Holden 1 tonner, it will be the diff depends on the dealer, some will admit it is a problem. It is usually the side gear bearings they are too tight on the gear. Mine was a VY Series 2 thought they would have rectified the problem by now. The diffs are made in Thailand. I had two complete diffs hub to hub and one rebuild to fix the problem. The rebuild was done by transmission services at 120000ks and this sorted the problem.

Hi, bought this TR Magna Elite 2.6 Fuel injected car. Had 100,000 on the clock & has since done 17,000 since. Lately it has decided to stop for no reason, we wait a few minutes & the car re starts. I have changed the distributor, coil, power transistor, control relay, throttle position sensor and idle speed control motor. All seemed well & I thought it was fixed. It has run well for a couple of days and out of the blue it has just decided to stop again.

When it runs it goes like a dream, the computer doesn't indicate any problem (no check engine light) the air flow sensor seems OK. I don't think it’s the injection system (fuel) as the engine runs fine when it goes. I would appreciate any help as I'm running out of ideas.

I bought my first new car in 2004 - Astra SRi Turbo. Initially it performed beautifully. I still love driving it. Just before 15000klm I took it to the dealer because a strange smell entered the cabin. The dealer couldn't smell it. It went back several more times but only me and anyone travelling with me could smell it. Then a bearing noise became slowly louder. Again the dealer couldn't hear it.

I took it back again when the grumbling was louder only to be told "Don't drive it!". At 15000klm it received water pump No. 2. At 35000, a repeat led to water pump No. 3. At 47000klm the battery died, taking the alternator with it. Enter alternator No. 2. At 50000klm it developed the burning smell again. Then it dropped onto 3 cylinders as soon as the temperature gauge moved off the cold. Back to the dealer.

Three days later they couldn't find anything wrong with it, so I collected it again. Next morning it dropped onto 3 again in an exact repeat. Back to the dealer. After a week without a courtesy car, they said to collect it. The ignition module/computer was replaced at a cost of over $700 (thank heavens for extended warranties).

I drove it home, or tried to. Seven kilometres later it dropped onto 3 cylinders. Back to the dealer. Another week later it was picked up running well with its new set of spark plugs - my suggestion from weeks ago having been ignored was now proved right.

It has now covered 57000klm and smells so bad that I have to drive with the windows down (winter!) so that it doesn't make me sick. The service personnel still can't smell it. That burning smell isn't all that stinks!

For over a year now we have no petrol gauge, why should we pay approx $400 to fix. I have never in my life come across a car that requires a new petrol gauge because on our car (a 2003 model) does not work. We need to find about $400 to fix the problem. I will never purchase a Mitsubishi … Again.

Rosie. Western Australia

I have a 2003 Accord Euro Luxury, it has done 74,000km and it is still on the original set of Michelin Pilot tyres. They do need replacing now.

At 20,000 service told the discs and pads will not last until the 30,000k service. They will need to be done by 26,000 or the warranty will be void. The dealer said I am too hard on the brakes. I asked how come I got 112,000k out of the front discs on my Toyo 80 series. I think it is a bad batch of rotors not my driving style. Has anybody had this problem?

Same problems here. I bought a 2002 Landrover Disco II TD5 in 2007. I just had it in for the 120,000km service this month (May 2008) and asked the dealer about the problem. ABS sensors were replaced, but problem was back in a few days. I have been told that the ABS modulator needs to be replaced.

I did purchase an extended warranty on the vehicle, however, they will only pay R9,000 (about US$1,200) of the estimated R34,000 (US$4,500) bill to fix the problem. That leaves me with about R25,000 (US$3,500) to pay. I am now searching for a second-hand ABS modulator (which of course the dealer warns against). What are the chances a new "genuine" Landrover ABS modulator will be any more reliable than the original part used during the build?

I am wondering about the new Discovery 3 - are there any reports of bad ABS modulators in the latest model years, say 2006 - 2008?

I will gladly join in to force Landrover to do something about this problem!

