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Hi Rosemary,

According to the official figure, you should be getting 33mpg. Bear in mind though that this is almost a ten-year old car, so its performance in terms of fuel economy may have tailed off. Nothing a good service and oil change wouldn't fix though, along with some decent new tyres.

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Hi Scott,

Scrappage isn't worth much these days, sadly, but it might be worth having a ring around local breakers' yards and spare parts experts. Often the value in a car can lie in its components rather than the whole, so if things like the body and interior are in good nick, then you may get some value out of selling those off separately.

Let us know how you get on

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Hi Michael,

Should be fine, but just check all the electrics and buttons on the inside, as one of the few weak areas on the Vitara is in its wiring. Also make sure that a recall to have the front suspension attended to has been done, and check the service book - Vitaras have rather short 10,000km service intervals so one or two may have been skipped. Other than that, it should be a good 'un.

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Hi Ruairi,

As with any folding hard top cabrio the first and most important thing is to check the roof carefully for any problems, leaks, wear and tear. They can be fragile so you want to make sure that everything's working right. 

Secondly, all that roof stuff is heavy (which is why the Eos is so clumsy to drive) so you need to be checking for excessive wear and tear on suspension, tyres, steering etc. 

As for engine, there's no point in going for the 2.0 turbo engine from the Golf GTI as the Eos's porky weight kills the performance. Better to just accept you'll be slow and go for the 1.4 TSI or 2.0 TDI diesel instead.

Let us know how you get on

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Hi Susan,

Wow, you're a glutton for punishment aren't you? You pretty much couldn't have picked two less reliable cars. The Discovery is best avoided. If you could afford to trade up to a third-generation model I'd say that's worth a go, as Land Rover was starting to get on top of its quality issues by then, but the old Series II is just bad news. Gearboxes go, electrics go and even the suspension can fail. I know what you mean about falling in love - it's happened to me too with old Land Rovers, but you're looking at a very high-maintenance partner there.

The Espace is a little better, but not by much. The diesel engines are very fragile - check for smoke, check for oil levels and if there are any signs of overheating, run don't walk away. Check anything with an electrical wire coming out the back of it too as it can all go wrong, although the electronic parking brake and electric windows are especially prone to wrongness. Also, keep an eye on the tyres. Espaces go through them like butter and 20,000km is about as much as you'll get out of a set.

If you really want a seven-seater that works properly, can I suggest either a Mitsubishi Pajero or Toyota Land Cruiser? Not as cool as the Discovery, but they won't let you down.

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Hi Paul,

It could be down to a number of factors, but excessive fuel consumption can usually be traced to a few specific areas:

Are the tyre pressures correct all round? Tyres that are under pressure can seriously increase your fuel consumption.

Are you using a roof rack or roof box, or are you constantly carrying around heavy loads in the boot?

Has the engine been serviced recently?

Finally, there’s your own driving style, which is often the bigger contributing factor to fuel consumption. If you’re trying to save fuel, try accelerating a little more gently, anticipating the traffic flow a little further ahead, backing off earlier and not idling the engine when standing still for long periods.

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Hi Eddie,

There are certainly no reports out there of any persistent handbrake issues with the FR-V so it could just be a specific problem with that car - the handbrake may have been over-adjusted at the last service, perhaps. Try another one and see if you feel the same problem. Otherwise FR-Vs are, like all Hondas, staggeringly reliable and well made. There are just no repeated problems with them, so, as long as the one you're looking at has a full service history and is in good nick, you should be fine.

Just watch for two things; check the interior and especially the boot for signs of excess wear and tear - these are hard-working family machines and many have been treated with a fair amount of disdain. Then check the tyres for signs of uneven wear - that could mean that the suspension has been knocked askew, something that's easily done as the FR-V is a little wider than most cars.

Hope that helps

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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

Expert answer

Hi Tom,

Surprisingly, given Suzuki's reputation, there are a few issues, although they're more in the category of annoyances than actually stopped-by-the-side-of-the-road stuff. 

Watch for a heavy or obstructive gearshift, as this indicates that the gearbox is on the way out, and listen for graunches or other horrible noises from the brakes.

Front tyre wear can be high, so make sure the front wheels are properly balanced and aligned and that the tyres are at the correct pressure. 

Paint can be an issue too so watch for stone chips or other damage or for just a generally poor paint finish. 

Interior rattles are common, with a particularly annoying and hard-to-reach one deep behind the dash a common culprit. Finally, look for poor crash damage repairs. The Swift uses expensive wraparound bumpers and low speed impacts can lead to high bills, so many owners have resorted to quick or bodged repairs.

Hope that all helps. We actually quite like the car despite all that!