Ask The Guide

As a guide you could expect to get $1500 to $3000 for your Laser. The RAV4 is a sound choice. You could get into a 5-star safety rated 2014 RAV4 for $20,000-$23,000, a similar 2012 model for $17,000-$20,000. You could also consider a Kia Sportage, Honda CR-V, or Subaru Forester.

Both are good choices. The Mazda is more restrained, the Ford sportier. If you want a sporty drive I would go for the Focus.

I wouldn't recommend buying an old Patrol with the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel engine, such as the one you are looking at. It's right in the zone of death when it comes to the turbo-diesel engine, and it will have done a million miles.

I would suggest the Soul could be ruled out on the basis that it won't have a high resale value when you want to sell it on. Your budget will limit your choices, if you could stretch it another $3000 you could look at the Honda HR-V or CR-V, or Kia Sportage.

Either one is fine, both are 5-star safety rated, they're both economical, but the Levin is a sportier model and for that reason I would prefer the Ascent. You'll also find it's a little cheaper.

Mitsubishi claims an average of 9.1L/100km, 8.0L/100km on country driving and 11.1L/100km around town, so at 8.5L/100km it's on the money fuel-wise. The lack of power does seem an issue and I would have it checked by your dealer at the next service. After 10,000km it should be performing near its best.

New cars often arrive here without having been tuned to our roads and driving styles, and the i45 was one of those when it first went on sale. As a result it copped some flak from motor-noters for its ride and handing, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a decent car. I wouldn't take the comments at face value, I would suggest that you drive the car yourself and make up your own mind.

We haven't had any other reports of problems like you have experienced. You don't say what engine you have, but if it's a diesel you have the Powershift automatic transmission, which has been troublesome in other Ford models, such as the Focus.

The car is not as you ordered it, so you have every right to refuse to accept it.

From your description I would agree with you that it doesn't appear normal, although road testers talk of mild turbo-lag at takeoff. Mild turbo lag doesn't seem to equate to extremely sluggish, but it would be worth your while to drive other similar A5s to get a feel for them as well. Perhaps your dealer might be able to arrange for you to drive a demonstrator.