You not alone buddy, I had the same problem since I bought this Navara. Since March 2008 I felt the unusual condition of the clutch. After a month of my observation still am not comfortable with the clutch. I decided to bring it back to Nissan dealer. They said they adjusted already but still the same problem. Many times the engine suddenly stop if I even delayed for a seconds to push the clutch. Then I decided again to brought it back to Nissan. You know how many times I brought my Navara on them? I had 7 times and still am not comfortable with the clutch. They decided to change the primary clutch master but unfortunately they did not fixed the problem. That's why am still fighting on it to change my unit or refund my money back. I will never ever buy a Nissan car anymore.

When you are using your vehicle to tow it is strongly recommended that you do not use 5th gear/overdrive. This goes for both manual & automatic transmissions. You Will eventually destroy your transmission. You will not find this information in your car owner’s manual. I have seen many transmissions destroyed from towing this way.

Hi Ja,

I also had a big problem with my Navara here in the Philippines. Has any one lead us to unite an international complaint against Nissan?

Hi, my 2003 turbo Astra SRi goes through oil like fuel. I have to refill it once every 10 days (using the recommended oil). Can any one advise what this could be? I took it to the mechanics and he said it needed an oil change and oil filter changed. He did that but it did not help,

Does anyone know what this problem is? Can anyone suggest a good mechanic for Holden Astra turbo's in Brisbane?

Jammed won't turn.

Thanks for your posting & your determination, we also have a joke car parked outside our house now. We purchased our vehicle 18 months ago with the addition of a new member to our family, already having 2 teens we required a larger vehicle for longer trips. We had a pre-purchase inspection carried out @ which the mechanic informed us the motor was in good condition & that the heads had been previously off & gaskets replaced with better than the originals.

In Jan last year the head gasket blew, heads off, overhauled, new gaskets & reassembled, $1200 later back on the road. 12 months later, same problem again, used 9 litres of coolant and numerous stops to limp home (less than 100km). Contacted Kia who advised me to take it to one of there dealers to repair & request for goodwill (but don't expect to get it as your car is out of warrantee). Any assistance you can render will be of assistance. If any party (i.e. consumer affairs) please feel free to fwd them my contact details.

For your records: Car rego XMS820 (NSW)
First rego 2000.
120000 kms (@ purchase 14000, since last rebuild <5000).
VIN KNAUP7522Y6125301.

With thanks M D Exell.

PS: Do you know if Adrian @ DOCEP is in contact with any other states departments, if so this would also be of use.

I thought you should be warned who you are buying a car from. Motorama 4X4XMore in Brisbane QLD sold me a car for over $20000 bucks which ended up having major engine problems and oil leaks and was found not even to have been roadworthy when sold to me as such! Worse even, they're not complying with statutory rights to fix the car! So put the word out there; don't buy from them! You Will Regret It!

Hi Sonny,

I had trouble with the same guys - they are located on Burwood Hwy. I took my Astra to their workshop to have a wheel alignment done and all was good. Anyway when my service was due at Booran Holden Dandenong I took it in and received a phone call 2 hours later. The guy at the service dep told me they could not get my wheels off to check the brakes which was part of the service.

I was furious, not only could I not have my service done properly but also it was inconveniencing me and my partner as we only use the one car. I took it back to Continental in Burwood and they had to bash the nut with a giant screw driver and hammer as it wouldn't budge and the other nuts well I don't even want to know how they got them off but they were on way too tight.

I accepted the apology but would never set foot in that place again. Pretend to be professional but just sit on their **** all day taking phone calls

Hello if you go to PDF Downloads you can download your workshop manual for nothing, they have many manuals for many cars. All the best with this.

I have the same problem with a friend's 2000/2001 Holden Astra. Can you give a bit more detail on how to get the clutch unit off the compressor without degassing? Will I need a puller or any other special tools?

Last week I got in the car to go to work and heard a rattling noise when starting the car. I switched off and called a mechanic who said it was a timing chain problem. I've been quoted $9k to re-do the engine. The car has been serviced regularly and reading so many websites of people with a similar problem, I feel this must be a defect. I checked the government website and found no recalls had been made in Australia for this problem.

We can’t afford to have it fixed. Where do we go from here? Sell the car as ****? What have you done with your car?

This is all very good. But I prefer my Mazda 626 which has 430,000 km with no major repairs at all only religious maintenance.

Will I buy another Mazda? You Betcha I will. Sometimes I ponder how it will end its days as It's still running good. Then how will we all end our days?

Ring Nissan customer complaints, give them a deadline to return your call. Otherwise Department of Fair Trading is a good solution. Yours is not an isolated case. Nissan have known about this for some time, and as usual hope it will go away. I have contacted people on this site and are gathering information to determine what action will be taken as a group.

Nissan are providing a vehicle that will not perform to the specs as promised, that is to tow the specified weight without the clutch failing, and they are not able to provide a solution.

Maybe requesting a refund through legal avenues by all concerned is the way to go.

Will keep gathering info.

I have a similar problem. Have a 2005 model D40. Find that the oil smell occurs after towing a 2.5t caravan. Nissan told me it was a leaking hub seal and they fixed it in a service. However, just returned from a small 7 day trip in North Qld towing the van and again the oil smell is with us.

Will be fitting an oil cooler to see if this stops it. Gearbox must be working overtime towing in 5th?

Hi, I have the same problem with my Kia Carnival 2002, lost power and now is dead. I have 4 kids and no money aside to repair the car. Could you please advise the process and if I can do the same in NSW. Thanks, Cesar.

Has anyone had problems with their VW Golf seat fabric damaging their clothes? I am about to take my car dealer to court and I am wondering if anyone else has had the same problem as me!

