Ask The Guide

If the car drives forward then it’s possibly not the age-old problem of low or dirty transmission fluid that’s causing the problem. Even so, it may not be a catastrophic failure of the transmission and could, in fact, be as simple as a poorly adjusted gear selector cable or linkage. The sensors that operate the rear camera and reversing lights are not necessarily the same ones that actually select each gear, so the fact that they operate does not mean the transmission is physically selecting Reverse gear.

Have the vehicle looked at by a transmission specialist who will possibly have seen this very problem before. Don’t forget, either, that if the car has travelled less than 130,000km and has been serviced correctly, you may still be covered by LDV’s factory warranty which was for five years back when the vehicle was sold new. But get it looked at and the problem logged with LDV before that warranty runs out.

This is not a difficult job, but may require moving the battery or air intake box to gain access to the rear of the headlights from inside the engine bay. From there, you simply twist and remove the socket that holds the globe in the back of the headlight assembly. Then, you can unplug the globe from the wiring harness and simply replace it with a new globe.

It’s important not to touch the glass portion of the new globe as this can lead to a hot-spot that will shorten the globe’s lifespan. Use a cloth or paper towel when fitting the new globes.

The parking light and headlight globes will be separate and held in separate sockets, and need to be purchased individually. From memory, the headlight unit is what’s called a H4. Now is also the time to consider a headlight upgrade with a brighter replacement globe.

An automatic gearbox relies on fluid pressure as well as volume to make everything work as it should. So, if the level of fluid is correct, you then need to move on to the pump and accumulators involved to ensure that the correct hydraulic pressure is being applied to the bands and clutches that actually apply drive to the gears and physically move the car.

Your problem could be something as simple as a worn pump, but it could also indicate internal wear and tear that requires a complete transmission rebuild. A transmission specialist is your best bet. The good news is that this is a common and well understood transmission, so finding an expert shouldn’t be difficult.

Clearly, there’s something inside the fuse box that isn’t enjoying cold mornings. It’s more likely to be a relay that controls the fuel pump (or some other vital system) as a relay has moving parts (as opposed to a simple fuse). Those moving parts could be weak or worn and might not be so keen to move correctly when the ambient temperature is low. It sounds pretty weird, but stranger things have happened.

All electric fuel pumps, regardless of the make or model of car, have a finite lifespan. Since your car is now getting on for 20 years of age, it’s a fair bet the pump is due for replacement. These pumps spend their lives submerged in fuel, pumping it from the tank to the engine is pretty extreme conditions. So it’s really no surprise when they give up the ghost after several years of this type of treatment.

Sometimes you’ll be lucky and detect the pump either getting lazy or failing to work on an intermittent basis. If that’s the case, the message is to get the pump replaced pronto. In other cases (and it’s pretty common) the pump will simply go from working perfectly one day to not working at all the next. And given the way electronically controlled engines work, if the pump isn’t working, there’s no way the car will start or run.

Both the Toyota and Kia have good reputations for quality and durability, while the Chery is more of an unknown quantity in Australia. The important thing to remember is that the cars you’ve short-listed are all near-new vehicles, so they’ll have plenty of factory warranty left to run.

The best way to avoid clear coat peeling is to buy a car in a solid, rather than metallic, colour, which doesn’t generally have the same peeling problems. That said, modern paint technology is much better than ever before, so this is less of a problem than it once was. Protecting a car’s interior means parking it out of the sun in the hotter months. Although, again, the durability of interior plastics has come a long, long way in recent years.

If you’re going to keep the car for a few years and then trade it in on a new car, retained value is more important than any of your other concerns. And in that sense, the Toyota traditionally moves to the front of the pack.

Independent testing of the Tasman has shown that the rear bump-stops do get a mighty workout with a large load on the tow-hitch. This suggests that the rear springs are not adequate for really heavy trailers and caravans, regardless of what the brochure says about the 3500kg towing limit for this vehicle.

The traction control cutting in could well be another symptom of this. If the rear springs can’t compress any further (and they can’t when the bump stops are in play) then the rear axle is not suspended properly, and that could make the rear tyres skip and hop over bumps. Once the computer detects that the tyres are not firmly on the ground at all times, it will trigger the traction control.

There’s a bit of an arms race in dual-cab utes at the moment, as manufacturers all try to offer 3500kg towing limits. Some of them do this much more convincingly than others. It’s also true that, in the old days, the rule of thumb was that you didn’t tow any trailer heavier than the vehicle doing the towing. In the Tasman’s case, that would make the limit about 2200kg. Not as sexy as 3.5 tonnes, but more sensible in our opinion.

You haven’t told me which engine is fitted to your car, but if it’s the turbo-diesel engine, then the cause may be a pretty simple one. This engine has a habit of splitting the plastic trunking that takes the pressurised intake air from the turbocharger to the engine’s inlet manifold. If that happens, the air is free to escape to the atmosphere, and doesn’t make it’s way into the engine.

That’s why you’ll hear a noise like air escaping (because that’s precisely what it is) as well as a lack of power, because the engine is not receiving all the boost from the turbo. You’ll probably also notice that the car is blowing more black smoke than it should.

The fix is a new piece of plastic pipe that should be well within the abilities of any workshop to fit.

This situation is precisely why we can’t recommend any of these aftermarket warranties or service plans. There are simply too many loopholes written into them to enable the provider to take your money and then deny your claim when you need them most. Fundamentally, they’re the new snake oil. Maybe there are some decent ones out there, but the majority are a straight rip-off.

They also tend to lock you into more expensive dealership servicing, too. But even then, when something goes wrong, you’ll often find that particular problem isn’t covered in the fine print.

Like the other dealership add-ons – paint treatments and upholstery protection to name just two – these extended warranties are generally not worth the paper they’re printed on. You’ve learned this the hard way, but it’s also sounds like the product was mis-represented at the time you signed up for it. If that’s the case and you can prove it, then I’d be talking to the ACCC.

A loss of engine power can be due to many things. Most mechanics will start with a check of the fuel and ignition systems to check for things like dud spark plugs, ignition timing, broken ignition leads and coils and whether or not enough fuel is reaching the engine (worn fuel pump or blocked fuel filter). If all that checks out, then the search will move to mechanical things like the camshaft timing, and whether there’s a leaking engine valve or a vacuum leak somewhere.

The 2.5-litre petrol engine in your X-Trail is a very well known quantity, so there’s plenty of expertise out there. A workshop that deals with Nissans in particular may have seen exactly this problem before and will be able to go straight to the cause.

Meantime, don’t rule out the really obvious stuff like a dragging brake that could be making the vehicle feel sluggish.