Ask The Guide

In terms of physical size the five-door Mini Countryman is the largest vehicle in the current Mini fleet.

Pop out the red cap, then remove the fastener behind it. There are then four other fasteners around the door card to remove. Pull the door handle cover off, then lever the bottom of the door card off.

You can then work the door panel loose by pulling the top part of the panel forward and lifting it up.

Depending on the wheel package optioned on the car the Mazda3 will come with one of three tyre size, ranging from 205/50 R16, to 205/60-R16, up to 215/45-R18.

The 2019-model Corolla is available in silver, blue, red, dark grey, black and white.

The main thing is servicing. Some owners tend to neglect the maintenance if their car doesn’t get used very much; they think it doesn’t need regular servicing like it would if it was used more often. That’s not the case; it still needs regular periodic maintenance. Certainly check the service record. Nothing should go wrong if it starts being used more often, and 100 km per week is not very much. You could, if you felt the need, replace the drive belts, radiator hoses; flush the cooling system, and brakes. But as it is it should be a good, reliable car.

We haven’t had any reports of problems like you describe. If you’d care to send us more information on the problem we could perhaps find out more.

You need to remove the timing cover on the engine, remove the old belt and fit the new one, it’s not terribly difficult. Costwise I would expect to be around $400-$600.

You need to take it to a mechanic for a diagnostic check to find the cause of the problem. It sounds like it could be in the transmission; perhaps the powertrain module could be at fault.

Very little. If all was well with the car, and it was in good driving condition it’s only worth $3000-$4000, but if the automatic transmission has to be replaced it’s probably worth $500 or so.

The VW dual-clutch automatic was troublesome in the period you are considering, so it’s probably best to avoid it, or buy one with a manual gearbox. Rather than a wagon perhaps consider a compact SUV.