Ask Us Anything

Hi, I am looking for a reasonably stylish and fun-to-drive car that is practical enough to carry a couple of sets of golf clubs. I only drive about 3,000 miles a year as I live in city centre and walk most places. I therefore was thinking a petrol model would be a wiser choice than diesel.

I am less worried about upfront cost and more about cost of ownership such as depreciation, servicing, maintenance etc. I don't mind spending more for quality, but value and reliability are important. I am therefore thinking a couple years old maximum.

Cars I have considered are a 2008/9 Mazda6 Sport five-door with the 1.8-litre petrol engine (tough to find) and a 2009 Audi A5 with the 2.0 TFSI engine. This probably shows that I have a pretty broad range of things I would consider and I would be open to something completely different. What are your thoughts?

Apologies as I know its a fairly broad question but I figure you guys need a challenge every now and again.

Thanks for the great site, there really is no equal in Ireland.

I have a three-year old MINI One with 37,000km on the clock and have just been told by the MINI dealer my catalytic converter needs to be replaced. They have quoted me 800 Euro (300 for the part and 500 for labour) to replace it. Should a car of this age and mileage need the part replaced and should it be this expensive?

My BMW's injectors inject fuel all the time. What can be the problem?

Hi, I have a '98 Peugeot 306 CC with a folding electric roof. I'm having a problem when closing the roof. It opens perfectly but when it's closing the back window won't open to let the boot part down: i.e. it isn't completing the closing sequence. Could this be an electrical problem? Can you help?

The alarm keeps going off for no apparent reason on my 2008 Mazda6. What could be the problem?

I got the head gasket done on my 02 Honda Civic 1.4 last September (2010) due to burst radiator. Now it's gone again after nine months. Would this indicate it was not fixed properly or just bad luck?

Regards, Tom

How do I change the front bumper on a 2001 Renault Mégane Fidji?

Hi,

I have a 2004 1.6-litre Skoda Octavia. At idle the car chugs as if it is about to cut out and sometimes acceleration fluctuates. What do you think it is?

Thank you

How do I change the oil and filter on my 2007 Volkswagen Passat TDI? I've changed the oil on my previous (1999) Passat, but the 2007 version is different - and how often should I change it?

Thank you

How do I remove the fuel lines from the fuel filter on a Renault Laguna 3 1.5 dCi?