Car Servicing

Recently when driving my 2010 Holden Cruze CDX I noticed that the gears were not engaging and the check engine light came on. I took it to my mechanic to be assessed and it came back with two transmission error codes. During the last three years, I have had a number of repairs done and parts replaced by my mechanic. In that time I had a blown gasket, radiator, condenser, fuel pump injector, O2 sensor changed. Now I have been told that I have a problem with my transmission, and I really do not have the money to fix it, as I expect it would be quite expensive. I am not sure what remedies are available to me and who should I contact.

I have a 1997 Suzuki Swift that was in an accident in which both airbags were discharged. During this a two-wire round connector coming from the heater and air-con fan control became unhooked. The blower fan has since stopped working. I have searched the blower motor, and everywhere I can see underneath the passenger side of the dash. I say this side because it was dangling from this side after I cut the airbags out. I have looked high and low and searched wiring schematics. Any help?

I inquired via my local dealer about upgrading the "Door Locking System" on my 2012 Mazda CX-5, so that my doors all lock once I drive off. I was advised that this feature was not available for my CX-5 Grand Tourer SUV. I had this feature on my Hyundai IX35 and was happy to have it, with the security of mind that it gave my family and me. Given that my boot door locks once I'm mobile, presumably by a "computer action", I believe that an adjustment should be able to be made to the program that controls all the door locks to lock as was the IX35's did. Can you advise me if this feature is now available to be upgraded on my 2012 model?

I put oil in my 2005 Daihatsu Charade once per month. Is that ok?

I recently bought from a major dealer a 2005 Toyota Prado GXL that had done 260,000 km. The decision I made was influenced by the RACV report together with the extremely strong market reputation of Toyota vehicles for both reliability and longevity, particularly with diesel engines.

With my research, conversations with mechanics, other owners, and other dealerships I believed/understood that I could within any sense of reason expect to get at least another 100,000 km from this Prado.

I paid market value for a car that I expected to meet relevant market standards, for a car of its age and condition. I had the car for 10 days when there was a major engine/piston failure.

I have contacted the dealership and am awaiting their response. I am aware that a Statutory Warranty is not applicable, but believe I should be protected by Australian Consumer Law in expecting this car to be "Fit for Purpose" and of "Acceptable Quality".

I am hoping the dealer will assist in the resolution of my dilemma. Do you have any advice that might help me achieve a positive outcome? I am not confident in receiving assistance from the dealership.

I recently had a 60,000km service carried out by the VW dealership on my four-year-old Tiguan 132TSI Pacific. The car has done just under 40,000km in that time. My experience over the years we have had the car is that a representative of the dealership rings me early on the day of the service and suggests additional tasks be carried out with an additional cost. This year it was suggested that they carry out an injector service at a cost of about $120. My concern, in retrospect, is that maybe these additional items are not really necessary if they are not already included in the service specifications. Do you have an opinion on whether items such as mentioned which are additional to standard service items should be carried out? In asking this question I acknowledge that certain repairs such as brakes may be noted in an inspection and repair work suggested. Last year they carried out an airconditioner clean-up for $60.

I'm hoping you can help me with a fault in my Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited which I bought in March 2013 with three-year extended warranty. It cuts out about twice a week, within a couple of seconds of starting, and I have to wait about two minutes before I can restart it. In itself this is disturbing but I would not want it to happen while I am driving as it could cause serious injury or death. The fault started in early 2015, within the normal warranty period. I have had it back to the dealership four times to try to fix the fault. I believe the dealer, and therefore Jeep technicians, have had ample opportunity to correct the problem and they have not. What can I do now?

For the past six months there has been a rattle in our Jeep's sunroof but that's not the worst of it. We asked the dealer to check but, even after a few road tests, the mechanic was unable to find the cause of the rattle. Then we were driving in Aspley in Queensland when we heard a loud bang like a gunshot. We looked up and the front half of the sunroof was shattered. There were no trucks near us or anything overhead to cause this. We took the car to Jeep again and the mechanic inspected it and agreed that it was not from an external cause and should be directed to warranty. He took photos and cleaned out the glass. After chasing up four times with the Jeep dealer we have now been told that Jeep will not cover this under warranty and we are unable to drive the car as it has been quite rainy here.

For about a year, I have been experiencing engine pinging in my 2012 Kia Cerato. It occurs only once the engine is warm and when under load, such as going uphill or accelerating quickly. I have taken it to two Kia service centres a number of times and both claim that there is nothing wrong with the car, and the problem is poor quality fuel. Kia recommends that the car should run on at least 91 RON petrol, and I have tried using both 95 and 98 RON petrol from different petrol stations in different areas, and while the pinging is less noticeable, it is still present. Kia has told me that the knock sensor is working fine. Kia's inability to resolve the problem is frustrating. I am at the point of taking the car to a non-Kia affiliated mechanic to get an independent opinion. Do you have any other suggestions?

I purchased my 2015 Renault Megane last December and have since done around 6000km in it. I recently had a warning light come on advising me to top up the oil. When I called the service centre and reported it, they said, 'yeah, they tend to use quite a bit of oil, particularly leading up to their first service' and suggested I drop in and let them top up the oil. Should I expect a brand new car to be going through oil? My last car, a Mazda, never required a top-up of oil, so their response surprised me. Should I be concerned that there is something wrong with the car?