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Hi Donal,

I'm afraid we've not even seen how the new Honda Civic will look, never mind how it drives. Personally, I'd prefer the current Civic to the Astra so you'd hope that the next one will be even better.

I guess the decision is more about your timing at this stage, as we don't know enough about the next Civic.

Sorry not to be of more assistance!

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Hi Chloe,

The fact that you really seem to like your car would signify that perhaps you should simply change to the 1.7-litre diesel SXi version of your car and save yourself a few quid in the process. You will probably get around €11,000 - €11,500 for your car at current market prices, but that should leave you well placed to replace it with a diesel model without too much trouble.

There weren't too many SXI models in Ireland with diesel engines but there do appear to be a few Vauxhalls imported with this spec that might work for you unless you had any particular objections to driving a Vauxhall over an Opel. 

You could have a diesel version for in and around the same money so perhaps you could even get into a slightly newer model if you were prepared to invest a few more quid, but since money saving seems to be the aim here then maybe just swap into a diesel. 

Aside from that you could perhaps look at getting a Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion, which is incredibly fuel efficient. This would make a great buy for you really and something like this would be very cheap to run. 

I hope this helps,

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Hi Ronan,

We asked Ciaran Lowe, a former service manager for Nissan Ireland, to answer this one. He told us. "I can understand your reasoning for removing the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) because of the excessive cost of replacement. However, the DPF on diesel vehicles plays an important roll in reducing vehicle emissions. In fact these filters can reduce diesel soot emissions by up to 80 percent, so by removing the DPF it is interfering with the emissions on your vehicle. By re-mapping the ECU it is only tricking the engine management  system to see emissions within spec regarding the DPF system. However even with the ECM re-mapped the vehicle will still fail any future emissions tests. The fact your light is on indicates the system has identified out of range emissions."

I'm afraid the best solution all-round is to seek a used DPF filter.

We've talked to a few people in the industry and short of messing with the actual lights in the dashboard there is no way around this. We can't recommend this route, but it could be done by any auto electrician.

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Hi there Kevin,

I am not sure whether you are choosing a new or used car. There is a brand new Jetta just gone on sale and it is absolutely massive - quite close to the Passat. This would probably be the better of the two at the moment, but then there is a new Focus arriving in April.

The new Focus is really good too and that comes with a 1.6-litre diesel engine, while the Jetta also comes with a 1.6-litre diesel. I haven't driven the new Jetta yet personally here in Ireland, but we have driven it and I have driven the new Focus, which is brilliant. 

Out of the two, if I was doing lots of mileage, then the Jetta would probably be the better of the two, but without totally sitting on the fence the best thing to do is to try them both for yourself.

Let us know how you get on.

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Hiya Alan,

In a word, no we wouldn't recommend a used one. While the RX-8 is a great car and was super when it came out new, it has been a total disaster in terms of reliability. It drinks oil and fuel and there is a list of problems with it. There is a fair amount of evidence that the engines on these cars aren't lasting much more than 80,000- to 100,000 kilometres and there have been problems with starting the engines too. 

We would love to recommend the RX-8 as a second-hand buy but there is a strong chance you would be heart broken and given the fact that you have had grief before then I reckon you don't want that to happen again.

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Hi Mairead,

I guess it depends on how bad your Ibiza is. You will generally get a better deal as a cash buyer, but it will also probably cost you money to get rid of your Ibiza if you bring it to a scrap yard. Sadly you don't qualify for scrappage. but there are lots of good offers around, especially from the likes of Renault, who will give you a great scrappage price on a car eight years old or over. You could have any Renault Mégane within your budget. We recently drove the GT Line version of the Mégane and it looks great with tons of equipment including a built in TomTom navigation system. 

The Mazda3 diesel is €19,995 and you get air conditioning, Bluetooth, cruise control and alloy wheels as standard and it is a cracker of a car. I think given your budget that this would be an excellent choice. It has low emissions too, so annual road tax is just €104. 

Feel free to come back to us if any of these suggestions don't work. 

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Hi Gerard,

That is a bit of a hard one. To be honest I would probably be looking in the direction of a pick-up truck and a Mitsubishi L200 would be the one I would go for with your budget. You would have to add a cover or find one with one, but something like this could really work.

Or if you needed a van, then this Renault Master could be ideal. It is within your budget and has lots of seats!

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Hi Trish,

In general, the later Saabs are pretty solid. They are generally based on General Motors platforms and the engines are tried and trusted. As they get older they can become a little expensive to repair but since you are looking at 2007 models or newer then these should be good. It is true that there have been some reports of failed turbos in the past, but they are quite rare. 

There was a recall in 2007 for a problem with the handbrake but in general this car has been good. Depending on your needs, we would say you should get the cabrio, because this has brilliant resale value. This example is nice and comes from a SIMI dealer. 

Otherwise, I would probably go for this 150hp diesel, which has low mileage and would have good fuel economy. 

I hope this helps. 

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Hi Ciaran,

There were a lot of used Audi A4s brought into Ireland over the last few years, mainly by personal import. I remember seeing a statistic at the time stating that there were more used Audis being imported into Ireland than there were new Audis being sold. The quality of these imported cars varied quite a lot. Two members of my own family bought cars from the years that you mention and while they have been fine, when something does go wrong (through wear and tear) the costs of parts can be pricey. 

The car you have shown us is petrol powered, which might make it tricky to sell on again, especially since you will probably reach 100,000 miles reasonably soon in it. It has had three owners too in quite a short space of time, so I would want a full history check done on the car and I'd want to know if there have been any problems. 

I think if everything checks out on that car then you could be on to a winner, although I would probably be inclined to look at a diesel with slightly higher miles because resale value might be better. 

Hope that's of help