Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2025 i Car Mechanics

While many readers appreciate the serious mechanical destruction that tends to result, should the crank and camshafts become disconnected suddenly, we are hearing of an increasing number of timing chain failures. How can this be? Surely, they should last virtually forever – or, at least, that was the promise. Back to the future Even in the black-and-white days of side-valve engines, timing chains were the main means of synchronising the crankshaft and camshaft, a methodology that continued, when overhead valve (OHV) engines gained popularity from the 1950s. As the camshafts were situated within the crankcase on these engines, chain lengths were relatively short. When overhead camshaft (OHC) engines saw the camshaft relocated from the engine block and into the cylinder-head, the chains became far longer. Keeping it tensioned and less…

While modern timing chains tend not to last the life of the engine, at least they tend to give some warning of impending failure, unlike timing belts. Noise is the main clue, especially a rattling sound. Accessing the EOBD socket with a diagnostic sensor might reveal a cam/crank correlation issue, which may point to a timing chain elongation situation, or a lack of adequate tensioning. The resultant code may indicate a cam/crank synchronisation problem, such as P0016. A lack of accurate inlet and exhaust valve timing is likely to trigger other fault codes, because, invariably, the result will be increased exhaust emissions. When the engine is dismantled, typical clues involve tensioners that are extended fully, an obviously slack chain, grooves worn into the rails and damaged sprockets. When replacing a…

Driving enjoyment probably isn’t a factor in many family crossover purchases, but Ford’s engineers decided to imbue the Kuga with a bit of verve anyway, and it helps the car stand out in an incredibly busy market – whether new or used. It applies just as much to the second-generation Kuga we’re covering here (made from 2012 to 2019) as it did to the 2008 original – though sadly the growling Volvo-sourced 2.5-litre turbocharged inline five didn’t make the jump… Instead, you’ll find a predictable range of turbo fours (between 1.5 and 2.5 litres) and a pair of diesels, 1.5- and 2.0-litre in capacity. Many are front-wheel-drive, but Ford offered all-wheeldrive on the 1.6 and 2.0 petrols, and some 2.0 diesels. Manual, automatic, and dual-clutch autoboxes were also available. The…

It’s not a pretty car, the fourth-generation Kia Sportage sold between 2015 and 2021, but that didn’t stop UK buyers snapping up this family SUV in their droves – the Sportage has been a regular feature in top-ten best-seller lists for several years, perfectly matching the practicality, comfort, price and running cost demands of buyers. Kia’s rapid model churn (with models typically only sticking around five or six years) and the even faster two or three-year cycle of UK car-buying means that while the earliest fourth-gen Sportages are only a decade old, pricing starts at under £5000, though you can expect a few scuffs and scrapes for that cash. At the other end of our budget scale, £15k gets 2020 cars with as little as 30,000 miles and contemporary levels…

Another global best-seller like the Honda CR-V, the Toyota RAV4 has a similarly enviable reputation for unburstability. The original laid the foundations for today’s roads being awash with vehicles that look like off-roaders but are better suited to pavement, though with four-wheel-drive and decent ground clearance it was a lot more capable, and drove well enough on regular roads that magazines pitched it against contemporary hot hatchbacks. Today’s fifth-generation beast is bigger and more sophisticated, but for our £15k budget your greatest choice comes from the 2012-2018 fourth-gen car, which is notable for being the first RAV4 generation to offer hybrid power – as well as regular petrol and diesel variants in the UK. Opt for the hybrid and you’re looking towards the upper end of our budget, and for…

For how popular the Ford Focus Estate is on the used market, it’s baffling that Ford is ditching regular cars like the Focus from its lineup – but then the same could be said of the Fiesta; Ford of Europe just struggles to make money from normal cars, it seems. The Focus Estate is very normal indeed, but we don’t mean that as a criticism – it’s simply a car that happens to do everyday, regular things very well. We’re primarily looking at the fourth-generation Focus here, the estate debuting alongside the five-door hatchback in 2018. These cars are already abundant from around £8000 (mixed in with some of the best third-generation cars, with the hot ST versions of that model also starting around here) with a relatively large choice…

