Expert answer

SIMI are the Society of the Irish Motor Industry and as such, buying from one of its members is the closest you can get to total security when buying a used car. Of course there are no guarantees when buying a used car but at least here you are getting a car that has gone through a thorough car history check, and the dealers also have signed up to SIMIs code of conduct so they are answerable to a higher power. 

A spokesperson for SIMI outlined some of the benefits of buying from a SIMI dealer. "SIMI have high membership standards. To become a member of SIMI the garage must pass an audit and inspection. The dealer must submit among other documentation a tax clearance certificate, proof of planning permission, and be nominated by 3 existing members. Should a dispute arise we have a standards department that will investigate the consumers complaint. The first step is mediation between the customer and the garage. If that does not resolve the issue we have an independent tribunal that is headed up by a former rights commissioner and also a consumer group. The tribunal decision is binding on the SIMI garage."

Cars from SIMI dealers tend to be better, but this is not to say that there are not good independent dealers who choose not to become members of the SIMI and pay their fees. There are good independent car history check websites around such as Cartell.ie and Motorcheck.ie and for a fee there are several layers of check you can do on these cars. So, no, we wouldn't say to avoid non-SIMI dealers, but SIMI dealers do come with some security as-standard. 

If you want to come back to us with an idea of your budget and needs, feel free and we will guide you a litte bit more.

Expert answer

Hi Alan

The scrappage scheme has been good news and as you might have seen today SIMI is calling for an extension of this. Unless this happens, there would be no point in you getting a new car at the end of the year under scrappage because the €1,500 that you would get off this in the case of something like an Insignia would not be as much as you could lose eventually by buying a car later in the year. 

Sure enough, you could buy the Laguna and get €3,000 off. It isn't an awful car, but there really isn't anything remarkable about it and I personally wouldn't spend over €20,000 on one. I actually think the Renault Fluence is a better buy than the Laguna and it costs much less. It is a fine big car and really well equipped. 

However, with your budget we could do a whole lot better. Supposing that you get at least €1,000 for your Corsa, then you still have a generous budget. There is always the temptation to look at the German cars and as long as you realise that these can get pricey to service and run as they get older, they can be a great buy. 

You have a staggering amount of choice. For sheer ease of ownership I have noticed that Lexus IS models are really good value now. You can get a 2008 IS 220d for under €25k and that would be a pretty nice car to own. Here is an example. 

If you were buying new or almost new, this 2010 Subaru Legacy diesel is also within your budget. 

However, you could go a little larger and get yourself a 2007 BMW 520d. This example is from a main dealer and has tiny mileage and would be a really nice car to own. It has done just 20,000km and is an automatic too with a nice spec for just €28,000. I would find it very hard to pass up on this car to be honest. You could opt for one with a manual gearbox and get lower road tax, but to be honest, this is where my money would go.

I hope this helps

Expert answer

Hi Cyril,

The Passat has had more than its fair share of reliability issues. There have been a total of seven recalls on the current model since 2005, but they were over different builds and won't have affected all cars. You can get full details of all of these from the VOSA website in the UK. There appears to be a recall for the clutch on later models, but we have also heard of reports of there being problems with the automatic handbrake and the power steering, while clutch judder on cars over 70,000 miles is not uncommon. 

This is certainly a car that has had issues, but it would not put me off buying one. There are lots of alternatives, but it depends on what you want. There are lots of good used Audi A4s around, though it is quite a bit smaller than the Passat; and obviously as they get older the repairs can get more expensive. I'm not sure if you would prefer petrol or diesel, but here is a low mileage 1.6-litre example at a SIMI dealer for €15,995. 

Something like this full-spec Mondeo X Diesel for €16,900 would be great. This is a gorgeous car and while quite discreet, would be great to drive.

I quite like this Mazda6 too. This is a very underrated car and the diesel model is a cracker. Let us know a little more about your budget and your needs and we can give you more considered advice. Just pop the details in the comment box below.

Expert answer

Hello Ken, 

For that sort of mileage it is a small bit less than you might normally be asked to pay for a diesel A3, but this would depend on whether it was a private sale or from a main dealer.

I'd say you would expect to pay €19,500 for one from a main dealer, with a private sale or independent dealer costing about €1,000 less. Remember, if you aren't trading in, you should expect you to get a decent discount off this asking price. 

