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If this was a problem with the actual transmission, you’d find the problem would probably not come and go. But since it’s dependent on the battery being disconnected and then reconnected, the smart money says it’s a problem with either a sensor that sends information to the driveline computer, or the computer itself.

You could start by scanning the vehicle to see if a dud sensor reveals itself. But you may also find that a replacement ECU (computer) is the ultimate fix.

This is another common question, but it’s one without a simple answer as the Triton’s transmission is not designed to have its fluid checked by the owner. As such, it has no dipstick, because Mitsubishi says the transmission is a sealed system and doesn’t need to have the level checked. Which is fine until the gearbox develops a leak and some fluid escapes. But that isn’t in the plan according to Mitsubishi.

The fluid is only supposed to be inspected when the transmission is serviced, which happens from underneath the vehicle. At that point, the transmission is drained of all its fluid and the specified amount replaced. Which is absolutely no help to you wishing to check the fluid level and condition as a (sensible) preventative maintenance measure.

Freezing the owner out of any potential home maintenance might be a great way to save money on the production line, but it doesn’t do much for those of us who like to keep an eye on our cars before niggles become problems.

This sounds like a potentially very dangerous fault. Any car that wanders across the road or doesn’t go where the driver points it is an accident waiting to happen. A serious one, at that. At this point, the first piece of advice is to not drive the vehicle any farther and have it towed to a workshop for it to be inspected.

There’s one other possibility here. And that is that what you’re feeling is the car’s lane-keeping assistance program. This can often feel as though the steering it trying to plot its own course (which it is, in a way) in order to keep you centred in your lane. It only works up to a point, beyond which driver input will overcome it. I wonder if that’s what you mean by 'unsticking' the steering.

However, as far as I can tell, this model Mazda didn’t some with lane-keeping assistance (it has lane-departure warning only) so I think you’re back to square one and a tow-truck. Either way, this should be a warranty issue if there’s anything seriously wrong, so don’t be afraid to try a different dealership.

Surprisingly, yes it is a fairly common observation. The idea is that having the gauge tell you that the tank is nearly empty even though it has a few litres still sloshing around in it, is a great way to convince you to find a service station before you run out of fuel. In the old days, many cars had a reserve tank which had to be switched on when the main tank ran out of fuel. This reserve tank was your insurance against being stranded. The modern fuel gauge acts in the same way by ensuring you have a supply remaining even when the gauge is telling you you’re just about empty.

Normally, a car has around 50 to 80km of fuel left when the gauge reads zero (although don’t be tempted to find out the hard way). So the 20 litres remaining in your tank when the gauge is on empty is on the high side, but far from abnormal.

This situation raises a few questions. The first of which is how a car with just 9000km showing needs new front tyres. I know the Megane is a powerful front-wheel-drive car and will, therefore, be potentially very hard on front tyres, but 9000km? Surely it must have been driven hard in its previous life to chew through a set of tyres in such a short distance. I’m smelling a car that has been used for track days and, therefore, driven hard.

The other thing is that a performance car like this will absolutely live or die on the quality of the tyres under it. Putting cheap tyres on it will seriously compromise its performance and even potentially its safety in an emergency.

But it’s not too late to make things right. Tell the dealer that you’re prepared to pay the difference between the cheap tyres and the Potenzas the car should have and see if they’ll play ball. I know it would have been nice if this had all been explained to you before you signed on the dotted line, but some dealers (like some business people in any industry) will do everything they can to save themselves a few bucks. In this case, though, the result is a potentially compromised car in your driveway.

If the dealer won’t play, and you still want to buy the car, take it straight to a tyre shop and have a performance tyre fitted. But don’t forget that some of the Chinese tyres on the market now are far from as bad as people think. While you’re at the tyre shop, ask for a professional opinion on the tyres the car was supplied with.

In order to find the remedy, you first need to know the cause. On this vehicle, the P0300 code indicates a misfire in one or more of the cylinders of the engine. In the majority of cases, this can be traced to a faulty coil, high-tension lead, spark plug, computer or even the fuel system. The warning shows that one of the cylinders is not firing as cleanly as it should be, so those are the basic thigs to start with. The problem could be as simple as moisture inside one of the coils or its fittings, or even a simple dodgy spark plug. If that’s the case, replace all of them, rather than just the one that’s faulty, as the rest are also likely to be getting towards the end of their life.

A modern automatic transmission is a very complex piece of equipment with a whole bunch of parts that have to be talking to each other for it to work properly. Your best plan of attack is to have the vehicle inspected by a transmission specialist who is familiar with this transmission and should be able to diagnose the fault.

But it sounds like there’s something broken or loose inside that is not allowing the engine’s power to be transferred to the car’s wheels. This could be anything form an input or output shaft, a clutch assembly, torque converter or even the gearsets themselves. Perhaps the fault is in the valve body (the part that actually selects each gear) but until it’s torn down and inspected, you won’t know what’s going on.

The other major cause of a car not moving when it’s in gear is that there’s a broken driveshaft or CV joint. The symptoms can be very similar, so check the whole driveline before committing to repairs.

Provided the blown head gasket is the engine’s only problem, then you can certainly squeeze plenty more kilometres from it by replacing a blown head gasket. It’s a pretty involved process, however, and requires removing the cylinder head, cleaning the surface, and fitting a new gasket. You also need to check the mating surfaces of the cylinder head and the engine block to make sure they’re straight and able to form the seal the engine requires. So, it’s pretty specialised work.

The wild card comes in the form of what else is wrong with the engine. If it’s worn internally and burning oil, for instance, it might not be worth spending the money to change the head gasket. In that case, a full rebuild or a replacement engine makes more sense.

You could have a problem anywhere in the wiring between the starter button and the starter motor. It could even be a problem with the starter motor itself. This function is computer controlled, too, so you may find the body computer is the root cause. An auto electrician will be able to check this out and diagnose the fault.

But there’s one thing you can check before that, and that is to remove and clean the contacts on the actual starter button. You will need to remove it from the dashboard (disconnect the car’s battery first) and carefully take the button apart and spray some terminal cleaner or contact cleaner on to the contacts. If you’re not confident to do this, the same auto electrician will be able to help you out.

These buttons (which are really switches) accumulate all sorts of grime and moisture from the air, the car’s interior and, of course, the fingers that operate the button.

This is a complex issue and CarsGuide does not give legal advice on matter such as this. However, from a practical standpoint, water on the road in puddles could conceivably enter the engine and cause damage if you managed to hit just the right puddle at just the right speed and at just the right angle to force water into the engine’s air intake system.

In any case, this would likely (as you are discovering) be considered accidental damage rather than a warranty issue as the problem wasn’t caused by a fault in the car’s materials or manufacture. Which means you might be better off tackling your insurance company to see if such damage is covered by your vehicle policy. Damage to a vehicle from (flood) water is much more likely to be an insurance job, so start there.