Car Servicing

I bought a brand new 2012 VW Golf GTI and have done 60,000 km in it. I've only ever used 98-octane Premium fuel and the engine has failed. The dealer has had my car for five weeks and it refusing to touch it until we pay $1000 for a diagnostic check. Is this normal?

Since 1993, before taking delivery of each new car, I have negotiated with a local tyre retailer to trade-in the original new tyres on the day of delivery for quality tyres of my choice. The tyre retailer credits me the trade price for the originals and I pay the difference. The benefits of improved ride quality, grip and noise reduction are well worth the extra cost. When my eldest daughter was due for new tyres, I went online to find suitable replacements. She had Yokohama BluEarth AE10 fitted and has found the new tyres are noticeably quieter and smoother riding than the original Bridgestone Potenzas.

Barry Wood wrote to you recently about the peeling on the steering wheel of his Hyundai iX35. I was wondering if his issue had been resolved and, if so, who can I speak to as I am also experiencing difficulties with my 2010 iX35 and my local Hyundai dealer. I visited my dealer four weeks ago, had photographs taken and I was told they would contact head office and call us back. We visited the dealer again last week but there was no record of our previous visit or any indication our details had been sent to head office. I find it strange they didn't acknowledge there is an issue, particularly as there is a Hyundai service bulletin dated August 30, 2013 outlining the issue and how to repair the problem.

Has Kia had trouble with steering alignment on the new Sorento? I bought one last year and from day one it has pulled to the left. At the service department I was quoted $65 for a wheel alignment check, which I thought was wrong, so I took it to my local mechanic who checked it and said it was OK. When the 15,000km service came up I asked to have the alignment checked because it felt worse. The response was that it goes straight on flat roads but will follow the road camber. Fed up, I took it to a specialist and the diagnosis was the caster bushes need to be changed. Is Kia at fault and should they fix it? Other than the steering problem the car has been great and I have even got down to 6.8L/100km.

The transmission in my 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe has just been replaced after 60,000 kilometres. The same thing has happened to my son-in-law's Santa Fe. Is this a problem with them?

I have a 2010 Holden Cruze that has just ticked over 119,000 km and the auto transmission has gone. I was driving my car and all of a sudden it got stuck in gear. It wouldn't move, it just revved. I am aware that this is a common problem in the Cruze and people have had their auto transmissions replaced 'quietly' by Holden. I am just about to buy a new car and was planning for a changeover. What do I do in this situation now?

How should I deal with the windshield of my new Ford Ranger fogging up when it's raining. When I use my wipers it comes off, but after a second it comes back again and when I use with water and wipers there is a stain of the water where it hits it on the windshield like an eye leaving the only visible part and the whole windshield fogs up again. It doesn't come off until I turn off the air-conditioning. And also my AC temp seems doesn't work whether I set it on high or low nothing changes with the temp. What should I do?

I bought a 2012 Hyundai i40 manual secondhand in 2015. It has now done 63,000 km and I've noticed that it's a bit notchy when changing between first and second. On cold winter mornings it needs to be forced into first gear. Hyundai have advised me that it's likely due to clutch wear, and they will investigate further, but have told me that if it's clutch wear they will charge me. I'm not particularly happy with that. I've had a lot of driver training due to my previous occupation and I'm not a clutch rider. Can you please give me some advice on how I can influence Hyundai to perform all diagnosis work under warranty?

The indicators on my 2004 Ford Falcon stopped working suddenly. I thought when that happened it just makes the same clicking sound, but really quickly. Mine doesn't do anything. A mechanic I took it to said that it's got a problem with the instrument cluster, so needs a new one. Could it possibly fix itself if I replace it? Or has it got nothing to do with the instrument cluster?