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Hi Tara,

Tough call, to be fair. I've been running a 2009 MINI Clubman for the last two years and it's been solidly reliable. That said, at the last service it would have set me back €3,000 for new bits and work had it not been covered by a warranty. 

Now, Qashqais aren't as perfectly reliable as you might think. Clutches, rear suspension and windscreen seals are all fragile. However, on average a Nissan would generally be more reliable than a MINI and slightly cheaper to service so if that's your priority, go with the Qashqai.

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Hi Declan,

Don't worry about the handling - MINIs are terrific to drive. Great fun. The C30 is perhaps a bit less so and Volvo parts and servicing have always been on the pricey side, but it's a much more practical car than the MINI, which is seriously short on space. Both are fine cars though, reliable too so it's a question of what you value more - space and comfort (Volvo) or driving fun (MINI).

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Hi Michael,

It depends on your dealer and their financial services provider. Generally speaking this shouldn't happen - the Guaranteed Minimum Future Value (GMFV) is usually calculated on a pretty conservative rate, meaning that the car should have sufficient value in it to cover both the final bubble payment and a decent deposit to roll over into a new PCP. 

If that hasn't happened, then someone's cocked up somewhere along the line and pegged the GMFV too high. In one sense, you're on a winner - you can hand back the car and let the dealer take the €2k hit on the value, but it does leave you with no asset left to convert into a deposit. 

Can I just ask, has this actually happened or are you questioning a hypothetical problem? If it's actually happened then I would suggest that someone, somewhere has made a colossal error - the whole point of a PCP is that you should have equity left in the car to roll the deal over. If not, then I'd break out the original PCP contract and sit down and read the fine print, preferably with a good solicitor at your side. There may be some legal comeback if the dealer cannot fulfil their end of the bargain.

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Hi Robert,

Yes, they're pretty good. We've heard no major reports of serious issues with the current-shape Focus and that 1.6 diesel is long-lived and has seen service in various Volvos, MINIs, Citroens and Peugeots. Just make sure that it gets a regular oil change and that you use a high-grade synthetic oil. 

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Hi Jim,

That depends on whether you mean the last of the old-shape XJs that finished production in 2003 or the first of the new-shape models, the all-aluminium one that started production that year. 

If it's the new one then the news is good - they're solidly reliable and there are no major reported faults. That said there were some recalls so you need to make sure those were attended to. And as with any expensive car of this age make sure all the electrical bits are working properly and that it has a full, uninterrupted service history. Also, as both the body and chassis are made of aluminium, it can be expensive to get minor dings and bumps fixed so maybe have a ring around to see what kind of prices you get quoted for any work that needs doing before you buy. 

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Hi Patrick,

It certainly should be possible, although how much it will cost is a bit of a how-long-is-a-piece-of-string? question. Probably not a huge amount but you'll want to make sure the work is done properly. In fact, you have to make sure the work is done properly as Revenue will only accept a car as being legally converted if the firm carrying out the work meets certain minimum standards. You can find more details here: http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vrt/vehicle-conversions.html#section3

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Hi Debbie,

If you're importing it as a commercial vehicle (and it may well be that Revenue will ask for some proof of its future use before allowing you to do so) then it comes in under Category B, so it's a minimum of €125 VRT, or 13.3 per cent of the Open Market Selling Price, or OMSP.

How much that is can best be answered by me waving this piece of string around and asking you how long it is. I'd take a stab at around €8-900,  but honestly that's just a SWAG (Scientific Wild-Assed Guess). You won't know for sure until the car has been inspected. The wonderful certainties of the Irish vehicle taxation system...

If you're not importing it as a commercial, but as a private vehicle, then you're going to be paying more. The CO₂ emissions for the 2. 5D with 114hp were 186g/km, which puts the L200 into the ninth VRT band, which means you'll pay 30 per cent VRT. That should work out at about €1,500 or so, but again, that's a total finger-in-the-air guess and I can't offer you any more than that without taking the actual, physical car to Revenue myself for the valuation.

Best of luck with it

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Hi Tony,

We asked Honda Ireland and the response was:

"The original OEM 17-inch tyre was 225/50 R17 98V. The minimum allowed by homologation is 225/50 R17 92V."

Hope that helps

Expert answer

Hi Martin,

There's little else worse than getting unexpectedly bad car repair news, and we all know how it feels. Now, as you point out, you have, essentially, two options here. One is to trade in the car without the work done and get something new. Now, that's a very tempting option and one that would at least put you back under a warranty and give you reasonably predictable monthly repayments etc, all of which is good news.

The thing is though that your Mondeo is only six years old and to my mind there should be an awful lot more left in it. I would be tempted, especially as you've also just upgraded your wife's car, to take the €3k on the chin and keep yours going for a while yet. You're at a point in its life where the value isn't going to sink all that much more anyway, so keeping it an extra year or 18 months isn't going to have an enormous impact - with the age and mileage already on it, it's going to be at the lower end of the value scale anyway.

One thing worth considering: rust doesn't happen overnight. If, as you say, this car has always been serviced to schedule with the same dealer, ask them why the problem wasn't flagged up sooner. You may be able to use that as a bit of a stick to beat the price down a touch.

Let us know how you get on

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Hi Helen,

It depends. If the car is being delivered here on the back of a truck, then no. If you're flying over to drive it back, then technically yes. If you mean you're importing the car with a change of address and hoping to avoid paying Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT), then yes - you have to show proof of motor tax for the preceding six months, minimum.