Ask The Guide

You’re kind of in luck, George, because the W202 series of Mercedes-Benz cars is viewed by the trade as the last of the well-built Benzes. Still built in Germany, the W202 was replaced by the W203 at the turn of the century with production of Australian sedans shifting to South Africa (the wagons were still made in Germany). Quality suffered with the switch from W202 to W203 despite the latter being the newer design.

But the less wonderful news is that the W202 is still a pretty old car these days and is likely to have covered plenty of kilometres (the 175,000km you’ve nominated is actually quite low). So, there are no hard and fast rules; take every car on its individual merits and be sure to examine each example with a forensic level of detail.

Interiors can start to look pretty tired after a couple of decades in the Aussie UV and know that if the vacuum-operated central-locking or heating and ventilation controls ever play up, it can mean a dashboard-out job that can easily cost more than the car is worth. Paint – especially metallic colours – can fade and peel and, again, a respray is likely to cost more than the value of the car itself.

Mechanically, these are relatively simple machines but spares can cost plenty and the chances of a previous owner scrimping on maintenance costs at some point in the last 25 years is pretty high. At least there’s a decent aftermarket industry for sourcing bits and pieces. But seriously, these are now old enough to be of interest mainly to the real enthusiasts out there. Buying a Benz that old for the sake of its three-pointed star badge could be asking for trouble.

I’ve heard of this before, Sam, and it does seem that it’s caused by the lock-stops banging together and causing the noise you’re hearing. The lock-stop, meantime, is a simple, mechanical device that stops the front wheels turning too far, and to do that, it simply uses one piece of metal that literally bumps into another piece on full lock to prevent further movement. And that’s the noise you’re hearing. That it only happens on with the steering on full lock is the big clue here.

Greasing the bits of metal might quieten things down a bit, but I was under the impression that this model Ranger had little plastic caps on the metal parts to prevent the metal-on-metal contact and, therefore, the horrible noises. Either way, I’d be having an expert check the front suspension to make sure the noise isn’t coming for another, more sinister source. You can’t be too careful with this stuff and since the vehicle should still under warranty, what have you got to lose?

Mazda only offers space-saver spare tyres on its CX-5 and 6 range, so that’s an easy one to answer. The RAV4 is a bit more complicated because you can option a full-sized spare, but only on the base-model GLX model. And the full-sized spare is not available on the RAV4 hybrid in any form.

The move to space-savers gave car-maker a lot more flexibility in packaging terms and saved them money into the bargain (a space-saver is a lot cheaper than an alloy wheel and tyre to match the other four on the car). Along the way, the car with a space-saver will be lighter and that’s a fuel consumption issue all on its own (if a minor one).

Fundamentally, there’s nothing wrong with a space-saver for an urban-based car, but bear in mind their speed and distance limitations as well as the fact that braking and handling will be affected by having the space-saver fitted.

Let’s start with the four-wheel-drive question, Jess: I reckon a vehicle with four-wheel-drive would be a much better bet for towing anything heavy, especially if you do find yourself on a loose or wet surface (which I imagine mightn’t be too uncommon in the world of the horse fancier). But even a wet bitumen road can be a lot safer in an all-wheel-drive tow-car. So don’t under-estimate the value of all-wheel-drive.

The problem with that is that four-wheel-drive dual-cab utes are absolutely the flavour of the month, so second-hand ones are really holding their value. Which means that to get into a, say, Toyota HiLux 4WD ute within your budget, you’re looking at a 15-year-old work-vehicle. And even then, it’s odds-on to have covered more than 250,000km.

Sometimes, better value is to be found in four-wheel-drive station wagons like Nissan Patrols and Mitsubishi Pajeros (the Toyota LandCruiser equivalent holds its value extremely well, too, so it’s more expensive). The trick is to find one that has been used as family transport rather than for weekend bush-bashing. Most of them will have enough towing capacity for your needs, too.

If you wanted to stick with a conventional utility, did you know that between 2003 and 2006, Holden made an all-wheel-drive version of the Commodore Ute? Called the Crewman, it was a five-seater with a proper tray, the option of a V8 engine and constant all-wheel-drive. They’re well and truly within your budget (and then some) and should be cheaper to run and maintain than a lot of four-wheel-drives. And towing? The Crewman in V8 form (the one you’d want for towing) can legally tow a braked trailer up to 2500kg which should be enough for a two-horse float. Sometimes you have to think laterally about this stuff.