Hi,

I have a Holden Barina 2004 SRi and had soooooo many problems. To name a few:

* Brake pedals fell off
* Gear stick just bubbled and peeled off
* Plastic mesh on front of car under bonnet comes off, now all my electrics are faulting (indicators, horn, locking system)
* Coolant leakage - don’t know why
* Water filter needing replacing (mechanic says suppose to last 160,000km my car is 80,000)
* Now hard to get into first and second

I hate Holden, cost me 21,000 for the car and never ending problems. Will never ever ever buy a Holden again!

The rampant rise in the cost of fuel affects all Australians, and yet, there seems to be little sign of any relief.

This week, both Federal Parties, Labor and Liberal, were divided on how best to tackle the issue.

“VACC is concerned that there are few answers coming from Canberra. Where then, motorists might ask, is a considered resolution going to come from?” VACC Executive Director, David Purchase, said.

“While VACC acknowledges that the prime reason for rampant pump prices is the rising cost of oil on world markets, there are certain obvious measures, which if taken immediately, would go some way to reducing costs for road-users,” he said.

VACC proposes the following:

Competition
The oil companies and their supermarket alliance partners have nearly total vertical control of the market, and their “comfortable oligopoly,” as the ACCC refers to it, must be broken.

Fair and equitable Terminal Gate Price (TGP)
Independent service stations cannot buy fuel at a fair competitive price at the Terminal Gate (TGP) and are thus held to ransom by a wholesale market almost wholly in the hands of the oil companies. A fair and equitable TGP must be available for all parties and its calculation must be based on the correct data. VACC seeks transparency in Terminal Gate pricing to ensure that the imported fuel cost from Singapore is based on 91 Octane and not, as VACC suspects, on 95 Octane.

Predatory pricing
VACC contends that oil companies, through their supermarket partners, are attempting to remove independent operators from the market through predatory pricing practices, to gain total market control. The ACCC must act to stop predatory pricing.

Shopper dockets
Supermarket shopper dockets are a con. Few motorists can now believe that they are not paying for the so-called ‘discount’ through the supermarket check-out. This con must be exposed by the media.

Axe the ‘tax-on-a-tax’
GST on the excise component of petrol is indefensible and counter to the former Howard and Costello Government’s pledge when it introduced the 10% ‘Goods and Services Tax’ in 2000. This tax-on-a-tax must be abolished which will save motorists nearly four cents a litre.

World parity pricing
VACC questions the relevance of world parity pricing in the current distorted world market where speculators are in large part responsible for the record barrel prices. It is time that world parity pricing was reviewed.

LPG
The $2000 vehicle rebate must be maintained until 2014 as planned. Australia’s local vehicle manufacturers would have a clear market advantage if LPG was designed to fit integrally into more of their locally produced models, and fitted at the production stage.

Scooters and motorbikes
The Victorian Government must introduce new road safety initiatives to make it safer for commuters to choose two-wheeled vehicles. To achieve this, VACC proposes a designated system of “Safe Routes” with safety boxes, access by scooter riders to particular identified bicycle lanes on some city arterials, boxed turns on certain busy intersections, and initiatives to improve road-sharing practices by drivers.

“VACC agrees with the Prime Minister’s assertion that there is “no silver bullet” to solve the high fuel prices. However, we can’t simply throw our hands up. Australians, Australian business, and the economy, relies very heavily on road transport. We must take some creative solutions if the price of fuel is not to cripple the country,” Mr Purchase said.

I have the common problem with the diff in my BA2 ute (just 73000 ks). Have reported to Ford since ute was 2 years old, they just keep fobbing me off. Would appreciate some advice from other Ford owners re this problem. I noted Mick from Brisbane says Ford will cover. How do we go about getting them to do this? They make us believe this is not an issue at all.

Millard Caravans Pty Ltd

I am writing to voice my concerns on a letter I have just received from Premium Warranties Australia Pty Ltd. highlighting warranty conditions on my new caravan. The tone of the letter was to say the least threatening and intimidating.

