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Hi Simon,

That’s absolutely top-value for a 2005 Focus, so the car would want to be in exceptionally good condition and come with a full and complete service history and a decent warranty to command that kind of price. You haven’t given us a year for your Polo so it’s rather difficult to value but we think you could potentially find better value on the Focus out there.

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Hi Richard,

There is lots of good choice out there in the compact saloon world, whether you're buying new or used. The Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen Jetta, Skoda Octavia, Ford Focus Saloon or Mazda3 Saloon all spring to mind and all make solid purchases. Just one thing - for pity's sake, don't buy another Aveo - not only is it cheap, nasty and bad to drive, but it was one of the worst-scoring cars ever on the EuroNCAP crash test.

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Hi Eimead,

Assuming your mechanic already tried HT plug leads and the actual spark plugs the next thing to look into would be injectors.

Hope you get to the bottom of your problem

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Hi Peter,

Probably about €9,000 on a trade in, maybe slightly north of €10k if you sell it yourself. 

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Hi Louise,

That car has a timing belt, which should be replaced every 125,000 miles (or 200,000 kilometres). We'd recommend changing it sooner than that, however, say every 100,000 miles, so it would be a good idea to have it changed on your car sooner rather than later.

Hope that helps

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Hi Christopher,

Yes, absolutely. Mazdas are renowned for their reliability, and the 3 is no different. In spite of sharing all its mechanical parts with the second generation Ford Focus, the 3 generally does a little better than the Ford in reliability and surveys. Perhaps the Mazda engineers do the bolts up a little tighter... Some early models apparently suffered from turbo failure on the 1.6 diesel engine but that seems to be the only thing, bar the usual history checks and damage inspection, to be worried about.

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Hi Linda,

That very much depends on the ages of the kids, as the Volvo S40 is really only about the same size as a Ford Focus (it's actually made on that car's platform). You won't easily get three booster seats across the back seat and the boot is ok an acceptable size rather than an impressive one.

For reference, I have two kids (three and a half and five and a half) and we have the Volvo V50, which is the estate version of the S40. It's just about big enough. If we had another kid I'd be looking at changing cars.

Hope that helps

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Hi Margaret,

You need to book a session at your nearest NCT centre to have the car valued for Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT), which is the fee payable when importing a car from outside the state. According to the regulations, you have to book the inspection within seven days of the car arriving in this country, and then you have 30 days to complete the inspection and pay the fee, which will be calculated as a percentage of the estimated Irish market value, based on that model’s CO₂ emissions. You can find more details here: http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vrt/vrt-guide.html

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Hi Siobhan,

Although the Passat is a really well built car, I'd go for the Focus in this instance. The Passat's 1.6-litre petrol engine struggled with the weight of the car, and that made it both uneconomical and rather prone to developing problems. The Focus, although a smaller vehicle overall, struggles less with its 1.4-litre engine and the general build quality on that first generation Focus was excellent. Just check carefully underneath for signs of rust - some first gen Focus models didn't get proper underseal at the factory.

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Hi Sharon,

I always think an estate is better for a two-kid family, rather than going for the styling and dynamic compromises an MPV forces upon you. A good idea for that kind of budget might be to upgrade to a more recent Focus Estate. A budget of €6k would get you a high-ish mileage 2008 version with the 1.6-litre diesel engine, which will cost you buttons to run - an easy 58mpg.

It's spacious and comfy and as long as you like your current Focus you won't go wrong. Looking for more of a change? How about a Kia cee'd SW 1.6 diesel EX? Again, cheap to run, really reliable and lots of room in the boot for buggies etc. A cracking family car, that one. Fancy something a bit more rugged? Maybe try a Nissan X-Trail, front-wheel drive with the 150hp 2.0-litre diesel engine. A really terrific car that, but obviously it will be more expensive to run than a smaller estate.

As for trade-in on your Focus, I'm afraid I wouldn't expect too much. Probably only about €1,000 to €1,500.