Honest John: why did Mercedes charge me £1,000 after I put petrol in my diesel car?
If your car has developed a fault, or for consumer advice, turn to Honest John by emailing honestadvice@telegraph.co.uk
Costly mistake
Stupidly, I put petrol into my nine-year-old Mercedes C350 CDI diesel but fortunately I realised before starting the engine. The car was recovered by the Mercedes roadside recovery service and delivered to the Mercedes dealer that services the car every year, where I was charged £1,050 to get it back on the road. Is this reasonable? I have now cancelled my booked service with them and went to my local garage, which said it would have sorted the misfuelling mistake for less than £200. What do you think? SU
What the Mercedes dealer did will have been standard procedure, but since the engine had not been started it was not necessary. A tank drain and flush would have sufficed, plus filling it with high-lubricity superdiesel (which you should use anyway).
Nein, nein, nein?
Your advice seems to be not to order a German car at this time. Is there a problem with them all? PH
At the moment the Germans seem to be having the most trouble getting their huge and complex ranges through the new EU6d TEMP/WLTP emissions tests. That said, BMW has put out a press release stating that its entire range now conforms.
600 into 500
My wife owns a 2000 Fiat Seicento SX that has done 18,000 miles. She would like to exchange it for a modern (but retro-look) 500, not necessarily new. Which model is best? BP
For EU6 emissions regulations Fiat messed up the ECU programming for its 1,242cc petrol engine, but realised the mistake and fixed it. The 500 that’s the most fun to drive is the TwinAir. But avoid the Dualogic automated manual, which is awful. Emissions legislation sadly put an end to the TwinAir 105 with six-speed gearbox, so that is now reduced to a 95bhp output with a five-speed ’box.
Gram parsimony
I tried to book an air-conditioning service at a local garage for my 2009 Hyundai i10. The mechanic thought Hyundai changed the gas used in its cars in 2008 and said that instead of the low-cost R134A gas service, I’d need the very expensive R1234YF. I’ve tried to find proof of this, but can’t. Any ideas? JG
A first-generation Hyundai i10 needs 450 grams of R134A. Hyundai has said it will adopt the new R1234YF gas by 2020. Get the re-gassing work done by an independent air-con specialist.
Jazz quartet
A friend has asked me to help find a replacement for her 14-year-old VW Golf costing no more than £6,000. Requirements are a petrol engine, four/five doors, air-conditioning, rear parking sensors, manual or automatic. She has considered newer Golfs, as well as the Nissan Note and Ford Fiesta. What else should she consider? HH
I’d buy a Honda Jazz 1.4i VTEC CVT-7. It’s practical, reliable, economical and versatile. Alternatively, a Kia Venga or a Hyundai ix20 (same car, different badge)
F in and blindin’
I fancy an MGF for summer use. Do you know of an insurer that specialises in temporary cover and isn’t too harsh with premiums and charges? Also, are you a fan of Redex fuel additive? KC
The biggest MGF specialist seems to be Trophy Cars on the A1 (see trophycars.co.uk). You pay more, but you get a properly sorted car from people who know MGFs and MG TFs better than anyone else. They’ll also be able to guide you on insurance. I don’t recommend Redex – I prefer using quality superunleaded, then you don’t need other additives.
No escape
I have been quoted £400 by a Ford dealer for an automatic gearbox oil change on my 2012 C-Max with 40,000 miles. That seems rather excessive to me. Is it? GW
This will be a wet-clutch Powershift gearbox. A member of fedauto.co.uk should be able to do the job more cheaply, but it’s still likely to be more than £200 because of the special oil used.
Ranger over
My 2016 Ford Ranger 3.2 is losing about a litre of coolant a month. Ford has pressure-tested the system and says there are no faults. There is no sign of coolant mixing with the engine oil or leaking from the hoses. Any idea what might be causing this? JG
It’s probably an airlock blowing the coolant out of the pressure cap. You might purge it by removing the expansion tank cap, switching the heater to full and, from cold, running the engine up to temperature.
Living on an island
I’ve had my Mini Cooper for four years, averaging 17,000 miles a year. Now I’m moving to Guernsey so it will be used for short, start-stop journeys of no more than four miles. Is there anything I can do to mitigate this sort of use? CE
As long as it isn’t a diesel you should be fine. Keep the revs up to about 2,000rpm on your short runs. Get it over to France for a decent run as often as you can.
Solid States
We had to replace the electric water pump and the thermostat of our 2011 BMW M Sport 2.0 Convertible at a cost of more than £900. A friend who works for BMW in America said that the company organised a recall there, specifically covering this fault. Why hasn’t that happened in the UK? MH
This pump sends coolant through the hot turbocharger after the engine has been switched off. In the USA, recalls for faults are ordered by the NHTSA, which has much bigger teeth than the UK’s DVSA. The DVSA would like some dentures but the Government has not provided them and thus it handles only “safety” recalls.
Clean living
My brilliant E39 BMW 320 has been run on superunleaded petrol all its life and I am amazed to see how clean the exhaust is after 105,000 miles. However, the original, 18-year-old battery had to be changed this year. Is that good or what? BE
Excellent. I can beat your 18 years of using superunleaded, but not an 18-year battery life. That is amazing.
Bad line
The 2017 BMW i3 I tested worked fine with my iPhone 6. The brand new 2018 model i3 I eventually purchased has new software that is full of bugs and not fit for purpose. The dealer is trying to refer me to BMW, but neither is telling me whether the bugs are acknowledged or if/when there will be a fix. How can I get this solved? RW
I guess the BMW system is based on the original iPhone 6 iOS and does not support upgrades. Apparently there is a now an App you can use to upgrade a car’s system to the latest phone software upgrade. BMW offers this compatibility check: go to bmw.com/en/footer/compatibility-check.html
Soft option
Having taken your advice and moved from 20-inch wheels to 18-inch rims with deeper-profile tyres on my Range Rover Evoque HSE Lux, I now understand why you are so emphatic about getting rid of “bling” wheels and tyres. The ride is now superb. HS
I have no idea why car-buyers let themselves get conned into fitting big wheels with low-profile tyres that wreck the ride comfort, are easily damaged and cost more to replace.
Bright spark
For years I have espoused an electric car with a battery pack that could be exchanged at electric stations, full for spent, much like Calor Gas cylinders. Why did that never catch on? GW
A few years ago Renault floated this idea. But, of course, it required every electric car to have the same standardised battery and that was never going to happen.
If your car has developed a fault, or for consumer advice, turn to Honest John by emailing honestadvice@telegraph.co.uk
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