This is our 2nd X-trail and have been very happy with both up until now. Taking my two small sons to sport on the weekend suddenly smelt burning. After turning off the heater and radio I continued to smell burning.

Pulled over to the side of the road, stopped the car and turned off the engine smoke started coming out of the middle console vents. Ran around to passenger side to get kids out of the car. As I turned back to car with mobile in hand flames started coming from the same vents, within minutes the car was fully a blaze! Completely destroyed.

We bought a 2/2006 Cherokee, had numerous recalls and some to do with brakes. If these aren't bad enough at the last service we were told the front pads need replacing. The car has only travelled 25000 klm's but upon telling them I did not want them put on until I discuss this further with them upon picking up the car. But once there was told the rotors are also worn out and badly warped & untrue.

But the dealer was prepared to put pads on only to later tell me it would need rotors and then at this time need again new pads, mind you at a cost of $200 for a set of pads and $480 for the rotors without any labour cost being about $300. After discussion with them about this I have been informed by Chrysler that I have been lucky to get this amount of k's from these items as most customers don't get anywhere near that.

My gripe is that the rear rotors and pads will also soon need replacement and the total cost of the front and rear will come to almost $2000. If this isn't bad enough that is going to be a cost that will have to be incurred every 1 to 1.5 years depending on how many k's the car does. Be aware the statutory warranty on brakes in Australia is only 20000 klm/ 12 mths regardless of vehicle warranty length.

The issue is that Chrysler fit a very aggressive pad as standard and a fairly substandard rotor compound that suits the US,Canada,UK & Europe market very well because of their fairly high speed driving situations, so that the car stops reasonably well under those conditions. But in Australia we just don't have the roads to do the same driving style as there. Hence these compounds in these components are totally unsuitable here and this severely reduces the longevity of these parts under our conditions.

I for one can not afford to maintain this type of cost. This is the first new car I have ever purchased and was not planning on such a high cost to maintain it, but Chrysler is unsympathetic to this. They know the brakes don't suit our conditions here but still fit them to the cars sold here. The word from the experts in the brake field is that not only are these items of poor quality but unsuited to a vehicle sold in this country. A full aftermarket replacement is the only reasonable option unless you can afford the cost of the constant genuine replacement parts.

I have not yet had this issue resolved and would love to see postings from others having this problem with not only Jeep but any Chrysler branded vehicle. I know there are other vehicle manufacturers with this same issue and for that reason would love to see the motoring industry come under review for it and the controlling government bodies do something about the problem. These vehicles are not aimed at our conditions nor designed to cope with it but are allowed to be sold here without the buyer being aware the problem exists. Then having little choice but to pay large repair bills.

I purchased the car in Dec 2006. It's a nice car to drive; I actually use the car for work purposes. The car was fine mechanically but I got a puncture and took the tyre into Goodyear and they told me the tyre was no good because the inner wall of the tyre was worn so bad the tyre required replacement. The cause of this was the rear camber of the car was out and they advised me that it was not uncommon and that a kit could be fitted to the car to rectify the problem.

After speaking to Holden I was told Holden does not warranty suspension components and a charge of $45 would apply to adjust if out of specs. The reason was apparently the varying load of the car (different tools and equipment from time to time) and they cannot adjust the camber to compensate for this and it is not a manufacturing defect.

But hey the guy at Goodyear didn't even carry any weight in his car and had the same problem. Luckily I purchased a Holden commercial vehicle and used the vehicle for its intended purpose.

So Holden I say to you 15,000 km life from tyres must be normal and it's not a manufacturing defect ... not ... tell this to Toyota and Ford

P.S The car has been in 3 times also for power steering faults.

Would like to hear from or see postings from people with issues or just to let me know what sort of kilometers people are getting out of their Jeep vehicles for Pads and or Rotors on any Chrysler really, but mainly Jeep range.

Chrysler advise most of their Qld customers are not getting as much out of them as we got, 25000 klm for both pads and rotors. Has anyone else questioned Chrysler over this issue?

Having driven to Kalgoolie from Perth ; a distance of 650 km my brakes failed on my 2003 Falcon. Taking it to Ultra Tune the first mechanic I saw that I knew had a good reputation and that if I had problems I could follow up when I got back to Perth.

I paid $250.00 to get the left rear brake fixed. On returning to Perth the right rear hose failed an hour from Perth. Now thinking this is not right I rang my local Ford dealer who informed me of (program). They replaced the hose with the faulty parts as the new hoses are not available yet!