I have just purchased a SunSeeka Caravan from your company for about $32000
cash. Which I might add I had to wait for more than 6months.

This company that is underwriting your Warranty commitments cannot be serious with their conditions if I had known this prior to purchase there would not have been a purchase I guess it’s a case of buyer beware.

The expectancy or the aim of this company and Millard is to have people void their warranty because who wants to pay up to $300.00 for a service at 3 months then every 9 months after. This means to ensure the warranty is not voided for your so called 5 year Warranty will cost me about $2100.00, that’s pretty dear insurance. 5 year warranty what a joke, I wonder if I have that advertisement (replaced by my own) taken off the side of the van whether that would also void the warranty. Perhaps what is wanted by Millard is to scare people away from warranty claims so that they pay for their own repairs for any possible poor workmanship or faulty materials.

In the most part the service on a caravan only takes 30min. because how long does it take to check the materials that are covered by warranty i.e. chassis, frame and lights. I noticed your warranty doesn’t even cover the electric braked axle and that of course doesn’t fall in line with your schedule of services as it has to be serviced every 10000kms or 12months.

The rest of the stuff in the van is not covered by your warranty as each bit of equipment has its own warranty, not requiring ridiculous servicing schedules as does your bit of cover.

I know you have no control on dealer pricing but how can those sort of prices be justified for a service particularly when very little or nothing is done. What really needs to be done on a new van? I resent being forced into getting these services as it amounts to little more than Blackmail.

You realise of course that most caravan dealers/repairers if they in fact have a regular servicing schedule stipulate 10000kms or 12months.

FYI the Millard approved repairers are not aware of the nil kilometre or 9mth service schedules set down by your underwriters and in my warranty book. They are still working to your latest warranty books. I saw it when I had my first 3monthly service on my van today. Will this be a nice surprise for your customers when they want some warranty work done to find their warranty is void because they serviced their vans at 12months and not 9 months?

Increase your tyre pressures 3psi above the stated limit on your vehicles placard. This should reduce the bias to wear on the outside of the tyre.

Regards SM

The Astra Twin Top 2007 is a joke. This is the third time that the roof has jammed and has locked my boot with a 4 cm gap. I have continuous noises while I drive it as a coupe and it lasts only a few days (after a service) before the problem reoccurs. Also, servicing is nearly impossible as close to none of the Holden Dealers have been accredited to touch the roof.

If Holden/Opel are going to borrow hard-top technology from Mercedes, all I can say is that they should learn how to use it! Other than that it’s a great car.

Was making my 60th and final payment on my 2003 CRV as it had 69K miles on it and the AC blew - not just a compressor, but the entire AC unit shredded. Original quote from my dealer (where I bought it and serviced it exclusively) was $2800. Was lucky enough to research a little before making any decisions and called Honda for "goodwill" support. Long story short is I got to pay $700 in labor for this repair, which leaves me ready to leave Honda/Acura as a loyal customer.

I have always owned them for the reliability factor, and to have a Complete AC failure on a 5 year old car is unacceptable. It is obvious that there should have been a recall here with all of the blogs I've seen on the internet with the same problem. Even had guys at the dealership say they have seen Plenty of these come thru there.

I wrote a letter to Honda after I picked up my repaired CRV and voiced discontent and concern and was finally told 2 weeks later that there was nothing more Honda would do and that they showed plenty of good will since my car was out of warranty. I can't believe I had to shell out $700 for a repair that is obviously a mechanical / manufacturer problem. I have never even heard of any car having a complete AC blow up on them.

So, Buyer Beware if you are looking into the Honda CRV.

COPY OF EMAIL RESPONSE TO A GENUINE AD:

------------------------------------------------------
Hi,
My name is arthur bills, I am representing my customer in the
purchase of
your boat for sale and we will like you to state your bottom
price,
if you
are
having a registration, send recent pics, reason for selling the
boat.
What
is
the present condition presently. Get back with all these details
if
it is still
available for sale.

arthur_bills143@yahoo.com
------------------------------------------------------

I stand by my original post.

