Your vehicle has an intermittent electrical failure in the engine management system. Specifically because the throttle is controlled by an electric motor it will go into a limp or guard mode to minimise the chance of over acceleration (limits throttle opening) this resets on restart. Possible throttle position switch failure. You will need to take it to a Dealer for a diagnostic tool to be used such as WDS or PDS for a more precise answer.

While travelling handbrake grabs. Feels like motor is missing. Mechanic has loosened cable and stopped it for awhile but it has started to do it again. Clunking noise when coming to a stop.

Handbrake, no... Parking brake, yes. The parking brake shoes are inside the rear brake rotors. These shoes are most likely badly burnt and disintegrating. Removal of rear calipers, rotors, shoes is required. Shoes are replaced as a unit. Check the keeper springs that hold the shoes against the backing plates. Be careful that the adjuster does not fall apart (if it has not already).

Best performed by a dealer as they are more familiar with the system and the correct adjustment.

Hi All - Thought I'd give an update on my five years experience with an Astra CD 2002 model.

Things that have gone wrong = broken ignition barrel (1 year ago)

Things that I have prevented going wrong =

1. Manual transmission - I soon found out that you cannot change the transmission oil in this gearbox. Its there for life! Amazing. So I bought a Haynes Manual and decided to investigate. The only way to change the tranny oil is to drop the bottom transmission plate and let the oil fall out. Manual states that the tranny only takes 1.8 litres. So I decided to do it myself. I bought a new plate gasket from Holden ($22) and some really excellent oil - REDLINE MT-90. I took the bottom plate off and caught the oil in a tub. I measured how much oil fell out and it amounted to only 0.8 litre! Where was the missing litre? Do you think that Holden on purpose does not fill it right when manufacturing. Just think, how many Astras (minus 1 litre of tranny oil) are made and how much they would save on this? The fill is carried out by removing the oil sender unit at the top of the tranny housing and filling through there. Results - excellent. With a full load of tranny oil and being REDLINE, the chunkiness went immediately and the gear change is now slick and smooth. RECOMMENDED.

2. Cam Belts - Yup I changed the first at 50,000 klicks and will do so every 50,000 (that's just how it is).

3. Brakes are very good on these cars, but they wear quickly. I will be replacing the front and rear brake pads with Bendix pads and getting disk rotors from DBA. Will do this at 80,000. (The aforementioned companies are all Australian)

4. Air Conditioning - remember to turn off your A/C each time before you turn your motor off. NEVER start the engine with the A/C on.

5. I recommend changing the oil and filter every six months (min). I use BP Visco 5000. Do it myself - takes 10 mins to drain and 15 to refill with new filter being installed filter.

6. Operate you're A/C for 5 mins every week when not being used daily.

7. Operate your electric windows (esp. the rears) every week.

I have been very happy with the car, and I am aware of other people's problems. Only the ignition barrel has found me.

Purchased a Kia Carnival new in September 2002. Since then vehicle has travelled 80,000 country kilometres (not including the 2,200km on the back of a tilt tray tow truck). In this time the car has 2 motors and 2 auto transmissions along with a host of other required parts. It has spent the best part of 10 months in total sitting at the dealership waiting for parts.

Currently the car is waiting at the dealership for an inspection by Kia to assess if they will once again replace the motor that let go in early February. After 5 weeks and numerous calls and visits to the Kia dealer I'm still waiting for a response.

Calling Kia Customer Service achieves nothing. What is a Kia Owner To Do?

I am sorry to say that after 30 years in auto service & repair industry manufacturers have a lot to answer for. I have seen many people save their hard earned dollars to purchase new vehicles from our major manufacturers then when "common problems" occur i.e. Holden Astra/Vectra, re-badged Daewoos A/C, clutch problems are very common, not brought on by not having your re-badged Daewoo serviced by your local Holden dealer.

All I can say to people looking to buy quality small cars, stick with Toyota i.e. Yaris, Corolla, Mitsubishi Lancer. Also before purchasing any vehicle do yourself a favour by doing a spare parts price check on all manufacturers considered. Also on a final note ask your General Motors dealer how much to repair your re-badged Daewoos electric power steering pump when it fails outside warranty.

PS. VW is not far behind in lack of quality. Good Luck & Happy Motoring. PPS ask the wheeler dealer to show you which country your new prospective vehicle was built.

