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Hi Gerard,

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Hi Maeve,

Assuming your car is taxed according to its engine size, then there will be no changes to its taxation from January 2021. If it's taxed according to its CO₂ emissions, it's possible that there will be a small increase, but nothing drastic. We don't have the full details of the new motor tax scheme as yet.

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Hi John,

That 1.6 diesel Focus uses a timing belt, not a chain. 

The belt replacement schedule depends on the date the car was built. Up to July 2011 it's 140,000km or 10 years. After that it's 180,000km or 10 years.

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Hi Michael,

Assuming that it’s the 105hp version of the Focus 1.6 TDCi, and uses a manual gearbox, then it has CO₂ emissions of 88g/km, which means tax of €180 per year.

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Hi James,

The problem is, if you’re using the car for anything other than strictly business use, then you have to tax it as a private car, and on a 2.0-litre engine that means it’ll cost €710 per year. As for insurance, it shouldn’t be too bad, but as ever Irish insurance is an utter minefield, and the advice is — as ever — to shop around and perhaps get in touch with a good local broker before deciding. 

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Hi John,

You can absolutely insure it as a private vehicle, but the only issue is that means reverting to the old by-engine-capacity tax system, so it’ll cost you €514 a year. 

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Hi Francis,

It’s actually pretty brilliant — that 1.6 iDTEC engine is one of the best diesels we’ve ever sat behind. It’s smooth, has plenty of performance and is very economical. Plus, Honda engines were never implicated in any diesel emissions cheating, so your conscience can remain untroubled. The rest of the car is rather lovely too. Honda’s quality is a given and that generation of Civic is both massively roomy and massively versatile with those clever flip-up ‘Magic’ rear seats. It’s also good to drive — not as agile as a Ford Focus, but solid and planted, with nice steering feel and good comfort levels, too. The only demerits are a bit too much road noise and a slightly messy dashboard layout.

Read our review of the 2013 Honda Civic i-DTEC here

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Hi Mark,

If you’re prepared to wait a bit, there is an all-new Octavia RS coming, which will be available as a plug-in hybrid with 245hp. Now, it will depend on how you rack up those 30,000km as to whether a plug-in hybrid would suit you — if it’s all motorway miles then probably not, but if you do a lot of short-hauls around town, and can charge at home, then it could be ideal.

There’s also the diesel version of the new Ford Focus ST to consider, the new Golf GTI and SEAT Leon Cupra (all sharing their bits and pieces with the Octavia, of course), or what about a Hyundai i30 N — one of our favourite hot hatches? A few reviews to help you decide:

Skoda Octavia reviews

Volkswagen Golf reviews

SEAT Leon reviews

Hyundai i30 reviews

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Hi Gavin,

I'm afraid the registration you gave us came back as a Hyundai on Cartell.ie, so we assume there's a typo there. However, looking at the 2008 Focus:

1.4/1.6 petrol: timing belt

1.6/2.0 TDCi diesel: timing belt, with small timing chain at back of engine joining the camshafts

1.8 TDCi diesel: timing belt, with separate belt or chain for high-pressure pump drive

1.8/2.0 petrol: timing chain

Hopefully that covers your car, but come back to us if not, with more details.

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Hi Lee,

It's only the 1.8 TDCi diesel engine from Ford that used that wet belt set-up, none of the others. The 1.8-litre engine was never offered in the Kuga.