We have had several problems that have been mentioned here, air-conditioning, brakes, stalling, and faulty ignition unit. Love the car but it's getting me down. It's done just over 70,000 kms and has had the timing belt changed and has been serviced regularly. I have a really good mechanic who says 'sell it'. Well I would, but it just won't idle without the engine 'hunting', it keeps looking for the right idling speed. A nudge of the pedal will stabilise it, but nobody will buy it like it is at the moment. My mechanic says he gets a different answer every time he reads the computer. It either means replacing the fire-by-wire throttle unit (700 bucks) points or the engine management system (a zillion bucks). The car is running beautifully other than this, has anybody else hit this problem? Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi all, I hope some of this information helps. The General Manager of Kia in Australia is Darren Carva (02) 9701 1700 address is Campus Business Park 350 Parramatta Rd Homebush 2140. The CEO is Mr. Min Kun (MK) Kim. Phone in for MK Kim it might be very difficult to get hold of him however keep on trying. If you can get into contact with someone high in Kia Australia you will almost obtain anything you are after within reason. If you are able to get hold of Korean personnel in Kia they will give in with pressure. Do not talk to the Customer assistance line it is a call centre to make people go away. Go to their head office in person. Park your car in front with a big sign in the window this is a lemon don't buy. By going into their head office even without a sign on your window just for meeting, things will happen. Assistance will only happen for your vehicle not for every other person who owns a Kia. Kia will make you sign an agreement for confidentiality. This is so information about their assistance they have provided will not be supplied to other owners. This action might be a little extreme however you will win in the end. Please keep on trying don't allow Kia to get away with immoral practices.

Hi, Does anyone have any comments or advice on the new Holden Astra TwinTop? I'm thinking of buying it and would really appreciate any comments, don't want to end up with another lemon. Cheers

I have a similar issue with a 2000 Holden Rodeo 2.8 Turbo Diesel, no visible leaks, and consumes approx 1 litre per 600-1000k's. Tried 15w-40 oils with no luck, which is heavier than the specified 10w-30. No smoke signs, even though I have been told due to the high compression engine any oil in the motor will burn and no smoke will pass. I have tried absolutely everything, quality engine flush treatments, fuel additives. I have checked the turbo to see if there is any oil residue in case of a leak, but nothing ... So I have given up and now buy oils in 20 litre containers from the local farmer's store, its cheap this way. Good luck ...

I just love guys who pretend they actually know what they are talking about posting unfound and utter **** on websites. If you are such all so intellectually and mechanically minded people why don't you fix the problems yourselves and engineer a clutch system that never wears out. I have been in the industry for almost 18 years and have never, ever had a customer admit that it has been their driving skills that wear out clutches. If you are so adamant maybe you should take it to court and maybe if Nissan had some balls they should take you to court for unfound and defamation. Is everyone telling the truth? If you had a faulty clutch would it last 45K in the first place. Are you replacing the clutch with a genuine unit or are you using non-genuine? It might seem that the complete truth has been exaggerated, especially if we know that $1400.00 seems way too cheap for a genuine kit. Correct in saying that not all dealerships have all the tools to carry out repairs but as a business why would you spend thousand of dollars investing in tools if you will only need to at best of times use them a handful of times ... Brain surgeons everywhere ... People stop your whinging and whining. If you do not accept a professionals and manufacturers decisions take it further. Patrols are a magnificent 4wd. Best thing you people can do is sell it and buy another 4wd. Nissan Patrol 4 Ever

Hi Rae, We are in the same situation, our 2001 Kia that has done 46000km has been sitting at our local Kia for nearly 8 weeks in need of a new short engine. Kia have offered to pay for the part as a goodwill gesture, but won't pay for labour.

I have rang, written and e-mailed Kia and several automotive writers from the Herald Sun and The Age with no luck, Kia don't care. We bought our car in March 2005 for $20,000, which we put on our mortgage and there's no way we can afford another car. My next step is to try A Current Affair or Today Tonight, we need to let people know what to expect when they buy a Kia, that they are a complete waste of money and how bad their customer service is.

