Email Tim with your questions

Hi Tim,

In February this year I was burgled and the thieves also took my car having located the keys. The insurance was paid but was registered against me as 'at fault' due to there being no third party. I replaced the car with a similar model, but found that insurance quotes were more than double my existing policy (which was 'protected' with 8 years no claims). Fortunately I was able to continue my existing policy with a small extra premium. I have read in the press that an offender has now been sentenced for a number of burglaries/car thefts in my area at that time.

Assuming the police can confirm, do I have a case for the claim to be registered against the offender now that he has been identified, thus protecting my 'protected' no claims?

Many Thanks

Michael Clarkson, Greater Manchester, UK

I think this is a slight case of misunderstanding, but it gives me an excellent opportunity to mention something that I’ve been meaning to explain for some time. Protected no claims is just that – the no claims discount off the full policy price is protected. However, the full policy price is not protected. It’s set every year based on your driving history, convictions, age, phase of the moon, mood of the call handler and all the other details that go into the complex calculation that dictates the policy price. With some insurance companies, if you’ve had a claim, the premium will go up because you’re suddenly the sort of person that has claims – and you’re therefore presumed to be a higher risk. Your protected 8 year discount is then applied to the higher premium – it’s fully protected, but you still pay more – clever eh?

I don’t think the fact that you were to blame or not to blame came into it at all. In theory you could sue the offender for your financial loss, along with some compensation for having lost your car. In practice, you need to find out first whether he/she has any money to be sued for, before you have your day in court.

Hi,

I currently own a 57-plate VW Golf GTI Edition 30. Has run flawlessly for over a year now with 15k on the clock, until recently. First the emissions warning light came on. There was no noticeable change and the car was running fine. A few miles later, I had a sudden loss of power - as though the car had stalled but without the judder. This then continued several times as I attempted to drive the car off the dual carriageway and on to a side road.

Analysis shows it was the fuel pump, and as a result the car is undergoing repair.

I would like to know whether this is a common fault in this type of car, and whether there was anything I could have done to prevent this?

Many thanks in advance.

JP, West Midlands, UK

VW had a spate of fuel pump failures and replacement is the only cure. As often happens, parts were in short supply when they first realised there was a problem and about a year ago there were several hundred cars sitting in dealers waiting for new pumps. However, they seem to have resolved the parts supply issue now, so future Passat and Golf owners whose cars grind to a halt should get a replacement pretty quickly. It does seem to be the Passat & Golf that are affected, but strangely, not other Volkswagen Group cars (Seat, Audi etc) with the same pump. There is nothing that you did wrong or could have predicted, but since it’s well known to be a problem with a batch of pumps, make sure it’s replaced free of charge.

As a general point, cars are very complex things nowadays, made from thousands of individual components. It’s almost inevitable that from time to time there will be problems with a batch of components or material. The important thing from the consumer point of view is that the manufacturer recognises the problem, investigates it quickly and takes steps to puts things right as soon as possible. Provided they do, we shouldn’t be too unforgiving about the occasional fault. This should also apply to cars out of the warranty period – where it’s obvious that a problem is quite common, the manufacturer should make information about it generally available and supply parts at a reasonable price – NOT free of charge, but we should not be in a position where replacing a single component can be so expensive that it can effectively write off a five year old car.

Hi Tim,

I am about to collect a manual new Ford Fiesta (lovely squeeze green 1.4 titanium in case you are interested) this coming Saturday and I have been driving an automatic for the past 13 years.

I’m not too worried about crunching the gears but more about saving fuel and not being in the wrong gear and grinding to a stalled halt. My husband says I should always be in the highest gear possible but when I try this the occasional time I drive his Qashqai I always feel as though it is growling at me and I am going to stall it.

Can you give me an idiots guide in a few sentences to the most economical and best way to drive a manual?

Thanks

Rachael Smith, UK

Honestly Rachael! The excellent new Fiesta comes with both petrol and diesel 1.4 engines. You are not advancing the credibility of women with wheels by telling me the colour, but not the type of engine. Anyway, don’t you worry your pretty little head about it, ask your husband to tell you what sort it is, then cook him a nice dinner as a thank you...