VW are being quiet about the whole thing and saying it was my fault for picking the car and the trader isn’t taking responsibility either. I’m having to drive around with a king size sheet folded up on my seat to protect my clothing- not much fun...

Please reply ASAP if you can help. Thanks a lot.

Could anybody advise me on a problem I’m having. I am losing power after 2300 revs in 3rd gear. No power after same in 4th but has all the power in the world in 1st 2nd and 5th. I have changed the fuel filter and serviced the engine have cleaned injectors. I am wondering if it’s the fuel pump but no surging. You just put foot on floor and go nowhere. Motor has done 130,000 without any problems.

Mine has done that for well over 2 years now. Mechanic can’t fix it, says that I need new keys which just seems ridiculous. Both don’t work so I’ve resulted in opening my car the old fashion way. These cars cost So much to maintain... thinking about selling soon. AC compressors just died, Holden quoted 1100 for a new one ha ha.

Anyway, my advice... Just deal with using the key in the door, you get used to it.

My Bravo has done 154,000k's. I had the starter motor replaced under warranty at 80,000k's & at 140,000k's. This one began to have problems. I am now trying to get Mazda to replace it as I am unable to find any auto electrician, mechanic or car owner who has heard of needing 3 starter motors in this amount of time.

We have had 3 V6 Rodeo utes that have done from 210,000k's to the current one that has nearly 300,000k's on it & never replaced a starter motor in any of them. Has anyone else with a Bravo had this problem?

Just a post that I hope will help people save some money on their Astras with commons problems. They aren't bad cars if you know a little about them, and are actually quite easy to repair.

At 60-70k the camshaft sensor becomes faulty due to its insulation being rubbed away on the plastic cambelt cover. Causes engine light to come on and intermittent running problems. About $180 new or much less from the UK. 15mins to change.

Other things that can go awry with X18/Z18 engines:

- EGR valve (idling and hesitation)
- Coil pack (running rough and missing, especially when hot)
- O2 sensor (bad fuel economy, losing power)
- Crankshaft sensor (hard to start)
- Throttle body becoming clogged with carbon (idling rough and kangaroo'ing)
- ECU (all of the above, plus central locking becomes intermittent)

There are many wreckers around now specialising in Astras, so check on the net or the yellow pages. Most parts can be had for up to 70% off RRP.

We purchased a vehicle from Riverview Carsales in Lawnton Qld. We found it on carsales advertised for $15,990 which we thought was a good deal. When we got to the car yard the dealer said that it had been advertised at the wrong price, which was the fault of his other carsales man and that it was really $16,990. After arguing the point for some time we agreed to pay that price after he agreed to throw in 12 months rego. We signed the contract and took delivery of the vehicle.

Everything was fine for 6 weeks then we started having a few little problems so I took it to a mechanic to have a full check done. The mechanic found $2,500 worth of work to be done most of which is under warranty, some not. The work that needs doing is because the vehicle hadn’t been serviced properly, as the dealer promised it had been. I contacted him to organise an inspection, he was rude, abrupt and a complete **** so I contacted Fair Trading.

Upon contacting Fair Trading, I checked that I had all my paper work and realised that the **** hadn’t "thrown in the rego". He had snuck it in on top of all the other costs, so I paid for the rego as well! He **** to fair trading about what had happened between us and agreed to inspect the vehicle. Now that he has dragged it out long enough, he is claiming he no longer is responsible for the warranty work as the warranty has expired.

The man is a **** and I would strongly advise Against purchasing a vehicle from him.

Our 2003 2 litre Focus has had some issues in very hot weather (over 38 C) where there appears to be a fuel starvation (vapourisation?) issue. After 15 minutes with the bonnet up to cool the car will move off again only to gradually lose power until you repeat the process of a cooling rest again. It happened a couple of times a few years ago only to embarrassingly resurface recently when we lent the car to interstate visitors during a Perth heat wave. Has anybody else run into these problems?

I have a Kia Carnival LS purchased in May 2005. I noticed that prior to going away for 2 weeks it started losing a little power in the first couple of minutes in the morning. The car was garaged while we were away and coming home from the airport I noticed the tappets were very noisy. I checked the oil and it was at the max level. Drove about a km up the road and bang... it just cut out.

Had it towed home as it was late at night and then towed to my mechanic in the morning only to be told the engine will have to be replaced. I didn't let him proceed at this stage so I can see my options. Although out of warranty it has only done 72,000km. Need some help and advice please. I did read some posts here and would like further information / help.

I have Magna VR-X model 2003. After coming back from Qatar to Abu Dhabi, I tried for giving my car for normal servicing on completion of 90,000 hrs. The service centre asked me to pay AED32000/- which is much higher then the present value of car itself. The car is running fine without any trouble. Why the servicing cost is so high in Abu Dhabi Service Centre-Musafah branch?

I have a Toyota Aurion Pressaras.

At 37000ks and after a long trip to the country (Broken Hill, the road which is not highway, but not too bad) the car has developed a "thud" whenever I go over a hump - when one side of the car is over the hump first, i.e. when there is a twisting motion in the body.

The dealer can't locate the problem but tells me that I might have to pay for it if they have to spend any more time on it. I have yet to contact the Toyota customer service.

Any one else have any similar problems?

By the way, there was a leak at one of the front shocks, but that was replaced promptly. I might have got a lemon.

Noticed that there was a posting on road noise. I must say that my Camry 2003 model was quieter and I am a bit disappointed with this one as I paid a lot more money for it. I put the noise down to the 17" wheel with semi low profile tyres, which means that the tyre pressure is up to 32-35. Ride is harder too.