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Hi Paul,

For maintenance cost questions, I'd ask your friendly local Volkswagen dealer - they'll be able to give you much more accurate information than we would. 

As for the engine, it's perfectly up to the task of pulling the car because although it's a 'mere' 1.4, it also has a turbo and produces 120hp - about what you'd have expected from an old-school 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine. It's also pretty frugal, so if you're not planning lots of long motorway journeys, it might work out better value than a diesel.

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Hi Joan,

We highly recommend the Hyundai i40 Tourer. It has a huge boot (though the Passat's is larger again) and is very comfortable. It's not easy to choose between the i40 and Passat at a fixed budget, so see what you can get for your money. The Hyundai, for instance, comes with a great five-year warranty from new and a high level of standard equipment. Its 1.7-litre diesel engine is also better than Volkswagen's 1.6-litre TDI equivalent, though the Volkswagen 2.0 TDI engine is better again if that's within reach.

Either way you're making a good choice and we'd recommend you test drive both cars to see which you like best.

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Hi Sean,

As far as the gearbox is concerned, more is always better, so a six-speeder should help keep your fuel consumption down a bit, especially if you do lots of cruising in top gear. 

As for engines, the 100hp one you refer to is a 1.6 petrol, while the 130hp unit is a 1.9 diesel. Obviously the diesel will be more economical, as the 1.6 struggles with the weight of the Passat and also suffers from problems with its driveshafts. 

Buy carefully though, as Passats of that age have often been abused by careless owners. There's plenty about however, so you can afford to be picky.

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Hi Darlene,

Realistically, you're going to have to go down the MPV route to get three seats across the back. There are few, if any, conventional saloons and hatchbacks around now that can accommodate three full-size child safety seats next to each other. 

The obvious choices are the three French MPVs: the Citroen C4 Picasso, Peugeot 5008 and Renault Scenic, all of which have three individually adjustable rear seats and all of which will easily swallow three car seats in the back. The seven-seat versions of each (the 5008 comes only as a seven seater) will also give you some extra seating flexibility for when you need it. Ditto for the Volkswagen Touran, but not for the Ford C-Max or Mazda5, both of which use a narrow central-rear 'jump seat' layout, which isn't wide enough for what you need.

You could also, if you're looking for something a little more affordable, go the van-derived car route and the Renault Kangoo, Citroen Berlingo, Fiat Doblo and Volkswagen Caddy will all swallow three side-by-side car seats.

But actually, the best two tips of all are the Toyota Corolla Verso (or latterly, just plain old Verso) and the Honda FR-V. The Toyota is a car we keep coming back to for recommendations here, as it's massively spacious, massively reliable and actually pretty nice to drive. There are also plenty of them around. That's sadly not the case with the Honda, but it's worth seeking one out if you fancy something a little more left-field and the six seats (in two rows of three) give you lots of options for loading people and/or luggage. Like the Toyota, the FR-V is hugely reliable and it's a bit more engaging to drive than its Japanese rival.

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Hi Nikki,

Bit of a funny one this. Normally, we would suggest that Lexus cars are peerless when it comes to quality and reliability, but there is some chatter out there on the owners' forums about some problems. OK, so this is not necessarily the most reliable source, but it's interesting that the same issues (injectors, coolant leaks, gearbox problems) keep cropping up. 

Certainly the gearbox was an issue and sufficiently so that Lexus changed some components on it during the car's lifetime, apparently to smooth out the shift action. Even so, the IS has a clunkier gearbox to use than an equivalent BMW or Audi. It also won't be as economical overall - the Toyota-derived 2.2 just can't keep up with the Germans in terms of economy. 

That said, it's a really good car to drive, has a lovely interior and, notwithstanding the Internet chatter, we'd still say it's a better bet for reliability than anything from Europe. Just check history and condition carefully before buying.

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Hi Dawn,

Nissan quoted a combined consumption value of 5.4 litres/100km (52.3mpg) and we'd expect most drivers to get in excess of 40mpg (7.1 litres/100km) so long as all journeys aren't in stop-start traffic.

Hope that helps

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Hi Breda,

Well, on the one hand, both the Aygo and the Auris are very well built and reliable so both will minimise any potential for expensive maintenance costs, and both are very frugal and economical, so either would be a fine choice. The Auris might be a bit more of a painless switch if you've been used to a Golf, as it's similar in size and comfort levels.

But, as you say that your journeys have decreased in length, switching cars may not actually save you any money. Changing cars is usually more expensive than maintaining and running an older car, and you need to sit down and do your sums very, very carefully. Work out what the actual cost of change is for you (the price of either car you are considering minus the trade-in value of your Golf, but including the cost of finance) and balance that against the cost of continuing to run and fuel your existing car, factoring in some cash for a good service and a new set of tyres (often the best way to improve your fuel economy).

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Hi Mairead,

Typically for a Hyundai, there are no major problems to report with a Tucson. Just tread slightly carefully, as they were popular with hard working types such as builders etc. and many have lived hard lives as beasts of burden, so be alert for signs of excessive wear and tear. Otherwise, just make the usual checks for history and condition and you should be OK.

As for fuel consumption, you're dealing with both an older-tech engine (that 2.0-litre has since been replaced by Hyundai's new 1.7 diesel) and a tall-ish, heavy-ish SUV body. So you're probably looking at around 35-45mpg, rather than the 45-55mpg you'd expect from a newer model.

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Hi Sean,

There are no consistently reported problems, but we have heard reports of gearbox issues, problems with the dual-mass flywheel and some steering snafus. As long as it has a full Audi service history, you should be OK, but be picky as there are plenty out there to choose from.

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Hi Paula,

Yes, very, very reliable. But also, I'm afraid, very, very boring. Still, sometimes it's the dullest cars that give the fewest problems...