A RELIABLY GRANDER PLAN

My husband and I are on a pension and need to update our 2004 Toyota Corolla as it has over 314,000km on the clock. The replacement has to be reliable and economical to run, including servicing costs, and I do a lot of kilometres over a year as we live in the country. I was wanting a 2015-16 model for about $20,000, and it must definitely not have a space-saver spare. A couple of mechanics who I trust have told me to stay away from the Toyota Corolla, Holden Astra and Ford Focus, so I am not interested in those cars. I have read of outrageous costs to service transmissions on the Hyundai i30 and people are finding them not as economical fuel-wise, which is important to me. We also have grandchildren so the back seats have to be roomy, and we need boot space for when we go on holidays. Jenny Shell, email Take a different tack and go for a Suzuki Grand Vitara. It will do everything you want and will serve you well over the long haul with good resale value.

LOOK NO FURTHER

Hoping you can help with my new car dilemma, as we own a five-year old Hyundai iX35 Highlander and a Kia Sportage and would like to replace at least one of them with a smaller SUV. We’ve now been looking for over a year but can’t seem to find anything that comes close to these cars. We want all the extras that are standard on the Korean cars, from electric seats and seat warmers, to side mirrors that fold in, a full-size spare, storage for the phone and glasses etc. We have checked Nissan, Honda, Holden, Ford, Mazda, Toyota and found nothing comes close to ours. Do we have to wait for the Hyundai Kona or new Kia when they come out? Greg Emmi, email You should also look at the Grand Vitara, even if it seems a bit big. It’s vastly underrated in Australia and often overlooked, even if the Kona and Kia Stonic promise to be funkier.

CHAIN MAIL

I am interested in buying a used Kia Optima with a 2.4-litre petrol engine. However, I will never accept an engine that uses cam timing belts. Does the Optima have a belt or chain? John Russell, email Kia spokesman Kevin Hepworth has good news: “You can assure your reader that all Theta engines, the family from which Optima engines are sourced, have timing chains.”

SPORTIVO SALUTE

I had a 2004 Toyota Camry Sportivo 3.0-litre V6 and did about 140,000km over 11 years from new. It was faultless and at that age had only 40 per cent wear on the brake pads which, I believe, were high-performance brakes as standard. Apart from battery, tyre changes and recommended servicing, nothing else was required. It was quiet, comfortable and had, as standard, two-stage door unlocking. A great car indeed. Charles Clayton, email Great feedback but not remotely a surprise. The car is still a great buy, especially with shoppers reporting they’ve bought new examples for $23,000 drive-away from eager dealers.

BLOW A VALVE

I had an issue with my 2011 Isuzu D-Max. In 2013 it lost power and the engine management went into limp mode. The fuel rail pressure regulator was removed and the codes replaced, at 72,697km. It happened again and the service centre told me the EGR valve was defective and charged $663.63 to replace it, at 113,961km. I have just experienced the same catastrophic loss of power at 148,239km. The service centre said the EGR valve was defective and would another $700 to fix. Surely I can’t be expected to replace EGR valve every 18 months or so. The service manager said he would talk to Isuzu but wasn’t hopeful. The last replacement was more than 12 months and 20,000km ago. Harry Stockdale, email Isuzu Ute spokesman Dave Harding points out your warranty expired three years ago and there has been no contact since 2013. However, he has some suggestions: “Most EGR valve failures are attributable to carbon accumulation, as the buildup of carbon prevents the valve from opening or closing fully. Short trips and poor-quality fuel can magnify the problem. Try to avoid short runs, and keeping the tank full can minimise the potential growth of algae in the fuel, condensation and water content in the fuel.”

TO QUOTE A WISE MAN ...

Recently my 2008 Toyota Camry Ateva was due for its 135,000km logbook service. Canterbury Toyota quoted me $329 but nearby Campsie Midas quoted me $200 for the same service, a saving of $129, and I was really happy with their work. I sent Toyota Australia an email stating my case and all I got was a representative calling me saying they use genuine Toyota parts, explaining the price difference. So dealers charge a fortune and it pays to shop around. Hifan Handony, email I could not have said it better.

LIVING DAYLIGHTS

Congratulations, Mitsubishi, for removing the daytime running lamps on the ASX. There is a point that everyone seems to overlook. Yes, 1970s Volvos had DRLs of their day but they weren’t retina-searing, laser-bright LEDs, they weren’t fog lights, they weren’t high-beams and they weren’t even headlights — no, they were parking lights, the forgotten lights of today! As a courier, I do a shift from 4pm to midnight and the number of dumb drivers who skip parking lights and head straight for headlights, and worse, fog lights, as dusk approaches is astounding. Phil Minns, email DRLs are here to stay and are the equivalent, with modern technology including LED bulbs, of parking lights in the 1970s.

INTENSITY OF LIGHT

We recently bought a 2017 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport to pull a caravan but noticed while driving at night that the dash area with the fans, mode and aircon does not have any back-lighting. So, when you are trying to select any of those buttons it’s hit-and-miss as you can’t see them. I also consider this to be a little bit dangerous as you need to take your eyes off the road for a much longer period. I was so convinced that something was wrong with the vehicle we booked it into service to see if perhaps a fuse had blown or a bulb was faulty, only to be told, “No, it’s just like that.” Ann Sykes, email You need to get back to the dealer to see what’s wrong, as Mitsubishi spokesman Karl Gehling says: “I have just checked on our press fleet cars and the controls are backlit. The level of lighting can be controlled by a button in the instrument cluster.”