The local car manufacturing industry is long dead, yet the taxes designed to protect it remain.

Government exists at the intersection of incompetence and greed...

Not everyone agreed with my assessment of responsibility in the previous episode. In this one I lay out the reasoning, using one of the more rational disagreements for counterpoints.

Decide for yourself who is right.

Is it fair to expect owners to foot the bill for an inherent design defect? This particular owner followed all the charging instructions, and lost 75 per cent of the car's cruising range over the first seven years of LEAF ownership - and now Nissan thinks it's a bargain expecting him to pay $5k for the repair.

A lot of 'free' roadside assistance policies are leveraged against getting your car serviced by the authorised dealer.

Find out how servicing affects roadside assistance, warranty and support.

Torque to yield is a type of threaded fastener that provides much more clamping force than a conventional high-tensile bolt. Unfortunately, once you undo them, you have to throw them away...

Engine oil consumption used to be the harbinger of death for your engine (in the olden days, shortly after the age of the dinosaurs but before Twitter).

This is no longer the case. Find out why.

Stock shortages are a plague imposed upon the market right now - thanks very much, COVID-19. Discounts are still out there, just don't expect to take delivery of that car of your dreams next week. There are currently extended delivery timeframes on many of my popular and recommended new models.

There is a small but significant (and increasing) epidemic of ute owners bending the chassis if their utes. Bananarama-fication. Yessssssssssssss!

Find out why, and how to avoid doing this.

If you don't get your car serviced at the authorised dealer, you might lose your 'free' roadside assistance. (Even if you got it serviced on time by an authorised mechanic.) This report is based on the recent real-life experience of an AutoExpert viewer who suffered a dead battery at the roadside, and found his roadside assistance had been cancelled.

Kia's roadside assist T&Cs: https://www.kia.com/au/owners/roadside-assist.html

Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contact

AutoExpert discount roadside assistance package: https://247roadservices.com.au/autoexpert/

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New Mazda engine tech in the Mazda3 and coming next month in the CX-30: Should you pay the big bucks and actually buy one? That's next...

AutoExpert discount roadside assistance (Australia-only): https://247roadservices.com.au/autoex...

Save thousands on any new car (Australia-only): https://autoexpert.com.au/contact

Did you like this report? You can help support the channel, securely via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=ERSJ6t2Vu2Xckrq370DlnWHQ4jZ-gV5RPAbzm_-qoVhE90nEHeEUy5UgqnwiJULxmhjiEG&country.x=AU&locale.x=AU