Hope this helps!

Expert answer

Hi there Barry

I know that it is very tempting to choose a large executive German car on a tight budget, but as someone who has done this a couple of times and has the empty bank account to prove it, I would tend to steer clear of something with this many miles on it because the problems will tend to start to emerge around about now and the repair bills are very high in most cases. 

I know the car probably looks great and is running well, but if or rather when a huge issue comes up, like a clutch goes or you have a problem with the suspension, the price of parts and labour will be high and since you are adding 20,000 miles per year to what is already high mileage, this car is going to be worth virtually nothing in two years and you won't have a chance of trading it in. 

From a quick look around the classifieds, you could buy something with half the mileage for about the same money, as there were a lot of these imported during the Celtic Tiger years and people are now trying to sell them on so the market is flooded. 

Unless you are prepared to say goodbye to that €7,000 totally in two years, I would, either get an A4 with less miles or bite the bullet and buy something way more sensible, like a Ford Focus or VW Golf diesel that will put up with all those miles with minimum fuss. 

Expert answer

Hi Jim, I am not sure what you mean about not getting "caught out" - do you mean you want to make sure that you don't buy a stolen or faulty car? 

Expert answer

There has been a huge move towards diesel cars here in Ireland because of the change to the road tax and VRT laws in July 2008.

Since then, as you may or may not know, road tax and VRT are calculated according to a car's CO₂ emissions and because diesel cars use less fuel than petrol ones, their emissions tend to be lower.

When your father bought the Mazda6 in 2008 it may well have been better value than the diesel model. Now, there is much less difference between the price.

Before we move away from Mazda, there is now a very good range of diesel engines in the new Mazda6 and that might make the most cost-effective swap if he was happy with the car he has because you will most likely get the best trade-in price from a Mazda dealer. However, by the sounds of things he wants a change.

Covering only 10,000km a year we previously might have said that there was no real need to buy a diesel because you would not save the extra price of the car in fuel.

This point remains true, but the difference now is that the market has changed so much to diesel that petrol cars are likely to lose their value faster and become increasingly unwanted by used car buyers, so at this size of car, we would say yes, move to diesel. Also, if you do buy new, your father will most likely benefit from lower road tax.

Without knowing a budget it is difficult to point you in the right direction but from the cars you mention I'm guessing the budget is between €25,000 - €35,000. This does offer a lot of choice.

The 2004/2005 BMW 320d is certainly an option. Since the current shape model came out in 2005, we would encourage you to look at these, or even a 2006. The prices of these are quite competitive at the moment. A 2005 320d SE at a SIMI dealer would probably cost you between €15,000 - €17,000.

BMWs are always tempting to buy used, but you must choose one that has been properly serviced and cared for, because they can become more expensive to put right as they get older. The choice of used 320d models at the moment is vast so if you do go down that route, shop around. It is a great car and with the small mileage your Dad does it is unlikely to end up costing you too much.

If you want to go down the new route, there are a few that would spring to mind. The first is the Skoda Superb. This car is really brilliant and huge too. It is well made and loaded with equipment. If your Dad likes comfort then this will be right up his street.

Our choice would be the 2.0-litre TDI Comfort for €27,805. It is excellent value for money and comes with lots of creature comforts (cruise control, climate control, etc.), a 170hp diesel that is powerful, yet still frugal at 5.8 l/100km. Road tax on this car is €302 per year. For me, if I were heading out to buy a family saloon today, I wouldn't pass the Superb.

You mentioned some other cars there. The Jetta isn't a bad car, but it's been out a few years now and is probably due an update, so I wouldn't buy that new. The Audi A4 is nice. A new one is going to cost you from €34,060 before you start looking at optional extras, so a 2009 model would make sense with all the options already added. €35,000 should get you a nice 2009 TDI version with lots of the toys thrown in.

Please feel free to come back to us with more details if you like (just add a comment below), but for me I would probably have the Superb.

Expert answer

Hi Ciaran.

Funnily enough, I was just last week at a tyre event and we got a full briefing on tyre wear, which I knew would come in useful somehow.

Firstly, no this isn't normal wear at all unless you were on a track racing. I take it that you aren't and from what you are saying the wear is even. Usually shoulder wear is a sign of under-inflation. Under-inflation can also lead to tyre blow-outs.

