DONAL BYRNE answers your questions
From Anne Dolan, Clybaun Road, Co Galway:
I purchased a Honda Civic, five-door, 03 reg car in June 2004. In the past two months I have found that the car automatically locks itself. The situation is very dangerous, as my seven-month old child was locked into the car recently and I had to rush home for a spare key. Can you please let me know if this is a common fault in Honda Civics, and if others are able to fix it.
Honda Ireland says none of its models has this feature as standard. The current five-door Civic does have the capability for it but it has been deactivated on the production line for the Irish market.
This would suggest that the automatic locking of the doors on your car after a certain speed has been achieved is a feature of an alarm system fitted independently after the car was bought.
Some alarm systems will automatically lock the doors if the key has not been inserted after a defined period of time. You should take your car back to the dealer to establish if this is the case and, if so, set about de-activating the feature. This can be done without any great difficulty.
Several manufacturers use this feature on their cars for security reasons. If the owner forgets to lock the doors after they begin driving the system kicks in after a certain speed, usually about 15 km/h.
Some argue that doors should never be locked because someone may have to rescue you in the event of an accident, while others argue in favour of having them locked as a deterrent to opportunistic street crime.
When it comes to children, it stands to reason that they should not be left alone in the car in the first place, and one should never leave the car without removing the keys from the ignition.The main point is that the choice is with the car owner and such programmes can be de-activated quite easily.
From P Maher, Dublin:
I'm looking at either a Ford Focus or a Toyota Corolla, probably in 1.6-litre format. Which is better? I've also been looking at the diesel options. Is it worthwhile to go for diesel? I am regularly up and down to Cork from Dublin lately, and I'm putting up about 14,000 miles a year these days. I've also been thinking of an estate version. Is there a Corolla estate and is it as good as the Focus? I don't have a farm or anything but I just like estate cars.
However, the car dealers don't seem to want to sell me one. Why is it that the dealers are so dismissive of them when I go to buy?
Your choice embodies the knife-edge competition between the two most successful brands in the country. While Toyota has traditionally held the advantage over Ford in terms of reliability, the Focus has firmly established itself as an extremely dependable car. Both cars have modern 1.6 engines which are good on performance, but also on economy. This is really one case where the old cliché about shopping around holds true. There are things you will like about the Corolla that you will not like about the Focus and visa versa.
In my view both are excellent cars, and have pretty equal qualities. Diesel cars cost more because they cost more to produce, but I would not rush out to pay a premium for a diesel car for a yearly average of 14,000 miles. Also, the price of diesel and petrol these days does not yield a significant saving anymore. Diesels are meant for very high mileage and yours is not much beyond the family average. Besides, petrol cars are much more economical these days and both the current Corolla and the Focus prove the point. As for the estate choice, this may finally decide the matter for you. Toyota tends to produce mini-MPVs instead of standard estate cars, but Ford still has the conventional option with the Focus. My own choice would be the Verso version of the Corolla, which has the styling advantage over the Focus estate.
From Mrs A O'Brien, Dublin:
Can you recommend a first-time second-hand car for our 19-year-old daughter who has just passed her test in a Nissan Micra?
Why not a Nissan Micra then? She is used to driving it, and of all the small, reliable and practical cars on the second-hand market the Micra is perhaps the most plentiful and therefore the best value. It really depends on what you intend to spend, but you should really opt for a car with two airbags and go to a reputable garage that you either know of, or have dealt with.
Other options would be a Toyota Yaris or an Opel Corsa, but Toyota cars command a premium on the second-hand market and the Opel is not as impressive a package as the either of the Japanese models.
Michael McAleer is on leave.
Send your queries to Motors Helpdesk, The Irish times, D'Olier St, Dublin 2 - or e-mail: motorshelp@irish-times.ie