Has Been

ScullyWhat is the difference between:
The car is fixed.

The car has been fixed.
There is no difference in meaning. The car doesn't have a problem now.

I agree with Canadian. In the first sentence fixed is adjectival in character, in the second sentence it's more clearly a verb. As English has only a handful of verb forms, they are often used in a variety of ways. You can read more about sentences like yours and

CB

Thanks for the input. It is confusing. How would you explain it to a non-native english speaker on which to use?

Scully How would you explain it to a non-native english speaker on which to use?

I can think of no other way to explain it than the explanation offered in the links provided. There are cases in which either tense is acceptable:

This extract is / has been taken from Ernest Hemingway's book "A Farewell to Arms".

Is taken un