Michael McAleer answers your questions
From Mary P, Co Offaly:
I've never bought a new car and I'm not about to start now. I'm a sprightly 60 year-old and I've been driving for the last 35 years. I've been offered a 1990 Mazda 323 by a neighbour and I was wondering if you considered it risky to buy a car so old? My annual mileage is very low but I do not want to have to spend too much time going to and from the garage. Would I be better to buy a younger car?
The short answer is no. Mazda has a well-earned reputation for reliability and those old 323s, while not exactly mouthwatering in their looks, do have a tendency to run and run. It's really all about whether the car was well maintained. A good service record helps, but day-to-day maintenance and car is important as well.
Just like humans, age takes its toll on our cars. Some time ago I received sage advice from a car dealer about the market for buying used: in a private sale, a good pointer on how well the car has been kept is to take a good look at the person selling it. "If they are neat and tidy, keep their garden and house well, then in all likelihood the car will be kept in good shape as well," he told us.
It's a bit of a generalisation but it does often pay dividends. Another dealer told us this week that he recently bought a 1986 Toyota Starlet from a octagenarian lady in Dublin. She was in rude health and very fit and active. As for the car, it had a full service history and turned out to be "a little gem".
So if you want a rough guide as to how it was maintained, take a peak at the neighbour's back garden.
From Tom Hodson:
I accept this is not your normal query but here goes. I am considering selling my 02 Volvo S40 with 26,000 miles, which I now use most infrequently. The attraction would be the savings on insurance, tax, annual service and avoiding depreciation. The downside is of course the loss of the convenience of a car outside the door.
I read some time ago of a very civilised Dutch system of hire and drop off. I don't expect that we have such a system yet in Dublin, but have you any info on a possible system of say, a yearly hire contract based on X days usage per year?
From Kevin McPartlan, D6:
I'm getting married in January 2007 and I would love to arrive in a beautiful sports car like a Morgan or vintage Jag and use it to whisk the missus away in. Do you know of any companies offering such cars for self-drive hire in or around Dublin?
I'm dealing with these two queries together as I prefer to keep the bad news to a minimum in this column. I've come up a blank on both counts.
First the potential car sharing idea: ultimately what you are looking for is a car sharing club operating in the city. Various ideas were espoused over the years and there were suggestions that a car sharing club would be up and running within months. That was back in 2003/2004 and 2005. There are car pooling websites that work for Dublin but these are not the sort of commuter runs that probably fit your needs.
As for rental deals, we looked on a few websites for one-day rentals and the price seems to be about €50 for the privilege of getting a Fiat Panda for the day.
None of the companies offer the sort of leasing deal you are probably looking for.
Now to the wedding plans: no firm seems to have a Morgan on their rental fleet but there are several Jaguars on offer. However, even then you will not be allowed to drive the cars yourself. There are firms in Britain that rent these cars for self-drive hire, but they will need a great deal of persuasion - and ready cash - to get them to come over here. Perhaps you could move the wedding to England? Just a thought.
From A Weir:
I'm a weekly reader of the Motors supplement and where once I had a passing interest in cars, you've converted me into a motoring fan. I do have one question which I think I'm required to know to enter the real pantheon of petrolheads: what exactly is torque?
Torque is a physics term, but stick with me on this. It's the turning or twisting force imparted by the engine. Also known as pulling power, it indicates an engine's strength and flexibility - in other words the ability to pull all that metal along in each gear - rather than its power or overall speed. High torque figures at low revs are a feature of large V8s, while high-revving four-cylinder engines normally have lower torque at higher revs. Diesels typically develop their maximum torque low-down the rev range.
• Send your queries to Motors Helpdesk, The Irish Times, D'Olier St, Dublin 2 - or email motorshelp@irish-times.ie