It might not have the ‘old money’ image of the classic S123 and S124 generation Mercedes estates, but the Mercedes C-Class Estate still has a classy image. Mercedes hasn’t forgotten about plain and simple practicality over the years either, as the S205 C-Class Estate launched in 2014 has 490 litres of boot space, on a par with its F31 3-Series Touring and B9-generation Audi A4 Avant contemporaries – with over 1500 litres of space when the rear seats are folded. The fourth-generation C-Class was well-received when new. It was another step in the right direction in terms of quality, after the brand’s late 1990s mis-steps, and even a decade on from launch a C-Class Estate should feel like it has plenty of life left in it. That perception doesn’t always…

We’re covering the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports here on the basis that it’s one of few estates in this guide available with hybrid power. Among used estates under £15,000, petrol and diesel are pretty easy to find, but while hybrid tech has become increasingly popular in the new market, it’s still limited to only a handful of models when you’re on a lower budget. £15k will get you a Corolla Touring Sports as late as 2020 or 2021, using either Toyota’s 1.8-litre or 2.0-litre four-cylinder hybrid drivetrain, while prices start at around £10,000. You can however go cheaper and still get a hybrid Toyota wagon, since prior to the Corolla Estate, Toyota offered the Auris Touring Sports from 2013, with many of the same qualities, and prices from around £5000.…

This isn’t the retro-futuristic Ioniq 5, nor the 1930s streamliner-inspired Ioniq 6. The original Hyundai Ioniq, with no numerical suffix, is more recognisable as a Prius-style hybrid beloved of minicab drivers, but the Ioniq line was launched simultaneously as a plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicle too, and made its debut in 2016. It was a car with the typical good sense we’ve come to expect from Hyundai. It was adequately powerful, better to drive than a Nissan LEAF, more affordable than an e-Golf, and offered an NEDC range of 174 miles, which was pretty impressive at a time when many EVs struggled to return 100 miles. A sport mode gave the Ioniq some pep in day-to-day driving and was matched by neat handling (despite the torsion beam axle at…

MINI first dabbled with electric power in 2010 with the two-seat, R56-based MINI E, enjoyed on lease only by 40 UK owners before being requisitioned by the company. You won’t find any of those for sale, but the market is awash with its successor, based on the F56 platform, which arrived in 2020 and went off sale in 2024 when it was replaced by the latest car. Like all EVs of the last few years, it’s depreciated like milk in Death Valley. What was once a £30,000 car just a few years ago can now be picked up for under £10k for one that hasn’t run into something, and with a real-world range of around 100 miles (140 miles officially), none have achieved particularly high miles so should still look…

Smart has abandoned tiny city cars in favour of churning out the same compact and mid-size SUVs as every other manufacturer – which makes you wonder what the 100,000-or-so people who used to buy Smart Fortwos each year are buying instead, with no tiny city car to replace it (no, the Citroën Ami doesn’t count). That was the figure before Smart went all-electric in 2019, anyway, when the ‘453’ generation Fortwo and Forfour, the cars developed in conjunction with Renault and the Twingo, ditched petrol power for electric power and EQ branding. Both are of limited use outside of the city, with Smart quoting range of only 70 miles for both Fortwo and Forfour, but in town it’s still difficult to think of a car better suited to narrow, crowded…

The Citroën Dispatch forms the basis of what feels like half the vans on the market. Launched in 2016, it isn’t just shared with fellow Stellantis partners Peugeot (as the Expert), Fiat (the Scudo, since 2022) and from 2019-on, Opel and Vauxhall as the Vivaro, but also Toyota, whose Proace is a Dispatch under the skin. That’s before you even get to all the passenger-van variants, too. It’s the classic Ford Transit rival, or Transit Custom as it is today – a medium panel van offered in a series of body and wheelbase lengths, a six-seat crew van option, a one to 1.4-tonne payload depending on the engine and variant, and room for a couple of Euro pallets even in the ‘XS’ short-wheelbase version. Length-wise you’re looking at around 4.6…

