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Hi Brian,

OK, at that budget you have plenty of good options. How about a Hyundai i10? Crackingly good little car that - nice to drive, safe, economical and really reliable. Circa €9,000 should get you into a 2012 model, and that will still have around three years of its original warranty left to run. Want something a little cheaper than that? Try a Suzuki Swift. Budget around €6,000 to €7,000 to get a 2009 or 2010 model. Again, a cracking little car to drive and Suzukis are exceptionally well made and reliable. Finally, if you max out your budget, you could get into a brand new Dacia Sandero 1.2. Not the most sophisticated car out there but simple and solid and it comes with a full warranty.

Let us know which way you go

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Hi Bill,

There’s no one blanket answer to this, as much depends on where you do your mileage and how you drive. Basically the issue is one of heat. The DPF needs the exhaust system of the car to reach full operating temperature in order for it to burn off the excess carbonised soot that it filters from the exhaust. If you don’t generate that heat then the DPF gets full and clogs up and causes problems. So, you can do relatively low mileage, but if it’s mostly on the motorway and you’re running at a constant 120km/h for, say, 30 minutes or so each day, then you probably wouldn’t have any problems. If you do lots of miles but they’re all in town, stuck in traffic, creeping along, then it doesn’t matter how much mileage you do, you’ll have problems. As a rule of thumb, we usually say that circa 20,000km a year is the changeover point, but as I say, driving style and where you do your driving enter into it too.

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Hi Eileen,

First up, we believe you mean rear-wheel drive cars. All BMWs (up to a new one launching later this year anyway) send their power to the rear or all wheels, and most Mercedes-Benz models do as well (though that's slowly changing). So, what's the 'problem' with rear-wheel drive? The stories you are referring to probably started off when we had those particularly long icy winters a few years ago. Many drivers of rear-drive cars found themselves stranded when others sailed past. This is down to lack of traction.

In a front-engined, rear-drive car there is very little weight over the driven wheels so in very slippery conditions it can struggle to put its power down. Most normal cars (i.e. not executive or sporty) are front-engined and front-wheel drive, where the weight of the engine over the wheels helps in low-grip conditions. Saying all that, sales of BMWs and Mercs etc. with rear-wheel drive are very high in countries that consistently have much worse weather than us, but the difference is that they habitually change over to winter tyres for a fixed portion of the year. These have a massive effect.

Back in Ireland, BMWs and Mercs are bought in relatively large numbers due to their status and image, yet they're not as expensive as they used to be. Most of the time here the lack of rear traction is not an issue, though some drivers don't like the feel of a rear-drive car in wet conditions. They're no less safe though, especially the latest models with all their driver aids.

Personally, I prefer rear-wheel drive, but I'd advise all buyers to try a range of cars to see what they like.

Hope that helps you understand those stories a little!

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Hi Stella,

OK, the good news is that your Yaris is an in-demand model and values for cars from around that era are holding up well because of the scarcity of new car sales since the financial crash. I'd hope that you'd get around €8,000 for it, but let's play safe and assume you get €7,000 and you can add your €1k to that. That opens up an entire world of MINIs to you, and not just old models - you should be able to get into the second-generation post-2006 model, which is noticeably more refined and well made. I'd suggest trying to track down a nicely specced 1.6 Cooper and enjoy the heck out of it. As a MINI owner myself, I can tell you that they're great fun to drive and not quite as impractical as you might think.

Now, reliability. There's no two ways about it - Toyotas are staggeringly reliable and break very rarely. MINIs aren't bad, not bad at all, but they're just not quite as bank-vault solid as the Japanese car. Buy carefully, make sure you get one with a full and complete service history and you should be fine. Regular servicing isn't too pricey (about €190 for a normal service) and fuel economy should be pretty good too.

Hope that all helps

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Hi Mervyn,

Generally speaking, most car makers design major parts such as engine heads, blocks etc. for a life of around 400,000 to 500,000km. That said, if you look after the car properly, keep it serviced and be prepared to spend the cash to replace major components from time to time, the total life is essentially unlimited. It’s all down to the care the car gets a lot of the time.

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Hi Jim,

I'm inclined to agree with you, though it's difficult to know for sure without experiencing it for myself. From what you say it really sounds like a clutch or flywheel problem and the only way to fix it could be a replacement of those items. Not cheap, sadly.

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Hi Tara,

Well none of the above. Not really at any rate.

Early build (i.e. 2000-2001) MINIs had some issues with fuel pumps, but other than that they suffer from no major repetitive reliability problems. The exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve on the 1.6 diesel can be a weak point but other than that, as long as you keep it serviced on the button, you shouldn't have any problems. 

Fuel consumption is only a problem if you go for an early, supercharged Cooper S. Regular 1.6 Coopers should easily do 40mpg and I have personal experience of the fact that a 1.6 diesel Cooper will do better than 60mpg.

As for the back thing, well, I myself suffer from a bad back and I own a MINI and can report no problems. They are a bit low slung for climbing in and out of but the seat and driving position are excellent. Try before you buy and see how it feels.

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Hi Phil,

"Most economical" is something of a loaded question as it's really much more dependant on your style of driving and the routes you use as much as anything else. 

What I can tell you though is the car in that class I've been able, consistently, to get the best economy from. It's a Golf. To be precise, it's the Mk VI Volkswagen Golf 1.6 TDI BlueMotion. Test driving it on a warm, sunny day with the air conditioning going and not paying a huge amount of attention to being economical, I managed an average of 65mpg. I haven't yet driven the latest Mk VII Golf BlueMotion but would suspect you could do even better again, possibly as good as 70mpg.

Come back to us if you need more assistance choosing.

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Hi Jimmy,

Try a Skoda Octavia 1.2 TSI petrol. It's massive inside and has a huge boot, and it can easily reach 50mpg in daily driving, with around 900km to a tank possible.

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Hi Peter,

Yes, it's reliable and no, there are no major issues to watch out for. Just bear in mind a couple of things. Automatic cars can be a little harder on brakes than their manual cousins, and they can of course be more thirsty. More significant still, the smaller-engined versions of the Polo 55- and 65hp 1.2 petrols are pretty sluggish at the best of times and with an auto 'box both drawing power and adding weight, you could be looking at really slow-motion driving.