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Hi David,

OK, well the Ka wins in terms of road tax as you'll pay just €358 a year for that, as opposed to €710 for the 2.0-litre Citroen, but after that things start to get a bit more murky. In terms of fuel consumption, it does depend a lot on what kind of driving and mileage you do. If you're a low-mileage person, driving mostly in and around town, then the Ka, even though it uses an aged petrol engine, will probably work out more frugal to run than the Citroen. But if you're doing lots of long motorway miles, then the Citroen will win hands down in economy terms. I'd say you'll average around 40mpg in the Ka, probably 50mpg in the Citroen, depending on your driving style. Beware though; neither of these two cars has the greatest reliability reputation. The Citroen is prone to annoying electrical failures, while the Ka suffers from occasional total engine failure if not cared for.

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Hi Robert,

Not even slightly. There was a fad of buying bi-fuel cars about five years ago, thanks partly to an experimental push on E85 bio-ethanol from fuel supplier Maxol, but mostly because such cars got a €2,500 VRT rebate due to their supposedly 'green' credentials. That all fell apart once (a) the new CO₂-based tax system came in and (b) people realised that there simply isn't enough arable farmland to grow enough crops to make E85 for all of us, and still be able to feed ourselves. As far as we know, there are not even any E85 filling stations still running, so you're effectively just buying a standard 1.8 petrol, and not benefiting from the original VRT rebate.

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Hi Kevin,

I'd say your choice is a pretty good one. The first generation Focus C-Max wasn't the most exciting car around, but it was pretty well put together, comfy and good to drive. You can get them up to 2007 with the 1.6 TDCi 90hp diesel, which should suit your driving pattern pretty well. At 15k a year, even mostly urban mileage, I'd say you definitely need a diesel just to keep the running costs down.

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Hi Pat,

Hmmm. That generation of Corolla doesn't seem to be keeping Toyota's usual reliability standard up. There have been reported issued with brakes (squealing, not failing), troubles with the automatic gearbox, clutch failures, slipping handbrakes and noisy gearboxes. If your potential purchase isn't displaying any of those symptoms, then it might be just fine, but be prepared to raise merry hell with your nearest Toyota dealer if it starts to develop problems. After all, if you're selling your cars on the basis of their reliability, then you'd better be prepared to back that up...

In terms of efficiency, well, it's a quite a small engine in quite a large car, so no, I wouldn't reckon it would be more economical than a 1.2 Fiesta - quite the reverse in fact, unless most of your mileage is on the motorway, in which case the Toyota's extra torque and power should make it more frugal than an over-stretched 1.2.

That price sounds pretty good - maybe even a touch low. Have you done a thorough history check on the car with Cartell.ie?

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Hi James,

Both are good, although French brands are never the most reliable, but of the two we'd go for the Picasso, simply because it's more stylish and strong second hand demand should keep your residual values shored up.

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Hi Mark,

The simplest and most sure way is to take a look underneath. Only the four-wheel drive RAV4 has a solid-looking metal tube running from the gearbox at the front to the rear axle, running alongside the exhaust. Also, there are distinct driveshafts to the rear wheels with rubber 'boots' on either end. The two-wheel drive car doesn't have any of that.

Hope that makes your life easier.

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Hi Sylvester,

First up, I assume you know that the petrol version of the Duster is not offered on the Irish market. It's sold in the UK though, so it could be imported.

In fact, the Duster is offered for sale as an LPG car in some parts of Europe with the 1.6-litre engine so it should be relatively easy to do the conversion - assuming nothing in the right-hand drive configuration gets in the way.

Hope that helps

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Hi Joseph,

A nice car that, with a very smooth chassis, and while the 1.8-litre supercharged petrol engine sounds a bit rough and ready, it's pretty economical. 

Now, this car comes from an era when Mercedes-Benz quality took a distinct dip, and although the C-Class wasn't as badly affected as the E-Class, there are still some issues. Chiefly they're electronic (engine management, faulty keys) and issues with incorrectly specced brake discs being fitted, although a previous owner should have caught that one.

Listen for clonking sounds from the rear suspension too - it's not an especial weak point but can be indicative of problems ahead. 

Finally, don't if you can avoid it, go for the manual. Not only will an automatic have a better resale value down the line, with Merc's awkward foot-operated parking brake, manual C-Classes are just too awkward to drive.

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Hi Ian,

There are really only two options when it comes to S-Max engines and those are the 125hp 1.8 TDCi diesel and the 2.0-litre TDCi diesel in 140hp form. There was a 163hp version as well, but they're pretty thin on the ground and forget about the rarer than hen's molars 2.5-litre 212hp petrol version with the engine from the Focus ST; it was fantastic fun but nobody bought one as far as we can tell.

Now, originally both the 1.8- and 2.0-litre engines shared the same 164g/km CO₂ rating, which makes road tax a bit on the pricey side (€570 a year), but in 2010, Ford facelifted the S-Max, dropped the 1.8 TDCi and introduced an updated 2.0 diesel with emissions of 143g/km, making for a much more palatable €390 a year tax bill. So, that's the one we'd advise you go for and as long as you get either a Zetec or Titanium spec version, you'll get a reasonable amount of toys to keep you happy in the cabin.

Cracking car, the S-Max actually. Spacious but terrific to drive. Let us know how you get on.

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Hi Ronan,

The officially quoted fuel consumption figure for the Passat B6 model with the 1.4 TSI 122hp engine was 7.5 litres per 100km (or 39mpg) combined, with the urban and extra urban figures working out at 10 litres/100km (28mpg) and 6.1 litres/100km (46mpg).

Hope that helps.