Drivers should check their tyre pressure every two weeks according to the manufacturers. One-sided wear is usually an alignment issue and that doesn't seem to be the case here.

Anyway, we contacted Bridgestone / Firestone on your behalf and they are happy to send out an engineer to inspect your tyres. I have sent you their details. They want to check out if there is a fault and we can take it from there.

What we will say about tyres is that it does not make economical sense to buy cheap ones. They tend to be of lower quality and there is no wisdom in having poor tyres on your car. See how you get on with the engineer and let us know by posting a comment back on this page.

Hope that helps. 

Expert answer

Well you haven’t said what your budget is but there are plenty of interesting cars that are available under the scrappage scheme.

Alfa Romeo’s Mito is a small premium hatchback, and its clean 1.3-litre diesel engine puts it in Band A; the 1.4-litre petrol and 1.6-litre diesel models fall into Band B. Prices start at €18,995 before you take away the government discount.

The Audi A3 with the 1.2-litre TFSI petrol, the 1.6-litre diesel and 2.0-litre diesel all qualify for scrappage, as does the Cabriolet version. The A3 3-door starts from €25,195 before scrappage discount, it’s €26,195 as a 5-door Sportback model, and €32,785 for the Cabriolet version before the €1,500 discount.

The A4 with a 2.0-litre diesel engine in either 120bhp, 136bhp and 170bhp all fall under Band B in either saloon or Avant form. Prices start from €34,060 (€32,560 with scrappage) for the diesel saloon and €36,460 (€34,960 with scrappage) for the Avant. The stunning A5, with a 170bhp 2.0-litre diesel engine, falls into Band B. Prices start at €44,265 (€42,765 with scrappage). You can also have the Audi A6 2.0-litre TDi with 136bhp, which is in Band B. This huge car starts from €39,735 (€38,235 with scrappage). The Audi TT diesel is a really superb car to drive. At €44,175 for the Coupé (€42,675 with scrappage), this is a brilliant buy and that fact that it costs €156 per year to tax makes it all the sweeter.

BMW also has a huge number of models that qualify for the scrappage scheme. Its 2.0-litre diesel is used in various power outputs across the 1-Series, 3-Series and 5-Series and these all have emissions of less than 140g/km, even when fitted with an automatic transmission.

The 1-Series is available with clean diesel engines ranging in power from 115bhp to 177bhp. Prices start at €24,900 for the 3-door 116d, €23,400 with the scrappage discount.

The BMW 3-Series starts from €33,310 for the 316d. All its models get €1,500 off from the government through scrappage. Largest of all is the 520d. Although there is a new model coming later in the year, the run-out models of the 520d are expected to sell well, especially with a price tag of €40,220.

Mercedes-Benz has a number of models that qualify under the scrappage scheme. The standout model is the C-Class Blue Efficiency 200 (136bhp), 220 (170bhp) and 250 (240bhp) manual versions, the E-Class 200, 220 and 250 manual version and the E-Class Coupé 220 and 250 models with manual transmission. Prices start at €36,500 (€35,000 with scrappage) for the C200 CDi, €41,200 (€39,700) for the E200 CDi and €47,700 (€46,200) for the E-Class Coupé E250 CDi.

Finally, what about the Volkswagen Scirocco? You can have the 1.4-litre TSi petrol or 2.0-litre TDi Sport model under the scrappage scheme. Prices start at €25,190 for the Scirocco (€23,690 with scrappage),

To answer your question though, which is fastest? We think it is the BMW 123d Coupe. It has emissions of 138g/km yet has a top speed of 238km/h and 0-100km/h time of 6.9 seconds. This is faster than the Audi TT TDi, which has a top speed of 226km/h and 0-100km/h time of 7.5 seconds.

Expert answer

Firstly, trading in your car won't be a problem at all if you are bringing the car in against a new model, but you might not get as much for your car as you would have first expected. Selling it privately can be a little trickier these days too as buyers are harder to find because of the lack of available finance, quite simply.

Now, in terms of the car, the SEAT that you are talking about is probably the Exeo, which hasn't been on the market too long. It is a nice car, basically a rebadged previous-generation Audi A4. You have a choice of 1.6- and 2.0-litre petrol or a 2.0-litre diesel. Prices start at €26,690. Go to www.seat.ie for the latest line-up and pricing.