Michael McAleeranswers your questions
From G Doyle:
I am due to change my company car within the next three months. I drive a 04 Saab 9-3 1.8i at the moment and it has been the best car I've driven so far (before this, I had a Vectra and Laguna).
I have an allowance of approximately €38,000 to spend and I drive about 35,000km a year, travelling from home to work. Have you had any thoughts on what to go for? Everyone seems to be driving the VW Passat. Should I have a look at the new Mondeo or the Audi A4? Other cars in my price bracket include, I think, the Honda Accord, Toyota Avensis and Hyundai Santa Fe.
Would you recommend perhaps adding a few euro to the allowance and going for the BMW 3-Series (318i) maybe?
The first thing to note is that there is a new Saab 9-3 due out in the coming months. We will have a review of it in the supplement next week.
Failing that, I would suggest you opt for the new Mondeo. It handles as well as a BMW and you would have to add significantly to your €38,000 allowance to get the level of extras and comfort you would find on a similarly priced Mondeo.
The distances you are covering would also suggest that you should be considering a diesel option. The two-litre diesel Mondeo is a good buy, and you could probably pick up a range-topping Titanium version with your allowance.
Audi is replacing its A4 as well this year, and the new car will be at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. It will arrive in showrooms by early January, if you want to wait that long. Undoubtedly, you will have to add something to the €38,000 allowance to pick one up that isn't entry level.
To summarise the order of test drives, I would certainly recommend you try the new Mondeo. I would also suggest you test the new 9-3 when it arrives in the coming months and then, perhaps, the A4 if you can wait until January.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, the new A4 may be the one to wait for, though it's exclusivity won't last for long.
From Mark Biggar
With regard to your advice on a car for the couple with arthritis, I think that you should have also mentioned the Ford Focus hatchback.
It comes with a 1.6-litre engine and automatic transmission. My mother has just bought one as a run around. Although she has arthritis in her knees, she finds it very comfortable. It is, I believe, also large enough to accommodate a golf bag.
Thanks for that good advice. The boot in the Focus saloon is certainly big enough for golf bags and the like.
From D McAlister:
I have recently bought a 1999 Audi that had two previous Irish owners since it was imported in 2004. My mechanic tells me that it has been in a crash. Is there a way that I can get information on the date of the crash?
If it was imported from Britain, you should have the original UK registration number. This can be sourced by using the chassis number.
Once you get the registration, go to hpicheck.com. They will tell you if it has been crashed while in Britain. A similar check can be done in Ireland by visiting www.cartell.ie, though these sites only really list details if a car was written off rather than in a minor crash.
If the car has a service history, you can also check with the various garages listed to see when it came through their books as a crash repair.
The most important issues for you should be: is the car roadworthy? (Your mechanic should tell you this); has it ever been written off? and is it a 'cut-and-shut' (the undamaged bits of two crashed cars welded together)?
If it does have one of these issues, then it's down to pursuing the seller for compensation.
From T O'Neill:
Is there a shortage of supercars coming to the market? I remember a time when there was a real power race between the big brands, but they are all going green these days.
Bugatti Veyron anyone? Or how about the Maserati MC12? Or the Porsche Carrera GT? Or even the Audi R8.
Trust me, there is no shortage of supercars on the market and no shortage of customers for them either.
And if there is a limit on the numbers, it's because most of them don't make any money for the manufacturer. Take Bugatti. VW allowed its engineers to push out all the boundaries, and the end result may be the fastest car on earth but the R&D costs were stupendous. VW loses over €7 million on every Veyron sold.
Send your queries to Motors Helpdesk, The Irish Times, Tara St, Dublin 2 or e-mail motorshelp@irish-times.ie