Still waiting to get new hoses 2 and half weeks later. Am currently seeking a refund from Ford for my expense in Kalgoorlie. They don't consider this a safety problem! I certainly do as they put my life and my family in danger. I have made it clear to Ford in Geelong that is where I stand.

Hi Emma here

At the end of March 2007 (this year) my 2001 Toyota Prado GXL was stolen. Now I am insured by RACT Insurance. After waiting for two and a half months of investigation the insurance company has now come back and told me that my claim has been denied. With two children 3.5 and 1.5 years old living 45 minutes out of Devonport in Tassie I have been told by the insurance company they denied my claim because there is no evidence to support that the car was stolen. (I think they want me to do the police work and catch the little ****** that stole my car. I wonder if that will be enough evidence to prove my cars was stolen.)

Anyway if anyone else has had a Prado like mine stolen or can give me any advice at all on how to deal with the insurance company please help.

Greatly appreciate any help.
Thanks.

I have had a 2002 XT Falcon from new that has done 57000k. I have never towed more than 6x4 trailer to the dump, but Transmission failed totally. It looks like metal pieces have detached from torque converter and run through the output gear set. Not much left that is any good and repairs totalled $2700.

As far as I know the transmission is manufactured in Australia so I will be making very sure that my next car does not have one that is manufactured by BTR (Albury I think).

I see other postings on this website regarding Renault Scenic reliability, or lack thereof. I also got sucked in by its safety features. Now my Scenic (done about 80,000 km) has been off the road for a week since it suddenly lost all forward gears in its auto transmission. Renault Oakleigh (original dealer) quoting $5500+ $1400 labour for reconditioned auto trans swap over.

And all this after several weeks off the road in the past 2 years replacing water pump, tensioner pulley, auxiliary belt, and believe it or not a faulty ground cable incorrectly fitted by Renault before original delivery (all fixed out of my pocket, several $1000's ).

In addition, several items eventually fixed under warranty including indicator stick that would flip to opposite turn after any corner if wheel corrected too quickly (many more days off the road just for that item).

So, it's back to Toyota for me. Just put deposit down on a Yaris. Waiting to find out what $ I can get for a Renault Scenic without transmission. Renault Australia refuses to release the software codes for their auto transmission computer, so you have to go back to them if it breaks. Be warned.

Similar problems have been noted by others Re: Dodgy fuel gauge on Falcon.

Twice in 3 weeks ran out of petrol when the gauge showed 1/4 tank. In second instance the distance to empty on trip computer went from 112kms to 80 (warning triggered) then to ... nothing. Came to stop, lost power to steering and all electrics in the matter of about 5 seconds! Didn't even have a chance to get to a petrol station!

The first time this occurred I was on freeway and my distance to empty showed 90 kms then splutter, shaking ... kaput! Now I fill up when I'm down to 1/2 because clearly there is something wrong with gauge. Funnily enough I always manage to put in at least 50 litres of petrol. Didn't know BA's had a 100 litre tank. Oh, that's right-they don't! Ford doesn't want to know about it.

Just as they didn't when I took my car in twice in 2 weeks re: brake fade and ABS light - now I notice there is a so-called safety program on said problem. They told me it was all in my head and didn't even lift the bonnet on first visit. Buying Volkswagen to replace.

This is so embarrassing, but I want to warn others against making the same stupid mistake I did!

My 1999 Astra has been reasonably trouble-free until yesterday, when it just wouldn't start. I knew it wasn't a flat battery - the engine would start but shut down after about 5-10 seconds. Being a woman with no idea I called NRMA, who arrived in 15mins (record time?!). This guy tried everything he could think of and was eventually convinced that it had something to do with the power-steering pump. So off goes my car - towed to the nearest Holden Dealership - with me spending the rest of the day stressing about how much this is going to cost me... I've heard anything to do with power-steering can be expensive...

Anyway, I got the call from Holden and how embarrassing. The immobiliser chip was missing from my key. I'd totally forgotten about how I'd dropped my key the night before and it had fallen apart - I had simply picked it up and clipped it back together - how was I to know the immobiliser chip had fallen out! So, red-faced and $170 later I was driving my Astra home... hahaha how embarrassing :)

The moral of the story... if your car doesn't start, try your spare key!

I'm a Toyota mechanic and from my experience the noise that you are hearing is one that comes from one of two places:

- if it is a metallic noise get your air con compressor looked at. They have a problem when the clutch on the front of it gets loaded up and makes a really loud rattle
- the second one is that there is a lot of steel brackets behind the dash and they rattle on the plastic trims and the bad part with this one is that you can't do nothing about it sorry!

Good luck finding the problem.

