Expert answer

Hi Justin,

It is important to use the right type of anti-freeze, though obviously you don't have to use BMW-branded stuff! Just note down the specifications from the manual and pick some up at a motor factors or service station.

We would always recommend that you top up fluids for yourself before bringing a car to be serviced, as some garages charge a fixed fee for topping up an item like anti-freeze regardless of how much they use.

I'm assuming of course that you're talking about topping up the system rather than draining it and re-filling. That's probably best left to the experts, as the system will require bleeding of air.

Make sure you mention the slow starting when you bring it in for your service and there's no harm in bringing it in early either.

Hope all that helps.

Expert answer

Hi Mick,

If you talk to the trade at the moment, they will say that there is something of a shortage of good used cars around. Generally as people buy in the early parts of the year then you will get a lot of second-hand cars floating around so there is a case for waiting. On the other hand, your 2006 Vectra is regarded as another year older. If you can get the right deal why not do it now? 

The only thing to worry about is a shortage of diesel Mazda6 models from that year. You didn't specify if you wanted petrol or diesel, but there are twice as many petrol examples available. Having said that, I really like this diesel model here, but it is a little on the pricey side. You would pay significantly less for a petrol model with lower mileage, such as this one. 

What I would say is that you will get more attention in the dealerships now, or at least you should do. It can be frustrating going into the dealers in January when they are busy, so bear that in mind. 

Expert answer

Hi William,

The first thing I would say is, do you really need a diesel? The diesel version of small cars tend to cost more and if you aren't really doing excessive mileage then you might not reap the benefits of owning one. For example a diesel Ford Fiesta costs €1,000 more than a petrol model and the annual road tax on the petrol model is only €156 - just €52 more per year than the diesel option. Often, in a small car, a petrol engine is really the best option.

The first car that you mention, the Fiesta, has been one of the real stars of the scrappage scheme and one of the best-selling cars in 2010 and for us, it is still the best supermini in the class. It is well built, drives really well and has pretty styling. The offers on the Fiesta for scrappage are very tempting and you can shop around to get the best deal, but you will find that there are greater discounts on the petrol models.

A car we rate here at CompleteCar.ie is the Volkswagen Polo and the 1.2-litre TDI BlueMotion model in particular is excellent offering outstanding fuel economy and ultra-low emissions. The Polo is the sort of car that you would like holding on to for four to five years as they age well.

There are obviously some incredible offers in the Renault range, as the company is offering by far the most generous discounts when it comes to new cars. You could have a petrol Clio from €8,990 under scrappage. There is a diesel version available too and with all the discounting this would come out as one of the cheapest five-door diesel superminis around.

I think if you are intent on diesel then perhaps you should look in value terms at a slightly larger car. I would be very tempted by a Hyundai i30 1.6-litre diesel. You can have one of these, which has five doors, is going to be very reliable and will cost you from €14,995 under scrappage, which is really excellent value.

However a car that has really impressed us of late is the new Nissan Juke. Here you are getting lots of car for the money. The diesel Juke starts at €20,195 (full price list here) and this car would qualify for scrappage as it has Band B emissions. 

That's a few for you to consider but do come back to us if you have more questions!

Expert answer

Expert answer

Hi Sarah,

First of all you need to be aware that the cash-for-car places are usually going to give you a deal that is at the lower end of the scale so it can sting a little. I think your best bet is likely to try and trade-in your Colt for something bigger. I can imagine that the three-door Colt is a bit of a nightmare with one child, and two will be even worse. 

Depending on the condition of your car - we are guessing it might look like this, then you may get offered around €4,500 as a trade-in against another car. Obviously you need something a little more spacious. I think the right car for you would be a Ford C-Max because it is spacious, safe and comfortable. We found one from a SIMI dealer in Westmeath that has 67,000 miles on the clock, is petrol-powered, but won't be too expensive to run if you aren't doing a lot of mileage. This car would be ideal for your needs and €4,900 is the the asking price. You can find the advert here.

I think this would be in ideal car because the Spacestar is getting on and isn't all that good and the early Mercedes -Benz A-Class has been notoriously troublesome.

Hope that helps.

Expert answer

Hi Pete,

You don't mention the mileage or condition of your Focus, but the value to a dealer could be anything from €1,000 - €2,000 depending on those factors and what you are trading the car in against.

I think that with your 100km a day you are probably better off with a diesel car in terms of saving money on fuel. There are a few options in your price range. The Volkswagen Golf Diesel is one option. We like this 2006 model with really small mileage on it for €13,750.

