We have a Kia Rio 1 CRDi, which we bought new in March 2010, and have had no problems at all with it and really like the car. We have now done about 15,000 miles and do not really want to change it. Our usual use of it is about on average three times a week, starting it, and driving necessarily slowly for the first half-mile as we live on an unmade road, but after that as fast as road conditions and speed limits allow. After that most journeys will be about three to five miles before stopping. At least once a week we travel about 10 to 20 miles by motorway, where we put the foot down; our idea to "blow out the cobwebs".

Two or three times a year we do a much longer distance, on motorways mainly. We have read that in general, short journeys and diesel engines are not a good idea. Please advise us if we should change the car for a petrol model while the going is good, or is the particular engine in this car like the previous one we had [a Peugeot 309 GLD] which was used exactly the same as this one, and lasted us for 18 years with no trouble until rust began to take over, having done 120,000 miles.