Some owners of 1998-2003 Isuzu Troopers have experienced a problem where the injector seals leak allowing fuel oil to get into the engine and mix with the lubricating oil. Ultimately this can cause serious damage to the engine but a replacement injector kit is available and will solve this problem. Generally the picture remains very rosy for the Isuzu Trooper which I think represents terrific value second hand particularly when compared with Mitsubishi Shoguns of the same age. If you check out the Isuzu Trooper Owners Club (www.itocuk.co.uk) you will find plenty of advice on buying and running a Trooper and very little talk about the injector seal issue which suggests to me that problems are few.

I am looking to buy a sporty everyday car, i.e. not a Porsche. I am looking to spend no more than £22,000 and I am not fussed over whether it is brand new or up to a year old. I have considered the new VW Golf GTI FSI, Seat Leon Cupra and the Civic Type R. However, a friend recommended that I try the Peugeot 206 GTI 180. I was impressed with the price, seating, and the overall drive, but I’m just not sure if it is fast enough in comparison to the others. I looked at a Clio V6 but feel that it is a lot of money for a Clio. Please could you help me out a little? I want the best value for money, and I want something that doesn’t take 15 minutes to get from 0-60. Glyn Williams, Waltham Abbey

If I were you I’d hang on for a little while as the hot hatch stakes are just about to be upped. We’ve already seen the Vauxhall VXR receive some rave reviews with its 240bhp engine and 150mph+ top speed but there is a new kid on the block in the next few weeks in the shape of the Ford Focus ST. The car will be revealed shortly and dealers will be taking orders for January deliveries so if you are quick you could get one of the first cars. The word is that the car is significantly quicker from A-B than the old Focus RS and is likely to go head-to-head with the Vauxhall VXR at about £19,000. The good news is that if production numbers are kept low then the car should also have a strong residual value. If you don’t fancy waiting weeks then I’d also try the Renault Megane RS and the Honda Civic Type-R, both of which I rate more highly than the Peugeot 206.

My wife and I are hoping to take a year’s sabbatical and we want to drive from England, through Europe, Asia and finally on to Australia. In Australia we will sell the vehicle (hopefully) and fly home. We will use the vehicle to sleep in. I don't want a big motor home. Maybe a people carrier or a large 4x4. My main requirements are reliability, comfort, practicality, fuel economy and be able to handle any road surface. Also will I have any trouble getting the car through all the borders? (Custom certificates and legal requirements). I know this is a big question but if you could just point me in the right direction then I will be very grateful. Thank you. Alan Chesshire, Southampton

I’d also think about what will sell well in Australia as this could seriously affect the overall cost of the exercise. If you were staying in Europe I’d look at French diesels but they won’t get a good price when you are down under. My recommendation would be to look at either a Nissan or a Toyota which are both well loved in Australia. The most economical vehicle in terms of fuel consumption would be a Nissan X-Trail or Terrano, depending on your budget (used Terranos can be picked up from as little as £3,000 whilst X-Trails start at about £10,000). If you fancy more space then the Toyota Land Cruiser is peerless; prices on the smaller Colorado model start at about £10,000 for a 1999 ‘V’ but the big daddy is the Amazon which starts at about £13,000 for a 1998 ‘R’. All these vehicles will handle the terrain, are very reliable and will be easy to sell. Just don’t expect 30mpg from them and you won’t be disappointed!

I am looking for a used car that will get me around town during the week but will also be fun for travelling to visit friends around the country at weekends. My budget is approximately £7,500 and as this is my first car I would really like something that is fun with a bit of oomph...but still ticks all the boxes when it comes to safety. Help! Sara Hadjiantoni, St Albans

You’ve a good budget so there are plenty of options. For town driving I am guessing you don’t want anything too large? For me I’d stick clear of anything very exotic as they can be temperamental - if you are doing stop start driving the engines can get hot and be heavy on the clutch. You would be better off going for a high performance version of a more mainstream car that will handle this kind of use. A personal favourite of mine is the Renault Clio 172, very quick and nimble, good on fuel and a real pocket rocket for those weekend drives. A 2002 ‘02’ with 30,000 miles will cost about £7,500. I’d also look at the evergreen Golf GTi, it may not sound as much fun but you have to respect how well they handle the kind of demands you will place on them. Make sure you go for the GTi Turbo though with 150bhp as the standard 115bhp model is a real flop. A 1999 ‘T’ will be on budget, and try to find one with air con which you will appreciate on the summer days when you are stuck in traffic.

I am looking for a new car and not sure which to go for. This is something I'll be going to meetings in, so I want it to say professional and successful, but not flash. I don't have any kids, so don't need a family car. My budget is around £12,000. I was looking at a second hand Audi A3. Any other suggestions? Bill King, Manchester

The A3 definitely sends out all the right messages and will age gracefully so used examples still look classy when they are five or six years old. I’d also look at the Honda Accord, a larger car I know but one that is extremely good at handling long journeys and I reckon looks attractive. You have to respect BMW but they can carry a certain connotations so I’d steer clear for now. I’d also suggest a used Saab 9-3. It’s well built, distinctive and safe, plus the 2.0 litre turbo engine can give good performance. A 2002 ‘52’ 2.0t Arc will cost about £12,000 has 175bhp and comes with climate control, leather upholstery and alloys – it’s a lot of car for the money.

