Expert answer

Hi Antoinette,

First of all it's always worth remembering to focus on the 'cost to change' rather than the trade-in value alone. Your current car is unlikley to be worth quite €1,000 to a dealer so bear that in mind. If that gives you €5,000 in total to spend then you could potentially afford a 2005 Toyota Avensis. However, that price will get you a high mileage example so it may be worth going for a 2003/2004 example in good condition with low mileage.

I reckon you're better off with a petrol version if you're looking at an Avensis of that age. It was before the changeover to emissions-based taxation in July 2008, so the 1.6-litre petrol model was very popular - and is therefore in plentiful supply on the used market. Tax is cheaper too than the diesel of the same age due to it being calculated on engine size.

Along with that, 11,000 miles per year is not quite high enough to justify the potential extra cost of a diesel car in my opinion.

Hope that helps

Expert answer

Hi Mike,

The only reason you would specifically buy the efficient dynamics version of the BMW 520d is if you want to pay €104 in road tax, you want the best possible fuel economy and you don't mind changing gears yourself. I'd always prefer by luxury saloon car to come with an automatic transmission and in general, the used car market prefers if you do to. 

We could of course, give our opinions as to what is the best of these cars - but the fact is that they are all in and around the same price, they are all very good and they all offer different things. The BMW is regarded as the drivers car amongst the group although increasingly this is being matched by the excellent new Audi A6. The Mercedes is without doubt the most comfortable of these three cars so if have a very relaxed style of driving then the Mercedes might suit best. 

It does really come down to personal choice. The BMW is the best-seller and that probably won't change for some time. Also you have left out the excellent Jaguar XF, and now with a 2.2-litre diesel it is excellent value. That needs to be considered too. 

Expert answer

Hello Mary,

You will probably get offered in and around the €15,000 mark for your S40 Flex Fuel model, but this could stretch to €16,000 if you traded it in against a new car. You didn't mention if you wanted a new or a used small automatic to replace your Volvo, but I will assume that you want a new car. 

I am not sure how small you want to go, but there are a few decent small automatic cars around, but not that many. The best of them would probably be the automatic Ford Fiesta, which is a really great little car for the money. We quite like the Hyundai i20 1.4 Deluxe Auto too. This is a fine little car. My top choice and the one I would buy is the Skoda Fabia 1.2 TSI Sportline with the excellent DSG gearbox, which is simply superb. 

Hope that helps

Expert answer

Hi John,

You should ask for €26,000 and be prepared to drop down to about €24,500.

I hope this helps.

Expert answer

Hi Ruairi,

Hi Ruairi, with regard to this we received some good advice from The Automotif Centre on the Kinsale Road in Cork, who said "The BMW 116 hub is 72.5, PCD is 5x120. The suspension is designed for runflats. Steel wheel bolts are shorter & 12x1.5."

Expert answer

Hi Andrew,

It will most likely be called the Hyundai ix45 and it should make its debut at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show. I doubt we will see it here until the second half of 2012 at the earliest. 

Expert answer

Hi Eoin,

I'm glad you like the site. Firstly, let me congratulate you on choosing a nice car. I had a Golf Edition R recently and it was a really lovely car. The spec is really good on that car and you seem to have chosen a nice few options on the car. 

There are a couple of things that you mention there and it is tricky to answer them. Volkswagen are unlikely to announce anything from their dealer conference until after their dealer conference. I'm not sure where you get your intelligence but we can certainly investigate. In terms of your deal, the usual advice applies - you need to focus on the cost to change and not how much your own car is worth, which you appear to be doing and given that you aren't changing your car until January it can be difficult for the car dealers to price your trade-in. My advice to you would be to put down your deposit, arrange your deal and make sure that your terms are agreed. If there is any change which would favour you then you can renegotiate, but at least if it turns out to be as you suspect, then at least you will have secured the best possible rate. 

The other bit of advice I would give, is if your trade-in came from say, a Peugeot dealer, then go back to the Peugeot dealer and offer him the deal. Most dealers can buy in the car you want and they might offer you a better deal on your trade-in. That would be worth a try. 

I hope this helps. Feel free to come back to us if you need more help, we are always here!!

Expert answer

Hi Teresa,

As with any car exchange - you need to look at the cost to change, not the value of your trade in. At the moment there are lots of Ford Fiesta and Focus models on the used market so the values of them aren't great. The dealers are also pricing your cars as to what they will be worth in February 2012 when the cars arrive. 

You said you are going to shop around and that is exactly what you should do. We could tell you that your cars are worth more, but unless a dealer is offering you this then it is not much use. 

You need to shop around!

Expert answer

Hi Mark,

I'm afraid that's a very difficult question for us to answer remotely. Every car is different, as is every dent. We'd suggest you contact someone like www.dentmagic.ie or www.autodentsolutions.ie to have a look, as they provide a service that requires no painting, sanding or filling. Should work out far cheaper too.

Hope that helps.

Expert answer

Hi Steve,

This is a really tough one and it's unlikely to be a simple answer. The integrity of the head gasket relies on so many other parts of the engine, such as the flatness of the cylinder head and the torque applied to the cylinder head bolts. It would be very difficult to prove any wrongdoing by the garage that originally fitted the part.

For the same reason, it's highly unlikely that that would give any guarantee on such work. It's just not the done thing.

I'd suggest you go back to talk to them and try to come to some compromise. When you do have it done again make sure you insist that the cylinder head is skimmed and that you get a receipt for that work. It may also be worth suggesting that the cylinder head bolts are inspected, as some manufacturers require these to be replaced, which a garage may not automatically do.

I hope all that helps. Come back to us if you need to know anything else.