Michael McAleer answers your questions
From H Towhill:
My young son recently purchased an old Honda Civic and plans to modify it as in the popular MTV series Pimp my Ride. He's very good at mechanics, but his plan is to sell the car on once finished. Have any advice for him?
The first thing he should do is contact some of the modified clubs in his area. A quick search on the internet will show up plenty of local clubs.
He should also attend a few of the modified shows, just to get a feel for what is popular within this car sub-culture at present.
Modifying a car can be great fun, but if you are doing it as a business proposition the future is not so bright. His primary concern should be to modify it not to suit his own personal tastes, but to meet the tastes of potential buyers.
Modified cars are more labours of love. As a result it's often hard to find someone else who will appreciate every feature that's added. The majority of car buyers - rightly or wrongly - don't like modified cars and so they won't be interested in buying them.
There are also some financial hurdles to making any money from modified cars. Take an extreme example: your son buys the Civic for €5,000 and spends another €10,000 modifying it. To him it will be priceless; to the average potential buyer, by the time he's finished, it's probably just a €4,500 car with a very loud stereo and even louder paint job.
I suspect he'd find it very hard to find someone who recognises the Civic as being worth anything close to the €15,000 outlay; never mind recouping some money for all the time and effort he will have to put in.
Before he starts on creating a potential business around this, simply take a look around at the number of modified cars driving about with for sale signs in their back windows.
From Thomas Geraghty:
I own a 2000 Skoda Fabia. Last winter it developed a leak which flooded the floor-well of the left passenger seat. The problem was a blocked drainage system and was easily remedied.
However, it resulted in the floor covering developing a fusty smell that has proven impossible to eradicate [dehumidifiers, steam cleaning have been tried].
I have resisted introducing aroma producing chemicals as they only mask the smell and possibly damage your health in the process. Can you suggest a remedy?
The news is not good. There are various tricks used by some car dealers to get rid of smells, and you could try some of these.
First is to fill a spray bottle with water, add a couple of teaspoons of pure vanilla extract and spray the affected area. Depending on the severity of the mildew smell, it may require two applications. Another suggestion might be use white vinegar and water in a similar mix as the vanilla. This works quite well on pet smells and vomit stains/spills too.
You could try the vinegar first and follow up with the vanilla to kill the smell. If the problem resists even steam cleaning then there may be no alternative but to order new floor covering.
From T Daly:
Can I just use your column to beseech motorists never to take for granted their car's air-conditioning. Driving in a 1994 Mazda 323 that now doubles as a sauna, I used to have the cool breeze of air-con in my old car but when it came to sell in the cold of winter I didn't think twice about changing it for a car without this feature. As I ring out another shirt after my drive home, I'm convinced that we can forget MP3 players, alloy wheels or cruise control; as the planet heats up the most important feature in a new car is a good air-con system.
Good point, but the planet is getting hotter partly due to our pollution. We overheat in our cars and turn up the air-conditioning; this uses more fuel, leading to more pollution, leading to a warmer planet, leading us to use the air-con more. I'm not suggesting I would drive around without air-con, it's just something to consider.
Send your queries to Motors Helpdesk, The Irish Times, D'Olier St, Dublin 2 - or e-mail motorshelp@irish-times.ie