Car Servicing

Every time I take my 2017 Mazda CX-3 for a service, it comes back with higher fuel consumption. At the moment, the consumption is 7.9 litres per 100km. I'm spending a lot of money putting petrol in the tank.

At the last service of my 2019 Subaru XV, the dealership advised "front lower control arm bushes are split will need to be replaced". Subaru has so far refused to do repairs under warranty which expires at the end of March 2024. The car was bought new in March 2019. It had done (at the time of service) 45,778km. It has never been off road. It has never towed anything and doesn't have a tow bar. Subaru is claiming normal wear and tear and driving style are responsible and therefore not a warranty matter. They refuse to say what driving style would do the damage.

Is the number three cylinder blowing in my 2017 Ford Ranger Wildtrak covered under warranty?

The outside temperature gauge in my 2015 Holden Captiva was showing high numbers, then the air-con stopped working. Was this because of the weather conditions?

I bought my Opel Astra new as a demo model and while it is a beautiful little car, I've had every one of the issues I now realise the model is infamous for! I've spent a fortune fixing most but currently have a serious oil leak, presumably from the turbo - probably another $1500-plus to fix. My question: Is there a point with these cars where I can assume issues are fixed and keep it, or should I cut my losses?

Where can I go for a verified Lexus service centre other than the Lexus dealership?

I raised a concern with my VW dealership which was over vibration on left and right turns. Their reply: "Carried out inspection and confirmed customer's concern evident. Further testing/inspection of the vehicle found this concern to be deemed normal via VW AUS. This vibration is evident due to front/rear final drive locking effect of the central differential can differ when cornering causes a positive effect on the driving dynamics resulting in tension on the drive train".

They have no intention of doing anything about it and it has become worse over the last couple of months. The vehicle has 12 months warranty left. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

I bought my new Subaru Forester in 2018 from my local dealer and ever since day one I've had issues with a squeaky dash, poor steering and this strange noise that is intermittent, coming from the front passenger side (sounds like a wobble/wind/rattle like the wheel will fall off). Every service I've complained about these and they've either fixed it or said there is nothing wrong.

I did many road tests with them and the noises didn't happen until this year when their head mechanic heard it and was gobsmacked and had no idea what it was. They stated they sent a case off to Subaru Australia and came back with things to do and try. Yesterday I did another test drive with that dealer's service manager and he too, had no idea what it was either. So they kept the car again and looked into it.

I got call saying they've pulled apart that side of the car and there is nothing wrong but they still have the same problem with the weird wobble noise and can't find anything wrong, but they admitted there is a problem and they have no idea what it is. The manager says it is safe for me to drive. The manager stated since the problem is getting worse and worse to bring it back in three months and try again. I feel like its illogical to say, it's "safe to drive" when they have no idea what is wrong with it (especially since I said the steering is terrible and I have felt unsafe at speed driving it).

What are my options here? What next steps should I take? Should I complain directly to Subaru Australia or go to fair trading or something else? I think I have been fair and reasonable throughout this whole process with them considering it's been five years and I have complained about this issue, which they've acknowledged.