Car Servicing

I have a 2014 Mazda 6 and I really like it. I especially like its fuel economy, but it is noisy. We live on the outskirts of Melbourne and many roads have exposed aggregate asphalt, which has the tyres roaring and it's difficult to hear anything else in the cabin. What cars have quiet cabins on this type of road surface in the price range $35-$60,000.

Although we mainly do short trips, I am keen to buy a new Mazda 6 GT 2.2 diesel for its torque in Tassie's hilly terrain. Can I do so with full confidence that Mazda have fixed this engine's serious diesel particulate filter problems?

I have had problems with the phone and air-conditioning in my 2015 VW Tiguan ever since I bought it new. The phone has issues with echo, it will hang up mid phone call and will often not connect with the phone at all. Previously the only way to rectify this is to have the dealer reset the phone. The air-conditioner will occasionally not work at all. I have had the car in to the dealer many times over the year I've owned it, and as they were unable to rectify the issues they put me onto Volkswagen Customer care. Customer care have had the complaint for over six months, they have sent me back to the dealer twice to collect information. Unfortunately I am now the pawn in the middle as the dealer is directing me to Customer care and Customer care is directing me to the dealer. Where do I go from here and how can I get these issues rectified, when they can't identify the problem?

After recently suffering a punctured air-conditioning condenser in my Golf R, I was about ready to blame VW for such a bad design to allow stones to pass through with almost no protection, but a quick search of the Internet shows it's not just a VW problem, it's very common. I looked at a friend's brand new Mazda 2, which again has a massive opening right into the condenser. How has such a design flaw found its way to become common practice?

I have a 2013 Peugeot 308 Allure 2.0-litre diesel hatchback with panoramic roof, front parking sensors, and heated electric seats, which I bought new almost three years ago. It now has barely 39,000 km on the clock, it's been garaged from new, driven by me, a retired teacher, and is in immaculate condition. I love it but it has been in for 7-8 unscheduled repairs under warranty, including front shockers, air intake, front brake rotors twice, tailgate struts twice, LHS electric mirror replaced, new battery after 24 months. Is the car a 'lemon'? If the trend continues when the warranty runs out I'll be up for a small fortune.

A mechanic has told me that the timing belt/chain in my 2005 Holden Barina gets changed every 60,000km, but this differs from the logbook. Which is correct?

The clear coat is bubbling off the roof on my 2015 Nissan Patrol. I went to my Nissan service centre, they checked it over and took it to a panel beater who reported that it was moisture under clear coat from when the robots painted it at the factory. The service manager said they would repair the clear coat on the roof and rang Nissan customer service to ask about warranty on the paint if I move interstate to live. He was told that Nissan would not give me any warranty on the paint and that I would have to come back to Victoria at my own expense to fix it if needed. I don’t understand why. What about the rest of the paint on the car?

A familiar story, a 2012 Holden Cruze, done 67,000 km, and a seized automatic transmission. I was driving one day, stopped at a set of lights, and the entire transmission seized. It is four months out of warranty. I am attempting to have Holden complete the repairs out of "good will". What are my chances? Seems unlikely that an automatic transmission would fail after such short time and such few km.

Just letting you know I drive a Toyota Aurion and have so for the past nine years, with not a skerrick of trouble from it. It's the best car I've ever had but you never seem to talk about them. It has 90,000km up after nine years so you can see I don't get around much anymore. I'm 81. I haven't replaced a light bulb, battery or tyres, only ordinary services every 10,000km. A friend says it's time I had a full 90,000km service or some drastic things could happen to the 3.5-litre motor. What's your thinking?