Car Servicing

My car doesn't crank sometimes. I put a new alternator on it and had the battery checked and they're both good, so I have no idea what else to check.

My 2002 Toyota Landcruiser Prado GX has a problem when climbing. It is very weak. What can I do?

 I have been noticing a knocking in the steering when I turn left in my Toyota Kluger. I believe this is a common problem with Klugers. What should be the right way to approach Toyota to fix the issue?

A pop-up message saying "gearbox error – reverse not available" recently appeared in my four-year-old VW Golf TSI with the 7-speed DSG gearbox. Even driving forward the car doesn't speed up. It was taken to the dealer, but it’s out of warranty. I feel it’s a VW mechanical fault that has caused this since I haven't done anything to the car. Would I be able to get warranty out of this issue, or what should I do?

How do you turn off the service/tools sensor on the 
dashboard of a 2010 Renault Koleos after servicing it?

I purchased a 2010 BMW 320D for my wife in January, but just six months later, in July, the timing chain snapped causing
 catastrophic engine damage, not to mention the dangerous sudden stop on the 
road. It has done 153,000 km, many of them cruising on the freeway, and a full BMW service history. The dealer wants more 
then $4000 just to diagnose the problem. Looking into these cars with 
the N47 engine, it appears that there is an engineering issue resulting in 
thousands of failures worldwide. BMW denies this, of course. 
Could you please outline options available to us? Can we not 
reasonably expect BMWs to last even seven years when well maintained?

I want to let others know about the problem we have had with 
our 2014 Volvo XC70, which was still under warranty. A trailer malfunction light 
kept coming up and the sunroof leaked. We took these problems back to Volvo
 to have them repaired, but they were unable to. The car, while travelling at 80 km/h 
had a massive electrical fault and the first message to come up was Trailer
 Malfunction, even though we have never towed anything with the car, then brake system
 failure, and finally total system failure. This resulted in losing control of the 
car because everything is electric. The air bags exploded and then the cabin 
filled with smoke and fire quickly took over the car. Luckily I was able to put the car into Park and drag
 my kids out and run down the road. When we turned back the flames had 
engulfed the car. Volvo has now closed the case with no investigation. 
Has anyone else had this problem?

I'm thinking of buying a new VW Tiguan Allspace when it comes out in 2018 and have two 
questions. I have a good service company and would like them 
to service the vehicle. Would this affect the 3-year warranty offered by VW? I have just read that in the USA VW offers double the warranty to
 Australia for the same car i.e. 6 years/72,000 miles. Can we expect the same here?

My 2011 Nissan Navara D40 STX 550 V6 diesel engine has been regularly serviced and currently has 260,000 km on the clock. I've never used it to tow or done any off road driving. How many more km would you expect from this engine?