Does using an air conditioner affect fuel consumption?

I have always understood that running the air conditioner causes an increase in fuel consumption. Last week, in very cold weather, I was taken for a demonstration drive in a new Toyota Avensis. The dealer...

Nissan Qashqai - Internal condensation

My wife has a three-year old Nissan Qashqai. There's lots of internal condensation, and that means having to wait a long time before driving off - whih is a waste of fuel. When starting up, the a/c is...

Do all the electrical accessories in modern cars increase fuel consumption?

There seems to be an ever-growing number of electrically-powered devices in cars: digital instruments, heaters, fans, air conditioners, ever more powerful sound systems, built-in TVs, flashing indicators,...

Faulty Renault Scenic air con.

I have been told by a garage that my air-conditioning unit in my Scenic 2006 needs replacing (ball bearings?). I could hear noise (Whining) and the garage checked and diagnosed a fault with air-conditioning....

Why is my Mercedes-Benz B-Class' faulty air conditioning condenser so expensive to replace?

I have been told by my local Mercedes-Benz garage that the air-conditioning unit in my 2010 B-Class doesn't work because the condenser was damaged by a stone thrown up from the road. The original repair...

Smelly air con

Recently the air con seems to have a stale water smell. I noted that you addressed this type of problem - what do I do?

I need a new company car for high mileage driving - what do you suggest?

I do about 25,000 miles a year and I need to replace my 250,000 miles V70, which will be very, very sad. I could go for a company car (a manual Insignia) but I don't really want to be in a car scheme....

Zafira with 1.4T vs 1.8i (And an air con query)

1) Is the 1.4T Zafira engine likely to be more troublesome than the Zafira 1.8i engine?.Can the 1.4T cope with the Welsh hills? Also- 2) My present W reg Vectra 1.8i with 90k miles seems to 'hunt' when...

Misrepresentation at Auction

I bought a car at auction today (BCA Manchester) - An Audi A3 2.0 TDI (140). The auction catalogue, web description and screen description all said air conditioning. Sadly the car is a far-from normal...

Vulnerable air-con on Vectra

I had a new air-con radiator installed on my 08 registered Vauxhall Vectra by a specialist Air-con workshop in Shropshire. When I questioned why the existing radiator had gone so quickly, the repairman...