Michael McAleer answers your questions
From Gerald Costello:
I am looking to buy a van to travel around France in during the Rugby World Cup next September and October. Ideally the van would have enough room for a mattress in the back and some camping gear.
I am considering buying an old van (10-12 years) of reliable build and then selling it again after for a similar price.
I predict that only about 1,500 miles will be put on the clock over the four weeks of the pool games of the competition.
Have you any advice what model of vehicle would be appropriate and a general price range?
I'm budgeting €2,000 to €3,000.
For a response to this we turned for advice to Jarlath Sweeney of Fleet Management Magazine. He says that any of the standard panel vans manufactured in the last 10-12 years will meet your size requirements.
"In seeking a reliable vehicle from 1995 onwards then look to the Toyota Hiace, the Volkswagen LT or the VW Transporter.
"Best bet may be the Volkswagen LT which has been replaced by the Crafter and therefore there could be some trade-ins worth having a search for."
Jarlath also has some sage advice about choosing your van for the job at hand.
"As you will be travelling throughout France, manufacturers native to that country such as Renault, Peugeot and Citroën would also be worth looking at as parts availability [if needed] will be freely available and cheap.
"Also, make sure your favoured vehicle has a current certificate of road worthiness. Be aware that as the van will likely be right-hand drive, adjustments will have to be made to your headlights and it may be no harm to fit an extra-large exterior rear view mirror on the left side of the van to help eliminate blind spots."
Jarlath estimates that 10- to 12-year-old vans will fit your budget as they are selling for between €1,950 and €2,500 depending on condition and mileage.
From Amelia Butler:
I notice that you recently started including NCAP safety ratings in your road tests, which I welcome. However, I notice your recent review of the new Volvo C30 does not include such information and I wondered why?
There is no Euro NCAP safety rating for the C30 as yet. We test cars when they are first launched in our "first drive" columns and then carry out a full road test within weeks of their arrival in Ireland.
In some instances the Euro NCAP tests have not been carried out at that time, so results are not available.
As an indicator, the S40 has a five-star rating for adult occupants and two stars for pedestrian test rating.
They are different cars but I would suspect a similar score for the C30 when tested.
From Brendan Murphy:
My problem relates to Smart cars, and the facilities in place to get them serviced.
If you look at any listing of new cars available here, or indeed on Smart's own website, Smart are listed as being available in Ireland.
You would expect that given this that arrangements would be available to get them serviced. A couple of weeks ago the ABS warning light came on on my Smart fortwo that I bought in Britain, and I rang the service agent listed for Smart: Motor Services Ltd (MSL).
I was told that they were currently unable to do any diagnostic or repair work on the cars: all they could do was very basic service work (oil changes etc).
When I asked where else I could go, I was told there was a dealer in Belfast, which is not exactly convenient.
Smarts are serviced in Ireland by MSL from the service centre in Pottery Road, Dún Laoghaire. While there is no longer a fully-fledged Smart dealership in operation in Ireland, I am assured that this facility is fully equipped to service all Smart vehicles.
From John Gillen:
I read Caroline Madden's article on towing (Motors, January 24th) with particular interest and wholeheartedly agree with her recommendation that anyone contemplating taking up caravaning should first undertake a towing course.
I have just retired and my wife and I are very interested in investing in a caravan.
With this in mind I set about looking for a caravan towing course, but in spite of all my research I cannot find any suitable towing course available here in Ireland, although the Caravan Club in Britain regularly run such courses in various locations across the water.
Do you or Caroline, or any of your contacts, know of any courses here in Ireland that I failed to locate?
Unfortunately, there seems to be no official course in operation in Ireland for private individuals.
Some courses are run by various advanced driver-training organisations, but these are designed and priced for the corporate sector and would not be cost-effective for individuals.
We spoke with several advanced driver trainers who suggested the best approach is to contact the various caravan clubs in Ireland and see if they have training available, or perhaps a group of caravaners could come together and see what sort of cost package could be offered by one of the advanced driving schools.
If readers know of any ongoing training in this area, perhaps they could contact us.
• Send your queries to Motors Helpdesk, The Irish Times, Tara Street, Dublin 2, or e-mail motorshelp@irish-times.ie