OK, before I run off to watch Top Gear, the simple guidelines are to change up at about 1500 - 2000 rpm for diesel, 2500rpm or so for petrol. This will give good fuel economy without making you so slow that elderly ladies get impatient behind you. After a fairly short time, you’ll get used to the engine note and “feel” of the car to tell you when it’s time for another gear. The 1.5 diesel Quashqai is a bit economical, (also known as “underpowered”) so if that’s your husband’s car, it may well feel as if it’s struggling at low revs. Likewise the 1.4 Fiesta in diesel form likes the engine to be worked, so for both cars you may feel more comfortable with the rev counter needle hitting 2,000 rpm before you start stirring the gear lever. However, with a bit of practice and a fair amount of patience you will find that both engines will cope with lower revs – and they will be very economical driven that way. The petrol 1.4 is quite lively and responsive and you shouldn’t have any trouble if you use the 2,500 rpm guideline to start with while you’re getting the feel of the car.

Anyway, do enjoy your nice new Squeeze Green Fiesta. By the way, have you seen the Le Vernis nail polish in Jade Green from Chanel’s Autumn 2009 collection?

Should be a perfect match...

I have a Volvo 940 estate, 2.3i petrol, registered 1993. I have had it from new, and it has covered around 80,000 miles. It has been serviced regularly, and has had very few problems.

Around 3-4 months ago, it developed a cold starting problem. The starter motor would turn well, but it took 4-5 lengthy turn overs before the car would reluctantly start. Once started, the car could be stopped and re-started during the day with no problem. The following day, however the same problem would arise. The first start of the day, be it morning or afternoon, would be extremely difficult.

After several days of this, I took the car to the local garage. They replaced the rotor arm and distributor cap, and felt that the problem was resolved as they could find no other faults. The problem was not resolved, so I went back to the garage. Since the annual service was due in a couple of months time, we agreed to have the service done early in the hope that that would cure the problem. The garage also advised that regular long runs would be beneficial.

For around 6 weeks, everything seemed to be alright. Around a fortnight ago, the problem started to reappear. I have tried red-ex in the petrol, and last week we took the car on runs from Manchester to Sheffield and back and Manchester to Nottingham and back. The problem remains, and my wife advises me that it has now extended to poor starting throughout the day. The local garage are at a loss to find any fault or to suggest any treatment.

Do you have any suggestions, please?

Thanks,

Ian Turner, Manchester, UK

The ’93 Volvo2.3i had a fuel injection system made by Bosch, called LH Jetronic. (For the anoraks like me, that was the version of L Jetronic with the hot wire airflow meter.) It was the last word in technology in its day and apart from the fancy no-moving-parts airflow meter, it had a cold start system operated through the normal injectors and controlled by the coolant temperature sensor (earlier fuel injection systems had a more primitive electromechanical series of bits and pieces full of bi-metal strips that bent slowly to control warm up – very unreliable after a few years). Anyway, the good news is that your problem is almost certainly the coolant temperature sensor – quite cheap and easy to replace. The computer recognises that it’s broken and assumes that the engine’s warm, but not hot. That way it will still start from cold, albeit with some difficulty, and keep running, even though it’ll use a bit more fuel than it should. You can check the sensor if you have a multimeter – it should have a resistance of a few thousand ohms when it’s cold, dropping to a few tens of ohms when it’s hot. Alternatively, disconnect the plug from the sensor with the engine warmed up and idling (the Health and Safety goblin sitting on my shoulder has just gone into hysterics, so please mind any loose clothing and watch your hands near any moving belts etc etc). You should hear the engine note alter significantly. If there’s no difference, the sensor is faulty or there’s a bad connection to it.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem long since I was explaining the details of this amazingly high tech new system to AA Patrols when I was running training courses. Now it’s so old, the boys in your garage haven’t even seen it!

I bought a second hand 05 BMW 120d recently which came with the BMW business navigation system. The 2D arrow system drives me crazy and I would like to upgrade it to the professional system. Is this at all possible? I have called quite a few BMW garages to ask and have so far not received any form of legible response. I don't mind paying for a BMW system to be fitted if it is possible, but I don't want to have another system retrofitted into the car. Can you help?

Thanks

Scott Ewen, London, UK

You can retro fit the full system, but it’s not simple. I’d have a chat with a good local accessory fitter and then source the parts 2nd hand, but make sure the whole system comes from the same car because the screen bit and computer with the CD in it need to be compatible. Specs and software changed regularly and if you get boxes from different cars, the chances are they won’t talk to each other. You may need a separate aerial feed for the TMC box as well – it’s usually a separate box on top of the sat nav computer/CD box on the BMW system.

