Car Servicing

I have a 2009 Nissan Tiida and I would like to know what would cause the steering to rattle? Also, what will cause the ABS gas gauge lights to come on.

In 2004 I got a new Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Two years later there was a battery recall, and a replacement was fitted free. Twelve years later, the battery hasn't missed a beat. Is this some kind of record?

After 148,000 km the automatic transmission in my 2008 Ford Escape is giving trouble. When cold it thumps on 1-2 shifts, and hesitates on 2-3 shifts; when hot it seems to be unsure of what gear it wants to select when downshifting. The dealer checked and there were no error codes showing up. What do you think it might be?

I have read about a problem with the turbo chain rattling on cold starts on the Mini Cooper. Could you explain what this turbo timing chain does?

My Mazda BT 50 2.2-litre turbo-diesel rattles excessively on cold start up, much worse under load, but the motor runs normally again once it reaches operating temperature. This rattle was not evident when I first purchased the vehicle having developed not long after about 5000 km. Mazda suggests it may be an injector causing the rattle. What do you think?

A year or so ago I started noticing a knocking or jerking motion when the DSG transmission in my 2009 VW Golf would move from D1 to D2. My VW service centre did their test and software updates but it didn't seem to fix it. The person there said that it's not an issue and it shouldn't worsen, so I made nothing of it and kept driving. But just a couple of weeks ago the engine light turned on and the DSG seemed completely messed up. The car would go from zero to D2 and then to D4 through a lot of revving and knocking. I took it to the same service centre and they again did the DSG software update, but again that hasn't fixed it. Now they tell me that the entire gearbox needs to be changed and have quoted $9,100 for the gearbox and $400 for labour. What are my options here? The car is not worth more than $15,000 at best. It has only done 58,000 km. Are there other places that fix VW gearboxes? My car was recalled as part of the DSG issue in 2013 and I got that fixed through a VW service centre.

We've just been quoted $4000 to replace the timing chains in our 2006 Holden Commodore Wagon. Is this an average accurate figure on this sort of repair? Have not had any experience with this sort of problem? Will be getting a second quote regardless but some other feedback would be great.

My wife and I purchased a 2011-plated Holden Cruze SRI-V sedan new in 2012. I’ve recently had bought to my attention that there are gearbox issues with this vehicle. Ours is manual and when selecting gears 1-2 and 2-3 there is a significant audible sound that can be heard externally. I have noticed this for some time, but due to being outside of the 3-year warranty period I assumed we had no ground to stand on. After seeing some online forums about this topic and the vehicle still sitting at less than 50,000 km do we have grounds to claim on warranty based on distance travelled?

As a very happy Jeep Grand Cherokee owner, I was interested to read of your being "flooded by complaints" from Jeep owners. Would you list the main complaints you are receiving that concern new Grand Cherokees?

I bought a second-hand 2011 Series II diesel Cruze as I needed a cheap commuter. However, since owning it I have noticed a persistent shudder, which I have assumed is coming from the transmission. It is most notable at between 20-40km/h and feels as if the whole car is moving side to side, which makes the stop-start of Melbourne gridlock almost unbearable. Is this a known transmission issue? If not can you clarify the transmission issues further? Also can you point me in the right direction of a contact at Holden so I can get the necessary diagnostics and repairs done?