Michael McAleeranswers your questions
From S Lennon:
I believe that the Renault Grand Scenic has fittings for
three Isofix seats in the back seat. Does any other car have
this?
Yes. There are several MPV-style cars that offer this feature, but sticking within the Grand Scenic price range, for a start the new CitroëC4 Picasso in five-seat format comes with three Isofix fittings in the back row of seats. It also has one in the front passenger seat.
From Colm Brady:
Just a quick question on the purchase of a used car. I am
hoping to purchase a coupé-type car to replace my Toyota
Celica, in the €30,000 price bracket. I am thinking of the
Alfa Romeo GT, or BMW 3-Series coupé. In terms of reliability,
good looks, safety, and resale value in, say, three years' time,
which would you advise as the best option, or indeed any other
option I should be looking at. I have no car to trade in.
The BMW would seem to be the obvious choice of the two here. There are plenty on the market, so shop around and be careful to do all the checks on mileage, etc. The Alfa is a lovely looking car but it suffers badly from depreciation, and there are still question marks over the reliability of older models.
From Mary:
I would appreciate if you can give me some information to
help me choose a car for my needs. I do approximately 20,000 miles
annually. I use it for personal use, and need it to carry toys and
instruments to Dublin once a week. I am presently driving a Hyundai
Getz 2003 hatchback five-door. It is doing approx 41mpg.
It is reliable and has a good specification for a small car. There is also good back support with adjustable lever on the front seats.
I rarely carry passengers.
The features I dislike about the Getz: it guzzles petrol, so it is expensive to run. My research shows that bigger and heavier cars have the same petrol consumption as the Getz and other small cars - this doesn't make sense.
The tax is cheaper, but that is an annual cost; petrol is not and for the added cost for tax and insurance I could have been driving a roomier and more comfortable car. I thought that I would have more money in my pocket when using a small car. Now I want to remedy the daily financial cost of running a car and perhaps get a diesel.
Are there automatic vehicles in the smaller models?
I have looked at the Skoda 1.4 diesel TDI and the Kia 1.5 diesel. The latter has a seven-year warranty, but there are conditions attached. It has to be serviced at 15,000km or 12 months, and it must be in a Kia garage. That will cost €270. Considering I can do my own standard service I am not so sure that this is a good deal.
My first warning would be on servicing. You need to be careful that servicing any car yourself will not rescind your warranty. Most car firms require that you use an authorised dealer during the warranty period.
I am not entirely convinced that you need a diesel for the sort of mileage you do, and I would forewarn you that automatic transmissions are often heavier on fuel consumption than their manual equivalents. Automatic transmissions on small cars can also be rather rudimentary and crude. Diesel engines are usually larger and more expensive than petrol models as well, and it may take some time to make back the extra cost price on fuel savings.
Getting down to models, it would seem you are looking for an economical, reliable, peppy car that won't lose too much money on resale.
My advice would be to look at the Honda Jazz 1.4 with CVT transmission. It's roomy, reliable and will have a decent resale value. It has the best Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) automatic tranmission in its class, and the consumption deficit over its manual counterpart is just 2 per cent. The downside is that it will set you back €19,820.
Perhaps the best option for you would be the Toyota Yaris 1-litre petrol with multimode transmission. This is an electrically-operated manual transmission that uses two electric motors and an electronically-operated clutch to provide either automatic or sequential gear changes. Given the importance of cost, you'll be pleased to note that it claims 5.3l/100km (53.3mpg) in official figures, which is actually better than its manual counterpart. Again the price is €17,295.
If you want to stick with the city car segment - such as the Getz in size - then I would point you towards the Fiat Panda or the Toyota Aygo. Both have good fuel economy ratings, and Fiat's warranty lasts five years.
From V Leonard, Galway:
How would an SUV which has a four-star NCAP safety rating
fare against a car which has a five-star rating? As the SUV is
higher and heavier, would it be actually safer than a lower,
lighter car, even though it didn't fare as well in the test? I
realise that this could be a very difficult question to answer, and
could you point me in the direction of a resource or website that
may help?
It depends on who or what is being hit. The EuroNCAP figures take several factors into account when awarding their star ratings, including pedestrian safety. While both vehicles may have the requisite airbags and occupant protection, the pedestrian is likely to come out better if hit by the car, rather than the SUV. That's partly the reason for the difference in ratings. It's important to consider not just occupants when looking at a vehicle, but also other road users. I'm sure you would not like to be responsible for someone's demise.
You should visit the Euro NCAP website - euro-ncap.com - for a more detailed explanation of how the ratings are compiled, along with more information on where individual models scored well or badly.
Send your queries to Motors Helpdesk, The Irish Times, Tara St, Dublin 2 or e-mail motorshelp@irish-times.ie