If you want to know what the 2019-on Vauxhall Vivaro is like, simply flip back a few pages and read about the Citroën Dispatch, because since General Motors’ ailing European brands Vauxhall and Opel were absorbed into the Stellantis group alongside Peugeot, Citroën and others, the Vivaro suddenly became a Citroën. Prior to this the Vivaro was also French – the company designing it was just Renault instead. It was sold alongside the Renault Trafic for two generations, with the second-gen model we’re covering here on sale between 2014 and 2018. Despite this relatively short run by van standards, the Vivaro’s popularity means it was, and still is, a common sight on the roads, and it’s possible to find these vans anywhere upwards of £3000 for one in relatively tidy,…

Stereo radio/cassette player Possibly with the summer in full swing, what better than having music coming out of a then state-of-the-art stereo radio/cassette player, as back then radios were not standard fittings but something you bought and installed yourself. One such feature packed model was the Amstrad 9050 from AMS Trading of Ridley Road, Dalston, London, that retailed around eighty pounds. The radio also had an auto-reverse cassette player that when one side of the twin-sided tape had finished playing, it then played the other side–a true innovation! Car theft protection offered in various forms Car, or vehicle security, was predominant back then, with Waso Security Systems Ltd., Whiteway Road, Queenborough, Kent, having a half-page advert in assorted motoring-related magazines of the day extolling the ventures of their assorted range…

THE CHAIN Many people describe timing chain wear as ‘stretch’ but this is an inaccurate term. As its pins and bushes wear, the chain elongates. As it does so, the camshaft and crankshaft synchronisation becomes less accurate, which can trigger a fascia engine management warning lamp. SPROCKETS While sprockets might appear to be simple components, a considerable amount of engineering goes into them, especially those with double-sided hubs. The engine designer also decides on the optimum tooth pitch for optimum strength and longevity. The materials used are chosen carefully to maximise strength and minimise weight. To reduce CO2 output and decrease noise, vibration and harshness, they can possess rubber coatings. Sprockets tend to be fixed to the relevant shaft by either a keyway that locks it to a fixed position,…

As with every other stressed and safety-critical component, you must insist on OE quality from whomever you buy parts. This means that the parts must be of the same quality, at least, to those installed at the car factory. Be wary of counterfeit parts, too, which tend to be more prolific on online marketplaces. The German bilstein group’s brand, febi, provides almost 300 timing chain kits, covering 97% of European and Asian brands. The firm insists on OE quality and highlights not only its relationship with companies that supply the car manufacturers but also its production site in Ennepetal. Its in-house quality management system includes all of its chains complying with ISO9002 and febi developing a test bench on which all of its hydraulic chain tensioners are tested. As with…

It took Audi a full five years to follow its rival BMW into the compact luxury SUV market, the Q5 only arriving in 2008 after BMW had launched the X3 in 2003. But better late than never as they say, and the Q5 certainly wasn’t a half measure – it encapsulates all of Audi’s qualities into one of the most popular form factors on today’s roads and is a used bargain too. You can spend as little as £2500 on an early Q5, while the very latest and best first-generation models can top our £15,000 budget – with enormous choice in between, along with a smattering of the second-gen 2016-on cars. You just have to bear in mind that, as with several other cars in our station wagon category, some…

As one of the world’s best-selling cars, Honda must be doing something right with the CR-V. The original CR-V arrived in 1995 as competition for the Toyota RAV4 and the pair have been duking it out ever since – and like its rival, the CR-V is about as dependable as used cars get. Take the fourth-generation car, which arrived in the UK in 2012, was facelifted in 2015, and was succeeded in 2017 by the fifth-gen model. During its time on sale, it was a familiar face towards the top of reliability and customer satisfaction surveys, and even the earliest cars are a long way from their twilight years today. The petrol and diesel engines are about as problem-free as you’re likely to find in this class, though clutches can…

