I have a 2020 BMW 530e on a 4 year PCP. Last year, it developed a battery fault which cost £12,500 to repair. BMW contributed some good will (it was 2000 miles out of warranty) and I paid £2500. The issue was a failure of battery module 4.

A year later the same fault has come up and BMW want £6000 for the repair, with no guarantee that it will resolve the issue. This time it is with battery module 5.

I am reluctant to pay for the repair. The car is only worth about £15k and with these issues, and no guarantee that the other 4 modules won’t fail at some point, I could end up paying 3 or 4 times its value in battery repairs.

I’m considering VT. The fault is not damage, and other than the fault, the car is in good condition. I’ve fully serviced it, never missed a payment, paid more than the 50%, and I’m within contracted mileage.

I did complain to BMW and I’ve also raised the issue with the finance company, but both have basically said it’s my problem.

From what I can tell on the VT rules, a fault is different to damage, and as long as I haven’t caused the fault through negligence on my part, I should be able to proceed with the VT.

The car mileage is 82000 which makes me wonder if they will just send it to auction anyway?

Does anyone have any experience with this or similar?

Thanks in advance.

Also looking for reverse LEDs..i regularly drive on pitch black fields and want some extra light..is Osram any good?

Hi,

I've just recently got my Abarth 124 and I'm very happy with my purchase. Always wanted one but between university and many many commitments it has never been the right time so I saved my money.

I know it's not a Skoda but it's something different :-)

There is McDonald inside a mix parking with other shopping area. Some parking bay near McDonald says customer only, I don’t even remember if I only went to McDonald or maybe went to McDonald and also to few other shops. But got pcn, look like a person took photo of car from front.

I don’t remember and they didn’t provide any proof.
Can I appeal this and ask for proof?

Any ideas why my car is making this high pitched yawning sound, it's coming from the back left behind the engine. I will guess it is the alternator as the car was acting like it had a flat battery, jump started it, started fine after that took it to a garage, they tested the battery which is only 2 years old, was at 36% (odd), so should really not have flat lined but it only makes the sound upon starting the car for the first time, lasts about a minute or less then completely goes away, if I stop and start the car then it doesn't come back, my guess is a belt or bearing which isn't sufficiently charging the battery, however the volts are coming in from the alternator so I've no idea.

Sadly, this is all I have to go on!

I thought maybe a Talbot Horizon and Peugeot 104 but the rear light cluster doesn't look right.

I'm looking to do a 9/10 day road trip from Kent to Lake Como and back stopping at various points along the way to see new places next year and I don't want to take my current car.

It'll just be me and my partner and as long as I can get a case in/on the car that'll do. I have no issue with chrome mounts on a boot to strap luggage down.

What would be a good choice of car to use that can strike a balance between the comfort of the long motorway stints with a bit of fun tackling the more entertaining passes along the way? Don't really want to pay more than £8K and the likelihood is I'd sell on the car after the trip unless I loved it as I only have space for 3 cars and id imagine I'll need to scratch my itch for a weekend classic car to enjoy in the summer after this big trip.

Should I be eyeing up a proper grand tourer like a early 2000s XJ(8/R) or something nimble like an NC MX-5 or a Boxster?

What would be your pick for the trip?

Rough itinerary below:

Day 1 Lille - stay in Charleroi (Belgium)

Day 2 Luxemburg - stay in saarbrucken (Germany)

Day 3 Stuttgart stay in wangen I'm allgau (Germany)

Day 4 Austria and Liechtenstein - stay in Chur (Switzerland)

Day 5 Como (may add an additional day to enjoy the area)

Day 6 stay in Lucerne (Switzerland)

Day 7 Basel - stay in Strasbourg (France)

Day 8 Reims - stay in

Day 9 home

Just changed engine oil, car isn't quieter it's making me worried. It's a toyota yaris cross 2022. owners manual says 0w-8 JASO GLV-1, put in WESTWAY LUBRICANT 0W-8 JASO GLV-1.

About ten miles ran so far, It was quiet after the last oil change, Recently become loud when oil maintenance alert came on, thought changing oil would make it quieter again. But it sounds the same.

Any advice?

