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Hi Colm,

Well, in terms of ’seeing what happens’, how long have you got? The first thing I’d say is that you shouldn’t rule out cars like the Galaxy, the SEAT Alhambra, the VW Sharan and especially the Ford S-Max. I know MPVs are not as fashionable as SUVs, but when you’ve got kids to haul around, they really do make a huge amount of sense. Plus, if you were to go for the S-Max, you’d be getting a car that’s brilliant to drive, too. Get it in a smart metallic colour with nice alloys and it looks good, as well.

If you’re determined to get an SUV, then yes — the XC90 is probably the best of them, and reliable too. The Hyundai Santa Fe is well worth a look as well (although its third row isn’t as roomy as that of the Volvo’s) as is the Kia Sportage (one of our favourite SUVs, actually).

But seriously, go for the S-Max.

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Hi Andries,

Looking at the 2014-2020 model, it has a timing belt, which should be changed at least every 200,000km or 10 years, whichever comes first.

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Hi Emmet,

To be honest, the difference in height between the Fiesta and the Fiesta Active is pretty minimal and so it’s probably not worth the trade-up. The Puma, though, is a different story entirely. Again, in terms of height, the difference isn’t huge, but the Puma’s interior and boot are much larger than that of the Fiesta, and added to which it’s even more entertaining to drive. In fact, it’s one of our favourite cars of the year thus far, so we’d say go for it. Well worth also considering the likes of the new Renault Captur, the Peugeot 2008 and the Skoda Kamiq too.

Read our Ford Puma reviews

Read our Renault Captur reviews

Read our Peugeot 2008 reviews

Read our Skoda Kamiq reviews

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Hi Ciaran,

Well, we’d obviously advise you to buy from a reputable source in the UK, as the Ranger is a hard-working pickup, usually provided rather than owned, and therefore will probably have had a tough life. Make sure you check any potential purchases over very, very carefully indeed, and don’t buy anything without a full service history. The VRT for commercial imports is 13 per cent of the Irish open market selling value, and so we’d expect you’d have to pay around €2,500 to €3,000 in VRT.

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Hi Alan,

If you buy the car yourself, then there’s no BIK issue to worry about, even if you are using it for work. As for taxing it, if you’re strictly and only using it for work purposes, then it can be taxed as a commercial vehicle and will set you back a mere €333 in motor tax every year. If you are using it for personal use as well, then strictly speaking you’re supposed to tax it as a private car, which means taxing it on the engine capacity, which means an annual motor tax bill of €994. Also, you need to openly declare to your insurer what the vehicle is being used for.

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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 Andres,

Stop-start systems regularly stop working. So much so that we've written a guide on the subject: Why won't my car's stop-start system work?

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Hi Martin,

Not yet, it will be launched this summer and should be here in time for 202 sales in July.

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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.

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Hi Paul,

You can, but as for insurance that’s a piece-of-string question — it depends as much on your own personal record and no-claims bonus than on the car. For tax, I’m assuming that this is a 1.8 TDCi model? If so, that’ll set you back €636 for a year’s tax as a private car.