I will be averaging about 20,000 miles an year in the foreseeable future commuting to work on the motorway (70 miles round trip). Preferably need an automatic as left knee is dodgy post surgery.

Current car is a 54 plate Honda Jazz, which is fine apart from being noisy and unrefined on the motorway and a manual.

My priorities are bullet proof reliability (being a time-strapped doctor), low running costs (given the high mileage) and comfort on the motorway.

Have a budget of up to £13,000 and intend to buy a 2-3 year old second hand car. Either a good sized hatchback or saloon would be fine. Diesel would obviously be preferable, but an economic petrol or hybrid would be fine as well.

Any suggestions from the panel? All advice gratefully received.

Many Thanks,

Harshan Read more

We're looking to buy a used honda fr-v, and think that the diesel is probably the best for us, but can only really afford ones with 100k on the clock. Will we be being stupid if we buy one of these? Read more

For anyone who has retired to a village and enjoys exporing the countryside for a good pub lunch a soft ride is essential because our country roads have been ruined in the last forty years by increasingly heavy vehicles and poor maintenance. They have no proper foundations and just get sprayed with tar and grit occasionally when the potholes and furrows get too numerous.

It used to be said that the English blamed the road and the French blamed the car for a rough ride. What is the modern equivalent of 1960s Renaults/Citroens with squashy seats and soft shock absorbers? As French roads are now far better than ours, they do not seem to make suitable cars any more! Read more

Hi there.

I am looking to buy a used car (budget circa £10,000). Not knowing ANYTHING about cars or engines, I have been looking at inependant local dealers who have been around for several years, and franchised dealers such as Audi, Ford, etc - in my attempts to limit risk.

With the local dealers, most of the window stickers say '1 owner from new' which suits me well. But when I ask further this always seems to mean ex-lease.

Case in point. - I found one recently that was spotless, indestinguishable inside from brand-new despite over 60k on the clock (2007 reg).

I was very keen, but when looking at the paperwork it was ex-lease. I googled "ex-lease buying guide" and a lot of people seem to think that these should be avoided like the plague, or, at the very least be much cheaper than book price (this car was a fraction over).

I told myself this wasn't a problem, but looking at the lease history I noticed the car had done a lot of it's miles in very short periods - hence the good inside condition?

For example - in the first 6 months it did around 9,000 miles - then in the space of 18 days it did just over 10,000 miles! Then some months later it did 18,000 in around 2 months. I don't even do that in 2 years :)

So my question is - should this hard usage deter me? The log does show that it had good services right after each big drive.

Or would you be better with a slightly older car, but with less miles and a more traditional "one owner from new" scenario - I have found this to be the case in most Audi dealerships.

I would really appreciate some advice - this car hunting is driving me crazy.... Read more

Hi, i have a 2002 ford focus 1.6. The abs, traction cobtrol and handbrake light are on, i have had the car diagnosed and its coming up with B1676 "Battery pack voltage out of range" any ideas on how to fix this?

thanks in advance Read more