In May last year I had the timing belt on my 95 Honda Civic replaced. This included removing & replacing the front of the engine. A new power steering belt was also provided. Two days ago whilst driving, there was a clunk and the steering went very heavy however could still be driven. On calling the Norma they towed the car to a mechanic who advised one of the bolts on the harmonic balancer had sheered off.

Could this be claimed as a warranty job against the work carried out in May last year?

Thank you

Don't Buy This Car! I had this car 3 months and the transmission just would not go in gear one day. I had road side to tow it to the local dealership - Reliable Subaru. They stated it was driver error. The mechanic stated he could not prove it was driver error; the transmission had been heated up and the gear was shattered.

Well if the transmission was low on fluid after only 3 months of driving the warranty should have covered it. WRONG. Not only would Subaru not cover and stand up to the warranty, we have to get a lawyer to fight the issue on the car. I have not driven the car in a wrongful manner. They are just a bad company and won't stand behind the car. I'll never forget the salesman that sold the car to me said if a bolt fell off this car it would be covered. WRONG ...again.

I wish I had checked the customer complaints on the Subaru's before buying the car. It has cost us $5300.00 for a new transmission cause they said they could not just replace the gears in the car. Note: Subaru transmission is poorly designed and does not allow the lubricant to flow through it to keep parts lubricated (thus friction causing heat) as stated by nhtsa.dotgov/cars/problems/ivoq/default.htm. If you have any trouble, report it to them.

I was looking over my vehicle the other day and noticed that one of my steel rims had a crack in it between the webs. After closer examination it was discovered that I had 3 rims with the same problem and all in the same location (the web one place to the left of the air valve).

To make a long story short the local dealer was quick to put the car up on the hoist, take pictures and submit a report to Nissan due to his concern. After 5 days Nissans reply came back as "No we're not doing anything about it!" The dealer gave me the name and number of the person to contact at Nissan head office in Melbourne and after speaking to her was told Nissan has no responsibility and won't do anything about this. Tried to reason with her and point out my concerns for safety for myself and others and basically got told off.

Went to see a mate who has GU Patrols and warn him and guess what, he has one cracked rim, in the same place. My advice to you is check your rims, but Do Not Expect Help from Nissan. So now I'm left to buy some after market rims and seriously question Nissans' commitment to its customers.

My Internet research of complaint sites indicates issue of engine stalling when slowing. Problem worsens @ 150000km. Speedo failure also occurs. Does any one know if these symptoms are related and what the heck is causing it?

GMH dealer Southgate Holden SA claim they have never heard of the problem nor can they diagnose it. With so many similar web blogs of this issue I can't imagine why Holden can't diagnose it? Any info would be appreciated.

My Carnival had a motor replacement at 45000 kms 2 yrs ago. This month after the 60000 service and replacement of struts decided it was time to sell before anything more happened. At trade in a REVS check showed the new motor number to be under finance and belonging to a car in another state. I contacted Kia who said it was not their problem. I have had to contact the relevant road authority who has confirmed that both cars have the same engine number. I am still waiting on the car dealer to accept this information so I can trade in the Carnival.

When replacing the engine I had to get consumer affairs to assist in having the job completed. My car was in a service garage for 3 months. They were very helpful. This time they do not seem to be able to assist greatly with the engine number issue.

Kia appears to be above the law selling goods not fit for their purpose and taking no responsibility. I wish you luck but it does not appear that there are any advocates out there for Carnival owners, one of the current affair shows might be of more assistance.

I bought a brand new Nissan Pathfinder in May 2006. I advised Nissan that the air conditioner wasn't working when I first attempted to use it in November 2006. The car has been to a local dealer on five occasions between November 2006 and March 2007 to have the problem rectified.

After picking the car up from the dealer for the fourth time my husband and I decided to go the beach and of course we drove our car on the sand. When we returned our car to the dealership for the fifth time to have it repaired the dealership advised that the heater control box had sand in it and that the part now was not covered under warranty and the cost was $1770.00 excluding labour. I explained that the air-condition had not been working prior to ever being driven on the beach. Nissan dealership said they were aware of this fact however the warranty department stated that they did not put the sand in the car therefore it isn't covered.

The service manager advised that cars air conditioner had to be in recirculation mode to ensure that sand did not enter the air conditioner. I advised that I had read the manual thoroughly prior to driving on the beach and that no such information was in there. I then advised the service manager to find the information in the manual and highlight it. I said if this info could be found I would pay. He couldn't find any information.

My car is still sitting in a hundred pieces in the workshop and I refuse to pay for the car to be fixed. I have now been advised that the car should not be driven on the beach at all despite the fact that Nissan advertisements of the pathfinder clearly show the vehicle being driven on the beach ... false advertisement!

