Safety gear such as seat-belt warnings don’t usually have an on-off button, as they need to operate all the time in the interests of safety. But having them go off when there’s nobody in the back seat is just annoying.

Are your kids leaving their school bags or anything else on the seat when they leave the vehicle? Sometimes a bag of groceries or a small suitcase heavy enough can make the vehicle think there’s a human backside on the seat and, if the seat-belt isn’t done up, will sound the alert. If not, you’re probably looking at a problem with the sensor that triggers the warning. Either way, the car thinks the seat is occupied when it’s not.

This problem should be covered by your new-car warranty, so let the dealer sort it out. In the meantime, you might be able to silence the warning by clipping the seat-belts into their correct buckles, even if there’s nobody in those seats.

You’re (possibly) looking for a driveline problem here. It’s probably not the engine itself as the vibration occurs when you’re slowing down (and the engine is no longer under load) but beyond that, it could be anything from a driveshaft, axle, transmission, braking system, wheel bearing, suspension or even an engine or transmission mount problem.

But the bottom line is that your vehicle should still be covered by the factory warranty, so make use of it. If you don’t get any satisfaction at dealership level, tackle LDV’s Australian customer service department. Our laws regarding vehicle warranties are plain and simple and are designed to protect consumers.

It sounds very much like you’re on the right track in thinking that the problem is diesel finding its way into the sump and increasing the level of the sump’s contents. This is a reasonably common problem (and not limited to LDV vehicles by any means) and occurs when the vehicle attempts to force a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) regeneration. To achieve this, the computer instructs the fuel system to inject extra fuel (diesel) into the engine to try to get everything hot enough to perform the regeneration. And sometimes, some of that extra diesel gets past the piston rings and into the sump.

The problem, of course, is that a mix of diesel and oil is not going to lubricate the engine as effectively as oil on its own. So, you’re running the risk of engine damage by having this situation continuing to occur.

If the dealer won’t play ball, go over their head and talk directly to LDV Australia’s customer service department. This is an obvious warranty issue and LDV is legally obliged to address it.