Michael McAleeranswering all your motoring queries
From Mary B, Dublin: Where have all the bumpers gone? I'm in the market for a new car for the first time in several years, and I can't get over how many of the new models don't have decent rubber bumpers fitted front and rear.
The painted panels look great in the showroom, but does none of the engineers or designers ever drive in the cities? Have they ever tried to park a car in a tight space? Are they so trusting - or naive - that they think others parked beside them won't make a mistake and rub up against their car?
Shiny colour-coded body panels are fine for showrooms, but in the bustle of a modern city, I need to be surrounded by more rubber protection, not less.
It's been so long since I have seen a proper thick rubber bumper that I have forgotten what they are like. You make a very good point, and one that has been brought home to me when reading the dozens of e-mails we received over the summer from people who suffered dents and scrapes when parking rental cars. They faced some hefty bills for damage that could have easily been avoided by fitting a decent bumper: something like they have in the US.
Car firms tell us that the new colour-coded bumpers don't add excessively to the cost. Indeed, after receiving your e-mail I spoke with an engineer at Ford who told me that the new Fiesta had received the lowest possible cost rating for low impact damage. However, what he couldn't do was compare that cost with the likely cost of repairing a car with a proper rubber bumper. In all likelihood the cost then would be non-existent.
The same very low speed shunt is likely to cost nothing if it involves two lumps of rubber pushing against each other. One has to wonder if it's the accountants or the designers that are the real advocates of the modern bumper-free cars.
From W Dillon, Co Laois: I purchased a car in Belfast that came from England. It was a Mercedes E220 Auto diesel from 2002, with 70,000 miles on the clock. Is there any way I can check this on the internet or some other way?
Yes. If you visit hpicheck.com you can organise a background check of your vehicle. Prices vary, but start at £19.99 (€25).
You will need the previous UK registration number and the chassis number may also help. You should also look at the service history of the car and call a few of the garages whose names appear in the book and enquire about the work done and the mileage at the time of service.
From John Johnson: Following last week's letter on traffic lights, I believe that if they were removed you could drive across Dublin in about half the time. I feel that they are erected to help the 1 per cent of motorists who have difficulty with crossroads and turning right and the rest of us drivers have to sit and wait for them to change. It would be cheaper to get the incompetents off the road. To do this all the traffic lights would have to be removed some weekend. We would have to endure a week of chaos but by the week's end all the incompetent drivers would have given up and be off the roads.
It's reassuring to see the support for some form of pilot scheme like this to be introduced in the city. And this support from motorists will no doubt come as a surprise to Dublin's transport czars who are not particularly fond of motorists.
From C Lavelle, Co Mayo: A Maxol filling station nearby has recently installed an E85 fuel pump. I drive an old Toyota Carina-E petrol. What ratio of E85 could I mix in a fill of petrol safely, and would I get any saving in fuel terms?
Toyota allows a maximum of 5 per cent biofuel to be used in its models produced from 2004 onwards, without affecting warranty on fuel system components.
In general ethanol - which makes up the E in E85 - is more corrosive than petrol, and thus engine parts need to be strengthened to run on this mixture.
Mixing E85 with regular petrol in the tank could prove tricky to ensure the mix in there is always at most only 5 per cent ethanol. In my mind it's not worth the effort, either in risking damage to your engine or in terms of minimal, if any, savings.