Dear Tim

I own a 3.5 year old Ford Focus which I bought from a car supermarket when it was 1 year old. The warranty expired in March this year. Recently the bonnet lock has stopped working and I am unable to open the bonnet. The car has done 43,000 miles, has a full service history and has never been involved any accidents or sustained damage. The lock has just stopped working.

Ford want £200 to fix this and their customer relations team are not interested in helping. Where do I stand? Surely the car is not fit for purpose if 6 months after the warranty expires you are no longer able to open the bonnet? Can the Sale of Goods Act help me?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Kind regards,

Alan Smith, Sheffield, UK

This sits squarely in the category of “just one of those things”. Most don’t go wrong. Some do. The key phrase here is “after the warranty expires”. If you didn’t take out an extended warranty, you have to pay the bill if something goes wrong – that’s the way it works.

Hi Tim,

I recently purchased an approved BMW 120i from BMW Cotswold in Gloucester.

The sales executive informed me the car had one owner from new (I did not see the original V5C).

When the new V5C arrived, I detected there were in fact 3 previous owners.

Consumer Direct tell me that I have a case under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (good not as described) and should request a suitable offer of partial refund. However BMW deny that the number of previous owners of a vehicle affects the market value and as such are not willing to offer any partial refund.

In my opinion it is another factor, just like mileage, that affects the market value of a vehicle.

Steven D’hoe, Ross-on-Wye, UK

Multiple owners on their own don’t affect the used value as quoted by any of the trade publications – they simply rate the car on age and mileage. If the condition has suffered as a result of more than one owner it may well affect the value, but that’s up to you to look at when you buy the car. However, the salesman seems to have misrepresented the car, so provided you can prove what he said you could claim a refund and give the car back.

On the other hand, if you like the car and you paid a fair price for the mileage, age and condition, stop complaining and enjoy the drive.

Dear Tim, I bought a new VW Golf Mk6 in April. Since then I have had two instances where stones, from gravel driveways, have become trapped behind the front discs. Besides making a rattling noise this also could scratch the discs. VW customer 'services' suggest that this is an environmental factor beyond their control and I should pay to have any future stones removed. I say it is a design flaw and the least they could do is remove the stones for free. Am I being unreasonable?

Ian Power, Rugby, UK

I know the car’s fairly new, but I haven’t heard of any other complaints about this. Unless you’ve been driving over newly gravelled drives where the stones are plentiful and loose, the best advice is to slow down over gravel.

Dear Tim,

A problem seems to have developed on my Polo 1.2. On smooth surfaces (if I can find any) everything's fine, but then I meet a manhole cover, of a speed bump or an uneven surface and - occasionally, not always by any means - the engine seems to miss a beat, as if a cylinder isn't firing. In gear, it immediately springs back to life but not without a small stutter. In neutral, it dies. Both of which are dangerous.

My VW garage's computer can find nothing wrong and on a trial run of course nothing untoward happened. Any idea what could be causing it?

Many thanks,

Roger Davies

Roger Davies, UK

There’s a poor connection somewhere. These intermittent faults are hellish to trace if no fault codes are recorded, but I’d start at the crank sensor, then work through the ignition system. There is one thing you might suggest to your local garage if they are also an MOT testing station; most will now have a device fitted to the ramp that vibrates the front suspension in every direction to check for worn joints as part of the MOT test. It’s intended to simulate bumps on the road, so why not give the car a work out on that with the engine idling to see if it’ll induce the fault in the workshop? You might also ask why they didn’t think of that; in far too many cases, fault diagnosis has been reduced to plugging a car into the computer and shoulder shrugging if it doesn’t say anything.

Hi Tim,

The outside temperature on my Fiesta Reg No: CF55 XES is constantly displaying -38C.

How do I locate with the sensor is mounted?

Regards,

Don Roberts

Donald Roberts, UK

Your Fiesta has a CAN BUS. This is not some tiresome warning from a finger wagging planet saver, but a nifty way of controlling all the electronic thingys on your car. It means that information from one sensor can be used by several devices. I know that doesn’t sound particularly remarkable, but engineers get pretty excited about this sort of thing. Anyway, the climate control seems to use the information from the engine management system air temperature sensor, which is in the air intake, behind the radiator. It may mean that the engine management computer has also recorded a fault, so ask a garage with a fault code reader to check.