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Hi Nicole,

You should be able to get insurance for a left-hand-drive car without any difficulty, though make sure it's declared as such. And I should say, the car must be already registered in Ireland.

The price of insurance varies massively depending on your own driving history and situation, and where you get the quote from, so we would not be in a position to give you an estimate, unfortunately.

We would advise you to shop around, however.

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Hi John,

Your Octavia's boot is rated to 600 litres, we believe, which is difficult to match unless you go for a much larger car. The Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer, for example, holds a little more than that, but it's out of budget. Same story for the VW Tayron eHybrid (PHEV), which has a bigger boot again.

Those cars are still relatively new, so you can't afford used versions yet, either, though we did find a selection of second-hand Skoda Superb PHEVs on the market within budget. They're massive in all directions and might well suit your needs, so long as you don't mind going for a car that's two to three years old.

The VW ID.4 and Skoda Enyaq have comparable boots of well over 500 litres and are in budget – though there's much more choice in the ID.4 lineup for that money.

Last but not least, and assuming you have nothing against buying an SUV, the Hyundai Tucson PHEV has a boot of about 560 litres and is within budget.

Let us know what you think of these suggestions.

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Hi Silvia,

Though it's not ideal that the garage went ahead and did the work without providing a quote and your permission to do so beforehand, I fear there's very little you can do now. Ideally you would have brought the car to an independent assessor to verify the issue. 

Clutch wear would never be covered under warranty as I'm sure you know and yeah, it could wear out in such an amount of time, depending on how and where the car is driven, though I must admit that the symptoms you've described don't seem to tie in with the diagnosis provided.

I'm not sure what route you have for any recourse at this stage.

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Hi Simone,

I'm assuming you're trying to choose between that ex-demo Volvo and a brand-new Kia EV9, as we wouldn't usually consider these cars to be direct rivals, despite the fact they're both electric and can seat seven people.

The Volvo is supposedly the more luxurious car and brand for sure, and it's a very impressive vehicle. I too would be worried about the software, however, unless there's evidence that it has been updated to a newer version.

A new Kia EV9 would come with a much longer warranty and Kia also has a great reputation for reliability, so it's probably the safer bet. Saying that, the EV9 is also a lovely car, very well specified and spacious.

Make sure you drive examples of both to help you decide – and do let us know which way you go.

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Hi Colin,

I don't think you'll find a drastic difference between these cars in terms of their range in real-world usage. Indeed, changing your driving habits and top speed would likely have a larger effect.

So with that in mind, I reckon the Capri is the better bet, if for no other reason than it has a much larger boot.

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Hi Galin,

Worry not, as the Grande Panda hybrid does not have a traditional starting motor at all. Instead, it uses the mild-hybrid system's electric motor - integrated into the transmission - to start the engine up. This should be quite robust.

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Hi Ger,

The vehicle itself is certainly capable of such tasks, but the problem might be that doing so would put the combined mass of the car and towed load over 3,500kg, the maximum allowable with the standard category B driving licence. This is because the G 580 weighs nearly 3,100kg on its own.

You'd need to upgrade to a category BE licence at least.

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Hi Kieran,

That's frustrating on the resale value of your car, but we're in no better position than the dealers you've spoken to and they hold the 'power' in that regard so the cost-to-change will all come down to the deal any one showroom is willing to make. Anecdotally, you'll get a better deal if you go back to a BMW outlet, but it doesn't sound like any BMW is on your radar this time around. 

The three cars you've listed are decent enough, but I'd strongly urge you to test drive them before you make any decisions as they'll all feel a big chunky and heavy next to your BMW i4. 

Have you considered Polestar at all? Both the Polestar 2 and Polestar 4 are within the same price ballpark as you're looking and are both great to drive with a bit of an SUV vibe. The Polestar 2 has been around for a while (I own one as it happens) but it was significantly upgraded last year for more performance, spec and efficiency. It's now either rear-drive or all-wheel drive.

Again, take the time to go and test drive all of these cars before you bother trying to make deals, as the driving experience of the BMW i4 is a hard act to follow.

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Hi Elaine,

The BMW X3 diesel is what's called a "mild hybrid", so it can't be plugged in. The plug-in hybrid only makes sense if you can plug it in at home to charge up the battery at every available opportunity. If you don't do that then it's essentially the same as fuelling a heavy petrol-only model.

In general, a diesel car is more efficient than a plug-in hybrid when it comes to long journeys and it sounds like that's what may suit your needs better.

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Hi Grady,

That sound like a binding brake calliper to us, but as you also mentioned the all-wheel-drive system there could also be something up with the differential up front. Only thing to do is get a good mechanic to have a look at it.