Lexus upended the luxury car market with the LS400 back in 1989. It didn’t quite do the same to the SUV class with the first-generation RX in 1998, though the upscale Japanese brand already had a handle on comfort, build quality, and longevity – and those are all qualities you get from the third-generation RX sold in the UK between 2009 and 2015, and available between around £5000 and £15,000 today. UK buyers were offered the third-gen RX in just one form, the RX 450h. This used a 3.5-litre petrol V6 paired with the brand’s familiar hybrid system, albeit one augmented by a rear-mounted motor for part-time all-wheel-drive. The quoted power, albeit not the figure you get if you simply add everything together, was 294bhp – a decent figure for…

VW might not always be first into a new market segment, but it doesn’t often miss when it’s there. The Tiguan is a case in point: arriving in 2007 it was a mile behind the likes of the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V, but it sold like hot bratwurst anyway, and the used market is awash with the things – first generation models alone, the one we’re focusing on here, start from under £2000 and max out near our £15k ceiling. Naturally, the kind of car you’re getting varies a bit between those two extremes, though handsome, understated styling and a spacious and logical cabin layout are unchanged whatever your budget. You might be surprised how well early models are coping with their advancing years in fact, at least visually…

It took Jaguar until 2004 to create an estate car, with the X-TYPE Estate, and it has only offered two since, based on each generation of the Jaguar XF. Called the XF Sportbrake, it’s a classy alternative to a BMW 5-Series Touring or Mercedes E-Class Estate, and within our budget you’ll find a mix of both generations, the pre-2015 ‘X250’ and the 2015-on ‘X260’. The Sportbrake debuted in 2012, with a range of four- and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines – plus belligerent XFR and XFR-S versions powered by a 5.0-litre supercharged V8, though you’ll struggle to find one of those for under £15,000. The X260 meanwhile is a little more down-to-earth, being four-cylinder almost across the range (under JLR’s Ingenium branding) – though strike it lucky and you may…

Why does the Peugeot 308 SW seem to have flown under the radar? Perhaps it’s the styling, which is handsome but somewhat understated, especially compared to Peugeot’s current range with their tiger-claw headlights and tail lights, intricate grilles, and complex panelwork. Indeed, 2021-on 308s have adopted some of those touches and look a little busier than the 2013-2020 models as a result. Likewise, modern Peugeot interiors are a whole different world from this car’s cabin, though the 308’s interior is one thing you might take a little while to get used to even so. It adopts the brand’s ‘i-Cockpit’ layout, which basically means high-set dials and a small, low-set steering wheel – an arrangement some drivers find can block their view of the dials. Another detail you’ll have to get…

The Astra Estate – or Sports Tourer, to use its official name – is a classic workhorse estate. Driving excitement and visual frippery are both in short supply, but for straightforward usability, comfort, and high standards of build quality, the Astra scores highly. For sub-£15k, we’re looking at the Sports Tourer variant of the Astra ‘K’, launched in 2015 and replaced by a Peugeot 308-based model in 2021 following Stellantis ownership of the Vauxhall marque. You may find one or two of these later Astras in our budget but there’s far greater choice of the earlier car, with a mix of models including 1.2 and 1.4-litre turbocharged petrols, and 1.5 and 1.6 turbodiesels. Reliability-wise, all fall under the banner of ‘unlikely to leave you stranded, but might throw up annoying…

Grace, space and pace? The Jaguar I-PACE definitely has the latter pair, and while it might not be as graceful as an XK120 or Series 1 XJ, Jaguar’s electric crossover, styled under the guidance of Ian Callum, is still a fresh shape on today’s roads, despite it first emerging in 2018. In the right colour and on the right wheels, you could even call it quite desirable. It was also quite bold by Callum and Jaguar to abandon the brand’s traditional long-nose proportions, but the shape did a pretty good job of hiding the extra height required to sling a hefty 90kWh battery pack underneath. It’s not even really an SUV – at 1565mm tall, it’s lower than a Nissan Qashqai. The chunky battery gave the I-PACE a 292-mile WLTP…

