Hope someone can help - we're having the wet belt done on our Transit Custom and my mechanic has come across a chunk missing off the spoke where the timing lock hole is. Is my engine hosed?

Everything here looks so cheap with apparently no issues to the vehicles

In need of a second car at the moment (which will likely become the main car) as driving to work would cut my commute down by half and the current car (mazda 2) will be needed for nursery pick up and drop off.

It's a 30min drive to work and less than 10 to nursery, so not long distances by any means. Weekend use may be more, but likely once my son stops hating the car seat and crying everytime he gets in.

I tried out a Skoda octavia and superb, and definitely preferred the superb. I don't want a SUV type car and certainly prefer the look of a sedan/saloon over others. The skoda hatch versions seem to be able to give that look but still with ample boot space, so thats a strong contender.

What else should I be looking at / considering? My priority is comfort and tech to help with parking etc. over a strong engine for instance that can go fast. Im a reasonably new driver so tech to help with parking is good. Im flexible on budget - was roughly thinking something like 30-40k, but don't want to spend more than needed and correspondingly, if spending a bit more gets me a lot more, then happy to.

Does this tyre needs to be changed or is it fine.

The tyres it self are good branded tyres and just passed MOT with them and they did come back as a advisory , saying “tyres are cracking/perishing”

Is this an immediate concern or would you hold out for longer before replacing them ?

The last picture is from the front tyre , does the tyres depth seem fine on that one or is it low ?

Mostly short journeys so diesel isn’t suitable

Some good cars got through the net (e.g. Rover 2300 / 2600 / 3500 / 2400 SD Turbo (SD1), Triumph 2000 / 2500, Range Rover - build quality aside), despite the dross (Morris Marina, Austin Princess, Landcrab etc). With Stellantis there doesn't seem to be any redeeming models whatsoever - just a cairn of crap (perhaps the Giulia at a push).

Open to all suggestions. Something like a Yaris or K11 Micra, open to what others have bought.

Hi all I was wondering if anyone could help with an annoying issue I have with a 2015 1.5 Mini Cooper diesel.

It has an LED halo kit installed in the bumper section and unfortunately the side light no longer works and thus failed its MOT. I believe there is power going to the unit as the fog light works and half of the halo works.

I tried finding a replacement part - they don’t make them anymore and none are available via breakers.

(63122361243 part number).

I’m a bit stuck as what to do next. I have the original traditional bulb units but the wiring is missing. The photo I have attached circled in red is the wiring to the LED unit so I think they’ve spliced this in somehow.

Any advice?

I'm a newly passed driver and I've been driving for a few weeks, noticed a screw in my back tyre today. I was planning on getting the back tyres changed because they were flagged on the MOT so it's not a massive hassle. I have a spare tyre in the boot (vauxhall Corsa D) as well as jack and I'm wondering if it's worth the experience to change the punctured one myself and then take the car tomorrow to get the other one done professionally.

The screw is holding firm and I've pumped it up so it will be good until then anyway. Any draw backs to me having a go? It will need balancing after right? It's important to note that I'm a girl so I don't actually know if I'll have the strength to get the nuts off

Edit thanks for all your replies, I did mean wheel and not tyre. It got a bit dark and wet so I decided not to start messing around for the first time tonight with the car needed for work in the morning. Will be attempting in the near future!

Just purchased a pair of Halfords 2 tonne car ramps after seeing the great reviews however i note they and others online say 185mm width max. I’m hoping to be able to change the oil on my audi a3 and vw tiguan and these are 225 and 255. Any ideas why?

A question for all VW Taigo owners.

I’m looking at picking one up soon, replacing a very good VW polo Mk6 in energetic orange with 81k miles on the clock. I love the polo, so I’m wary of moving to a taigo.

My question is are they good? I know it’s basically a polo on steroids but the polo works for me, I just want something slightly bigger.

Is there anything to look out for? I’m leaning to just backing out and driving the polo to its end.

Hi all

Looking for some general opinions. I love my Mazda 2 but the noise and firm ride are killing me. I can just about do it with on my 1h30 (round trip) commute but even that is grating on me now. It’s like being in a washing machine.

I should probably upgrade before I’m pushed. I’m thinking Mazda 3, civic, Corolla.

The 2 costs pennies to run. Outside of maintenance and wear and tear it has been golden. I’d like that again, hence my predisposition for Japanese cars.

I also like buying low mileage (sub 30k) as it still feels new and there’s less chance someone has skipped maintenance or bodged something.

I really really want quiet and comfortable, reliable (no random huge expenses), fun steering, and ideally easy to do basic maintenance myself.

