The Car Thread.

[woodbar]

My Mazda CX-30 has kept push buttons and knobs for most controls. I read a headline in a news feed last week that says Mazda are going to touch screen route now. I just thought "really!! you held out for so long and now manufacturers are starting to go back to physical controls, your going to do the opposite"

We've had multiple Mazda's over the years and my wife has a CX30 with the Skyactive-X 2.0 litre, so called compression ignition petrol engine but still has spark plugs!

Always liked the Mazda's, very reliable and proper physical controls for most things but this latest one is proving not so reliable! Also a constant annoyance is the info to check the tyre pressures is reached in an obscure menu system several layers deep. It also has a most obscure battery power management so whenever you get near the car with the remote fob in you pocket it goes into some sort of standby mode and powers up multiple circuits pulling over 9 amps from the battery! It led to a completely dead battery on two occasions when we were giving it a thorough clean in and out and when I was fitting front and rear dash cams. So now if I am going to do any work on the car I will unlock it and then move the key fob well out of range of the vehicle.

Last year the folding door mirrors started playing up, apparently a long known about fault on Mazda 3 and CX30 etc. Luckily they had a 5 year "goodwill" policy and fitted two new ones FOC. That was a relief as each mirror unit was over £350 plus they had to be programmed at a Mazda Dealer of course!

Now we are getting an "In vehicle network malfunction - have the vehicle inspected" which seems to be caused by the TCU unit being unable to get a 3G cellular signal (only really used for the SOS button) as they have been shutdown. It can't be upgraded with new firmware as it has the Version one unit and a replacement is around £500 plus fitting/programming of course!

Now we have a problem with the power rear hatch which needs a replacement lock unit - £495 + Fitting + VAT

We also might have a pending failure of injectors/top end/mini supercharger as they changed the Skyactive-X engine shortly after we bought ours to a lower compression ratio plus other mods to stop excessive carbon deposits, on short trip/low mileage use vehicles, destroying the top end!

At least the multi beam adaptive LED headlights are wonderful and are very dazzle free to other road users it seems.

Don't think we will be buying another !

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Always liked the Mazda's, very reliable and proper physical controls for most things but this latest one is proving not so reliable!

That's a pretty dire tale, sorry to hear it. I always thought keyless entry is something I'd never want, and the tech that is slathered over almost all modern cars just looks like a future headache to me. Downside for me of running a nigh-on 20yo car is that things do go wrong. My cruise control has just left the building

 

[DougK1]

That's a pretty dire tale, sorry to hear it. I always thought keyless entry is something I'd never want, and the tech that is slathered over almost all modern cars just looks like a future headache to me. Downside for me of running a nigh-on 20yo car is that things do go wrong. My cruise control has just left the building

My 22 year old Bora TDI is starting to show it's age too. Electrical gremlins for the past five years, (door locks mainly), headlining has dropped, car creaks a bit now too. Mechanically it's great with nearly 200k miles on the odo, but the dreaded tin-worm has started to show its face. Not sure if it's time to get something newer. Only do short journeys now I'm retired, not good for a diesel engine.

Try to keep yours going, cracking car, don't make them like yours anymore.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Only do short journeys now I'm retired, not good for a diesel engine.

Mrs GSV does almost exclusively short journeys - not good for the battery either! Hers has needed replacing twice in the last decade or so, whereas mine's on its original.

Thought I had an oil leak as there's some on the drive that fits with how I reverse into the garage, but nothing on garage floor this morning so it must have been a delivery driver. A bullet dodged.

 

[DougK1]

Mrs GSV does almost exclusively short journeys - not good for the battery either! Hers has needed replacing twice in the last decade or so, whereas mine's on its original.

Thought I had an oil leak as there's some on the drive that fits with how I reverse into the garage, but nothing on garage floor this morning so it must have been a delivery driver. A bullet dodged.

I was considering going EV for my next car. Only issue is a £2k+ upfront investment to get my consumer unit updated and run a cable to my garage, which is at the bottom of my garden 🤔

 

[Shrek]

That's a pretty dire tale, sorry to hear it. I always thought keyless entry is something I'd never want, and the tech that is slathered over almost all modern cars just looks like a future headache to me. Downside for me of running a nigh-on 20yo car is that things do go wrong. My cruise control has just left the building

Might be a simple fix like a ABS sensor that could effect your cruise control if its not that then ABS control module is @ fault that would be expensive ,but there are places that refurb them at a much lower costs, had it with my BMW 2007 had the module rebuilt.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Might be a simple fix like a ABS sensor that could effect your cruise control if its not that then ABS control module is @ fault that would be expensive ,but there are places that refurb them at a much lower costs, had it with my BMW 2007 had the module rebuilt.

