Michael McAleer answers your queries
From Laurence Joyce, Co Galway:
I bought a new Toyota Camry just over a year ago. Recently I noticed that the tyres seemed to be wearing rather quickly and unevenly.
On the annual service (17,500 miles) I pointed this out and asked that wheel alignment be checked. This was done - I was told it needed correction and that I needed two new tyres immediately, with the others to be replaced very shortly.
Representations about excessive tyre wear have brought the response that this is normal tyre wear for a Camry. I expected at least 20,000 to 25,000 miles from my first set of tyres.
Tyre wear depends greatly on road conditions and driving style, but, with a front wheel drive car such as the Camry, you should expect to average only about 20,000 miles.
However, that depend strongly on correct tyre pressures etc. Some owners will get more, others less.
According to Roger Sanders of Continental Tyres, 50 per cent of tyres on the road are underinflated, where a 20 per cent under-inflation reduces tyre life by 25 per cent. Also worth noting, Sanders says that even one degree of wheel misalignment will reduce tyre life by at least 10 per cent.
He says: ""Average tyre mileages tend to be meaningless. Investigations across all tyre makes fitted on new cars have found the service life to range from 6,000 miles to nearly 60,000 miles. The only variables in this scenario were driving style and types of journey."
From Kate Levey:
My sister Emma bought a Nissan Micra in August 2003. She is disabled, so hand controls were fitted by Coyles Garage in Monkstown.
On Saturday, February 28th, while preparing to take a right-hand turn at the junction of Donore Avenue onto Cork Street, the accelerator cable snapped, leaving her stranded at the junction. This is a dangerous situation for anyone, but doubly so for a disabled person. She would have to put together her wheelchair and get out of the car in the middle of the road.
Emma has been driving Nissan Micras continuously since 1990. This is her third.Her first was bought in 1990, her second in 1998. She never had any problems with the hand controls on the first two cars.
Hand controls on these two cars lasted for eight years and five years respectively.
My mother brought the car to Coyles Garage the following Monday. They said that it was the first problem they had come across of this nature, adding that hand controls should be checked every six months for safety.
When she pointed out that Emma had the car for only five months, they suggested that the controls be checked every three months. Obviously this isn't at all feasible when the garage doesn't open at weekends. It also leaves Emma with very little confidence in the controls. My mother has since heard of two similar incidents from other disabled drivers.
We were told by the dealership we bought the car that the garage which fitted hand controls to Emma's previous two Micras don't do it anymore and that Coyles are the only ones who do.
The fitting of hand controls is normally organised through dealers through a third-party.
The technology involved has changed somewhat in recent years with the advent of fly-by-wire accelerators. Before it was a simple mechanical "see-saw" method to adjust the throttle cable, but since the advent of the new technology five years ago in the likes of Volkswagens, Audis and Mercedes, the adjustment has become a little more complicated. The latest version of the Micra now features "fly-by-wire". According to those to whom we spoke, a broken cable is very rare and should really happen only if the cable is chaffing or rubbing up against something. As to the regular checks, most mechanics recommend all moving parts be checked over every 12 months.
We contacted Coyles, but the manager was extremely reticent about talking to us about your query and declined to comment.
Firms which fit hand controls that have been recommended to us are: Motability Ireland in Ashbourne (01.8359173); Mike Walker in Belgard, Tallaght (01.4579027); and David Kelly, Rathcoole (01.4589783).
From Wolfgan Schnittger:
You helped me last year with the question of a pre-registered March car being sold as new in August.
Now I can't help but notice that petrol prices in the Finglas area are 81.9 cent per litre for unleaded - at several garages. The same fuel costs at least 88.9 cent or more south of the Liffey. This is quite a difference on a full tank, almost 10 per cent on the price of a product where we are told margins are wafer thin.
Prices in Finglas have been shaken up by the arrival of Tescos in the area. It seems that you'll have to wait for the further expansion of the Tesco outlets or perhaps an Irish retailer to take up the mantle and challenge for sales. We were recently in Denmark, where a petrol price war is raging and prices change on a daily basis - sometimes from morning to evening.
Send your queries to
Motors Help Desk, The Irish Times, Fleet Street, Dublin 2 - or e-mail them to motorshelp@irish-times.ie