Toyota Kluger Problems

That's not easy to answer without knowing your situation in more detail, but if shopping new, I'd recommend the Sorento. 

It's a fresher overall design with more smart thinking behind it, and a four-year longer factory warranty. 

It offers the option of diesel if you prefer, but I'd be choosing the petrol for overall performance and refinement, with still decent real-world fuel efficiency. The petrol V6 Sorento is only available in two-wheel drive though. 

Good luck, and keep us posted with your journey, 

So many things affect road noise, which makes it difficult to fix. There’s the road surface itself, the tyres, and the noise insulation in the vehicle. The Honda CR-V might well be quieter, but could still be noisy on the roads you drive on. If the road noise is the thing that is making you switch vehicles, then it might be worth talking to a tyre dealer about a tyre that might be quieter than the ones on your Kluger. If you want to go down that road, you could try a Mazda CX-5 or CX-7, a Kia Sorento or Sportage, Toyota RAV4.

You should be able to get an example of the current crop of large seven-seat SUVs for under $40k, and we recommend the Kia Sorento, Mazda CX-9, Toyota Kluger and Hyundai Santa Fe, in that order. 

You'll also be able to get a new mid-size SUV for well under that price, with Mitsubishi offering the base Outlander with seven seats for $29,990 drive away at the moment. 

You can also get the Honda  CR-V VTi-L for just under $40k and the Nissan X-Trail. Our pick would be the Honda, but bear in mind it lacks a lot of active safety equipment fitted standard to the other brands.

Normally, I would recommend the Kluger, but with 225,000 km on the clock already it’s not so cut-and-dried. If the Kluger has a good service record and is in good condition then I still think I would go that way. The Freemont is more of a gamble in my view. Should you decide on the Freemont you shouldn’t have problems getting parts for it.

How do you know how many litres are in the tank when it’s “running on fumes”? Unless you drain the tank, you don’t.

In terms of reliability and common faults there is little difference between Mazda, Honda and Toyota. They are all good, reputable brands building cars of a good quality with few reliability issues. Choose the one that best suits your family needs.

Gather together all the information about your concern and argue your case with the people at Toyota’s customer service (1800 869 682).

It isn’t something that has appeared on our radar, but I can’t believe that Toyota wouldn’t be able to fix it. You should consult Toyota’s customer assistance people and lodge your concerns with them.

Talk directly to Toyota’s customer assistance service (1800 869 682) and clarify what part was replaced, and why they say it isn’t covered by the warranty.