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Hi Pamela,

I'd say you'd get between €1,750 and €2,500 for it as a trade-in. Perhaps a little more, considering that it has quite low mileage for an 11-year-old-car.

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Hi Liam,

Pros are that Volvos tend to be very well made and are generally a reliable car and that 1.8-litre engine is an old Ford unit that's well proven and dependable. 

Cons are that for a car competing with the likes of the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4, the S40 is very small and a bit cramped and the emissions of that 1.8 will give you some fairly juicy tax bills.

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Hi Dan,

Hmmm. Generally for your mileage I would recommend a petrol car, but the bad news is that in your size bracket, petrol engines are a little thin on the ground. You could go for either a straight replacement for your Corolla by getting a Toyota Auris 1.4 D-4D, which is a very fine car, or you could, as you suggest, branch out and snap up a Hyundai i30 1.6 diesel - again a very fine car and with that five-year warranty, a very tempting buy. 

But, with your mileage profile, I would suggest taking a good long look at petrol alternatives. The Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost is a terrific car with a great engine and well worth a look. That said it's a little tight in the back seats for two teenagers so I'd say the best all round bet is a Skoda Octavia 1.2 TSI. It's more affordable than the diesel version, damn near as economical and has a big boot and lots of space in the back seats for those teenager-filled weekend runs. Great quality and reliability too.

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Hi Ruadhan,

That, I'm afraid, is a question with too many variable answers. Second-hand vehicle values are like stock market values - they go up and down and often rather unpredictably. There are a few rules of thumb, though...

1. It's got to be diesel. Yes, we (and others) have tried to educate the motoring populace that diesel power doesn't automatically mean better economy or lower running costs, but right now the market is diesel-crazy and if it doesn't sip from the black pump, it's not going to hold on to its value.

2. The lowest depreciating cars are, obviously, the most popular models. So the likes of the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, Nissan Qashqai, Hyundai Santa Fe, BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and so on will always hold on to their value the best. Check the list of the top-ten best-selling cars on the market - these are your depreciation heroes.

3. What about depreciation villains? Anything that the market doesn't trust, really. Estates tend to fare especially poorly, anything with a French badge is suspect and if it's Italian, forget it. You'll lose your shirt on any of these.

4. Spec is king. You can have the most in-demand car going but if it's painted bright yellow and has green seats, you're never going to shift it. So, to keep depreciation at bay, stick with dark metallics and subtle interior tones. Pale cabin colours tend to fare less well when it comes to wear and tear, so the market prefers blacks and greys on the inside too. If it's an executive car, it has to have an automatic gearbox. Anything with factory-fit air conditioning and Bluetooth telephony is looking good, leather is always helpful but other expensive toys don't always help a car hang on to its value.

Hope that's all of interest

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Hi Susan,

Wow, you're a glutton for punishment aren't you? You pretty much couldn't have picked two less reliable cars. The Discovery is best avoided. If you could afford to trade up to a third-generation model I'd say that's worth a go, as Land Rover was starting to get on top of its quality issues by then, but the old Series II is just bad news. Gearboxes go, electrics go and even the suspension can fail. I know what you mean about falling in love - it's happened to me too with old Land Rovers, but you're looking at a very high-maintenance partner there.

The Espace is a little better, but not by much. The diesel engines are very fragile - check for smoke, check for oil levels and if there are any signs of overheating, run don't walk away. Check anything with an electrical wire coming out the back of it too as it can all go wrong, although the electronic parking brake and electric windows are especially prone to wrongness. Also, keep an eye on the tyres. Espaces go through them like butter and 20,000km is about as much as you'll get out of a set.

If you really want a seven-seater that works properly, can I suggest either a Mitsubishi Pajero or Toyota Land Cruiser? Not as cool as the Discovery, but they won't let you down.

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Hi Robbie,

It could well be a wheel bearing. Though it could just as easily be a tyre. Best bet is to bring it to a different mechanic to have it checked over.

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Hi Noel,

Nothing too serious to worry about it. That 2.0-litre TDCi diesel engine does suffer occasionally from cutting out unexpectedly, but it's usually just a software fault and the ECU can be easily updated by a dealer. Other than that keep an eye out for issues with the keyless entry and ignition system (a rarely-seen option anyway) and keep an eye on the cabin - creaky trim is common and apparently the seat bolsters can collapse even on surprisingly low mileage cars.

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Hi Todd,

Sadly, Australian cars and the ins and outs of Antipodean spec sheets are somewhat outside of our wheelhouse of expertise. The best advice we can offer is to go for a massive V8 preferably in a Ute body, from Holden or Ford. That should see you right, Bruce.

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Hi Alan,

Generally speaking a 2006 Fiesta should be worth between €4,500 to €6,000 depending on mileage and condition, but if, as you say, there is light cosmetic damage to this one, you may have to knock off another €500 depending on how much the damage would cost to fix.

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Hi Jim,

Basically, it's the same as buying an ex-rental. The good news is that all the scheduled servicing and maintenance should have been carried out in full and on time, but the bad news is that you just don't know who's been driving it previously and what kind of driving they've been doing. Generally speaking, someone being given a loan car by their insurer will probably just have had a shunt and will likely be in a careful mood, but you just never know. Check everything very carefully, from the cabin for unexpected wear and tear to the suspension for alignment issues or other damage. This could be a good one to break out the AA inspection on, just to be on the safe side.

Let us know how you get on