Have asked at my model-specific forum as well as a Google. Clutch sensor seem favourite, but I think that'll be waiting until service time.

 

[Gray]

My 22 year old Bora TDI is starting to show it's age too. Electrical gremlins for the past five years, (door locks mainly), headlining has dropped, car creaks a bit now too. Mechanically it's great with nearly 200k miles on the odo, but the dreaded tin-worm has started to show its face. Not sure if it's time to get something newer. Only do short journeys now I'm retired, not good for a diesel engine.

Try to keep yours going, cracking car, don't make them like yours anymore.

And my 23 year old Focus flew through another MOT for its new owner just this morning. It's been unbelievably reliable.

Modern cars are just too clever for their own good - probably great while the gadgets are working - very expensive to repair when they fail - which is not such an issue for those with plenty of money.

 

[Jasonovich]

This may have something to do with the distribution of funds but am I right in thinking, HiFi enthusiast on this forum have great HiFi setups but crappy cars. 🙂

I own 11 year old Focus, before the MOT test, I give the fuel a dose of the carbon clean and usually enough to get through the MOT. Thanks @Gray for reminding me, my MOT is due in a couple of weeks.

 

[woodbar]

That's a pretty dire tale, sorry to hear it. I always thought keyless entry is something I'd never want, and the tech that is slathered over almost all modern cars just looks like a future headache to me. Downside for me of running a nigh-on 20yo car is that things do go wrong. My cruise control has just left the building

Yes, I think we are on borrowed time with the CX30 and it is only just over 5 years old and about 28k so should not be falling apart! Trouble is my wife loves the car and does not want to change it but then she does not pay the bills🙄

That is the trouble with more and more tech being added, just one obscure sensor fault can cause major problems. I remember on my previous car, an MB SLK (SLC), - lovely car and a joy to watch the hydraulically driven hardtop lower into the boot on those 7 days a year we get good enough weather in the UK. On one of those occasions we returned home and about half a mile from our drive the dashboard did the Xmas tree routine? Pulled over and thought about it and tried to raise the roof - "N/A - reduce your speed" I was parked for gods sake! Turned engine off for a bit, restarted still no joy. On a whim I tried cycling the engine again but this time holding the roof control in before I cranked, to my amazement it worked and the roof came back and locked - obviously my roof request just got into the BCM before the wheel error flagged up!

It turned out to be the N/S/F wheel speed sensor with no signal so there control logic is pretty naff - 3 wheels reporting zero speed but because the fourth is unobtainable we will disable ESC, ABS, EBC and the roof mechanism etc. Ludicrous. Replaced sensor and all was back to normal. It had the last laugh though, 2 weeks later had the same fault - O/S/F speed sensor defunct!

 

[woodbar]

My current car is a Hyundai Kona N and has nearly all the tech you can think of added to it as standard - Radar Cruise Control, Electronic LSD, Heated /ventilated seats, Parking sensors and Rear Camera, Head up display, LED Headlights, Cross Traffic alert, Blind spot sensors, Adjustable dampers, Lane departure warning or assist, 8 speed DTC, Launch control etc. etc. etc.! None of these have given any trouble yet (I hope I don't regret saying that 😳) but it still has about 17 months of warranty so it might have to go when that expires to be on the safe side! It's only got about 11K on the clock so far hoping. There is an awful lot that could go wrong with huge expense no doubt.

I can honestly say it is the most fun I have had in a car, ever. An absolute hoot to drive and more smiles/mile than anything I have had before. It has a bit more road noise and harder ride than I would normally like, the interior is a bit dull but the handling and performance more than outweighs any other slight negatives. You can also program the engine response, gearbox, steering, LSD, suspension etc. and have several preferred sets selected with just a button push. The icing on the cake is a red button on the steering wheel for those very occasional "hooligan" moments - pushing that gives you 40 seconds of turbo over boost and sets everything up to max, also immediately selecting whichever of the 8 gears equates the closest to 5K rpm and literally takes off like a stabbed rat - you do have to make sure you have your wits about you and firm grip on the steering wheel but I have often wiped the smile off unsuspecting Tesla drivers at the traffic lights.

The only slight problem was getting that power down through just the front wheels but a small change to an aftermarket version of the rear engine mount to a slightly stiffer one (Hyundai had used the same one they fit on the normal versions of the car) completely solved the wheel hop.

 

[Gray]

This may have something to do with the distribution of funds but am I right in thinking, HiFi enthusiast on this forum have great HiFi setups but crappy cars. 🙂

You'd be right in thinking that I've got a limited interest in cars - been driving since the early 80's, but have never spent more than 2 grand for the car itself.

