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One of the things we classic owners frequently hear is how much more reliable modern cars are. In terms of overall mileages covered, and the relative (in)frequency of servicing required, that’s probably true – the days of 100,000 miles being good engine life and exhausts that rarely survived more than two British winters before needing wholesale renewal are, thankfully, in the past. But when modern cars do go bang, they can do so in spectacular – and spectacularly expensive – style. I’m not just talking about the electronic side, which many people reckon ultimately cause cars to be written off, but the mechanical side. The best-known example is the Rover K Series engine and its propensity to blow head gaskets. In truth, this isn’t always a massive problem; the root cause is normally a relatively small loss of coolant from a lowcapacity system, coupled with some weak original components. However, the techniques to repair this are now almost-universally known within the motor trade and upgraded components are now widely available. Provided you’re not trying to sort one that someone else has previously tried to fix ‘on the cheap’, it’s unlikely to be a massive issue. The same though cannot be said of other engines. For example, the GM 1.9CDTi, as used in various Vauxhalls and Saabs, has a serious timing belt tensioner/water pump problem; either can seize at anything from 40,000 miles upwards, causing the belt to snap. The only real way of preventing this is, it seems, to renew belt, tensioner and water pump every 40,000 miles – that’s double the manufacturer’s recommended interval. Then there’s the Renault dCi diesel, which was also used in various Nissans including Almeras and Xtrails. Its ‘party trick’ concerns severe turbocharger wear, leading to engine oil getting into the induction system. Being a diesel, the engine then starts to run on this at a totally uncontrolled speed.