Body Control 9205-6494 (BCM) Module and 2 'Key Pads' for my 1996 Holden VS Commodore station-wagon required to ensure I can start my car, hence operate and use my car is not available anywhere in Australia. The wait time is 3 months. 3 Months for a commonly needed part for a commonly known Holden part failure of a module for which Holden has sold numerous tens of thousands of cars.

Holden are so incompetent, so consumer ignorant, arrogant and stupid that they have effectively put my car off the road (for a part I have ordered and paid for but which I must wait 3 whole months for delivery) and then hire a car for 3 months.

The morale of this story: Tell everyone who will listen. Do not ever buy **** Holden cars ever again. The twits at Holden have no idea how to run a commercially sustainable profitable business. Their American masters probably don't care either that their Australian foolish little boys are commercially incompetent.

This is not an exotic European Sports car. This is a mass model production car best selling car. Buy Japanese.

We [family of 6] traded in our sedan for a Kia Carnival 2000 with Australian Fleet Sales [AFS] last June. Advertised promises of not selling 'lemons' and that all cars pass through a rigorous check have been proven dubious at best by the problems we have experienced with this vehicle and the poor after sales service received from AFS.

Even an NRMA road service mechanic stated 'We wish they would pack up and leave town'. Caveat emptor has never been more applicable for both this model car and this dealership.

My advice, steer well clear of both and save yourself a lot of grief.

In response to all the consumers out there who are having problems with their Freelanders Blown Head Gasket.

We have had the same problem where we have fixed it once and 3 months later it went back to the repairers with exactly the same problem. After pointless phone calls to Landrover we referred the matter to the Motor Vehicle Repair Industry. It is now in the hands of the CTTT and we will be having a hearing with them and Landrover for a decision as to who is at fault.

I would like to thank everyone for their complaints as I will be using them for my case. To all People involved you should contact the Motors Vehicle Repair Industry and also the CTTT. Our hearing is on the 12th July. I will let everyone know how we get on. Also it would probably be a good idea if we contacted the media on this, anyone wishing to do so let me know.

How do you know if they is a problem with my head gaskets EF 1996 Ford?

*there is water coming out of the muffler
*I need to keep refilling the water

If they is a problem with my head gaskets is it worth fixing it, or should I buy a new engine?

Please help

I needed a replacement steering rack for my VY wagon (I bought the car two years earlier at Wilsons) for a pink slip so booked my car into Wilsons Albion Park. When I got car back, knocking noises were heard and wheel alignment was not up to standard. Took car back and wheel alignment was fixed and staff said shuddering in VY series was normal. After two days, noise got worse so I pulled wheels off and found there were no split pins holding the steering rack onto the wheels and the nuts holding the steering rack onto the wheels were at the end of the thread.

Now if I had started my trip to Queensland two weeks earlier and these nuts came off the car whilst driving it, I would not be able to steer my car causing a serious accident. This is an accident waiting to happen. All I can say Wilsons if you are reading this is lift the bar boys, our wives, kids and us blokes are depending on you to keep us safe whilst driving.

Hey MotorSM (Best Boats),

I am writing in regards to 2 fraudulent sellers on Best Boats Website. The following are the links to the pages ... You will note that both these sales are for Seadoo jet skis priced WELL below what they are worth. I have contacted the first seller in regards to his item. We have spoken via email several times and after several emails of lies and deception about the what/where and how much of the jet ski. I have discovered that the jet ski is not even in Australia.

After contacting the second seller I got the exact same problem, firstly being told that the jet ski is in Australia when in actual fact it is in America. Both sellers are in actual fact the same person and I can tell this via the way in which both emails were composed.

The common scam for both sellers is that the jet skis are being stored at a transport depot and that to purchase the item you must first deposit half the money into an overseas account. When I requested a contact number the no. supplied is an international one.

Finally after receiving several emails avoiding all the questions I've asked about the skis, I sent an email back stating all of the inaccuracies I have noted about the sale and the emails they have sent ... I am yet to receive an email back.

Look forward to hearing your response in regards to this..

Kind Regards, Andrew 8/6/2007

---------------------
Hey Best Boats, thank you for the reply and taking action on the ads. I'd be more than happy for you to publish my email to help others!

Thanks Again, Andrew

Hi to everybody. After reading the comments about the Holden Astra, I want to ask any one who has Astra 2000 - what I should do before I use it. I did buy it last week and still not using it and if you can tell me what the difference between Astra CD and Astra City. I have a manual one.

Why I did buy it because I had an old Astra year 93. I did like it, great engine, never had a problem with it. Now I have a 2000 one and I am scared to drive it. So please can you give me more information about it.

