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Hi Malcolm,

Your car has a cambelt and it needs to be changed at least every four years or 36,000 miles (58,000km). Those engines get badly damaged if the timing belt snaps so don't scrimp on it.

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Hi Sonia,

It turns out that there are 2.0 TDI engines from 2011 with chains and with belts - according to our date. So we'd need either your registration or the engine code from your car to check for sure. You can send those in private using the comment section below.

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Hi Sean,

Yes, the water pumps can fail, there can be issues with the turbo on diesel engines and the CD players can need re-coding. Also, if the spare key is missing, it’s hugely expensive to replace.

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Hi Tony,

There's no major recurrent fault for the flywheel on a Q5 specifically (although dual-mass flywheels generally come in for a lot of reliability criticism across all brands), but there was a recall for Volkswagen Group 2.0 TDI diesel engines a while back to replace faulty flywheels, so it's worth checking to make sure that's been done. If it doesn't show up in the service history, get in touch with Audi Ireland customer services, as they should be able to find out if a specific vehicle has or has not had the work done. 

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Hi Catherine,

To be honest, I wouldn’t. Quite aside from the fact that the Carisma is  dull to look at, sit in and drive, it was also quite unreliable for a car from a major Japanese car maker. There was no end of problems with the engines and worse still, the 1.3 was hopelessly underpowered. If you want a simple, reliable car from around 2002, think Toyota Corolla instead.

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Hi Conor,

A Golf is a great idea, but it would also be worth looking at the Toyota Auris too - it's not as sweet to drive as the Golf, but even more reliable. One word of warning though - both cars come with, at smallest, 1.4-litre engines, so you could run into trouble with insurance if you're only starting out as a driver. Have a shop around for premiums first as you may have to find something with an even smaller engine. 

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Hi Joe,

A hugely underrated car, the S80. Big, comfy and mostly very reliable. As ever with something that started out in life as an expensive model, don’t buy anything without a full service history and check carefully for any electrical gremlins. They’re also sensitive to knocked-about suspension, so check the tyres carefully for any uneven wear and tear. Other than that, reliability is pretty decent. The bigger diesel engines can be expensive to run, but if you go for the 1.6 diesel you’ll have a car that’s really frugal and not all that under-powered.

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Hi Mike,

Yes, yes, yes and oh, yes. Basically, it’s almost exactly like an A4 (same engines, same platform, same buttons, switches and touch-screen), but much more roomy (space for three child car seats abreast on the back seat and a massive 600-litre boot) and a lot cheaper to buy. Perhaps a touch noisier than the Audi, and maybe a little less precise to the steering, but you won’t feel short-changed.

Read our Skoda Superb Combi review here

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Hi Justin,

It was always a nice car to drive and never less than pretty, but watch out on the reliability front - it comes from Merc's dodgy period. The engines and gearboxes are pretty solid but everything electrical is suspect, and the interiors are pretty poorly built in some cases. Watch the frameless glass in the doors too - it can slip away from its rubber seals and let in a lot of wind noise. 

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Hi Michael,

Yes, the Berlingo is generally excellent. It is occasionally prone to electrical issues, but they tend to be minor and the engines and gearboxes are long-lived and hard-wearing. As long as you buy one with a full service history, you should be fine. The cabins can be a little fragile at times, but being van-based, it should be easy to clean out after the dogs.