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Hi Paddy,

Yes, it’s the 3A90 engine in both 1.0- and 1.2-litre (that’s the 3A92 one) forms and it is Mitsubishi’s own design. There is some relation to the old-shape Smart ForTwo’s three-cylinder engine, as originally it was a joint design between Smart, Mercedes-Benz and Mitsubishi, but these days only Mitsubishi builds and uses it. We haven’t done a full road test on this model yet, but it’s pretty middling. Cheap and cheerful, but well behind the sophistication curve compared to rivals such as the Hyundai i10 and Volkswagen up!. Here's our review of the 1.2-litre Mitsubishi Spacestar.

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Hi Donal,

The Discovery is one of our very favourite cars, especially for the way it can carry seven full-sized adults in luxury-car comfort down the motorway. With big mileage like that though you will be rocking up the fuel bills, as a 2.7-litre V6 diesel Disco will only get about 29mpg in normal driving conditions. That said, you won't get any better from any of its rivals, so there you go.

As for reliability, Land Rover has come on in leaps and bounds in this respect recently, but there's no getting away from the fact that its vehicles tend to be more fragile than the Japanese competition. Small electrical niggles are the most likely problems but both the gearboxes and the air suspension can give problems too and those are rather more serious issues. The V6 diesel engine is pretty solid though.

It would be worth checking out both a Toyota Land Cruiser and Mitsubishi Pajero too, but while both of those would be more likely to have better reliability, neither can hold a candle to the Disco's on-road refinement and comfort.

Let us know which way you go

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Hi Patrick,

Generally Chevriolet Lacettis (and Chevrolets in general) are pretty solidly built, but they're a long, long way from being the most inspiring car around. Essentially, they're cheap, cheerless but solid transport, just as they were when they were still badged as Daewoos.

As for choosing between an Almera and a Lancer, we'd go for the Almera simply because it has a (slightly) nicer interior and is (slightly) nicer to drive.

Hope that helps

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Hi Mairead,

Pajeros are exceptionally rugged and reliable cars, as Mitsubishis tend to be. It’s an excellent tow car, with a maximum braked towing weight of 3,500kg, but if you’re towing something that big, remember that you will need a BE category licence if the weight of the car and trailer combined is more than 3,500kg.

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Hi Unna,

Should be fine, although just bear in mind that it’s a 15-year-old car, so that’s a lot of time for abuse, misuse, or people skipping servicing. Essentially, it’s a very solid and reliable car, but at this age it all comes down to how well it’s been cared for.

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Hi Stephanie,

The general consensus seems to be that Pajeros of all descriptions are solidly built and rarely give any major problems, except with the flywheel, which can fail and cause more than €3,000's worth of trouble. The giveaway is when you accelerate in a high gear, the whole drivetrain with vibrate severely.

That said, consensus also seems to be that the Pajero Sport is cramped, crude and uncomfortable and that if you can stretch your way to a full-size Pajero, you'll be much more comfy and have a more refined car on the road.

Let us know how you get on

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Hi there,

There is no one-source fixed list, so it depends on whether you mean proper two-seat commercial versions or the ‘tax-dodge’ five-seaters with commercial status. Of those second category, they’re becoming thinner on  the ground as  the tax loophole closes, but Mitsubishi still offers an ‘Executive’ version of the Pajero, Volkswagen offers a version of the Touareg and you can get a dealer-converted version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. There are also independent convertors who can alter a great many larger SUVs to ‘business’ status with five seats intact, but obviously you’ll want to shop around and find the best and most reputable.

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Hi Graham,

We asked Mitsubishi Ireland about this one and this is what was said: "Invite and Intense are two model trim names that are associated with a number of our vehicles, including the Lancer. It’s unusual but not unheard of that an insurance company would not have all the trim names on their database. The names do not infer any special performance characteristics but simply a level of trim so should not impact on an insurance quote."

"DE, ES and GTS are very old model trim names going back over 12 years, which we don’t currently use. So these insurance companies must still have them on their database."

Hope you get sorted

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Hi Hank,

Probably not great. There are so few of these on the market that it’s hard to get a solid handle on how good or bad they are. The engine was donated from an old Mitsubishi, so in basic mechanical terms it should be OK, but Jeep does not have the best reputation for solidity of build, so expect lots of small, niggling issues. If it doesn’t have a full and complete service history, that should raise some alarm bells.

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Hi Joe,

They’re pretty reliable, the old Pajero Junior, but bear in mind that that’s now a 22-year-old car, so it’s likely to be running into all sorts of wear and tear problems. You’ll basically need to check everything, and if the car you’re looking at has no NCT, be especially wary. Fuel economy’s not great — it’s a relatively heavy, boxy body being propelled by a small, low-tech engine so expect less than 30mpg on average.