All Hyundais sold new in Australia post-2003 can run on E10 fuel. Really, the only thing to watch out for is if the car has been run on normal ULP for its whole life and you’re only just now changing to E10. That’s because E10 can sometimes loosen deposits in the fuel tank, causing the rusty, scaly deposits to eventually block the fuel filter.

So, if this is the first time the car has been run on E10, I’d change the fuel filter now as a precaution, and keep an eye on the filter in the longer term.

The short answer is yes. All Toyotas sold brand-new in Australia after the turn of the century (and some models well before that date) can run on E10.

Assuming we’re talking about a 4B12 engine (Mitsubishi’s internal codes) such as found in a 2016 Lancer or Outlander, then your engine has a timing chain rather than a timing belt. While timing belts need periodic replacement (usually around the 80,000 to 100,000km mark depending on the manufacturer) a timing chain should last the life of the vehicle.

However, this hasn’t always been the reality, especially with older Mitsubishi engines such as the Astron 2.6-litre which was found in Australian Magnas. These developed wear in their timing chains early in life and many were replaced. The trade seems to regard the 4B12 pretty highly, though, so it seems these later engines are not prone to the same problems. Even so, as with any engine, I’d be making sure the servicing – and in particular, oil changes – has been done by the book. That’s the cheapest mechanical insurance around.

It can, Jayson, but there’s one vital thing you must check first. Lift the bonnet of your car and find the build date. It should be on a small, silver tag somewhere in the engine bay. Here’s why: Suzuki lists 2008 as the cut-off year for E10 fuel for the Swift. That is, Swifts built before that date can’t use E10, those built after that date can.

So why check the build date on your car? Because even though it may have been sold in 2008, it might have been built in 2007. Even if the registration papers list the car as a 2008, it could still have been built in 2007. Paperwork is only as accurate as the person filling it in, but the build-date on the car’s tag doesn’t lie.

It doesn’t sound like a lot of money to spend on a car, does it? But the good news is that an $8000 budget gets you into the realm of some terrific second-hand small cars. For a start, I’d stick with a hatchback layout, purely because they sold better when new, so there are more of them out there to choose from now. Not to mention that a five-door hatchback is a seriously practical vehicle.

As for makes and models, well, the world really is your oyster. Conventional wisdom, though, says a second-hand Toyota is usually a pretty safe bet, so look at Corollas from around 2009 or 2010 which fall within your budget, and don’t forget the Yaris with a slightly more recent build date for the same money.

Subarus are good buying provided the service history is absolutely spot on and you should be able to find an Impreza in nice condition within your budget. These have held their value really well, so you might find you need to look at slightly older examples form, say, 2007 to 2009. The bonus is an Impreza will have all-wheel-drive, so it’s a good option if you ever use unmade roads and like trips to the snow.

Finally, don’t rule out the South Korean brands. Both Hyundai and Kia have been making great cars lately and they represent good value. Try a 2011 or 2012 Hyundai i30 or a Kia Cerato from the same era. The Kia is also a good choice if you prefer a sedan over a hatch as, for some reason, a higher percentage of these were sold new in sedan form.

You can buy newer cars, but they probably only fit your budget if they’ve covered a lot more kilometres than the average. Other ways to maximise your spend is to buy an even smaller car (Kia Picanto, Hyundai i20 etc) or shop privately rather than at a used-car yard. Just remember that you have less consumer protection when shopping privately.

The issue of a lack of performance from the Honda’s 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine is one that has been noted in the past, David. It stems not from the fact that it’s a four-cylinder, rather the way it has been tuned and specified at the factory. Like a lot of Honda engines, the engine was designed to deliver good horsepower and high revs and, while that makes for a sporty feel in the right car, it does nothing for the Odyssey’s role as a people-mover.

The root problem here is that the engine is tuned to make its maximum torque (the force that actually accelerates the car) at 4000rpm. Combine that with the odd nature of the standard CVT transmission and you had a recipe for a car that could feel quite lethargic around town. Throw in a full complement of six bodies and their luggage, and things only got worse.

Unfortunately, there’s no real way around this. You could have the engine retuned with an aftermarket chip in the computer, but it may not do very much except increase fuel consumption. At that same time, you could wave goodbye to any remaining factory warranty as it applied to the driveline. Manufacturers don’t like customers tinkering with that stuff and will usually claim that the modifications contributed to the mechanical failure.

All that being said, I have heard of people `chipping’ the Odyssey’s engine. But of all the examples I’ve seen, the net gain was just 11 or 12 or so kiloWatts; not enough to warrant the cost or transform the vehicle in any major way. Even then, I’d imagine the extra power to be high in the rev range, not down low where you want it.