Kia Reviews

It sounds like there’s either a problem with the throttle pedal, the throttle mechanism itself or, most likely, a glitch in the communication between the two. Instead of a throttle cable directly linking the pedal to the throttle, modern cars use what’s called fly-by-wire. In this case, that means a throttle pedal where input is converted to an electrical signal, which is then transferred by the computer to the throttle telling it to open. If there’s any wiring or software problem within this system, you could easily experience this sort of problem.

You’re quite right, too, that this represents a very dangerous situation. Many crashes have been caused by a following driver assuming the car in front was about to take off. And when, for whatever reason, it doesn’t…

If the computer won’t tell you what’s happening, an auto electrician should be able to take readings from the throttle pedal and the motor that actuates the throttle itself. From there, they should be able to discern which component is not playing the game properly.

Both the Toyota and Kia have good reputations for quality and durability, while the Chery is more of an unknown quantity in Australia. The important thing to remember is that the cars you’ve short-listed are all near-new vehicles, so they’ll have plenty of factory warranty left to run.

The best way to avoid clear coat peeling is to buy a car in a solid, rather than metallic, colour, which doesn’t generally have the same peeling problems. That said, modern paint technology is much better than ever before, so this is less of a problem than it once was. Protecting a car’s interior means parking it out of the sun in the hotter months. Although, again, the durability of interior plastics has come a long, long way in recent years.

If you’re going to keep the car for a few years and then trade it in on a new car, retained value is more important than any of your other concerns. And in that sense, the Toyota traditionally moves to the front of the pack.

Independent testing of the Tasman has shown that the rear bump-stops do get a mighty workout with a large load on the tow-hitch. This suggests that the rear springs are not adequate for really heavy trailers and caravans, regardless of what the brochure says about the 3500kg towing limit for this vehicle.

The traction control cutting in could well be another symptom of this. If the rear springs can’t compress any further (and they can’t when the bump stops are in play) then the rear axle is not suspended properly, and that could make the rear tyres skip and hop over bumps. Once the computer detects that the tyres are not firmly on the ground at all times, it will trigger the traction control.

There’s a bit of an arms race in dual-cab utes at the moment, as manufacturers all try to offer 3500kg towing limits. Some of them do this much more convincingly than others. It’s also true that, in the old days, the rule of thumb was that you didn’t tow any trailer heavier than the vehicle doing the towing. In the Tasman’s case, that would make the limit about 2200kg. Not as sexy as 3.5 tonnes, but more sensible in our opinion.