The Nissan LEAF wasn’t the first proper electric car effort from an established volume carmaker – the Mitsubishi i-MiEV slightly beat it to market – but it was perhaps the first that might realistically replace a family’s main mode of transport, thanks to its relatively conventional Golf-sized body and class-typical performance, and a 107bhp motor powering the front wheels. Today, it’s absurdly cheap, and perhaps the ideal starting point if you’re wishing to dabble in the mechanical aspects of EVs. Early cars start at under £2000, while our £15,000 budget is enough to get you into a late second-generation (2017-on) model. So it really depends on what you want. The second-gen LEAF is more usable as daily transport, with WLTP range of up to 170 miles from its 62kWh battery…

The best big-car bang per buck used to be something like a BMW 5-Series or Mercedes E-Class with a big diesel engine, but these days, it’s arguably a Tesla Model S. For Tesla’s first attempt at a serious production car entirely of its own design (i.e. not heavily Lotus-based like the Roadster) it was a seriously impressive, game-changing effort, and today they’re available from little more than £10,000. That sum gets you a car from the first few years of UK allocation after its introduction in 2013, typically in 70D form (a 70kWh battery for 275 miles of range, and dual motors for 324bhp combined). Pre-2017 cars are most easily identifiable by a more traditional (albeit blanked-off) front grille design; later models got a flatter front with a slim T-shaped…

Ford called it the ‘Backbone of Britain’ in an old marketing campaign, to the public it’s the default ‘white van man’ van, and its owners make it not just one of Britain’s most popular vans, but one of its most popular vehicles full stop – in 2024 Ford delivered nearly 47,000 Transit Customs, behind only the 48,000-strong Ford Puma and the Kia Sportage at just over 47k in the sales charts. You can still get a larger van badged simply Transit, aimed at the likes of the Mercedes Sprinter and Renault Master, but since 2012 the Transit Custom nameplate has referred to the big-selling medium-sized model that can trace its history back to 1965. It slots in below the Transit, and above the Volkswagen-based Transit Connect, and Fiesta-based Transit Courier.…

What the Mercedes Sprinter is in the realm of big vans, the Volkswagen Transporter is for medium-sized panel vans: simply the most desirable model around. VW can point you towards the heritage of its Transporter name and its lineup of panel vans in general, which stretches all the way back to the Volkswagen Type 2 of the late 1940s, and while the electric ID Buzz is now the vehicle VW uses to pull on those heartstrings, it’s the Transporter that’s the real hard-working tribute to the original. The very latest Transporter is known as the T7, representing the model’s seventh significant iteration. But the Transporter’s popularity means you have to look to an older model to slip below our £15,000 budget – and things are complicated somewhat by the fact…

Tracing and fixing faults in electronic engine management systems It’s always dangerous to tempt fate by claiming you are confident a car is fixed, especially one that is a quarter of a century old, such as the Volkswagen Beetle seen here. In the last issue of CM, we fitted a spacer to the post-cat oxygen sensor, replaced a collapsed vacuum hose and tested the EVAP system, but the EML kept reappearing on the dashboard. Armed with all our findings, we wondered whether the efficiency of the pre-cat oxygen sensor was dubious and the cause of the EML illuminating. We’d noticed that fault code P0134 had been logged, which is described as no activity for the oxygen sensor circuit (Bank 1, sensor 1). Had the wiring to it broken down or…

BMW’s X5 wasn’t the first premium SUV – the Mercedes ML beat the original X5 by a few years, and Range Rover by decades – but since its 1999 launch, it’s been considered one of the best. BMW built on the original car’s talents in 2006 when it released the second-generation X5, known in BMW circles as the E70. The visual similarity was clear but the E70 grew in nearly all dimensions compared to its E53 predecessor and naturally became a little more sophisticated too. The rarely chosen manual gearbox was dropped, all engines were revised or replaced (the 4.8-litre N62 V8 and 3.0-litre M57 turbodiesel inline six stuck around, at least initially), and tech like active anti-roll and a head-up display was available, depending on the model. You may…

Big SUVs are the US car industry’s bread and butter, and few have a longer history than those wearing the Grand Cherokee badge. There have been five generations since the original debuted in 1993, with fourth-gen cars currently filling out the middle of the used market, priced from around £6000 and up. Like its predecessor, the majority of UK Grand Cherokees are powered by a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 diesel from VM Motori – an engine actually related to the one you’ll find in the 2013-on Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte and the 2016-on Levante – though it’s fair to say the Grand Cherokee is quite different from those in other respects. The 247bhp unit is brawny though and the Jeep’s torque, size, weight, and stability make it a great tow vehicle,…

