Helpdesk

THIS WEEK:Retirement wheels

From HB: We’re due to retire soon. Our present car is an 08 Suzuki Grand Vitara. Very pleased with reliability, high driving position, four-wheel-drive. Less pleased with fuel consumption and motor tax. We’re looking for suggestions for a “retirement” car. We’ve no children. Style is fairly important, so is fuel consumption and tax. We love the look of the Mini Coupé and Mini Convertible, the new VW Beetle also. Any ideas?

Of the three cars you list here I think the new Beetle is arguably the best looking and the most practical. You mention touring so I guess you need luggage space, which is in relatively short supply in the Mini convertible. If you like the Mini brand I suggest you take a look at the Mini Countryman. It would fit with some of the factors you like about the Grand Vitara as well.

If styling is important and you want a petrol powertain then I’d also point you towards the smaller Alfa Romeo MiTo. It’s a great-looking car and the 1.4-litre petrol would work for you. Just 129 MiTos have been registered in Ireland since 2009 so you’ll also be pretty unique.

From SD: I read your answer to a reader some weeks ago about how petrol engines should not be ruled out. I have always driven petrol cars but I’m changing my car now and the sales staff at every dealership I go to are trying to dissuade me from buying a petrol car.

On the back of the emissions-based tax regime and significant improvements in diesel technology, buyers have flocked towards the diesel format.

Yet the next wave of development is most definitely in the petrol engine and already we see that Ford is preparing to introduce a 1-litre petrol engine that puts out just 109g/km yet offers similar performance traits to a 1.6-litre petrol. I know that sounds unlikely but I got to test the new engine several weeks ago and was amazed by its performance.

The sales staff are probably considering the potential resale value of your car and the fact that diesels will be easier for them to resell if you come back in two or three years to trade-in, but if you really want a petrol then don’t be dissuaded.

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