After contacting the complaints department at Nissan the customer service officer LAUGHED and said "well how do you think people survived before air-conditioning". He also stated that he would call me back ... that was 11 weeks ago and I have called regularly since then and he has not called back.

I have since contacted Fair Trading who are investigating the matter and had to recently contact Nissan Japan to find out who was in charge of customer complaints in Australia as not one Nissan staff member would advise me of his name. I can't believe that Nissan are using the excuse that I Should Have Known to turn the air conditioner to recirculation when their manual states nothing about it. Besides on the day that I drove to the beach I had an ex Nissan employee with me who did warranty for Nissan for 9 years state that he had never heard such **** and that this is just something Nissan do to avoid warranty ...They put it back onto the customer.

I got more sense out of Japan customer service then I have from any member of Nissan Australia since the day I purchased my vehicle. Oh and by the way my fuel gauge doesn't work and Nissan have stated that they don't know how to fix it and that I need to just wait and till they work it out.

My family buy new cars every 18 months to two years and we all currently have Nissans ... two Patrols and one Pathfinder. We will never buy another Nissan Again so for the sake of a $1770 part Nissan have just lost three very loyal customers who combined spend around $180,000 on Nissan vehicles every 18 months to two years. TOYOTA HERE WE COME.

Bought my BA Falcon XR6 (with all optional extras) second hand. Fantastic car to drive, until one day, at approx 80,000k's I take off in the morning and some little light on the dash on the right hand side that looks like an engine is on ... More importantly, my attention was drawn to that because I had lost all acceleration and my engine felt like it was about to take off. Massive body and engine shudders ... felt like the whole engine was dragging on the ground.

So I pull over quickly, turn the engine off and pop the bonnet. Can't see anything wrong. Start the engine, take off no problem. It's now approx 95,000k's. This morning, SAME THING!

I had a look in the manual and apparently that light is the throttle light, indicating that the throttle system is not working (dah).

Any ideas? JD

Has anyone experienced fuel pump failure from using Bio Diesel? Mine failed at 95,000 km, after inadvertently filling up with bio diesel whilst travelling between Canberra & Gladstone Qld via inland N.S.W in 2006.

The repairs cost $8,000 plus hire car and accommodation. Any feedback would be appreciated.

I went out on a limb to buy my Holden Astra CD Olympic Edition, only to find not only had my dreams turned sour but so has has my bank account.

After having my much loved car for 12 months (bought second hand at 64000kms), on a holiday some 400kms away my ABS light came on. Reading the manual I took it to the closest Holden dealer to have it looked at (I highly recommend Maryborough as this is the only Holden dealer that has any brains), not able to recreate the problem I had to drive the 400kms back to Brisbane with the electrics cutting in and out as the ABS was intermittent.

Once back it was booked in to the nearest Holden dealer. $890 for an engine module to fix it, so I gave the go ahead, only to drive out the yard and have the ABS light come on and no speedo! Took it back the next day to pay another $150 for an electrician to say its my ABS sensor. No money returned after asking, I decided to go to yet another Holden yard. $120 to be put on the computer and they think its the sensor.

By this stage my blood was starting to BOIL. Ended out going to a wrecking yard, who replaced my sensor to still have the light on, so they then replaced the ABS module, $1800. Completely dissatisfied with the car and the lack of knowledge to fix it I went to Holden customer service to be given the fob off.

Three months later $900 for a major service, mechanic not happy with the power of the vehicle - what the? Are Holden doing selling cars when they don't know how to fix them. Any average family could very easily go broke with one of these lemons and Holden is still out there making them; and Commodores which are severely insufficiently engineered electrically and mechanically and simply not suitable to Aussie conditions. Rasberry's to you Holden, I'm going back to Toyota

RE: CITROEN C5 - This is a well named brand - Citroen means lemon (see below)

I had the unfortunate experience too of buying a Citroen 2003 C5 Estate.
My share of problems included:

I have a 1999 Holden Astra TS CD. The chassis says 12/99, so you can call it a 1999, or you can call it a 2000. But anyways, the point is, I've had a fair bit of trouble with this car and it doesn't make me happy.

* Firstly, the timing belt went that cost a fair wack to fix. That went at about 110,000km. I got the car at 95,000km so I don't know if it has been replaced before that. But I've heard they need replacing more frequently than most cars. The car still makes a rattle coming from the timing belt area, although it is not as loud as it used to be when the timing belt needed replacing.

