Your questions answered: could the GWM Tank be my next car?

In this edition of Your Questions Answered, we help a new car buyer who’s back in the market after 20 years, and we explain the science of charging an EV’s battery.

We also debate the rights and wrongs of charging for a warranty assessment and find out just how old is too old to be a car tyre.

Got an automotive question but you don’t know where to find the information you need? Never fear, email us here at editor@carsales.com.au.

Question: I've been searching for the right car but it sure is tricky. For me I had the perfect car, a Toyota RAV4 3dr, 2.0L for 20 years and now need a new love.

My RAV4 is zippy, sits high, is square and has lots of glass to see out, it's easy to drive, parks into little spaces and inexpensive to fix. But Toyota doesn't make them anymore.

Answer: Hey Anna, thanks for the brilliant question. You are obviously someone who builds a relationship with their car, which we absolutely love here.

It's such a shame our favourites need to cross the girder bridge to the recycling farm, isn't it?

Cars have definitely changed since your little RAV4 came out - and it was arguably the car that started the crossover revolution.

Toyota does offer the Yaris Cross, which dimensionally speaking is only a little bigger... but it could be argued it is a bit devoid of charm and warmth.

There's also the C-HR, but it too has grown in stature in its second generation.

Your observations about the venerable Jimny are spot on... and what we could deal with in our younger days in the interests of being cool are probably different now!

The GWM Tank 300 has a lot of fans already, with more than 5000 sold here in Australia since its launch in 2023.

Long warranty, good reviews and a decent dealer network are also positives.

It certainly ticks the 'nice, interesting, unusual' box that you're obviously keen on, too... the only thing I'd suggest is that it's a fair bit bigger than your old RAV4.

In fact, it's the best part of a tonne heaver, a half-metre longer, 22cm taller and 20cm wider.

It will definitely offer a more upright driving position, and the petrol motor is a great choice for around town.

My advice is to always try before you buy, and drive it for as long as you're able to inform your choice.

Best of luck with finding your next car buddy!

Question:

Answer: Hi Graeme, great question. Yes, your maths is correct; thinking of a battery in the same way you think of a fuel tank is also the right idea.

The distance question is reasonably similar; electric vehicles are judged on their efficiency just as petrol and diesel-powered cars are.

Let's take a top-line look at the Kia EV3 Long Range, which has an 80kWh battery. It's rated to use 14.9kWh per 100km, which gives a theoretical range of around 600km on a single full charge.

The variable here is the economy figure. EVs are most economical at lower speeds, where air resistance is less of a factor. High speeds need more motor effort to push it through the air, hence worse economy.

And just like a petrol or diesel car, economy also comes down to how heavy your right foot is.

However, many EVs have what's colloquially known as one-pedal driving, or regenerative braking.

When you take your foot off the accelerator, the car's motor reverses polarity and provides resistance to slow the car, also putting a small amount of charge back into your battery - and improving its economy.

The price of a kilowatt-hour of electricity is a whole other ball of wax... your example of 73c per hour is at the top of the scale, and the price you might pay at peak times at a charging station.

If you can charge at home, that cost falls way down to below 20c in a lot of cases - and if you have a solar array, it falls to zero on a sunny day.

Hope that gives you a bit of an insight!

Question: Someone told me that tyres can actually expire. Is this true? I have a 2011 Hyundai i30 with 15,000km on the clock that I inherited from a grandparent and I'm not even sure if the tyres have ever been changed. They look like they have lots of tread left. - Larissa

Answer: Hey Larissa, that someone is 100 percent correct.

A tyre has a stamp on it from the factory that indicates its age. The first two numbers in the four-number sequence indicate the number of the week, and the second two are the last two numerals of the year.

So a '2820' figure indicates the tyre was made in week 28 (July) of 2020.

How old is too old for a tyre? If the tyres are ten-years old, they should be replaced, regardless of the amount of tread (or tread depth). This goes for your spare tyre, too.

Without getting too into the nitty-gritty of it all, the rubber compound hardens and dries out over time and exposure to the elements, which can affect the way it bonds to the steel and rubber belts under the tread. It can even crack and peel away from those belts.

So, while your tyres may look fine on the outside - and a quick coat of tyre shine can hide a lot of ills - their performance on road will not be what it was.

Sounds like your tyres are definitely worth a date check, given how few kilometres the car has travelled. It might feel like a waste, but it's absolutely not worth the risk of running an old, hardened tyre that might delaminate at the worst possible time.

Question:

After several attempts to get in touch with the dealer I bought the car from, I eventually received a cursory note from them, suggesting there was "outside factors" involved and that I would potentially have to pay a $195 fee to have it inspected.

Is this common practice? Forgive my French but this seems like a whole pile of BS to me. And it certainly doesn't make me want to return to that dealer to upgrade my car.

Oh, the part ended up costing me $105 through another Skoda dealer and I fitted it myself for free! - Peter

Answer: Hi Peter, glad you got it sorted out, we're big fans of the Octavia in here. The sticky issue of a dealer charging a warranty inspection fee raises its head from time to time, and it seems to be pretty arbitrary across the retailer landscape.

There is certainly no mandate from a factory or importer point of view that a customer should be charged a fee to assess a potential warranty claim; it's down to the dealer.

There's an argument that the fee is to discourage nuisance claims that can potentially clog up a workshop's calendar, and in some cases it's indicated that the fee will be waived if the warranty claim is proved... but personally I don't buy that.

In my experience, I've seen it levied (or at least attempted) in Toyota and Volkswagen dealerships - but I would bet my last dollar that a Lexus dealer, for example, would rather be burned at the stake than inconvenience their customers in that way.

My advice would be to argue it out at the dealer level if the subject of a fee is raised. If it's a genuine warranty issue that is covered by the policy and all conditions are met, a customer shouldn't pay one red cent towards the cost of rectification. Doesn't matter if it's a toaster, a car or an aeroplane; a warranty is a warranty.

Anyway, if a dealer is genuine about building a relationship with its customer, then surely replacing a $105 piece of trim in good faith goes a long way towards cementing it.

Got an automotive question but you don’t know where to find the information you need? Never fear, email us here at editor@carsales.com.au.

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