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Hi Stan,

Are you sure you mean 3,200? That's incredibly low mileage so I'd be suggesting something small such as a Volkswagen up! or a Hyundai i10.

If you mean 32,000km then I'd say you need a compact diesel. A SEAT Leon 1.6 TDI DSG would seem to fit the bill.

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Hi Sally,

Generally speaking, automatics and small engines don't go well together, but there are a few good ones. Any Volkswagen Group cars using a combo of either 1.2 TSI or 1.4 TSI petrol with the DSG gearbox should be pretty smooth and there are some Toyota Auris 1.4 D-4D diesels around with self-shifters. The Auris, while not exciting, is certainly smooth and comfy.

Actually, your best option could be to go hybrid or electric. The Honda Insight has a 1.3-litre hybrid powertrain and is an automatic and is surprisingly good to drive. Or what about the Nissan Leaf? If the roughly 160km electric range suits your lifestyle, there's nothing smoother than an electric motor.

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Hi Stan,

That's quite specific and we don't offer a car finding service I'm afraid, but we'd highly recommend spending some time refining searches on Carzone.ie.

Best of luck

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Hi Samantha,

All I can suggest is that you have a ring around any Audi dealers with premises near you and ask if they will buy the car outright. Dealers generally don't like buying cars from punters as a straight deal, so you may struggle. It should be worth around €40,000 in normal circumstances but you will probably be offered a lot less than that because of the unusualness of the deal. 

It may be possible to do a cash-and-swap deal - whereby you get an older car from a dealer and they pay you the difference for your car, but again this is an unusual deal and you may not find anyone willing to do it.

A better idea is probably to sell the car yourself through a classifieds site such as Carzone.ie.

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Hi Jean,

You've kind of answered your own question there - cars with automatic gearboxes won't roll back on a hill, or at least no more than a foot or two. As long as the gearbox is in D and you apply a little power, you'll start going forwards.

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Hi Margaret,

I know what you mean. The Honda bug is a hard one to shift once it's bitten you. The good news is that Honda has a new car on the market, the HR-V, which is more compact than a CR-V, but still pretty spacious. It's high-riding, so good for your back, and can be had with Honda's terrific 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel engine. Looks nice too. Prices start from €23,995 or on a PCP deal from €255 a month and I'd say it's well worth checking out.

Read our Honda HR-V review here

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Hi Susan,

You should be fine - that's the current model and it hasn't thrown up any major reliability issues. BMW also seems to have fixed a long-standing concern over the reliability of the timing belts on its 2.0-litre diesel engine, as well as some weaknesses around the turbos. That said, unless the car has a pristine and fully stamped service history (preferably from a BMW main dealer) then avoid it - they're complicated things and any skimping on maintenance by a former owner will come back to haunt you.

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Hi Mary,

The Outlander is a decent car, and hugely well equipped, not to mention having seven seats. It's fine to drive, and the recent update has brought better refinement and a higher quality cabin.

There's no question though that an X3 would be sophisticated and more engaging to drive, but it's well worth checking out the new and more affordable X1 - it's much improved over its predecessor and almost as spacious as the X3.

The Mitsubishi should beat both in terms of long term reliability though.

Relevant reviews:

Mitsubishi Outlander review

BMW X3 review

BMW X1 review

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Hi David,

I'd say overall that the 2.0 petrol will be the more reliable engine, not least because it's an older, more thoroughly developed unit. But beware - horror stories of 9-5 unreliability are legion...

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Hi Michael,

I'd say in and around the €15-16,000 mark.