Michael McAleer answers your queries...
From Noel Joyce, Dublin:
I'm considering getting satellite navigation in my next car. It's an optional extra costing over €3,700. I've recently moved back from London where I found sta-nav invaluable. Is it worthwhile over here?
It's a tough call. The cost seems excessive for a system that is as yet incomplete and suggests you are looking at a premium car, perhaps BMW, Audi or Mercedes.
The problem with satellite navigation in Ireland is that the country is still not fully mapped. The various companies involved have all suggested that the complex mapping operation will be completed by next year, but we've heard that before.
We've tested many cars of late with in-built sat-nav systems and the most common feature is that once you breach the M50 ringroad around Dublin - where one would suggest you start to depend on it a lot more - you appear to drive into the great unknown, a blue or red arrow in a vast sea of brown or green.
Even in the city limits, new roads and housing estates are springing up like summer weeds in the suburbs as Dublin expands outwards, so even the latest sat-nav system might be missing several routes.
And with the constant remarking of city centre streets, your system could well be outdated within days, courtesy of a keen council worker with a tin of white paint.
If you need to get around the city then it's a useful tool but may we suggest you look at some of the retro-fit models instead and save some money.
Some months back we tested a system from GPS specialists Garmin (www.satnav.ie). The device simply plugs into your cigarette lighter and offers voice and colour map display to guide you to your destination. It's even able to direct you to house numbers on streets and we've spoken to several Dublin taxi drivers who swear by it.
But the most promising feature of this was the fact that on a run across to Galway it accurately mapped our journey on the main roads and through the main towns, if not able yet to cope with the country lanes.
It's also significantly cheaper than the fitted systems and can be switched off and put in the glovebox or boot when you're not using it.
Prices vary for systems like Garmin - which also includes a mobile phone version - but generally you'll save about €1,000 to €1,500. Use that money to get cruise control.
From Angela Brady:
The new careless driving rules seem a bit extreme. What's next?
The latest penalty points offence is a catch-all charge that could serve to cover a myriad of offences that will later be specified for individual penalty points or left under the careless driving charge - the Minister for Transport will decide. For example, at present mobile phone use while driving will earn you five points, once the Road Traffic bill is passed (and the Garda computer system up and running) it will be one point on the roadside and three if you go to court.
Similarly offences such as "failing to comply with mandatory traffic signs" could fall under the careless driving charge and earn you five points now, but it is specifically listed for future penalty points as one point by the roadside and three if it goes to court.
The next charge to incur points is likely to be dangerous overtaking, which carries two points, or five points on court conviction.
From P. O'Donnell:
Why did Ford release the RS model so late in the Focus life? It was really impressive and I was for a while a proud Focus owner. Surely they could have brought the RS out earlier so all us Focus owners could benefit from its good press.
It seems to be part of the product lifecycle management, the thinking being that you use sports models help to hold up flagging sales as competitors update their model ranges and the current model starts to look a little jaded. It usually works, but perhaps this time Ford timed it too close to the changeover.
It's a pity because, if you are to judge the concept photos published in today's Motors (page one) it seems that Ford is taking a step backwards towards mainstream. Thankfully our friend Andrew Hamilton got the chance to see the car as it will look when it goes on sale later this year and says the concept is not a close resemblance to the next generation. Perhaps a closer approximation is the photos published by us several weeks ago in Motors last October.
We hope this time the management types at Ford will offer us their racing versions earlier in the lifecycle.
Send your queries to
Motors Help Desk, The Irish Times, Fleet Street, Dublin 2 - or e-mail them to motorshelp@irish-times.ie