Sorry to not be able to give you any good news, I hope things work out for you.

I had to disconnect my airbag to straighten the steering wheel on my ST Patrol. I followed the instructions in the manual but still ended up with a flashing airbag light. If you get in the car, hold the door switch as if the door is closed, switch the ignition key to on without staring the engine, then operate the door switch 10 times (I think it needs to be at least 7 times) while the airbag light is on solid (first 7 seconds), it should clear the memory. If not you may have a fault in the SRS. Good luck. Graham

On sheer principle, I would not buy a Kia, as it would be an insult to all those poor punters out there that got stuck with a lemon and a clunker with the previous engined models ... there's a lot more choices than a Kia.

RE: NISSAN PATROL STI 2005: DOES 45K, WEARS OUT A CLUTCH - NISSAN DO NOT HONOUR THEIR PRODUCT

I have been a mechanic for 12 years @ Holden & Mazda dealerships. I will agree with you that (as customer) would expect that you should get a longer life out of a clutch then 45,000km. I would expect between 70,000 - 100,000kms out of a clutch on a big 4WD. But I will admit that I have only worked on a couple of Patrols (worked on heaps of Jackeroo's, Rodeos, Bravo's & Tribute's) so I don't have a great deal of experience with Nissans. So I am not 100% sure how long Patrol clutch's normally last, but to fail at around 45,000kms I wouldn't be happy as a customer.

Having worked at dealerships and having done too many clutches to remember I know from experience that if the clutch looks like it has failed due to customer abuse / driving habits or it has burnt or worn out that the cost of the repair would be referred back to the customer. Reason being because if the clutch was covered under warranty and then sent back to the car manufacture for further inspection to make sure that clutch warranty claim is a legitimate claim (e.g. - Holden). Holden head office would get back to the dealer after having looked at the parts and would refer the cost of the parts and labour back to the dealer if Holden head office felt the reason for the component failure was due to the customers driving habits or wear and tear.

I hope you can see from my post as to why the dealer won't accept responsibility for a clutch repair until they have the customer's authorization to remove the gearbox so they can inspect the clutch assembly and make a diagnosis on what has caused the component to failure. On most cases (at the 2 dealerships I worked at) when the clutch has failed for whatever reason and the customer would like to have the repair covered under warranty, the service manager and workshop foreman and will have the final say if the repair will be covered or not. Because if the dealership does try and make a warranty claim for the total costs of the repair and then 3 weeks later head office comes back to the dealership after looking at the component failure and say they are not going to cover the repair under warranty, then the dealership has to pay for the entire repair.

The main clutch failures that I have seen (other from customer abuse, driving habits and being worn or burnt out) is the pressure plate fingers failing. Which I have seen many times on the Holden Commodores with the gen 3 engine with the manual transmission, and at the dealership I worked at I can't remember a single time that this repair wasn't covered under the manufactures warranty.

But I will have to pull you up on some comments you have made which are incorrect. Doing a clutch job on any big 4WD is not an easy job; don't think for 1 minute that every dealership has the correct tools for gearbox repairs. I remember when I was doing clutches on Jackeroos/Rodeos/Suburbans we didn't have a good stand to hold the g/box with, when we where ready to take the g/box out on the big 4WD there would be about 4 people assisting in removing and refitting the g/box (and this goes for a lot of dealerships, because a lot of my friends are also mechanics at different dealerships). Dealerships don't like spending money on workshop tools unless it is absolutely necessary.

Also when doing a clutch job you would have to be crazy not to machine the flywheel (unless it is a non-machine able flywheel) and on most occasions yes you can tell what has caused the clutch to fail, drive abuse and wear & tear are very easily seen. If the flywheel is a machine able flywheel and you don't machine the flywheel there is a good possibility that you will end up with clutch shudder and main reason for clutch shudder is because you need to machine the flywheel.