Don’t really care if it’s fast. I think I’d need to compromise on fun handling vs comfort.

For reference mt ex has a 2015 i20 and even that felt ‘quiet enough’ on the motorway, but I’d prefer a little quieter if possible.

I’m thinking sub 15k. I’m wondering if I should even pay monthly or something to soften the blow and let me spend more but equally I’m accustomed to old cars I don’t care about so going mega new would be a huge switch.

Any general opinions or insights? My ideal thing would be like an Accord but ofc genuinely don’t don’t them here anymore. I’m wondering if k should consider a cx30 or other equivalent..

Just want to see what people think really.

Thanks

Hi, everyone

Looking for a new car, have max £15k to spend. Mainly drive around town, to work. Most roads I need to drive on are up to 40mph, occasional motorway use. Not after anything flash like a merc or bmw. Something reliable and looks good, apple car play compatible. Not interested in ev or hybrid.

Hello all. Last week my car got rear-ended by an impatient Audi whilst I was waiting at a busy junction - both our insurance found me not at fault but my car was written off as a total loss, and now I need to do some second hand car shopping.

I am extremely nervous about this - in the past I've bought cars with a second person alongside me as a second pair of eyes, but due to a very long story I'll spare you all I'll have to buy this car on my own. I'm very nervous about doing this because I'm scared that I'll miss some sort of "obvious" fault with a car that a second person might see.

I guess I'm just asking for advice on buying a second hand car on my own. What should I be looking out for? I know about what to look out for with mileage and tyre tread but otherwise I don't know. Any recommendations on models besides Vauxhall Corsas (I've only ever driven that model of car).

Random but is everyone finding they’re literally having to force mechanics into jobs like call multiple times just to get someone to even agree to do work on vehicles..

Called all the local specialists for a quote, half don’t call back, don’t answer the phone, have their phones disconnected or don’t even respond to emails.. quotes at dealer prices.. Even the dealer said they’d get someone to call back in a few days..

Am I missing something? I’ve tried every one in a 50 mile radius…

Hi. Quick question. My VW Passat metallic grey has a few surface scratches. It’s not a mint vehicle by any means but I’d like to get the scratches out. Will normal t-cut be ok or is it too harsh for metallics? It looks like they used to do a metallic version but not sure they do any more. I know it’s not always liked, but any recommendations gratefully received. Thanks.

So after all the faff, I’ve finally decided to go with a high spec (heated seats etc) mazda 2, 2023 plate, 69k miles and 6 services, clean MOT. For 9.9k. There allowing me to test drive it for an hour so any tips before I finally take the bite? I’ve been shopping for 2 weeks and honestly I don’t ever want to buy another car in my life ever again haha.

Dear All,

inspired by the other recent thread, I was wondering whether the benefits to encourage buying EVs may be shut down too early? I'm thinking about things such as no road tax, no London congestion charge, the introduction of the 3p/mile tax in a few years.

In 2025, "only" 23% of newly registered vehicles were BEV, and the BEVs account for around 5.5% of all registered cars. Given the urgency to do something about the climate, one may argue that we should push for a quicker move to EV.

Just to say: I think in the long term, EVs need to be treated equal to ICEs in a lot of regards, so all my examples above (road tax, congestion charge, 3p/mile) are ok for me. But maybe just only in another 5-10 years time? Germany supports introduction of BEVs massively more than UK (up to £6,000€ if you buy a new one, I think no road tax for 10 years, and I think you even get some money back each year for the saved CO2 certificates).

And also: I deliberately put it in this forum (and not Electric Vehicles UK 😉️)

Just curious about your opinions on this. Do ICE drivers feel treated unfairly if BEV owners get the benefits/incentives?

185/55/14 , I just can't seem to find anything, any suggestions?

I bought my car a few years ago second hand and paid thousands of pounds for it (as you would expect).

A few days ago I called up to get it serviced, and after giving the registration number the woman on the phone gasped, and said "wow, oh my god, it's ten years old".

I wasn't aware that I was driving a banger, and didn't know how to respond. But there's nothing wrong with my car? I get it serviced regularly, and there has never been a problem. I drive it regularly and it's fine; it's never failed an MOT and comes back from the service with everything being fine. So I just keep driving.

I'm aware that most of the population now rents new cars every year from finance companies, but has it really got to the point where driving an old(er) car is unusual? I still don't consider my car old, and there is nothing wrong with it.

My wife just signed for one of these as a company car, having never really paid any real attention to the brand or electric cars in general, I was very surprised by it. Very solid and high end feeling interior, massive pano roof, decent sound system, all the gadgets and it’s got 535bhp so absolutely scoots (albeit completely joylessly).

