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Hi Michael,

As long as the repair is carried out by an accredited main dealer, and you keep all the receipts, any effect on the value of the car should be negligible. A few photos (before and after) and perhaps a letter from the garage itemising all of the work done and parts replaced probably wouldn't do any harm either. As with any car, the more paperwork you can show a potential buyer that demonstrates you've been taking care of the car, the better.

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Hi Tanya,

OK, prices for a 2007 Kia Sorento range from as little as €6,000 for a commercial model to as much as €15,000, which seems a bit hopeful to me. Let's play reasonably safe and suggest that you should get about €9,000 to €10,000 on trade-in. 

Now, the 5 Series. The E60 5 Series that ran from 2002 to 2010 is one of our all time favourite cars and the 535d is one of the very best. Powerful, smooth, reasonably economical and able to spin the rear wheels in third gear. Ahem.

It's worth considering other models though. The 535d is a twin-turbo version of the same 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine that you'll find, in single turbo form, in the 530d. You won't save any money in terms of tax (it's the same capacity), but the 530d will be better on fuel and cheaper to insure. If you really want to save some money, look for the ever-popular 520d, which is almost ridiculously cheap to run and far more powerful than you might expect. 

As for things to look for, the suspension is the 5's weak point so if there are any nasty clonking noises or if the car feels unstable on the road, or the steering feels inaccurate, walk away. The iDrive infotainment system has also been known to give bother so check and make sure that it is working and, as with any prestige car, make sure it has a full service history.

With a car like this, I'd never advise buying privately or from an unfranchised dealer. SIMI membership should be at least the bottom line and you'll get a better deal from a BMW main dealer than you might expect, especially if the car is part of their approved used programme. 

A 2005 530d or 535d seems to hover around a similar asking price to your Kia so you'll just have to negotiate carefully to get the best price.

Let us know how you get on.

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Hi William,

The new Lexus NX will be unveiled in public for the first time next month (April) at the Beijing motor show in China. It is possible that we'll get a static preview of the car ourselves in May in London before driving it in September for review. The NX goes on sale in Ireland in October.

Let us know if we can help with anything else

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Hi Ken,

If the shudder stops when you stop accelerating then we'd suggest looking at the inner CV joint.

Let us know how you get on.

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Hi Sinead,

A 'pre-reg' is a car registered to a dealer, as a way of artificially boosting their sales figures. Hence why most pre-regging happens at the end of a month. Deadlines and sales figures have to be met and the odd pre-reg here and there can keep everyone happy. With a first name in the logbook, the car is now, as far as the trade is concerned, second hand and its value drops accordingly - that's why you'll see them on dealer forecourts as 'nearly new' or 'ex demo.' They'll have the same delivery mileage as a brand new car, just your name won't be at the top of the logbook.

They make excellent buys, mostly because they will be heavily discounted to shift the stock on. It may be less than €1,000 in some cases but with some premium brands the difference between showroom and nearly-new can be as much as €4,000.

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Hi John,

Not bad, but a car that's somewhat feeling its age now. Hardly surprising, as it's due for a mid-life facelift - something that was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show this week. The 1.5 dCi diesel engine is decent, but the petrol version somewhat less so and the least said about the Nismo version the better. Quality is excellent and it rides and drives well, but I'd either wait for the new one, or save up and get a more capable Qashqai.

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Hi Jason,

A really good car, that 2002-2007 Corolla. 'Quiet' looking inside and out it may be but the strength of the engineering underneath is palpable. The sheer quality of the cabin was vastly ahead of any other contemporary rival (even the supposedly tank-like Volkswagen Golf Mk IV) and the primary engine, a 1.4 petrol VVT-i unit, out punched most rivals by about 15- to 20hp while also being more economical.

It's also surprisingly good to drive. It'll never set your shoes on fire, so to speak, but in a former life I thrashed one around Mondello Park and it showed a depth of competence in the chassis that would surprise most Corolla drivers. 

On the reliability front, there's little or nothing to worry about. The only recurring complaints seem to be rear lights that allow condensation to build up inside and annoyingly squeaky brakes.

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Hi David,

Depends on your driving style, but 55mpg should be a gimme, 60mpg if you're a bit careful and 70mpg if you're driving with baby kittens under the accelerator pedal.

You're quite right about 1.2 engines, at least for now. They usually have to be worked too hard to drive at normal speeds to get the best economy and, for now, 1.6 seems to be a displacement sweet spot. That will change though - just check out the economy you can get (with some effort) from Volkswagen's 1.2 TSI petrol unit.

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Hi there,

It is indeed a chain-driven engine so maintenance and reliability should be pretty good. SsangYongs tend to be reliable overall, but it's rather hard for us to get a good handle on their quality levels as there aren't that many on the road in Ireland. Experience in other countries where the brand is a stronger seller (Australia and New Zealand for instance) seems to show that they're pretty solid.

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Hi George,

The Aston DBS is no longer in production so you'll be looking for used examples if it still interests you. Aston Martin does not have an official sales outlet in the Republic of Ireland, but Charles Hurst in Belfast does have a dedicated Aston Martin showroom. That's probably a good place to start when it comes to finding a used Aston, too.