I’ve got £8,500 to buy a third car / toy. I’ve swapped my TVR Griffith for a wife and son, and now cannot find a car that fits the bill. So here goes - I want a convertible that can do the odd track day and hill climb, good enough to use for the odd weekend away or trip to a track day abroad and most importantly have the classic look, but not at the cost of a TVR Griffith. My wife would like to drive it too. I just can’t get excited about Lotus 7 type things, so any other any ideas? David Williams, Lowdham

Earlier this year I sold a replica Cobra that would have fitted your requirements and it was a car my wife enjoyed driving. Whilst you couldn’t have bought mine for £8,500 you can find four-cylinder and V6 models for close to your budget. They cost about £250 a year to insure, are almost depreciation proof, and can be wheeled out on high days and holidays. If you don’t fancy a ‘kit car’ then what about a 1992 Mazda RX7 Turbo cabriolet (a Japanese classic!)? It will only cost around £3,500 and can easily be tweaked to pump out more than the original 200bhp. My final suggestion would be a Morgan plus 8. You will probably have to settle for one which needs a bit of TLC, but then that’s part of the fun, isn’t it?

What are the advantages of buying a second hand car? Melissa Rurridge, Melbourne, Australia

How long have you got? Basically the big advantage is price. A used car is cheaper than a new car (99.9 per cent of the time) because the previous owner/owners have suffered the depreciation. But the saving you make on the car has to be weighed up against the possibility of break downs and repairs. The good news is that manufacturer warranties are transferable, so if you buy a car less than three years old you will probably still be covered by it, so any repairs, apart from the usual wear and tear will be covered. On cars more than three years old you also have to get an MOT. Lots of people get nervous about an MOT but most newish cars fly through them and even older cars rarely need too much work. I just MOT’d a 1987 Audi and it only cost £80! Cars are generally getting much more reliable so whereas in the past a 60,000-70,000 mile car may need a new engine or gearbox today most cars if correctly maintained will comfortably manage more than 100,000 miles with little drama. The good news is when buying a used car for say £5,000 you can choose anything from a Mini to a Mercedes, whereas that would only be the deposit if you were buying a new car.

I am partly disabled and up to now my automatic Toyota Yaris has done the trick. But thinking of the future I am considering getting my car adapted to use hand gears. I’m also thinking of buying a wheelchair but my boot is not very big, so my question is, are there any cars (apart from Formula One) that have hand gears and a decent sized boot? Terry Kelleher, Provence, France

More and more cars are getting ‘Formula One style’ gear changes that can be operated from the steering wheel but they still require the driver to engage ‘D’ for drive by use of the floor mounted gear stick. In this respect you have some but not all of the advantages that you may be after. Once the gearbox is in ‘D’ (Drive) you then have the option of having the changes done automatically or using the paddle mounts on the steering wheel. In most cases owners like the idea of being able to change gear using paddles but the novelty quickly wears off and they leave the auto box to do the changes with no driver intervention, which effectively makes it no different from your Yaris. If you want to be able to engage drive using the steering wheel mounted paddles that do away completely with the need for a floor mounted stick then you will need a specialist conversion like www.mobilityconversions.co.uk or www.alfredbekker.com.

I am thinking of getting a new Audi A4 Cabriolet. I am aware that Audi have updated their saloon model and therefore I assume that the Cabriolet will soon be updated too. I can't seem to get a straight answer from my Audi dealer in terms of timing, engines, specs etc - I guess they just want to sell me an existing model from stock. Can you advise? I am looking to contract hire so the depreciation doesn't concern me. It's just that if the new model is released a couple of months after I have taken an old one I won't be too chuffed. James Powell, Birmingham

No official line from my sources but rumours in the trade suggests that it will be the first or second quarter of 2006. If it is the first quarter then expect to see some teaser publicity leaking out around November. Audi have already suggested a new A3 cabriolet in 2007 so the chances are the A4 cabriolet will be sooner rather than later to avoid conflicting with that model.

I've been on the look out for a Mazda 6 on the internet for some time and naturally had a look on eBay. I found the perfect car - age, model, colour and price - so began to bid for it. I got in touch with the seller who said he would be able to show me the car before the day bidding ended. We met in a car park and he showed me the car, which was seemingly in perfect nick, but there was no car manual, just the V5 and MOT certificate.

As the car was about £3,000 lower than the book price I thought that I would do an HPI check. The car had been bought by the seller in 2005, but was in a category C accident in September 2004 and the insurance company had decided not to repair the damage (a write off). Furthermore the car had been re-sprayed a different colour.

Having relayed this to the seller (who claimed to have no knowledge of the cars history, even though he had already mentioned that he had spent money on the car) I checked the serial number and test station number of the MOT certificate with the DVLA and found that it is legitimate.

My insurance company has OK’d the purchase as an MOT means the car is roadworthy; however I've decided not to buy the car due to the dodgy history. But it is tempting isn't it? Can you tell me a bit more about the pitfalls of purchasing a cat C or D damaged car? And what could be missed by the MOT test that might turn up in later years? Steve Mellor, Ealing

The definition of a category C car is: ‘’One that has suffered substantial damage, but is repairable by a repairer or enthusiast. The vehicle can be safely and economically repaired either by the insurer / motor trade or by an enthusiast using cheaper parts and reduced labour costs. The PAV (Pre Accident Value) exceeds £2,000 (£1,000 for motorcycles) and the engineer's assessed repair costs exceed the PAV.”

The problem with buying any car that has been involved in an accident is that you are never assured of the quality of the repair. Whilst the car may be mechanically sound and road legal an MOT does not check the paint finish (depth/quality) or rust protection. It is very difficult to replicate the high standards achieved on a factory built car and you can often find that corrosion sets in later in the car’s life.

The second problem is that when you come to resell the car you may well get a substantially lower price for it which completely wipes out any money you saved in the first place. As the seller you should, if you know, declare whether the car is a category C or D, which of course you now know, and that can send buyers running.

Having seen dozens of C and D category cars that go on to be repaired I have to say my personal view would be not to buy one. There are plenty of straight and honest cars out there and if the budget is tight just lower your aspirations and spend your money on a car that is a year or two older but with a clean history.