How much to tax the Ford Galaxy?
How much is the car tax for six months on a 2.0-litre Ford Galaxy?
Helen Corvenieo (Kildare)Feb 2015 Filed under: taxation
Expert answer
Hi Helen,
If you mean the current model, with the 2.0-litre 140hp TDCi engine, then that has emissions of 139g/km of CO2, putting it into Band B2 for motor tax, which has a six-month cost of €155.
Looking to change to a Skoda Octavia. Thoughts?
Hi,
I'm going to change my car this year to a Skoda Octavia 08/09 model, but I was wondering if you could recommend any other reliable lower end road tax and economical diesel family cars. Been driving 2002 Volkswagen Passat for last 10 years.
Feb 2015 Filed under: choosing used car
Expert answer
Hi Aisling,
You won't go far wrong with the Octavia. Get the 1.6 TDI and you've got a potential 55mpg car with lots of space and terrific build quality and reliability. If you're looking for alternatives, then there's always the Volkswagen Golf (mechanically the same as the Skoda but less spacious inside) or the Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi (terrific to drive and good value but poor standard equipment and they're tight in the back).
Are the Volkswagen Golf BlueMotions really economical?
Need suggestions for a very economical used diesel. I currently have a 1.8 TDCi Ford Focus averaging about 50mpg. Are the BlueMotion Golfs actually getting high 60s to low 70s mpg?
Brian OC (Wexford)Feb 2015 Filed under: choosing new car
Expert answer
Hi Brian,
There's a serious, serious issue at the moment in the chasm between what the car makers claim you will get in economy terms from a car and what you actually get in real-world driving. There are changes to the official testing regime coming down the pipe, but the car makers are resisting that with all their lobbying might as it means that their CO2 ratings will go up too.
In the meantime, and this is based purely on personal experience, a Golf BlueMotion should get close to 60mpg in daily driving, and you may even crack the 65mpg mark, though 70mpg is probably not going to happen, being realistic.
Further reading:
Does my Mondeo have a timing belt?
I have a 2008 1.8-litre TDCi diesel Ford Mondeo. Does this have a timing belt? If so when should it be changed?
Michael Flynn (Mullinavat)Feb 2015 Filed under: servicing
Expert answer
Hi Michael,
It does indeed. Ford recommends ever 10 years or 125,000 miles (201,000km roughly) - whichever comes first. We'd always recommend having it done sooner.
Is it worth chipping my Ford Focus for economy?
I've a 2010 Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi. Will remapping the engine's ECU really improve the economy? I'm getting 46- to 49mpg now and there are 57k miles on the clock (it's a UK import).
Denis O'Gorman (Galway)Expert answer
Hi Denis,
Chipping an engine can be beneficial but to be honest I don't think it's really going to help you here. If you're already getting nearly 50mpg on average then you're doing pretty well as it is. Chipping might boost that a bit but you're into unknown territory then with engine longevity, you might drive up your insurance and you might find a chipped car hard to sell on again.
Is the Ford Focus diesel reliable?
Hi, I'm wondering about the 2013 Ford Focus diesel 1.6 TDCi. How reliable are they? I never had a diesel before and would prefer petrol but none available to me at the moment.
Robert Gavin (Maynooth)Jan 2015 Filed under: reliability
Expert answer
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.
How much is my 2008 Ford Mondeo worth?
How much is a black 2008 Ford Mondeo TDCi Zetec 125hp with 68,000 miles, Bluetooth, parking sensors, all electric windows in showroom condition worth?
Thank you.
James Shorten (Cork)Dec 2014 Filed under: used car values
Expert answer
Hi James,
I'd say between €8,000 and €10,000 depending on the condition and history. Lower end if it's a trade in, a little higher if the service history is immaculate.
It's going to cost a fortune to repair my car - what to do?
How's this for an early Xmas present? I've just picked up my 2008 Ford Mondeo 1.8 TDCi from my dealer where it was in for its annual service. As usual they were giving me a report on how the service went and unfortunately they had to advise me that I'm going to need a lot of work done to my car, which I wasn't expecting.
Because of rust, repairs have to be made to the fuel tank, exhaust system (including a new catalytic convertor), the timing belt and a few other bits and pieces. All in all it's going to cost me over €3k. I've been with this dealer for a while and any work on the car was always done through them, so I trust them when they say the work is urgent. As the car has 193,000km on the clock I was expecting the timing belt to need replacing in the near future, but the other repairs have floored me. The car has always been dealer serviced. I had been planning on changing the car later this year, but now I'm not sure what to do. I could repair the car, but that will push back my plans to change the car and I'm taking the risk that nothing else would go wrong, while my car would continue to lose value.
Alternatively I could bring forward my plans to change, and hope the €3k in repairs that would have to be discounted against the trade in value by the dealer would still leave me in a position to do a deal. Any advice you could give would be appreciated.
Just to give you a good laugh, the weekend before I got the car serviced, my wife had ordered a new MINI Countryman to replace her Ford C-Max. We can't back out of that deal now. Had I gotten the service a week earlier, we could at least have postponed changing her car to replace mine! Timing is everything, I suppose...
Martin Moroney (Dublin)Dec 2014 Filed under: choosing used car
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
Belt or chain for the Ford Kuga 2.0 TDCi?
Does the Ford Kuga 2.0 TDCi Zetec 2WD have a timing chain or belt and what mileage should it be changed at?
Linda Jarvis (Westmeath)Nov 2014 Filed under: servicing
Expert answer
Hi Linda,
It has a timing belt and it needs to be changed at 200,000km or 10 years, whichever is sooner.
Any tips for replacing my old petrol Golf with a diesel?
I want to change my petrol 2002 Golf with 85k on the clock. I was looking at getting a diesel as I'm driving 60km per day for work. My budget would be about €6,000. I'd prefer a medium size car like a Ford Focus or SEAT Ibiza - any tips?
Karla Devenney (Dublin)Oct 2014 Filed under: choosing used car
Expert answer
Hi Karla,
Well, you're looking at two different sizes of car there. If you want to physically downsize, then the Ibiza is the one to go for - it's smaller than the Golf (based on the same chassis as the Volkswagen Polo), but still pretty spacious, rather handsome and nice to drive. They're very reliable too, but quite noisy and uncouth on a longer journey. A Focus is roughly the same size as a Golf, but if it's painless, economical motoring you're after than a 1.6 TDCi Focus could be the answer - plentiful, well-made, sweet to drive and 55mpg.
What do you think?