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Hi Catherine,

To be honest, I wouldn’t. Quite aside from the fact that the Carisma is  dull to look at, sit in and drive, it was also quite unreliable for a car from a major Japanese car maker. There was no end of problems with the engines and worse still, the 1.3 was hopelessly underpowered. If you want a simple, reliable car from around 2002, think Toyota Corolla instead.

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Hi Cyril,

There are a few advertised ‘trick' fuel additives such as STP or Dipetane that promise to reduce the emissions from the engine, but these are at best unproven and at worst utter snake oil. Your best bet is simply to get the car thoroughly serviced and tuned up and make sure it’s running on high-quality petrol or diesel bought from a reputable source. 

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Hi Oliver,

Actually, it's really good. True, not the fastest car in history, but peppier than you'd expect, smooth and very economical. Actually suits the car rather well, but if you're doing low mileage, have a look at a C 180 petrol model, which uses a 1.6 turbo petrol engine. Well worth checking out. 

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Hi there,

Right, I'll be honest - we had to get on to Nissan Ireland for help with this, but it came through in spades.

Over and above the SV model, the SVE added Xenon headlights, Intelligent Key, illuminated passenger sunvisor, seven-speaker BOSE audio system, 17-inch alloys and rear parking sensors.

The engine has a timing chain, not a belt, so it doesn't need replacement,  but it does need to be inspected at regular intervals. Any Qashqai with a full service history should be fine on that score.

In terms of economy, the 1.6 petrol Qashqai got 44mpg overall while the 1.6 diesel got 55mpg, or 60mpg if it was fitted with the stop-start system.

Hope that all helps

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Hi Rochelle,

It's a chain, and generally speaking it should be replaced or at least given a major overhaul at the 200,000km mark so you'd need to make sure that's been done. As for the mileage, it's maybe a touch high, but as ever, you should buy on condition, not mileage. If this car seems to have been well cared for and comes with a fully stamped service book then it should be fine. 

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Hi Arunita,

If it’s the 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine (and that was really the only version sold in Ireland) then it should have a timing chain, rather than a belt, which shouldn’t need regular replacement, but it’s a good idea to have it regularly inspected for any possibly defects or stretching. Other than that, the Alto’s a good little car – Suzukis tend to be reliable, it’s not bad at all to drive and runs on a whiff of petrol. A good choice as a city-centric runaround.

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Hi Vera,

We’ve never actually road-tested a Panda Dualogic, but there is a recurring fault on the gearboxes, which involved the actuator mechanism. Basically, if the gear change feels anything less than prompt and swift, especially on up-shifts, then the actuator is on the way out and it can be a very expensive part to replace.

As for the rest of it, the Panda’s a fantastic little car – surprisingly roomy inside, fun to drive and actually really quite well built and reliable. The TwinAir engine is a delight to drive, but actually you’d be better off, overall, with the older 1.2 petrol when it comes to economy.

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Hi Aidan,

I think with a weekly Cork-Dublin run you should probably go for the diesel. Much better long-run economy. 

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Hi Billy,

The Fiesta EcoBoost is a really sweet little car, lots of fun to drive, roomy and very frugal. It's a little difficult to know how reliable it will ultimately be in the long-term as the engine itself is a relatively new design and hasn't been around long enough for us to be able to tell exactly how robust it is. That said, Ford's quality record has been good of late, so I'd say it's a reasonably safe bet.

As for which model, it just depends on what your priorities are. A Titanium will have more standard equipment, but it may well be that there's a lot of extras that you simply won't need nor use, so you're probably better off going for the better value of the Zetec.

Other cars that are worth considering would be a Toyota Yaris, Mazda2 and Skoda Fabia. Hope that helps.

Relevant reviews:

Ford Fiesta review

Toyota Yaris review

Mazda2 review

Skoda Fabia review

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Hi F D,

To be honest, we're not really the experts where wheelchair-accessible cars are concerned, so I think you'd be better off asking the experts at Motability Ireland, who you can find here: http://www.motabilityireland.com/advsearchresults.asp