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Hi James,

A tricky one, because that precise model doesn’t appear on the Revenue’s quick-estimate list, and good luck finding one for sale in Ireland to get a representative OMSP valuation. As a rough guess, I would say somewhere between €1,000 and €1,200, but a lot will depend on condition, equipment and history.

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Hi Tony,

Well, it would certainly be worth trying to track down a petrol-engined 3 Series Touring estate, but as you rightly point out these are rarer than hens’ molars at the moment. Same story for the Audi A4 Avant and Mercedes C-Class Estate too, I’m afraid. Would you consider a VW Passat Estate? Or a Skoda Superb? A bit of a step down in class terms, I’ll grant you, but good, solid cars and you can track them down with the 1.4 TSI turbo petrol engine. 

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Hi Mike,

Is that a Mondeo you’re looking at? Yes, with your mileage and driving conditions, a 1.5-litre EcoBoost makes total sense. In fact, if it is the Mondeo, it’s the nicest engine in the line-up. It’s definitely a good idea to have a look up North — there are some very good cars around, and you can save several thousand Euro, but just be wary of vehicle history and make sure you do a very thorough history and background check (with someone such as Cartell.ie) before you hand over any money. 

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Hi Paul,

At 24k a year you’re probably best going for diesel, to be honest. While we’re equally in the dark as regards what the Budget holds in store for us, it seems (at the time of writing) unlikely that any drastic moves are going to be made just yet. There’s also an urban/rural divide in all of this. If you live in the Dublin, and to a slightly lesser extent, Cork, Limerick, Wateford and Galway city areas, then there is a distinct move away from diesel and towards petrol, but in rural areas, diesel is still king.

That said, the 150hp 1.4-litre TSI turbo engine is absolutely excellent, and we’ve found that while it is, of course, less economical than the equivalent diesel, you’re only talking about 1.0 litre per 100km or so in the real-world difference. It’s well worth considering if you’re concerned about future diesel values. 

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Hi Donal,

Yup, Alfa is definitely offering some very sharp value deals on the Giulia at the moment, especially when you consider that you can effectively get a mid-spec car for the same price as a basic model. It’s a car we really like — it’s gorgeous, terrific to drive, practical and Alfa seems at last to have gotten on top of its quality issues. Two caveats, really — the infotainment system is not as sophisticated as you’d find in rival models, and to see the Giulia at its best, you really need to avoid the 2.2 diesel and go instead for the 200hp turbo petrol, although obviously that may not suit your needs.

Read our Alfa Romeo Giulia review here

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Hi Lorraine,

It’ll set you back €710 a year, unless it was imported from the UK post-2008. If it’s an import, then it will be on the current CO₂-based system, which will mean tax of €750 a year.

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Hi Georgette,

I assume you are referring to the economy we got when we drove the Octavia in this review? We averaged 6.5 litres/100km - or 43.4mpg. To put that into context, we did very little motorway driving, mostly around town and into the mountains around Dublin. Not bad considering.

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Hi Dan,

I think you’ll probably need to upgrade to an MPV with all those kids and all the kit you’ll need to carry around with you. If you don’t fancy a seven-seater then there’s always five-seat versions such as the Volkswagen Golf SV or Citroen C4 Picasso. Have a look at the likes of a Volkswagen Touran, Kia Carens or Toyota Verso too.

Our reviews to help you decide:

Volkswagen Golf SV review

Citroen C4 Picasso review

Volkswagen Touran review

Kia Carens review

Toyota Verso review

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Hi Martin,

There are certainly no concrete plans that we’ve heard of. There was some discussion of the subject, back in 2014 when the UK did away with paper tax discs, that Ireland might move to a similar system, and the abolition of being able to carry over unused vehicle tax from one owner to another is kind of the first step on that road. Dublin City Council this year suggested that we should start moving towards paperless tax but plans haven’t gone any farther than that for now.

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Hi Michael,

I’d suggest that a Passat GTE or 330e would be about perfect with that kind of mileage and usage. It will help, of course, if you have a driveway where you can fit a charging point, but once the batteries have drained and you’re running on normal hybrid power, both of those cars will average better than 40mpg. Here are our reviews:

BMW 330e review

Volkswagen Passat GTE review