Michael McAleer answers your queries
From K McLaughlin:
Many years ago when there was an amnesty my son got his first licence. He then went back to New York and was able to turn in his Irish Licence for a valid New York licence.
I have been driving for many years with a clean valid New York State licence and would have to take a test here in order to get an Irish licence.
Surely if you can drive in New York City you should be very capable of driving in Ireland. It would ease the burden of all those waiting to take a driving test if Ireland followed in New York State's footsteps.
Your son did not pass any test in the first place, yet was able to secure a New York licence. I don't think this model is what we need to be following. What we need is more stringent testing, albeit with a realistic test using criteria relevant to this century.
I'm sure you are a fine driver and perfectly capable of tackling the Dublin traffic, but in general there's a huge difference between driving in both cities and the rules adhered to in both. What we need here is a proper relevant test which drivers should complete and not more amnesty-style licence giveaways.
From Michael Galvin:
I'm owner of a Ford Mondeo estate and I'm curious as to why Ford did not offer an option of a third row of seats on this car. Volvo do it on the V70 and this is a smaller car. Any time I asked them, they told me it was to encourage people to buy the Galaxy, which as you know is a lot more expensive.
I came across a British firm (www.motorhoods.co.uk) which installs a third row of seats on most estate cars including the Mondeo.
It will ship to Ireland along with installation instructions and has assured me that it is very simple to do. Suitably encouraged I called my insurance company to make sure I was covered - it said yes as long as I got a certificate from a dealer to say the seat was installed correctly.
This leads me to my question. Are you aware of any company/dealer/garage in Ireland who will install such seats?
There are several garages and small engineering works which will fit the seats for you. What you are looking for are small coachbuilders who turn out adjustments to farm machinery, hearses and the like.
However, be warned. While your insurance company is offering cover on the submission of a certificate, Ford tells us it does not recommend, and could not stand over, an amendment to the fundamental characteristics of the Mondeo Estate as suggested here.
"The implications for occupant protection of a modification of this kind would be such that we would be surprised if an insurance company would accept it on the strength of a certificate issued by a dealer," said a spokesman.
There are also issues regarding Vehicle Type Approval, dealt with by EU Directive. Officially all vehicles must be submitted for testing. Items tested and approved include seats, seat anchorages, seat belts and seat belt anchorages. According to the Ford spokesman: "Vehicles amended from the specification approved, without re-approval in a single vehicle approval process, may not be registered within the EU."
From Catherine Handley:
Could you possibly give me a little assistance in the buying of a new small car?
I have had four Fiat Puntos and I want to change brand. Size is important and I need good bootspace, but I'm easy as to whether it is three- or five- door. I also liked the Punto for its pace so it needs to be nippy.
Expert advice would me a great help in buying a decent small-engined car.
I'm not sure I could offer you any "expert advice" - there are many in the car industry who don't appreciate my advice.
I take it from your reference to Fiat Punto that you are looking for a car within a €15,000 to €16,000 bracket with an engine less than 1.3-litres.
Things to look for even in small cars these days are: seat-belt pretensioners, airbags, ABS and CD player. They should be standard on cars in this class these days.
Several players in your price bracket offer some very competitive deals. In particular, look to the offers on the Opel Corsa Njoy at €15,400 and the Ford Fiesta 1.25 Steel at €15,815. Peugeot offers a good deal on the 206 LX at the moment with a good specification.
One of our favourites here would be the Toyota Yaris, which offers strong reliability, good warranty and decent specification. It's one of the best value buys.
However, if you are looking for more space and added performance, the car for you is probably the Honda Jazz.
Its 1.2-litre engine offers 76 bhp and is up to all the rest in terms of acceleration. It also has 353 litres of boot space (a massive 1,323 litres if the seats are folded down) as opposed to the Yaris with 205 litres (and 950 litres) respectively.
At €16,395, it's not that far off your budget and would be the one we'd opt for here, given your needs.
Send your queries to
Motors Help Desk, The Irish Times, Fleet Street, Dublin 2 - or e-mail them to motorshelp@irish-times.ie