* The biggest problem I have had is that I needed a new air-conditioning compressor. So that was $950 worth to fix it - wasn't happy Jan. The fella was showing me another faulty compressor off a 2002 Astra which only had about 45,000km on the clock. I think my compressor went at about 120,000km or somewhere there of. My car is at 140,000km now.

* Now I have a new problem. Which has been apparent for about 8 months. I've had it checked out but they haven't been able to find the problem. I took my car for a service yesterday and I got the guy to have a look at the problem again and he reckons that I may need a new idle up solenoid. What is happening with the car is that when I go change the gears down to 2nd and 1st the revs go down to about 500rpm where at that point the car shudders, and sometimes it even stalls if it goes lower than 500rpm. To avoid this problem for the time being, I change the gears sooner while the car is at a rev higher than what I would normally change the gears at if the car wasn't having this problem.

* Also, just to add to my collection of problems, if you have an Astra, pray you aren't stuck out in the middle of nowhere with a flat tyre. Because believe me, if you get a flat tyre, don't expect to be able to get the wheel nuts loosened with a cross bar even with one person jumping on one bar and the other person pushing the bar up. I had to get RACQ to come out and loosen it. The RACQ lad said that he recently had another Astra with the same prob. I rang Bob Jayne where I get my tyres done at, and upped them but they claim that the nuts are tightened to pressure which is standard. RACQ lad reckons that the nuts may be biting into the alloy.

* My mate is an autolecky and he is always telling me that he always gets Astras in for probes - particularly with the power windows. But when things need fixing, I tell ya, it's painful to keep hearing that "oh that's a big job on those Astras!" Euro cars for ya.

* Other than all of that, the car goes pretty well. It's quite sturdy, by RACQ its one of the top 10 safest cars. Doesn't feel like a little buzz box that would just crumble on impact and it has excellent fuel economy for a 1.8lt - for a petrol car anyways, not comparing with greeny cars.

First mistake - purchasing a Holden Astra (CD) 2002 off the floor. Second mistake - keeping the lemon - here's a short list of what I have endured:

- 1st year - back drivers side window fell down into the door and had to be fixed by Holden - not good.

- At the first warranty service the mechanic asked me if I had any electrical problems with the car - I said "No, Why?" He said because that particular model Astra had electrical problems like just stopping / ignition problems etc. My sister-in-law also owns an Astra (same vintage as mine) and about a week or so later; her Astra decided to magically stop in the middle of an intersection and the immobilizer came on while the car was running - needed towing ... this has happened to her twice.

- Ignition problems - depends on how my little Astra is feeling - sometimes I can hop in the car and turn it on; some days I can't. Is especially painful when you are out somewhere and you get stuck because you can't turn your relatively NEW car on.

- Aircon - a coil in the aircon blew (about 5 minutes after the warranty ran out) - I took it to a service guy - he said $400 to fix - I said cool, fix it. He calls a few hours later to tell me that my condenser has seized in his hand (?) and will need to be replaced - total cost $1,000. I went to pick up the car and the air was working - paid the $1k. Service guy says "by the way; you can't use it". I say "I'm sorry? I just paid you $1k to fix it - why can't I use it?" - Service guy says that there is an electrical problem with the fan and I need to take it to an auto-electrician. Says that if I use the aircon and the fan cuts out I will blow up the new condensor and be up for another $1k. Luckily for me … his best mate just happened to be an auto-electrician. Fan still cuts in and out.

- Radio - what a beauty. Some days it will work; other days it won't. BUT if you go around a sharp corner and give it a gut full (because you're hot - air's not working and you're sweaty and angry and you can't even wind down a window for fear of it falling in) and magically; the radio will come back on. Some times when this happens; if you're really lucky; the fan will come on at the same time. Those days are gold.

- Back drivers window fell in again - this time, the service guy was using the main switch located in the driver's door to try and get the window to move. He burnt out the main motor - of course it wasn't his fault - total cost to replace and have window fixed $600.

- Battery has already been replaced; traction control lights flick on and off as they choose; it has been pranged twice (not my fault) and trolleyed 3 times. I have spent over $6k in repairs.

Some days you just have to laugh. I laughed yesterday when I traded her in. But for some strange reason I will actually miss her dysfunction ... NOT.

The above is only the tip of the iceberg - I will NEVER buy a Holden EVER again. I have just picked up a Mazda SP23 - I feel really lucky 'cause the aircon works and so does the radio. Will keep my fingers crossed.