I like Holden, has a nice shape, the one I have is running just 90,000 km. Please I want someone give me an exact answer about the car.
Thank you

I bought a 2004 Ford Focus new. With normal city driving the hatch has just done 60,000k's. I am now on to my 2nd set of front brake pads and rotors. At a retail cost of $550 bucks, needless to say I'm not very happy.

So I thought for a change I would email Ford Australia with a complaint. No reply, so I thought I would ring. Just as I expected they couldn't give stuff. I've spoken to several mechanics and they have all confirmed that the brakes & rotors only last between 25 - 30 thousand kilometers. What a joke. I would understand if it was a high performance vehicle but it's a slug of a car, it's so slow it's embarrassing for a 2 litre vehicle. Never again.

As soon as I sell this car, I'll remember to ask the sales person how long do the brakes & rotors (discs) last.

Hi I purchased my Ford BA this year it's a 2002 model. I had problems with brake shudder, clunking when take off. And now I decided to go for a nice drive out of the city, but had to turn around after 30kms of sitting on 100km as I was the passenger. I felt sick to the stomach because the car sways like a boat. I also had to have the rust fixed after it was appearing on chassis and back window. When I got car back from Ford it had glue stuff allover the place. The crash shop used by Ford didn't want to know about it. They wouldn't even come out when Ford had to repair things like no back lights, exhaust sensor left unplugged; my wiring was left under manifold and burnt my wiring down to nothing.

Ford customer care told me I shouldn't be complaining. I ended up in argument with them … I purchased my car from Q Ford Springwood in Brisbane. I also took it to a mechanic and he said wheel bearing was stuffed, so back to Ford. They filled it up with grease at a mechanic they use and said nothing wrong with it. Told me I complain too much then they tried to cover up the dent they put in my side skirts by having someone repair it saying they didn't - no it was there when I bought it. I am so unhappy with the response I got from Ford as I am a VIP customer. Hate to see how they treat a normal customer then. Next time I won't buy a Ford.

Does anyone else have a problem with their Ford swaying when up to 100kph. My husband calls it body roll. We went for a drive yesterday, we're going to Beaudessert, but got 10kms when had to come home. Car was swaying that bad, made me and the kids feel sick. My kids and I never get car sick but this was appalling. I had an EL and never did it make us all feel quezzy to the stomach.

Is this a fault in Fords or do I have another problem not yet identified. Thanks another fault to the list. Give me my EL 300,000km car any day.

My 2003 BA has just mixed the trans fluid and coolant together. Taking it to the workshop beginning of the week and will be phoning Ford. If enough people get together and complain at the same time maybe even to the Media, then Ford would be forced to help us and fix the problem.

Hi, I purchased an Astra CDX 2005 last year, since owning have had numerous problems as to your experience i.e.

The controls on the stereo itself work without fault but it is a lottery as to what the buttons on the steering wheel will do when pressed. Most often the volume up button controls the tuning down and volume down does nothing.

I have also had this problem with them not working. Have taken it back 5 times, was told it is thing called a clock spring which sits behind the air bag. Had it replaced and have not had a problem since ...

Hope this is some help

Hi there

Yep another unhappy Kia customer. I am a single mum of 4, my 2001 Kia Carnival has just done 50,000K and had an internal engine failure ... oil in the radiator and spilling out of the coolant all over the road. Has cost me $242 to have it towed to the closest Kia dealership, $500 for labour for them to pull the engine apart and $125 a day for a hire car. (No family here who can assist with transport).

Kia dealership say yes this is a Kia manufacturing problem (and Kia Melbourne say the same thing) but Kia have offered to pay for the short engine ($2500) and I have to pay for the rest ($4500). Not a chance.

Consumer Affairs in Vic have advised me to lodge a claim with the Small Claims Tribunal which costs $33. Kia are in breach of the Trade Practices Act having sold an engine that is not of merchandisable quality and in breach of the Victorian mirror agreement that says a product must be fit for the intended purpose. An engine that does 50,000K is not fit for the intended purpose.

Even though Kia knew there was a problem with these engines they didn't do a recall.
This is a car that is marketed to people with large families! Who of us can afford to have this sort of problem? I am going to Holden for my next car!

Good luck to everyone who is in the same position.

I've also heard Nissan have been covering up an on going problem which also results in the engine having to be replaced. Apparently inside the inlet manifold there are four little butterflies and the screws that hold these butterflies in place come loose and fall into the engine causing all sorts of damage. This was recall in other countries I've heard but Nissan Australia don't seem to want to know anything about it ... check out http://com1.runboard.com/baustralianxtrail.f28.t124404 for further info.