Dealing with this company was like the Monty Python "Dead Parrot" sketch.

Let’s review some of the salient points here:

1. The gearbox fault was a problem predominantly with second gear which would cause the vehicle shudder badly, particularly on shifting down gear i.e. driving up a hill. The RACQ inspector and representatives of Honda Australia advised me that the gearbox fault would lead to a catastrophic failure of the gearbox i.e. the car would not be drivable. These and other experts advised me to stay clear of the sale unless Just Nice Cars were willing to fix the problem.

2. The sales people promised to fix the gearbox. They advised me that writing the defect on the contract was for their records and to cover us so that they couldn't deny the existence of the fault (which up until then they were trying to do). They also advised me to make a claim for the gearbox repair, under the statutory warranty after the car is purchased.

If this was not the case as Martin alludes then Why Why Why Would I Knowingly Buy A Car With A Dodgy Gearbox?

3. The 5 year warranty offered (with more clauses than Santa’s family photos) with the car was worth in the order of $1000 dollars in the event of a catastrophic failure. The cheapest replacement gearbox I could price was around $4500 dollars.

4. It's amazing how much "good faith" is suddenly generated the dept of fair trading is mentioned.

On a final note: Martin Coulson was never present during any conversation with his sales staff either before or during purchase and is only able to rely to the version of event as told by his sales staff; whom I would suggest realised they'd promised too much and subsequently changed their story to stay in favour with the boss.

COPY OF EMAIL RESPONSE TO A GENUINE AD:

------------------------------------------------------
DEAR SIR,

WE ARE FULLY REGISTERED INDIGENOUS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY IN OPERATION WITH OUR HEAD OFFICE IN THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA.
OUR SOUTH EAST OFFICES ARE IN ABA AND ENUGU.

THERE IS TREMENDOUS POTENTIALS IN CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT LEASING IN NIGERIA, ESPECIALLY IN THE FCT, ABUJA WHICH IS FAST DEVELOPING.
THESE POTENTIALS NEED BE EXPLORED AND EXPLOITED, IN VIEW OF WHICH WE DESIROUS OF DIVERSIFYING INTO CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT LEASING MOST LUCRATIVE ARE;
EARTH MOVING,GRADERS, TRACTORS, LOADERS/DOZERS, COMPACTORS,/ROLLERS ETC, ASPHALT PAVERS, CRANES AND TIPPING TRUCKS.
CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT LEASING IS CAPITAL INTENSIVE BUT RETURNS HERE ARE VERY HIGH WITH HIGH TURNOVER.
THIS IS BEING ENJOYED BY THE JUST FEW COMPANIES ALREADY IN THE BUSINESS.

WE HAVE VAST EXPERIENCE IN THE INDUSTRY AND VERY GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND BUSINESS LEGISLATION'S IN THE COUNTRY. ALSO, WE HAVE WELL SEASONED OPERATORS IN OUR BOOK FOR ENGAGEMENT ON DEMAND.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES ARE ON THE INCREASE HERE WITH CORRESPONDING INFLUX ON COMPANIES INTO THE INDUSTRY BUT WITHOUT THE CAPITAL FOR EQUIPMENT ACQUISITION.
THIS GROUP WILL ALWAYS PATRONIZE EQUIPMENT LEASING COMPANIES.

SEQUEL. TO THE FORGOING, WE NEED CAPABLE INDIVIDUAL OR CORPORATE/ EXPATRIATE FIRM[S] TO PARTNER WITH FOR MUTUAL BENEFITS, HENCE THIS INVITATION.

