HELPDESK: MICHAEL McALEERanswers all your motoring queries
From RS: I brought my car into a private mechanic recommended by a colleague at work who said he had used him to service his car in the past. It was meant to be a routine check-up but he claimed to have spotted a “minor problem” with the ignition system.
It went in without a problem and since he tinkered with it the car hasn’t felt right. I finally brought it back to the original dealer, who claims to have repaired the car again, but I’ve been faced with a bill of €1,375.
I’ve gone back to the mechanic, but he denies causing any problem. I’ve considered calling the Garda, but have been told not to bother as they don’t take this sort of issue seriously.
I think your first move should be to take the mechanic in question to the small claims court. It’s a relatively simple and inexpensive method to seek redress for a claim of under €2,000. You should also seek the support of the dealership and have their invoices to hand, showing the work they had to do to fix the car after it had been worked on by the mechanic.
From M Kenna, Dublin 16: In light of the new draconian fines and points penalties introduced for the non-display of a valid NCT certificate, I believe the matter of the NCT backlog needs to be further highlighted.
My current certificate expires at the end of this month and I therefore accessed the NCT website last week to get a test date in Fonthill, my closest test centre. I selected and entered a date towards the end of the month to be informed that no slots were available.
I then tried every week until the end of August to no avail. At that point I think the forward calendar becomes inoperative. I formed the opinion that there was a glitch in the system and so waited until after the bank holiday to contact NCT’s offices by phone.
To my amazement I found the earliest date they could offer me was October 20th. It appears I will be sent a letter of confirmation, which I can present to any garda who queries my out-of-date certificate, as proof of intent of compliance.
Is this further evidence of legislative cock-ups to which our current Government seems particularly prone?
Despite continuing promises to rectify the situation, it seems that in certain test centres, delays remain.
A little more consultation between the various agencies prior to the introduction of penalty points for this offence might have been appropriate.
Given that a quick comparison between the number of valid NCT certificates and the national vehicle fleet would have revealed the extent of the problem of uncertified cars on the roads, setting a realistic deadline to test these cars prior to the introduction of points would have been a more commonsense approach.
From S O’Sullivan, Co Wexford: Please tell me what you think are the three “lowest cost of ownership” diesels on the Irish market, preferably Japanese so that they will have a decent warranty. I’m thinking Corolla-size upwards, not small cars.
If you want Japanese then I would point you to a Toyota dealership for the latest Corolla 1.4-litre diesel, over to Nissan for the Qashqai or Note (although you may consider it a bit small) with the 1.5-litre diesel and finally to a Mazda dealer for the upcoming Mazda3 with its low-emissions, but relatively potent 1.6-litre diesel.
All of these are relatively frugal, but when looking at the overall cost of ownership, you need to take other factors, aside from fuel economy and motor tax, into account. For a start you need to consider servicing costs, and then there is the all-important resale price at the end of your ownership, which will ultimately determine your overall cost of ownership.
We publish an annual series of features on the running costs of popular mainstream cars every summer and will be doing so again this year, so watch out for it in the coming months. It includes everything from servicing costs to the price of metallic paint from the various car firms.
In last year’s table for family hatchbacks, the Auris 1.4-litre came out well, along with the VW Golf.