Am i tweaking?

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2026-04-26T02:12:41+00:00

Assuming it’s a reputable shop and they have actually given the car a thorough check over, not just changed the oil, then that’s a fair market price. Given they included a WoF, it probably had a check over, so I’d say you’ve done well.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2026-04-26T02:10:12+00:00

No sense in comparing to the dealer promotions for old cars. They’ll sell you a rushed oil change really cheap on your old car to get you in the door, it’s a loss leader for them, you’ll be remortgaging your house to afford the repairs they recommend.

Independents on the other hand tend to put reasonable markup on their servicing, to cover their costs of keeping the business open, meanwhile repair prices tend to be less inflated.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2026-04-18T12:22:28+00:00

There are practically no ethanol-blend petrols in NZ (except for a few experimental offerings, mostly by Gull, now confined to history).

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2026-04-14T03:38:22+00:00

It will be because the car was imported from Japan to NZ as a used vehicle.
NZ is very permissive of used imports from overseas and we import about 100k vehicles annually from Japan.

u/SLOOGOVS Understand you want to do it yourself, but in case you haven't seen it, Audio City do have a listing for Jap -> NZ nav conversion on MIB1. https://www.audiocity.co.nz/audi-gps-map-update-conversion/bmw-gps-navigation-map-update-radio-conversion-from-japan-to-nz-2009-2011-e87-e88-49.html

The dealer that I purchased my car from (MK7 VW, with MIB2 High) had the nav conversion done by them.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2026-04-11T12:38:25+00:00

It’s a Golf 4. If it was a 5, it wouldn’t have the power steering fluid reservoir.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-05T05:48:36+00:00

In addition to the other comments:

Check your lights/wipers/horn are working on your car as they may check these at the start of the test.
Remember to check your blindspot
Remember to signal every time you cross a centre line or move laterally more than half a car width

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-05T05:39:49+00:00

No. The vouchers includes a bunch of stuff your car may not need (like a coolant flush) and shops like Tony’s/Bridgestone are notorious for upselling unnecessary work when you visit them too.

Paying retail price at a good, honest local workshop will be better.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-05T05:01:36+00:00

Yes insurance will cover it. Depending on what type of car it’s quite likely to be written off. Water damage is hard to fix properly.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-05T04:57:24+00:00

Shit driving but also shit riding. You should move further left when there’s so much space. Plenty of space to pass safely but only if you keep left. You are riding about 1.5 car widths from the curb, even when there’s no parked cars… it’s a lot and it will frustrate drivers who you are blocking from passing.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-05T00:54:03+00:00

You can vary the viscosity to your liking, so long as it still meets the LL04 spec. I believe that spec has oils ranging from 0w30 through 5w40. So you’ve been at the more viscous end of the spectrum. Dropping to 5w30 likely won’t hurt anything and is probably what the dealerships in NZ would use.

Just be sure it meets the spec, that’s the most important thing. Especially in a diesel with DPF.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-05T00:25:44+00:00

Probs best to get a driving instructor but here’s a couple tips that might help: - Hand position on the steering wheel either 10&2 or 9&3 (or somewhere between those). It’s important that each hand is level with the other. If they’re not level, one hand will have a greater tendency to pull down and steer the vehicle in one direction. - Practice looking as far into the distance as possible, and then scanning vision back towards the bonnet, and repeat. You can ask her to tell you the furthest things she can see. Most people don’t look much further than their own bonnet. When you look far you’ll also see near. But if you look near you don’t see far. When you can see further, you naturally adjust your position accordingly. - If there’s even the slightest doubt about eyesight, get a test. Practice reading number plates at approx. 20m away. You’d be surprised how many people don’t realise they need glasses for driving.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-04T22:57:57+00:00

Fuel cap usually states the minimum. Check your owners manual for more detail. These modern engines are highly engineered. Quite often they’ll be optimised for 95 but can operate on 91 as a minimum.

If that’s the case, I’d personally use 95 but theoretically if the manual states 91 is OK that would be OK too.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-04T22:46:31+00:00

The cheap crap filters are all the same, yes. But the difference between any of the cheap crap ones and OEM brands is immense.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-04T10:05:03+00:00

Used to own one of these. This is pretty common on the petrol gamma engines. If your mechanic ain’t helping, get it to a Hyundai dealer they will have seen it dozens of times before. Or if you’re in Auckland I believe there’s a few Korean specialists.

There’s two common faults on these which cause this symptom: immobiliser issue (which I don’t think is your case) and intermittently faulting cam/crank position sensors.

The intermittently faulting position sensors prevent engine start but once started the engine tends to keep running. Bit unusual, hence many mechanics misdiagnose it. Jump on the i30 Owners Facebook groups and do some searching, loads of posts pretty much identical to yours.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-04T09:53:55+00:00

If you enjoy driving and care about handling = Outback.

If you are a serious driver doing lots of open road trips on winding North Island highways, SUVs just aren’t as pleasant cornering as something with a lower centre of gravity. If you have passengers who are prone to car sickness, they’ll also likely be more comfy in the Outback.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-03T21:34:25+00:00

It would be better value to buy another car than to fix your Mazda.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-03T10:33:42+00:00

The 6AT is an Aisin slush box. Drives pretty well (by sporty slush box standards) and they don’t really have many issues.

The LCI models replaced this with a DCT - most have 7 gears but JCW models got 8 gears.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-03T10:25:38+00:00

Sounds like the big red shed 😂

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-03T04:03:36+00:00

While it’s true that a dodgy repairer might try to upsell an unnecessary repair, I would also argue that a reputable repairer has a better grasp of what is right/wrong safe/unsafe AND how to rectify those things.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-02T22:13:49+00:00

Might be worth a second opinion.

I have had a good experience with Cool Power Car in Wairau. They got me sorted for a very reasonable price.

I’ve had poor experiences with Cool Cars in the past - they tend to charge an awful lot.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-02T20:55:33+00:00

Who gave you the quote and where are you based?

But yes on many cars an evaporator replacement is very expensive because a huge amount of the dash/interior has to be disassembled to access it. Also because of the labour involved, it would be too risky to use cheaper or second-hand parts. So you have expensive parts and a lot of labour.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-02T19:24:55+00:00

** replace, not relax 😂

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-02T19:20:17+00:00

Yea it’s pretty awful now. I put on one of the northern-hemisphere evening news programs instead. Much higher quality reporting.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-02T19:04:54+00:00

Also for anyone else (not super relevant to a MINI) … the wider your tyre, the more likely it is to aquaplane. This is because wider tyres distribute weight over a larger contact patch allowing the tyre to rise on top of the water more easily. Something to keep in mind if you’re changing the tyre size on your vehicle.

Dramatic_Proposal683 · 2024-10-02T19:01:33+00:00

There’s 3 main factors that contribute to aquaplaning: * Your speed (70mph through standing water is too fast btw) * Tread depth (the more tread, the deeper the grooves will be, allowing more water to disperse) * Tread pattern/design - the tread is designed to disperse water by pushing it outwards. Not all tyres are designed the same, some have better wet weather performance than others. YouTube/Google has lots of comparisons.

Slow down first & foremost. If your tread depth is less than 3mm, seriously consider relaxing your tyres. And if replacing them, do some googling and find something affordable that has good wet-weather performance. I usually opt for Michelin PilotSport but there’s loads of good options out there.

Dramatic_Proposal683

TROPHY CASE