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Hi Gerry,

Of the two, I’d prefer the 1.3 diesel. Neither is an especially refined engine by modern standards, but the 1.7 is a terrible old thing – incredibly noisy, rattly and prone to stalling when driving in stop-start traffic. The 1.3, if you get it with the 90hp output, has decent performance, is very economical and doesn’t seem to give too much bother. Great that you’re doing your own servicing, but beware of what effect that may have on the resale value as most buyers prefer to see a healthy book of dealer service stamps.

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Hi Anthony,

The thing is, it shouldn’t make a difference, but it probably will. Our advice to buyers, and it’s the sensible advice, is to basically ignore the mileage and concentrate on the paperwork. If a car comes with a thick sheaf of service book stamps and receipts showing that it has been properly cared for, then the mileage is more or less irrelevant. A well cared for car with huge miles will always be a better car than a low-miles one that’s been abused.

Unfortunately, not everyone listens to us and so, yes, high miles or kilometres can still be an issue. I think the best thing you can do is to go and have a chat with your local dealer and see what they say. If your car is impeccably kept and serviced, then they may say that mileage will only be a minor factor and you can keep the car you’ve got for a bit yet. If they say otherwise, then it may be time to swap.

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Hi Tom,

Yes, it is. Renault has really gotten on top of the quality issues that plagued the brand in the early 2000s and the fact that the engine (and pretty much all the bits you can’t see) are shared with Nissan should tell you a lot about their potential reliability.

We have heard of that 1.5 engine blowing turbos, but it seems to be a relatively rare issue. Nonetheless, as it ages you should definitely keep an eye on the various electrical and electronic systems as they can throw up niggling problems. That said, if you stick to the service schedule, it should be fine.

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Hi Colm,

They’re not bad, but there’s a reason that they’re cheap. Nonetheless, the Megane is a decent and solid car and reliability and quality are far, far better than was once the case with Renault.

I would be very wary of buying without a complete and full service history though, and with the 1.5 dCi diesel engine you need to keep an eye out for a blown turbo (symptoms include black or blue smoke, sluggish power delivery) or engine management system issues (surging or uneven running).

The real reason that they’re cheap though is because, in 2009-2010, Renault Ireland pursued an aggressive strategy of heavy discounting to try and grab as big a slice of the market as possible. It was the classic stack them high sell them cheap idea, and while it racked up some impressive sales figures, it did some terrible damage to residual values. At this stage, the worst of the depreciation will have been and gone, but remember if you’re buying it cheap today, you’ll be trading it in cheap when you’re finished with it.

READ: 2009 Renault Megane review

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Hi John,

If it's the oil light that came on, usually a red light with a dripping oil can icon, then you really shouldn't drive anywhere until you get to the bottom of the reason for it. That usually means low oil pressure, so the level may just need topping up.

If it's a service light, then it's recommended to get it seen to as soon as possible, but it should not be urgent. It's always recommended to change the oil filter when you are replacing the oil in a car.

Hope that helps

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Hi Mike,

Expert answer

Hi Marie,

If it's running costs that concern you, you should probably consider coming down in price and, a little, in size a bit. Both the Evoque and the Q5 are premium-badge SUVs and while neither is excessively thirsty, both will be expensive to run and service.

I'd suggest, instead, checking out a Honda CR-V - tonnes of space, hugely reliable, comfortable and with the 1.6 I-DTEC diesel engine and four-wheel drive, both frugal and ideal for country roads. Good to drive too.

Other good options are the Mazda CX-5, the Kia Sportage, Hyundai Santa Fe, Volkswagen Tiguan or Toyota RAV4. Here are our reviews to help you decide:

Range Rover Evoque review

Audi Q5 review

Honda CR-V review

Mazda CX-5 review

Kia Sportage review

Hyundai Santa Fe review

Volkswagen Tiguan review

Toyota RAV4 review

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Hi Ciaran,

No major glaring problems. They can develop electrical gremlins, especially with the central locking and alarm systems, and the boot seals can leak, letting in water, but as long as you buy one with a full service history you shouldn’t have too much to worry about.

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Hi Tim,

The Fiesta should be mostly as reliable as the Polo. In extremis, I'd say the Polo will still have a slight edge overall in terms of quality,  but as long as you buy a Fiesta with a full service history and look after it properly it should be fine. The base 60hp engine is very slow though, so unless all of your driving is in town, we'd suggest upgrading to the 82hp version. 

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Hi Bridie,

It depends what you mean by ‘the engine’, but we’ll assume for now that you mean the most commonly-sold Insignia, the 2.0-litre CDTi. As far as our research goes, these are reasonably robust units and only have three common areas for faults – the diesel particulate filter, which, as with any diesel engine, can get clogged up if you don’t do regular long journeys; the turbocharger, which can fail; and the dual-mass flywheel,  which can also fail.

Now, fair enough, turbo or dual-mass flywheel problems can be very expensive, but the Insignia is far from alone in suffering from those issues, and it doesn’t seem to be that the problems are endemic, nor even all that common.

When you say reviews, do you mean comments on internet articles? Not the same thing I’m afraid – someone who can be bothered to comment online generally already has a problem with their car, so you don’t get to hear from those who’ve had faultless miles of service. It’s called confirmation bias.

Instead of ruling out a given make/model, it's best to take a close look at examples that are offered for sale.