WE SOLICIT FOR YOUR EARLY RESPONSE, SO WE CAN COMMENCE NEGOTIATIONS AND FORMALIZATIONS.
THANK YOU.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,
ENGR.IFEATU REGGAE ORAH.[MD/C.E.O]

O 'REGGAE_SERIE NIG.LTD.
PENT HOUSE A, BANE PLAZA VINA,
P O BOX 8752 WUSE, ABUJA, NIGETRIA.
+234 8037742581
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COPY OF EMAIL RESPONSE TO A GENUINE AD:

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Hello,
How are you doing today? and is you weekend doing ? hope fine.I saw your item for sale and My client is very interested in this item .please get back to me asap, i have done through the details on the site, sound great to my client.Get back to me with the full details of the item .so that i can instruct my client to arrange for the payment. As a matter of urgency,please get back to me right away.
Thanks and have a nice day

Regards,

Mr TAmmy Cox
NTG House, Willow Road,
Lenton, Nottingham. NG7 2TA. ENGLAND
Tel: +447024076987
tammicoxx@aol.com
------------------------------------------------------

Hi, Steve I had the same problem on the weekend, did you get an answer?

Cheers

I drive a BF Falcon wagon for work, usually carries some tools but no excessive weight. I’ve had this car since October 06 and I’ve done 128thou kays (~250 a day drive) of normal driving. Yesterday the diff gave way after little warning, well rather the rear end locked up at 70kph and sent me spinning into the other lane, luckily no cars.

Friday - light 'bearing' noise, could only hear it if you knew what to listen for
Saturday - clunk when taking off from intersection, turning
Sunday AM - bang, rear end locks up

Sounds like a tooth has lodged where it shouldn’t be, and now I have to explain to management why it happened. Not happy at all.

Hi to all who have issues with the D40 Navara of which I am one. I have a diesel auto and has done 31000 klms. I have had an issue with fuel economy from day 1 from which the dealer said wait until it is run in. I am still waiting.

Around town at present I am getting around 480klm per 70 litres and this is when driving normally or holding it under 3000rpm for the whole tank of fuel. These figures do not change much when on the highway. The Nissan dealer has said there is no problem as the computer has told them that everything is ok. They did re-map the computer which I think actually made it worse.

I have spoken to Nissan through their consumer help line and basically they told me that if the dealer has done the tests and all is ok it must be the way I drive it. After I slammed the phone down on them I rang the dealer again who was going to pressure Nissan to do something. The dealer has said to me that I was not the only one complaining about this issue. Why can’t Nissan do something about it? As they say you should go with your heart not your head, and buy a Hilux.

Still reading the rave reviews the D40 gets makes me sick. I will never buy another Nissan nor will most the people I know.

Other issues are, have had seat trim replaced under warranty and then have since removed round seat adjustment dials so it won’t happen again. I have a very bad rattle in the air box which I have found is two plastic components rattling together because of their ill fit. Nissans answer is they have had the problem before so just put some self tapping screws in them to hold together.

Nissan Wake Up!

Regards, Mark Pearce

Hi guys, had a go at this on the weekend with my daughter’s Astra (2000 Olympic) but alas, pulled it all apart but there was no hole on top under wiper stalk. There appears to be a black plastic shroud which is attached to a flat black wiring box. It looks like you can unscrew a ring around the key hole, it has two slots in it, but didn’t want to risk **** it all together. Any advice would be greatfully accepted, it is a pain having to go out in the middle of the night because my daughter can’t get the key out of the lock. Thanks heaps.

Just contacted Nissan to find out how to have my speedo calibrated after noticing it is only going 91 kmph when it shows 100. They won’t do a thing, within 10% of the reading. Nice one Nissan, it is obviously your way of making the fuel economy look much much better than what it actually is, **** poor Nissan.

I have a 2008 Wolfsburg Jetta. I have a clicking noise that is when driving over bumps and I found the fold down rear seat arm rest to be the problem. It happens when the arm rest is in the closed position. They all do it.

Keith

I have had several problems with plug/ignition leads on a lot of the Hyundai range. Sounds like a simple solution to your problem. Should cost around $100 for a set and fit them yourself. Let me know if this works.

If you have the 4.5 litre then this is no real problem. It is just that the cable is connected straight to the top of the engine block so you feel the full force of the engine through your right foot.