EDIT: I need to clalrify I wasn’t crying as was driving but before and was safe and calm enough to drive.

Hello, this is gonna sound stupid but I drive this road every day pretty much and today, bad things happened I was crying and I was a mess. I calmed down by the time I drove to work but I’m not super fixated on worried about the fact if I did 45-50 in a 30 between average speed cameras. This is because I’m usually hyperfixated on my speedo making sure I’m not speeding, but today I was too emotional to process, I know on the 50 road I was doing 48 roughly but I’m just worried because I usually remember slowing down, this time I don’t remember but hopefully I’ve slowed down because it’s second nature this road, just worried what could happen. At one point on the road I did look down and saw 30 on my speedo but I didn’t check before when I went through the cameras. I’m so worried, I’m a new driver within 2 years I really don’t want to lose my licence I’ve worked so hard for it for years, it was stupid for me to not check, I’m probably fine just panicking the worst what if situation

Hi there, I've been driving the same 22 year old Ford Fiesta for the last 8 years and haven't really had to deal with buying new cars often.

I'm going to view a 2019 Volkswagen Golf 1.6 TDI tomorrow which is VERY fairly priced, and probably 10%-20% cheaper than other comparable cars.

It's being sold by an independent dealer, with lots of cars for sale and generally really good reviews.

The reason given for the lower price was that they bought the car as if it had no service history, but after checking the online portal/records found out it actually has a full service history and they're passing on the saving to sell the car.

Would this be a red flag? Can services be faked? If I see all of the service records tomorrow and it adds up, would you still be cautious?

Thank you

Edit:

I might be being over cautious. It's not a SUPER low price, but autotrader does classify it as being a 'lower price' in their comparison rankings system.

There are similarly priced indenticle cars on there, but most are a year older or have 10k+ more miles so it's maybe not as crazy as I'm making out.

If a dealership scratches your car and they're just not responding, what course of action would you take?

Would I be allowed to park perpendicular to the road in the wider paved area, behind the double yellow lines, or could I still get a parking ticket (PCN)?

Hi, im looking for advice as a first time buyer as im a bit nervous about a few issues

buying a secondhand sandero from a local dealership and we've put £100 deposit

£3990

1 owner

2014

40000 milage

Test drive done

done a full history check online which was good.

Passed all MOT apart from the most recent one done by the dealership's known garage which failed due to the horn not working when the lights are on.

While checking we found minor faults:

The old entertainment system's screen wasn't working so they have agreed to put in a modern set

Windscreen wipers will be replaced

Few scratches will be covered up

They agreed to do all the above within the car price

tried bargaining but was nervous to push and wasn't sure if it was ok to

We took a mechanic friend who had a look too and they let us check under the car in their garage. He said it was good.

Went for a second visit after the failed mot and asked them then if they can fix a small dent (too nervous to ask the first time) and the mirrors which dont shut in (noticeed on the second visit) they weren't 100% clear about fixing it.

they also said the entertainment system wont be fixed until next week but we can take the car and bring it back when the guy is in. Didnt feel happy about this incase they start to avoid it once fully paid for.

First time buying here so im not sure if im overthinking or this is all normal and ok. Please 🙏 help me

Looking to buy a used mazda. This is what the recent MOT showed this advisory:

Rear Suspension arm corroded but not seriously weakened both lower arms slightly corroded around coil spring lower mount (5.3.3 (b) (i))

Apart from this the service and MOT checks out, the car looks pretty good condition wise, just needs a test drive.

I'm looking to buy 5 year old a4 which is on 42k miles.

It has audi service history up till 32k

Then its had a service by the dealer who's selling it at 42k.

I asked if its had the auto gearbox service done as it should be done at 37/40k which they replied they checked it and it didn't need a service.

I've been trying to get the price down to allow me to either take it to audi or a vag specialist for a gearbox service.

They have now said that they will service the gearbox for me.

I don't know how I feel about this specially as they said they checked before and apparently didn't need doing. Is a gearbox service something anyone can do? I always thought it would be quite a specialist job?

Any advice?

Cheers

Looks like it never gets about. Only noticed it today been here a year.

My photocard has expired as I need to update DVLA about my medical condition - nothing has changed and I completed the online application.