I bought my car new in 2004, now it's done ~53,000 km and since buying I found that the gear would not go into first gear at times (after numerous attempts). Second gear was occasionally difficult too. I mentioned it to Newcastle City Holden when getting my car serviced (routine service) and they found that it was fine (how convenient).

I've also had creaking sounds from the suspension. It's more obvious in the cooler months, and Holden once again have not been able to detect the problem.

I was wondering if anyone else has had problems with the windows? When they are half down they rattle in their casing.

I've also noticed a 'ball bearing sound' when I take off in the car. It's only when I go over bumps or when I start driving ... I thought it was cans that I had in the boot, but since then the cans have been taken out, the sound still persists.

I'm really starting to regret I bought this car. And will probably buy something next time. I'm also considering canning the 'extended warranty' awarded for continuing to get Holden to service your car.

Let me just say I have had no problems with this car but one - that is the steering wheel has cracked right next to the horn button. Not only is this annoying but takes away from the look and pride I have in this car!

My car was left for a year while I was given a company car only to find that my steering wheel had cracked and that while sitting idle without me this had occurred. I then followed this problem up with a dealer in Frankston only for him to tell me it was my fault and that I needed to pay $650 for parts and labour. Not only was this shocking but this happens to most Barinas, Astras etc. Can Holden do something or is this just what I'm left to deal with. Can anyone help? My car is great but this is just Holden blaming the customer for poor design of the car!

It was my first brand new car and I will never buy another one. I had nothing but problems with it and was glad to see it written off when a tree landed on it.

The first thing of a long list of problems was the front passenger's door dropping three inches so it was not able to be closed. Then, we had to have a new clutch and slave cylinder put in it and hoped that it would fix the bad shudder and wobble it had. This was at 10,000kms mind you and the car was not flogged or abused.

Two months later we had it taken away again on the back of a tilt tray this time as I was caught at 11.00pm in the middle of nowhere without a moving car. The MAP sensor had gone in the computer; several complaints were made to Kia Australia. After a week of having no car and no way to get to work it finally arrived back at the local dealership. It was good for about three months and then the clutch went in it again. I was getting fed up with it by this stage and when I took it back to the dealership it was apparently a thing that went wrong with these types of cars.

Finally after I got it back for the fourth time after having all these problems it was parked at home and had a 9.5 tonne tree land on it and write it off. It was not that sad to see it go as I now have a Brand New Mazda3 Maxx Sports and I would give this car the biggest wrap if I was ever asked what type of car to buy, but on the other hand Kia Rio's - NEVER AGAIN!

Had VW golf 1.6 and the gearbox died after 80,000kms. Over $10,000 to fix on a $26,000 car that was 4 years old. Don't buy European cars. Everything was expensive to replace such as the battery and the rear brake light. Parts were hard to find. Stay away from these cars.

The battery is not being charged by the alternator. The battery indicator does not light up at all (bulb is okay). It looks a nightmare to remove the alternator. Has anyone had this problem?

Does anyone has wiring diagram as I am not keen to remove the alternator if something else can be the problem but if I have to then which way is the easiest I wonder. Thanks, Laszlo.

Can anyone shed some light on this problem? We have 99 model Rodeo 2.2 L petrol, with 106,000km. The vehicle has been serviced strictly by the manufacturer's handbook (by an independent repairer, not GMH dealer) and had the timing belt replaced as recommended at 100,000k.

The vehicle drove faultlessly for 6000km and now for some reason appeared to have dropped the #1 inlet valve and destroyed #1 piston and associated components. Timing belt still unmarked. As the vehicle is out of its 3 yr/100,000 warranty we have been looking around for a 2nd hand engine only to be told by several wreckers, that we were actually lucky to get 106,000 out of it and they are notorious as a hand grenade waiting to happen.

Thus being so it seems that 2nd hand engines are impossible to get and to rebuild this one we are talking around $3500.00. Holden deny they have had any faults with them and as it hasn't been serviced by a dealer don't want to know about it.

Any feedback anyone has would be very much appreciated. And if you have a spare engine you want to sell that would be nice too.

I'm looking at purchasing a second hand 2004 ZC Vectra CDXI and for the life of me get so much conflicting information about problems with Vectras. Why do so few people make note of the year model when making these complaints.

I want to know about the ZC Vectra. I'm finding it hard to determine what car people are complaining about. I get the feeling that the JR/JS models had problems but the ZC 3.2 V6 seems to be happy enough. Someone tell me otherwise before I buy one.