Have a couple of bikes on Best Bikes Motor SM, for sale. And I believe I have come across a scam. I've had a cheque, sent for a bike $3000, plus transport costs $1500, that was not cleared by bank (Cheque). But I was continuously contacted (Pressured) by said buyer, to send money for transport costs through Western Union. Pressure being applied as to send money before cheque had been cleared by Bank. Luckily for us we did not do this. Since the cheque was not cleared, on the 25/04/07 there has not been any further contact.

If I had sent the $1,500 before cheque was cleared, I would have been out of pocket for that amount. I am concerned that other advertisers may have had the same thing happen to them.

Recently received an email (of three) from guy in England wanting to buy bike sight unseen. Very pushy to get personal details off me and I was just as illusive. Finally gave him some basic info and asked for his name and address. Have not heard from him since. His email is ginny_wisely001@yahoo.co.uk. Please be very aware!

I am on my 3rd set of tyres for my 2004 CVX Kluger. First set was changed at about 15,000km and on my 3rd set now and the car has only done 60,000kms. Toyota don't want to know about the problem, said originally it was Toya's problem, the original tyres.

Have tried different types of tyres but still the same problem - the front left tyre outer edge is bald and the other three are still fine? Very expensive exercise to change tyres every 20,000kms or so. Even through great to drive and very comfortable inside, would not recommend to anyone else.

RE: DOES 45K, WEARS OUT A CLUTCH - NISSAN DO NOT HONOUR THEIR PRODUCT Andrew's reply to this clutch burning problem in Nissan Patrol 4.2l's is patronising, to say the least. Here you have staring you right in your face two exactly same problems, at exactly the same (almost) kilometers, in two different locations (one from Victoria and one from NSW), in cars belonging to two different people. The only similarity is the make and model of the car. Coincidence? NO. Genuine? YES. And Andrew says Nissan 4.2's do not burn out clutches. Open your eyes man. Just because you belong to a Patrol forum does not mean that Nissan 4.2's do not burn out clutches. And you owning and driving a Nissan 3.0l hard has got nothing to do with Nissan 4.2l's burning out clutches. As for him being a mechanic: didn't you admit (albeit reluctantly) in this forum not too long ago that you are a car salesman? Quite a career change there! Check out previous postings from him: Falcon BA 2005: RE POOR RESALE VALUE (25/04/2007)
CAR BUYING - Re: General comments - R Cornish (22/10/2006) DEALER COMPLAINTS - "All Buyers are Liars" (01/08/2006) My point is, this Andrew is one of the few people in this forum being antagonistic. Be objective. Help out if you can by posting advice and reading others concerns. Don't be dismissive. People air their concerns here because they are asking for help, in whichever form it may be, or just letting off steam. They do not need your unhelpful comments. And as far as changing a clutch goes any competent mechanic can do a clutch change in a day. They have special hoists, jibs and cradles to do the job in such a way that the weight of the gearbox does not matter. As far as Andrews's suggestions of mechanics having to machine the flywheel and that a mechanic can tell driver abuse of vehicle by looking at a clutch - Andrew, you are definitely not a mechanic mate.

I also own a 03 Futura. I was told about this fault and bought an external transmission cooler and fitted it myself. A lot cheaper than having it go and having to rebuild a gearbox; the cooler was $150.

My Astra (2002) is currently experiencing issues with the gears. At times it doesn't seem to flow through the gear change and it has actually locked up on me a few times which is becoming a concern. To fix it I've had to turn off my car to unlock the gears, but sometimes repeat this procedure. I've had it looked at a couple times, but they haven't been able solve it. I was told that the Barina model has had similar issues, but not the Astra ... any advice?

In response to your problems re: Renault gearbox. We have had exactly the same problem.