As far as I am aware I can still drive under section 88.

I’m looking to by this car I found this Saturday. I was wondering how insurance works to drive it away? Does dealership insurance still count?

Back bumper scrape not sure where pretty sure it was a carp park earlier. If I notify my isuranvs my already high premium goes up again. Is this common?

Are these engines as bad as people make it out to be. I know about the oil pan baffling issues, the rod bearings and the wastegate rattle. I'm 21 and want a fast but somewhat reliable car as a weekend car. I'm leaning more towards buying a 350z or importing one in. But m135i is also a dream car I would love to own too

Background:

I have a Fiat 500 that's been sat on my drive for 5 months because the clutch peddle collapsed to the floor when I last went to drive it. We have another car and i was about to sell the Fiat as it was no longer required.

I'm very handy and like to try and fix things myself.

I read that the clutch slave cylinder is the likely culprit with this car. I ordered a replacement and followed YouTube videos to replace it just last week. Turned out to be an easy job.

Low and behold, clutch back in action and working.

Present:

Took car for MOT today and they ring me within 10 minutes of dropping car off to advise the clutch had failed and needs a new clutch.

Now as replaced the slave cylinder myself, my immediate thought was it was something I did.

The MOT tester told me it's leaking from the slave cylinder. I told him I just replaced it. He said the cylinder is inside the clutch?! I told him the one I replaced is not inside the clutch?!!

He said that i need to authorise for them to investigate tomorrow so they can find out the cause.

Why tell me they need to investigate the clutch failure after they already immediately said it needs a new clutch?

The car has only 14k miles on it albeit it's 8 years old.

Any advice?

I've told them to investigate but worried I'm going to get unnecessary work done.

It may all be genuine if course but something feels off. Now the car is stranded at the MOT centre too.

Hi folks,

I bought a Honda Jazz Mk3 (late 2015). I have 2 problems (if they’re problems) I’d appreciate your advice on:

1. I often sense a petrol like smell when I start the car, mostly after it has been idle for few hours or mornings. It isn’t exactly the petrol smell. But I am not sure if it is what I think or something else like from some air freshener which was used by previous owner or maybe A/C or some cleaning product used on interiors before sale. Google says spark plugs could be loose, & something about rings.

2. The blue temperature light on dash stays on for 5 mins at least, indicating engine hasn’t warmed up enough but I am able to drive. Is this normal and is it safe/right to drive after 1-2 mins of idling from a cold start? Google says it is fine if it doesn’t stay on for too long.

Please let me know and also anything else I should get checked. Thanks.

Here we go again, so I’m sitting at home bored and decided I needed to know why this thing struggles to start sometimes also the headlights were bothering me, so plugs out time and here we are oil on the plugs a lot of it gathered around the plug before pulling, pull it out oil on one plug possibly from it being gathered, rocker cover gasket anyone? Also I went through all the paper work and nothing say these things have been changed well they must have because oem is either denso/NGK these are Bosch, clean them up ( gonna get replaced like Peugeot which reminds me of my failures in the corner of my eye) then I moved to the headlights to polish and see if I can get them better not perfect but better and I dunno I can’t tell if their better, then I added something to the car which was from my pride and joy my mk1 mx5 import I owned it for 7 years and bought it back to life ( lots of money) it was a billiard ball with the number 3 and it’s a straight fit. I also took a look at the service book it’s nearly full missing 3 stamps but I got paper work to say it’s been service above the last date. Also saw a car on the road never seen one

A few weeks ago I wrote the worlds longest review of a Toyota Corolla.

The main criticism was that the review was too long. It appears the majority of you have the attention span of a 3 year old and anything more than “Car good. Me like” was too much.

The second issue was that owning a 4D number plate at the age of 38 was a bigger crime than Rolf Harris, Jimmy Saville and Gary Glitter combined.

I have caved in to the peer pressure and have fitted some standard plates. I hope this makes you all happy 😂

Jokes aside, they were from my last car which did suit them. When I traded my last car in I told the dealer I didn’t want the plates back as they wouldn’t look right on a boring car, but they removed them and gave me them back anyway and I ended up using them when I assigned the plate on the new car.

I hope you can all accept my sincere apologies for such a heinous crime.