But down in Cork there is probably a better buy in this 2007 Ford Focus 1.6-litre diesel (which is a better engine than the 1.8-litre unit) and this car has just 16,000 miles on the clock and is within your budget we would hope. If you liked your Focus before then I am sure you would love this newer model and at the price and mileage it would be hard to ignore.

Expert answer

Hi Marie,

We had a chat on the phone to get more information and now know that you would prefer to sell the L200 privately and use the cash to buy your next vehicle, so your budget is about €10,000 - €12,000.

The difficulty in getting something with height is that the SUVs going back a few years tended to be diesel with fairly large engines, so before 2008 these engines were in some cases cheaper to tax than they are now. Emissions were higher, but you were charged - as you are probably aware - for the size of your engine. I'm sure you don't want to get landed with a high road tax bill per year, but we will explore some options. 

The first is a 2004 Toyota RAV4. There is a model in a dealership in Louth, which I realise is quite far from you, but this diesel model is a beaut and is at a SIMI dealer so this brings with its some safeguards. This RAV4 is under €10,000 and has low mileage, though is going to cost €823 to tax each year. 

The Kia Sportage fiesel would be a great little buy for you. This small SUV has proven to be very reliable and very well liked by owners. This one in Cork is a little over your budget, but as a cash buyer I would think you could bargain down the asking price of €13,900. 

A car that you might not have thought of, but I have always rated as a good little car, is the Fiat Sedici. This small SUV has four-wheel drive, a diesel engine and is cheap to buy and run. We found a 2009 model in Laois with just 23,000 miles on the clock and the asking price is just €11,750. This would be a nice little runabout and it still retains some of the height of the SUV. This will cost you €447 per year to tax. 

Another good choice, although the annual tax will be the same as the RAV4's, is the Nissan X-Trail. This is a really nice example from 2005 that has a 2.2-litre diesel engine and would be a nice vehicle to own. Again, if you couldn't cope with the high annual road tax then it might not be the best option for you. 

I'd be inclined, if it were me, to buy that RAV4, as it would be a nice vehicle to own. 

I hope this helps!

Expert answer

Hi Mary,

A 2007 TDi Golf with your mileage would retail at a main dealer for about €13,000 - €14,000. You will most likely get offered a bit less than this, so perhaps you could expect around €12,000. You don't mention a budget but we can give you a few ideas. Most of the equivalent cars, post 2008 will be cheap to tax. 

For example, a 2009 1.6 TDi Golf, which has emissions of 118g/km (Band A) would cost you around €22,000. Here is an example of one from a main dealer in Naas. This would also be the newer shape model too, although I am not sure you want to go for another Golf? You could get something of a similar theme with the Skoda Octavia. A 2008 model like this costs around €17,000 and would give you a little more space and would still be in Band B with road tax of €156. 

Something slightly more SUV-like would be nice too. The Nissan Qashqai has a great reputation and owners love them. You could have a 2008 Qashqai, like this would cost around €19,000 and this example here has very low mileage. This still has emissions of 139g/km, so would only cost €156 to tax each year. This would be a great buy and isn't a major jump, financially. 

I think you might like the Qashqai, so perhaps you should give it a go?

I hope this helps. 

Expert answer

Hi Richard,

Firstly the car needs to be safe; it needs to be good value; and it needs to be reliable. We tend to encourage buying from SIMI dealers because you do have a little more comeback and the cars tend to be a little better, so having a look on the beepbeep.ie website we found a few options. 

The first model we have chosen is the Toyota Yaris, which will be ultra reliable and painless to run. There is one in Ardee that is within budget (you should get it for less if you haggle) and while this 2003 model has done 89,000 miles it will be capable of a whole lot more. 

I really like the Ford Fiesta and the model that was around in 2003 onwards is a great little car. This Fiesta is right on budget. 

The Renault Clio from 2004 was a lovely wee car and this one here has just 46,000 miles on the clock. I think they really suit young women, as they are rather chic. 

I guess the sensible choice here would be the Yaris, but I would probably have the Clio. 

Hope that helps

Expert answer

Hi Fergal,

An all-new Focus should be here early in 2011. More information was released this week (click here for the news story). The updated Mondeo will be on sale in Ireland before the end of 2010 (click here for our news story). I'm afraid we don't as yet know anything about a new Fiesta.

Prices are never released very far ahead of a car's launch unfortunately, but you can expect them to be in the same ballpark as the outgoing models'.

Hope that helps