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Hi Mark,

Our information is that your car has a timing belt and it needs to be changed every four years.

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Hi Aisling,

Not a huge seller, the Rapid, but it's a perfectly decent car. Skoda designed and built it as a more affordable alternative to the Octavia - it kind of sits between the Octavia and the smaller Fabia in price and space terms. The upsides are a big boot (huge, actually) and a decent line-up of petrol and diesel engines. The downsides are a slightly narrow cabin and bouncy, skippy rear suspension. Plus the interior doesn't look or feel as sophisticated as that of the larger Octavia. It'll be an affordable and very reliable family car though.

Read our Skoda Rapid review here

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Hi Margaret,

I know what you mean. The Honda bug is a hard one to shift once it's bitten you. The good news is that Honda has a new car on the market, the HR-V, which is more compact than a CR-V, but still pretty spacious. It's high-riding, so good for your back, and can be had with Honda's terrific 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel engine. Looks nice too. Prices start from €23,995 or on a PCP deal from €255 a month and I'd say it's well worth checking out.

Read our Honda HR-V review here

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Hi Hugh,

Well, a Mondeo or Passat would be a more sensible choice - more around to choose from and slightly cheaper running costs. And that's the Achilles' heel of the X-Type - running costs. While the diesels are reasonably frugal, and in general it's a well-made and reliable car (after some serious horrors on early-build examples back in 2001 and 2002), the X-Type can be expensive to fix if and when it does go wrong, and don't go assuming that because it's based on a MkIII Mondeo that you can use more affordable Mondeo bits; there's still a lot of bespoke Jag in there.

Still, it's a lovely car to drive, and the 2008 facelift (new grille, slightly squarer looks) made it much more stylish. Shop around carefully, don't buy anything that doesn't have a full service history and check for any noises coming from either the transmission or the suspension.

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Hi Olive,

It depends on which engine you're considering. The Auris Terra 1.33, at €20,750, is €1,750 cheaper than the Aura model with the same engine. The difference is €1,250 when it's the 1.4-litre D-4D diesel, which costs €22,250 as a Terra or €23,500 for the Luna specification.

If you're using PCP or Hire Purchase to pay for the car then these differences become negligible in terms of additional monthly costs.

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Hi John,

Both excellent - spacious, reliable, comfortable and reasonably frugal if you go for the diesels. The Avensis will be more economical overall, but the Mazda is much more enjoyable to drive and better equipped as standard. Head says Avensis, heart says Mazda.

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Hi Tom,

Totally different cars so it's quite hard to compare them directly. The ix35 is one of the better crossover SUVs - it's roomy and very nice to drive and hugely reliable too.

The Mondeo was always one of the best large saloons around, and that fourth generation model was a good one - solidly built (although you need to keep an eye out for niggling electrical problems) and really great to drive. Plus, both the cabin and boot are massively spacious, even more so than those of the ix35.

So it depends what your priorities are. Like a high-riding car and fancy something with 4x4 styling? Get the ix35. Not bothered about SUVs but want something truly rewarding to drive? Get the Mondeo.

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Hi Naomi,

Pre-2008 cars are taxed according to their engine size, so that Polo, which is actually 1,422cc, falls into the 1,401 to 1,500cc band, at €413 a year, or €229 for six months and €116 for three months.

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Hi Howard,

About €6-7k trade in for the Octavia, and about €4-5k for the Fabia, I'd say.

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Hi Susan,

You should be fine - that's the current model and it hasn't thrown up any major reliability issues. BMW also seems to have fixed a long-standing concern over the reliability of the timing belts on its 2.0-litre diesel engine, as well as some weaknesses around the turbos. That said, unless the car has a pristine and fully stamped service history (preferably from a BMW main dealer) then avoid it - they're complicated things and any skimping on maintenance by a former owner will come back to haunt you.