Did an 8 mile journey at 2.30 in the morning recently and almost enjoyed it - because I saw 3 other cars - and could drive down the centre of dual carriageways to avoid potholes.

(Reminds me of the copper stopping the Irishman, asking why he was speeding down the centre of the road.
(Irish accent) " The licence says tear down the dotted line")

 

[Jasonovich]

You'd be right in thinking that I've got a limited interest in cars - been driving since the early 80's, but have never spent more than 2 grand for the car itself.

Did an 8 mile journey at 2.30 in the morning recently and almost enjoyed it - because I saw 3 other cars - and could drive down the centre of dual carriageways to avoid potholes.

(Reminds me of the copper stopping the Irishman, asking why he was speeding down the centre of the road.
(Irish accent) " The licence says tear down the dotted line")

🤣

 

[Cricketbat70]

We've had multiple Mazda's over the years and my wife has a CX30 with the Skyactive-X 2.0 litre, so called compression ignition petrol engine but still has spark plugs!

Always liked the Mazda's, very reliable and proper physical controls for most things but this latest one is proving not so reliable! Also a constant annoyance is the info to check the tyre pressures is reached in an obscure menu system several layers deep. It also has a most obscure battery power management so whenever you get near the car with the remote fob in you pocket it goes into some sort of standby mode and powers up multiple circuits pulling over 9 amps from the battery! It led to a completely dead battery on two occasions when we were giving it a thorough clean in and out and when I was fitting front and rear dash cams. So now if I am going to do any work on the car I will unlock it and then move the key fob well out of range of the vehicle.

Last year the folding door mirrors started playing up, apparently a long known about fault on Mazda 3 and CX30 etc. Luckily they had a 5 year "goodwill" policy and fitted two new ones FOC. That was a relief as each mirror unit was over £350 plus they had to be programmed at a Mazda Dealer of course!

Now we are getting an "In vehicle network malfunction - have the vehicle inspected" which seems to be caused by the TCU unit being unable to get a 3G cellular signal (only really used for the SOS button) as they have been shutdown. It can't be upgraded with new firmware as it has the Version one unit and a replacement is around £500 plus fitting/programming of course!

Now we have a problem with the power rear hatch which needs a replacement lock unit - £495 + Fitting + VAT

We also might have a pending failure of injectors/top end/mini supercharger as they changed the Skyactive-X engine shortly after we bought ours to a lower compression ratio plus other mods to stop excessive carbon deposits, on short trip/low mileage use vehicles, destroying the top end!

At least the multi beam adaptive LED headlights are wonderful and are very dazzle free to other road users it seems.

Don't think we will be buying another !

Now you have me worried. Mine is only the skyactive G engine. I read loads of car reviews in the UK press and they said go for the G not the X as although it has more power you have to rev it so hard to get that power, it comes high in the rev range. I'm concerned about the infotainment system, the powered tailgate. I'm annoyed you don't even have the option to open it manually.
I was quite happy with my 2010 mazda 3 but my mum insisted I buy a newer car and gave me her ISA when it matured. I still wonder whether I should have put a deposit down and leased an EV. What with fuel prices and the repayments because the car was more than my mum's ISA. Don't think I would have been paying much more if I'd leased an EV.

 

[Cricketbat70]

You'd be right in thinking that I've got a limited interest in cars - been driving since the early 80's, but have never spent more than 2 grand for the car itself.

Did an 8 mile journey at 2.30 in the morning recently and almost enjoyed it - because I saw 3 other cars - and could drive down the centre of dual carriageways to avoid potholes.

(Reminds me of the copper stopping the Irishman, asking why he was speeding down the centre of the road.
(Irish accent) " The licence says tear down the dotted line")

I used to love driving early hours of the morning when the kids were little. We live near Burnley but my wife is originally from Hampshire and I also have family down there. We used to get the kids out of bed early hours of the morning put duvets in the car pillows against the windows etc. Set off about 2 in the morning pull into a service station just past halfway point to change drivers and a toilet break. We'd be in Southampton just after 6. 4 hours driving time. On the way back once we had to set off earlier than we wanted and it took 4 hours just to get yo Birmingham from Southampton 🤬🤬🤬🤬

 

[Shrek]

This may have something to do with the distribution of funds but am I right in thinking, HiFi enthusiast on this forum have great HiFi setups but crappy cars. 🙂

I own 11 year old Focus, before the MOT test, I give the fuel a dose of the carbon clean and usually enough to get through the MOT. Thanks @Gray for reminding me, my MOT is due in a couple of weeks.

