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Hi Tom,

I have to say this sounds utterly ridiculous. The idea that a set of alloy wheels would lower the price of any car by as much as €5,000 is laughable. Now, if the original dealer sold the car as being entirely original and to factory spec, then you might have an argument that you were sold a car not to the advertised standard, but even so, replacing those alloys with a new set of Audi originals shouldn’t cost as much as €5,000 so someone is seriously taking the mickey.

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Hi Jana,

Yes, very. We can’t actually find any major recurring problems with the i40, and on top of that it’s comfortable, roomy, frugal and nice to drive.

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Hi John,

Frankly, no. Chevrolet models for Europe were basically re-badged and re-engineered Daewoos, and built very much down to a price in Korea. While the Spark shares a lot of components with the Corsa, the Opel is a far-better built car.

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Hi Paul,

Yes, it can be. The N47 2.0-litre diesel engine had an issue with its timing chain, which had a nasty habit of snapping, and which was located right at the back of the engine, against the firewall, making it hard to access or inspect. BMW claims to have fixed the issue, which affected engines produced between 2007 and 2011, but it’s wise to tread carefully, make sure you buy only cars with full BMW service histories, and keep that service history up in case the problem occurs. 

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Hi Nicola,

Go for the i40 — it’s much bigger and better built than the Fluence, and will be more reliable in the long term. It will also hold its value better than the Fluence.

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Hi Michael,

I'm afraid that's not information that we have access to. That's a UK car so the only ones that would have that information is the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority) and the British Transport Police, neither of which are in the habit of disclosing such private information to the public.

It makes no difference that it is a British car; the same limitations would apply to an Irish one.

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Hi Lorraine,

It’ll set you back €710 a year, unless it was imported from the UK post-2008. If it’s an import, then it will be on the current CO₂-based system, which will mean tax of €750 a year.

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Hi Patrick,

It's not easy to assess the damage from afar I'm afraid, so I'd suggest getting a good autoelectrician or mechanic out to have a look. It's possible that the ECU (engine control unit) has been damaged, but I'd also hope that has protection against such things built into it. Most likely there are fuses blown somewhere along the line. As I said, get someone to look at it for you and hope nothing expensive has been damaged.

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Hi David,

Very hard to assess such a thing from afar, but certainly sounds like a flat battery to us. Try to charge yours up or get a 'jump' from someone else. If no luck then best bet is to get a good mechanic or auto electrician out to have a look.

Best of luck

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Hi David,

There are no major reported reliability problems for the AMG M156 V8 engine, other than that they can occasionally develop issues with the bolts that hold the engine head in place. Mind you, a huge amount will depend on how well the previous owner looked after it. While reliable, AMGs are of course bought for their high performance, and if the previous owner has thrashed it about, or not kept it serviced properly, then it could be troublesome. A full book of service stamps should be a good sign, though.

As for spare parts, I really wouldn't worry too much about that, as car makers produce spare parts for a very long time after a vehicle goes out of production.