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Hi Shane,

Ok, if you want to trim your tax, then your best hope is to get into a much more compact car. I'd suggest trading down to a five-door hatchback, and seeing as you do such low mileage, I'd suggest going for petrol - you'll find it much less trouble than diesel. 

How about a Skoda Octavia 1.2 TSI petrol turbo? Near to diesel levels of economy but no diesel particulate filter (DPF) to worry about, Band B emissions so you'll pay just €280 to tax it and it's also nice to drive and damn near as spacious as your old Mondeo.

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Hi Pat,

You definitely need to change both belts. The recommended change interval is 125,000 miles (just over 200,000 kilometres) or every two years. If yours has never been done then we'd suggest you get it done as soon as possible.

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Hi Bernard,

An individual injector is going to cost in and around the €170 mark, depending on where you source it from. After that, it’s down to the garage you bring it to and what kind of labour rates they charge.

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Hi John,

Nothing major to worry about although there are a few electrical glitches - the keyless ignition system (if fitted) can give trouble, as can the hands-free locking and unlocking (again, it was an option). There have been isolated reports of the 2.0-litre diesel engine cutting out unexpectedly too. Check the interior trim carefully as well - Mondeos often rack up big mileage and while the mechanical bits are sold, the cabins can suffer from abuse - look for collapsing seats or disintegrating trim.

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Hi Dan,

Of all the ones you've mentioned there, I'd actually have a long, hard look at the Volkswagen Jetta. True, it's not the most exciting car of all, but with the 1.6 TDI diesel engine coupled to the DSG automatic gearbox, you should be able to squeeze terrific fuel economy out of it: 55mpg should be easily do-able, perhaps even the sunny side of 60mpg. It's sweeter to drive than you'd think too, really comfy and built like a tank.

What do you think?

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Hi Patricia,

Both 1.8- and 2.2-litre TDCi engines in the S-Max have timing belts. The change interval is 200,000 kilometres or every two years.

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Hi Louise,

That car has a timing belt, which should be replaced every 125,000 miles (or 200,000 kilometres). We'd recommend changing it sooner than that, however, say every 100,000 miles, so it would be a good idea to have it changed on your car sooner rather than later.

Hope that helps

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Hi Anna,

There are several versions of that car, and there as a model year change in late 2009 so it depends which it is exactly. Here are a few examples, assuming you're not talking about the estate:

- 1.8 TDCi saloon with 100hp and five-speed manual gearbox: 149g/km CO₂ (Band C): €390

- 1.8 TDCi saloon with 125hp and stop-start (called 'Eco') and five-speed manual gearbox: 139g/km CO₂ (Band B2): €280

- 1.8 TDCi saloon with 125hp and five-speed manual gearbox: 154g/km CO₂ (Band C): €390

If you give us the registration number we can give you the exact price of tax.

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Hi Rory,

Both cars use dual clutch semi-automatic gearboxes, which are pretty slick-shifting, but Volkswagen's DSG transmission just edges it for smoothness and quickness. 

On the emissions front it's rather bad news I'm afraid. If you're buying 2008 model year cars then you're looking at emissions of 189g/km for the Mondeo 2.0 TDCi Powershift and 175g/km for the Passat 2.0 TDI DSG. That means tax of €750 a year.

It gets a bit better if you can spool forward to 2010 when the Passat's emissions drop to 158g/km so that means a tax bill of €570 a year. 

Just for reference, the Mondeo 2.0 diesel auto gets an official 39mpg while the 2010 Passat with DSG gets 47mpg.

To be honest, if you can live without an automatic gearbox you would be better to go for the 1.6-litre diesel versions of either car. Both have decent performance and much better economy and emissions. For instance, a 1.6 BlueMotion Technologies Passat gets 62mpg and has emissions of just 118g/km so tax of €200 a year.

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Hi Dave,

We're assuming you mean the current 1.6 TDCi version of the Ford C-Max, which has 95hp. It emits 117g/km, putting it in Band A4, which currently costs €200 per annum.