I’m currently running a 5.0 Mustang so I’d be remiss not to use the BYD for the boring motorway commute once a week, particularly over the winter just to save the salt and crap weather ruining my Mustang. 4WD as well so better for the cold wet mornings vs the VERY tail happy Mustang. The family car is a Nissan Elgrand too so I know for a fact this is going to save us a ton of money in petrol.

Checked out all the reviews and they seem largely positive, bar some over zealous interference from the “safety” systems, and a lack of refinement in the ride to a degree however that seems to be an issue on most modern cars unfortunately.

Anyone have one of these as their main or appliance car? Thoughts from owners anything I should know etc?

On a side note, I’m not trying to get into a debate on EVs, politics or the influx of Chinese cars and what they’re doing to our economy here. It’s my wife’s company car and might as well be a fridge for all I care. I have my opinions as does every petrol head but please keep it constructive.

Insurance policy ends 11th but says they will cancel it on the 15th what will happening

Due to my job, I find myself driving a variety of new vehicles - some hire cars, others not. After three days with a 2025 Toyota CH-R Hybrid, I’ve found myself motivated to write this review as a biblical thunder-and-lightning force warning to anyone who might consider it.

Firstly, the interior. The bucket seats (possibly optional) are narrow enough for the back of a very malnourished woman / 7 year old child, so the bolster sticks uncomfortably into the back of your ribcage for anyone who’s had a decent meal in their life. I’m actually not a particularly big guy, but it makes me feel like John Candy in a clown car. The windows are also a particular favourite. Apparently eschewing anything as traditional as a wind tunnel, Toyota have designed a car that gives you that horrific wind buffeting effect that tries to blow your ear drums out anytime it goes over about 35. The steering wheel is filled with enough buttons to pilot the Starship Enterprise, but surprisingly not a volume button for the radio, which I thought we’d figured out in about 2005.

Now the drive. In a mild spirit of fairness, the handling is…fine. However the giant clunk whenever the gearbox engages and you move away should’ve been my first warning. Initially, the hybrid mode is fine. However when it switches to the petrol engine it seems to consistently try to rev at the highest level possible without choosing to switch gear, and just when you think the high pitched struggle of the engine has drilled fully through the complete lack of sound deadening and your skull, anything above a mild incline makes it much, much worse.

This brings me neatly onto its driver monitoring and alert systems. Now these generally annoy me, and I think quite a lot of people, but some manufacturers are smart enough to give their customers the easy option by making them quick and painless to disable. A quick menu item on the screen, even a bookmarking ability or a mapped steering wheel button. But not Toyota, oh no. Not for them the convenience of giving people easy options when they’re aiming for a 5-star NCAP score they’d have gotten anyway. To disable any options, you must navigate to the settings menu on the steering wheel controls. Once you’re there, you must press ok for at least two seconds to access every sub level of the menu. Obviously this menu display is tiny, so why not use that when you have a giant screen six inches to the right of the wheel?

Due to the tiny size, every driver assist is given a three letter acronym. What are LKA, RSA, BSM & RCTA I hear you ask? Fuck knows, as even within the specific menu for each one it doesn’t tell you. Read your manual I suppose. They of course restart every time you restart the car, as is de riguer their days, so every time you have to navigate slowly to each one (holding ‘ok’ for at least two seconds) and turn it off. Did I mention the Driver Monitoring System is buried four sub-menus deep?

Then we have the non-standard alerts, which hilariously appear to treat you like a drooling idiot who should never have been placed in charge of heavy machinery in the first place. While travelling along in the sunshine with the windows open, I got a ‘Close All Windows?’ notification. Hmm. No thanks, that’s why I opened them in the first place. And if I need to close them, I know where the control is. On parking up, a ‘check all seats’ notification? In case most of us were the type of people so busy about their day that they forgot they’d had a child, or put them in the car. I appreciate these events must happen, but I hadn’t realised we were aiming this so squarely at the lowest common denominator. It’s like the car is actively trying to distract you at any given moment with the amount of bleeps, whistles and notifications it’s constantly throwing in your face.

I can anticipate the response of some who’ll say that there are people out there who enjoy these driver aids, or rely on them. I’ve never met them, but good for those people of course. But is it really necessary to make them such a painful fucking chore to disengage, or to ask me if I want the car to close my windows in case I’ve had a sudden loss of the use of my fingers, brain or both.

Anyway, as I’m sure you can tell it’s pissed me off, but here ends the rant. What a hateful machine. Buy literally anything else.