View attachment 11192

Thats not true im a big petrol head and have 2 BMWs old and new but i prefer the old .my old BMW is on 125k the new one is on 1.900 miles only comes out in the summer might sell it soon and get a Toyota for every day use the old BM is 3 Litre bit juicy but a lovely drive.

 

[Gray]

Car park operator NCP has gone into administration having "failed to fill spaces since the pandemic".
I'm trying to hold back the tears.

 

[woodbar]

Now you have me worried. Mine is only the skyactive G engine. I read loads of car reviews in the UK press and they said go for the G not the X as although it has more power you have to rev it so hard to get that power, it comes high in the rev range. I'm concerned about the infotainment system, the powered tailgate. I'm annoyed you don't even have the option to open it manually.
I was quite happy with my 2010 mazda 3 but my mum insisted I buy a newer car and gave me her ISA when it matured. I still wonder whether I should have put a deposit down and leased an EV. What with fuel prices and the repayments because the car was more than my mum's ISA. Do t thi k I would have been paying much more if I'd leased an EV.

Sorry to worry you! The 2.0litre G engine, which we also had in the previous Mazda 3, is their normal generally bomb proof design although I felt that was a little sluggish to be honest, but you should find it reliable as it does not have a turbo or a cam belt running in oil (not sure what idiot thought that would ever be reliable?)

I did do some research before deciding on the X version of the CX30 and then, the general consensus was that was a good engine as well. In reality, they obviously had problems with it and brought out a version 2 "improved" design! I expected it to have a bit more get up and go compared to the G as it has an extra 60bhp in theory. You are right, to get it really moving you do have to wind it up to the upper rev ranges which it happily does but does sounds a bit like you are about to take off! All the Sport mode button does is to greatly increase the RPM in each of the auto-box gears before it selects the next cog - rather poor implementation I think.

I agree, it is very annoying that there appears to be no method of opening the rear hatch if the mechanism is FUBAR - luckily ours still just about works with a loud clanking noise and I already have the nearly £400 pound + VAT replacement latch to be fitted!

Never got involved in leases or PCP's or anything similar so can't comment on that.

 

[woodbar]

Car park operator NCP has gone into administration having "failed to fill spaces since the pandemic".
I'm trying to hold back the tears.

Me also, although I do feel for the people who may unfortunately lose their jobs.

I do remember that I actually had to go and commission some Laundry equipment my company had supplied to the boss of NCP - for his ocean going, super sized, extravagantly fitted out, multi, multi million pound yacht whilst docked in South Wales - Cardiff I assume but can't really remember as it was 30 plus years ago!

Just a shame that Brexit and Covid combined with totally incompetent Governments have and are digging us into a big hole and we have run out of ladders and ropes to get out!

 

[Gray]

I own 11 year old Focus

Bad luck then Jason, you won't be able to work as an estate agent for Haart in Nottingham (you'll be sorry to hear).

BBC News - Woman, 18, not shortlisted for job at estate agents as 'car is too old' - BBC News

Woman, 18, not shortlisted for job at estate agents as 'car is too old'

Alanah Thomspon French says her application was not progressed as her car was more than 10 years old.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Jasonovich]

Thats not true im a big petrol head and have 2 BMWs old and new but i prefer the old .my old BMW is on 125k the new one is on 1.900 miles only comes out in the summer might sell it soon and get a Toyota for every day use the old BM is 3 Litre bit juicy but a lovely drive.

Just teasing!
Jason talking out of his....😜
Nice motor.
My son in law, has a nice Beemer he purchased new.
I use to love my motors back in the day.
My favourite was my Nissan rear wheel drive turbo SX200.
These days I don't seem to enjoy driving, happy with my boring Focus. 🙂

 

[Jasonovich]

Bad luck then Jason, you won't be able to work as an estate agent for Haart in Nottingham (you'll be sorry to hear).

BBC News - Woman, 18, not shortlisted for job at estate agents as 'car is too old' - BBC News

Woman, 18, not shortlisted for job at estate agents as 'car is too old'

Alanah Thomspon French says her application was not progressed as her car was more than 10 years old.

www.bbc.co.uk

I guess some companies are an@l about projecting the right image, really hate that!
I am retiring shortly after 36 years in Local Government, I was actually thinking about part time work, Estate agency did cross my mind, yep, thanks.....crossed off Haart from my list. 🙂

 

[Angle Poise-Lamp]

I guess some companies are an@l about projecting the right image, really hate that!
I am retiring shortly after 36 years in Local Government, I was actually thinking about part time work, Estate agency did cross my mind, yep, thanks.....crossed off Haart from my list. 🙂

Makes me wonder what they are like to work for, if you do get a job. She may have dodged a bullet…