A little over 8 months ago, our Renault kept popping out of 5th gear when driving along a highway. We took it straight to the Renault dealership and 8 months later, it is still sitting at the dealership worth absolutely nothing. They initially provided a quote of $3200 to fix the 5th gear (in which I paid almost $200 to receive that indicative quote). I gave the go ahead to get it fixed only to be told once it was up on hoists that it needed a whole new gearbox amongst numerous other things. The costs are excessive, and they have shown absolutely no empathy at all. My last discussion with the dealership was that it would cost me $6000 for a new gear box, labour of $121 per hour and then there would be quite a few extra costs on top of that.

We had another mechanic look at it, and he said the stone guard under the car was missing, and as such internal damage to the motor and gearbox had been caused. I raised this with Renault and they advised the stone guard falling off was common and that this would not cause the problem of the gearbox. They also advised that the gearbox was a common problem. I cannot understand how we did not notice any oil leaking (we parked it on a light colour driveway) and no lights flashed on the dashboard. Apparently the other damage is also quite significant and the external mechanic said that a lot of the issues should have been picked up in a service.

Our car is out of warranty, has just over 100,000 kms and has always been serviced. I just cannot stomach having to pay at least $9000 (that's the current estimate to get it back on the road) when the car is barely 5 years old. The external mechanic recommended we just sell it to the wreckers as it is basically worthless.

Surely there is something we can do? To be told by Renault that this is common is just not good enough. We bought the car on the proviso it would be a reliable family car and it's anything but. The mechanic told us we are lucky we were not killed. This all happened after we sent it in last year for a recalled part to be fitted. I can't help but that triggered everything to go wrong, but of course the service department of the dealership will not accept any responsibility.

I am at my wits end as I have 3 children and just cannot afford to get this car fixed. I would be interested in hearing any possible solutions to this as the car is worthless to me at the moment and considering we paid $32,000 five years ago, surely the manufacturer should accept some liability?

We had a new Kia Carnival now for coming up to 5 years, we have done 75,000km. In that time we have had the clutch replaced under warranty, the head gasket goes with a new short motor replaced under warranty and another clutch replaced at that time which we had to pay for. 25,000km later the head gasket has gone again. This time the car is now out of warranty. Kia are saying they DO NOT have a head gasket problem with this model engine and the problem is with the people that service the car. The Kia dealer will repair the car for minimum of $3,500.00 and will tell Kia if they think the repair should be repaired under Kia good will, HA HA! But the dealer is saying that there is not a problem with the head gasket or the motor in this model carnival. The Kia line! The car has been off the road for three months. I can not find a mechanic that will look at repairing a Kia Carnival head gasket, and if you did how long will it last? No wonder a mechanic wouldn't repair it; they would have to give a warranty on the head gasket. I would like to know how many people have the same problem. When will Kia come clean, when do fair trading do something. Buying a new Kia, you would be better off buying a very average second hand car. My advice is Do Not Buy a Kia New or Used.

Please read the following points of our ‘experience’ at Pacific Toyota Used Cars (Cairns):

Yep, it's happened to me as well. Although I'm not a mechanic, I had performed all my servicing myself & never had any problems. I was planning a trip from Melbourne to Allis Springs and decided to get my local Holden dealer to do the service. Requested was oil & filters, radiator flush & re fill, tyre rotation, and just a general check over. (I explained the planned trip). Reflecting on the whole experience, I couldn't possibly cover all of what they stuffed up. Some of them are as follows: Booked car in for service. (1) When I dropped it off in the morning they had no record of it being booked in. (2) Received phone call informing car was ready to pick up. Arrived at service centre ... no car. It was supposedly being road tested? CD was 45min into the disc, some road test. Got car home & decided to check all was done. Long story short, nothing was done. I drove back to the service centre & confronted the service manager who proceeded to treat me like an idiot. I informed him of my position & he changed his tune. Week later I get a call from their accounts department saying I hadn't paid for the service. I told them I had paid on the day & also let rip with a procession of profanities. At the end of the day I didn't get my money back, just an admission that they stuffed up. 1st and final Holden service. (I don't think the other big brands are any better). Cheers, don't feel alone on this one.