What was peak Range Rover? Ask that question of enthusiasts of the marque, and there’s a solid chance the L322 Rangie would come up – the model developed under BMW ownership and sold from 2001 to 2012. Like other British cars developed under BMW’s financial wing, from the R50 MINI to the Rolls-Royce Phantom VII, Land Rover’s designers and engineers really understood the assignment when working on the L322. For style, sense of occasion, and driveability, it’s still difficult to beat. The car’s long life means there were several changes along the way, the early 4.4-litre BMW V8 being replaced by a Jaguar 4.4-litre V8 in 2005, the 2.9-litre inline six diesel likewise making way for Ford diesel engines from 2007, and reasonably hefty facelifts in 2006 and 2010. Which…

The baton has passed from the E61 generation BMW 5-Series Touring to the F11 as the smart wagon of choice, and in more ways than one. While the E61’s styling arguably looks better today than it did when new, the F11’s more subtle lines are ageing particularly well, almost looking like more of an evolution of the old E39. There’s plenty more to recommend the F11 too though. Being an estate, boot size is obviously important, and the F11’s luggage space grew to 560 litres, up from 500 litres in the E61. Interior quality improved too – and again, the dashboard design is a little more straightforward than that of its more experimental predecessor. Engine choice is vast: petrols range from a 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four (the 520i) to the…

Before looking at a third-generation Kia Ceed Sportswagon, ask yourself how much space you actually need in your estate. 31 litres of capacity and a slightly more generous boot aperture are all that separate the Sportswagon from the more stylish Kia Proceed of the same generation. Kia called the latter a shooting brake, but the more rakish roof doesn’t do much to impede upon practicality. So while we’re covering the Sportswagon here, most of this will also apply to the Proceed if you’re so inclined. The Proceed misses out on the smallest 1.0-litre T-GDi and adds a 201bhp 1.6 T-GDi petrol, befitting its sportier billing, but otherwise both get 1.4-litre and 1.5-litre (from 2021-on) four-cylinder petrols, and a 1.6-litre CRDi turbodiesel, while some later petrols have mild-hybrid assistance. Trim lines…

For practicality, utility, comfort and dependability, the Skoda Octavia Estate is difficult to beat at its price point. From its very first generation the Octavia has punched well above its weight, typically offering greater space than others for similar money, and that continues right up to the current model. You can find examples of the latest 2019-on car for our budget (they start from around £10k), but the widest choice is of the previous third-generation car, sold from 2012-2019. 2017-on facelift cars are easily identifiable by their four-headlight look, but there’s not much to choose between cars built before or after this date otherwise. Skoda offered a wide range of engines in the model. The sensible money is on one of the many 2.0 TDI variants, which pair useful performance…

You’ll find a mix of Volvo V60s below our £15,000 budget. From around £10,000, you’ll be looking mostly at devilishly handsome post-2018 car, while a little above £10k but mostly below is the first-generation 2010-2018 model. Smart-looking though the later version is, the earlier car is possibly the more interesting – not just for its more accessible pricing, but also its more compact proportions, novel interior design, and its much broader engine choice: it came with four, five, and six-cylinder petrol engines, four and five-cylinder diesels, and plug-in hybrids with an electrically-powered rear axle. Unfortunately, you won’t find the petrol six within budget, as it was limited to the high-performance Polestar. But the inline-fives feel like a real novelty today, for their sound and smoother delivery than the equivalent four-cylinder…

Just £6000 is the starting point for one of the most distinctive electric cars on the road, and also one of BMW’s boldest cars this century. While 250,000 cars sold between 2013 and 2022 is hardly a failure, the i3 is another example of the market not being quite ready for a car – just as it wasn’t with the i3’s spiritual predecessor, the Audi A2, when that arrived in 2000. It’s fair to say that the i3’s appeal was limited for the same reasons as most early electric cars: it was expensive, and its range was a real limitation to customers more familiar with petrol, diesel and hybrid cars that could take you hundreds of miles on a fill-up. In its original 2013-2016 form maximum range is 120 miles.…

