit. But don’t guess: scan the car’s computer and find out for sure.