Trouble with Holden Astras are they are not Holdens but Opels or Vauxhalls so they need to be maintained as such, not that I blame Holden dealers but most just don't understand these cars. I maintain my own and it is as good as any other car. Your hiccup is likely a dirty throttle body, just needs a clean but never done on service times.

Booked my car in to local Ford dealer for the first service, 12 months/15000K. Scratced my initial on oil filter, which I do if anybody other than myself does the service. Next day check the engine bay, the oil has been changed but the original filter is still on the motor. Thinking maybe it's an oversight, and going away the next day, I buy a new filter and put it on myself.

Next service 24months/30000kms, I give the dealer the benefit of the doubt and book the car in again. Informed the brake fluid will need changing extra $80. After the service I put the car up on ramps, sure enough the dust covers on the bleeder nipples have not been disturbed, bleed some dirty brake fluid out of one wheel into a bottle. Drive to the dealership and inform the service manager of the problem. Seems stunned that I would know if the fluid had been changed or not. After inspecting the car up on a hoist he agrees the work has not been carried out.

A word of warning, just because it's written on the job sheet doesn't mean it's been done.

Brought used 2001 Kia Carnival December 2006, 85025km, by March 2007 motor completely blown up. Costs to fix are up to $14,000!

I have printed and documented anything I can find out about these cars (there is a lot). I have had 2 goodwill offers declined and the mechanic wants car removed from his shop, 280km from home.

Please if anyone is getting anywhere with the **** car manufacturer could you help me. I am single mum of 3, having to pay this car off over the next five years; life is going to be getting harder.

Hi, I know how you feel, but what do you think a 2 yr old Falcon is worth. Any dealer can go to an auction house and buy Falcons, Commodores and all that stuff cheap, as every year fleet companies get rid of a stack of cars and flood the used car market. And as it goes, while there is supply there is not much demand. Values of Aussie cars are poor, and any manufacturer that does big fleet dealing constantly will have poor resale. Yes I am in car sales, I valued a 2005 XR8 man 30ks and every option and that was only worth $29000. If you want resale, go Mazda, Subaru, Honda, Nissan and Lexus. Also stay away from prestige cars, you pay the earth, but get stuff all at trade in ...

Bought a Corolla new in March 2005. All was well until a year later when the air-con began to die intermittently. Turns out when the air-con was installed here before delivery, the amplifier (?) wasn't installed correctly; it had become dislodged from the wiring harness. Plugged in, problem fixed - but ... Whilst doing that they must have banged in more refrigerant - there were fluro yellow stains on the paintwork near the filling point on the bumper, and on the wheel and interior trim. Fortunately these faded with time. All that extra refrigerant caused more issues in late '06 in a heat wave. The air would die, as it did before but now it was mainly in the hot part of the day, usually when the temp reached 33-34 degrees. It was also concentrated to times when I was idling in traffic, or driving very slowly. What happened is the extra refrigerant plus the heat caused a pressure build up whereby the air-con would turn itself off to prevent explosion. I discovered this whilst reading my workshop manual I got off eBay. Armed with this info I suggested to the dealer they might want to change the refrigerant. They stuffed around for two visits, on the second they followed my suggestion (couldn't get it to 'fault' apparently ... what, did they think I was crazy or something?) and what do you know - problem solved! Apart from that and the dud shock that went at 40,000 the car has been fine. Yes it rattles, but having driven other Corollas with similar mileage it is actually fairly common. Have decided that when the warranty runs out I will take over all servicing and repairs, unless I don't have the equipment.

I can sympathise with Steven as I have had problems with my SV6, including noisy drive belt on starting(fixed), radio that goes full volume when it feels like it(not fixed, in progress) and worst of all the dreaded dash rattle. The dash rattle is instigated with some sort of tyre/chassis harmonic vibration on coarse bitumen surfaces and is the most annoying noise I've ever experienced in a car. The SV6 is nice to drive the steering response and chassis balance is excellent for a big car, but very disappointing to have had so many problems. Holden still have a long way to go if they think they're going to challenge BMW.