Here’s one you might have forgotten existed. Before it dived headlong into electric cars with the EQ models, it launched the B250e in the UK in 2015, an all-electric version of the B-Class mini-MPV with a 28kWh battery pack, a 177bhp electric motor powering the front wheels (co-developed with Tesla), and few other telltale signs that it was powered by electricity. In some ways, that’s a very good thing. If you’re not keen on the idea of ‘car as computer’ then the B250e’s entirely conventional cabin, which even has regular dials and needles in the instrument cluster, will be welcome. Its claimed 142 miles (make that around 100 in real-world driving) should still be enough for local use, especially if you knock the car into its 131bhp Economy or 87bhp…

Like the Nissan LEAF, the Renault Zoe was another early mainstream entrant into the electric car market, and benefitted from having very little competition in the electric supermini space – quickly becoming one of Europe’s best-selling EVs. And as with the larger LEAF, it’s among the cheapest EVs you can buy used, with prices for running cars starting well under £3000. It stayed in production until 2024, and even the very latest cars dip under our £15,000 budget. Once again in common with the Nissan LEAF, this gives you plenty of choice depending on your circumstances: pick a late model with the 52kWh battery pack and 239-mile WLTP range (only just shy of the modern Renault 5 E-Tech) if you want an EV to hop into and go, or an…

The Mk7 Volkswagen Golf is seen as something of a high watermark for the nameplate. It looks good, drives well, and offered myriad variants – one of which was an all-electric model, called the e-Golf. And while it has the same limitations as other relatively early EV ventures, it’s also just as good as any other Mk7 Golf. The e-Golf launched in 2014, just two years after the Mk7 itself, with a 24kWh battery pack delivering 118 miles of NEDC range in ideal conditions. Come 2017, the battery expanded to nearly 36kWh of capacity, a full 50% bigger, and with it came a 190-mile NEDC range, reasonably competitive for a car of its size at the time. These later cars are quicker too, courtesy of a 134bhp electric motor, rather…

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is the king of the panel vans. Offered in a truly bewildering array of variants once you factor in chassis cab versions (we’ll be mostly ignoring the Luton vans, dropsides, tippers, and bus conversions here, but rest assured they exist) it has a reputation for longevity, mechanically at least, as well as safety, driveability and technology. Throw in the three-pointed star on the grille, which seems to have just as much prestige in the commercial vehicle sector as it does for passenger cars, and the Sprinter is the complete package. This second-generation version spanned 2006 until 2019. Like most vans that’s a long lifecycle, but even as it was being replaced, the Sprinter remained competitive, aided by updates in 2013 including fresher styling and an updated engine…

Whether you are a technically-interested driver, a keen DIYer, or a professional technician, it is not unreasonable to presume that you are in contact with at least one garage. This being the case, you might think that things have never been better. With so many owners holding onto their cars for longer, many independent workshops are booking customers weeks in advance and, in some cases, turning work away. It is an enviable situation – or so it would seem. Not so rosy? Yet, there are problems. The latest cars, especially, are becoming harder to repair both literally and figuratively. While high-voltage and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) require special training and equipment, even relatively mundane work includes the need to access data from car manufacturer portals, which can be considerably…

AUTO ELECTRICS SEPTEMBER 2025 issue out AUGUST 15th ▸ Evolution of auto electrics explained ▸ The relevance of electrical theory to real-world diagnostics ▸ How networking faults can stop cars from running ▸ Simple repair secrets that save money ▸ Real world examples demonstrated ▸ Evaluating the point at which a DIYer needs assistance Peugeot 2008 REAR BRAKES (Pt2) • BUYING A MINI COUPE & ROADSTER • NISSAN MICRA 1.0 DIAGNOSTICS • THE BIG EV DEBATE • FITTING A TOWBAR GUIDELINES PART 1 of 3 BMW 3-Series Compact PROJECT…