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Hi John,

OK, that’s a slightly tough set of criteria, but I think we’ve found some winners. How about a Honda Insight Hybrid? Ultra-low CO₂ means ultra-low tax, it’s auto, Hondas run for ever, it’ll do 50mpg easy and there’s just about enough space for a family of three. Your budget gets you a 2010 model.

If you need something smaller, there are automatic Nissan Micras around for that sort of money, but you might find them a bit small for the wee one. Fancy something posh? You could try a 2010 Mercedes C 180 Estate, which we found, but the tax on that will be a bit higher. Something newer? A Skoda Fabia Combi estate from 2012? Reliable and tonnes of space in the boot. Cracking car.

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Hi Patricia,

That sounds like a specialised job for someone familiar with the workings of the satnav system. A Honda dealer or good auto electrician are your best bets.

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Hi Joe,

We sent this one on to Honda Ireland and here was the response:

"Yes a swivel passenger seat can fit in a Honda CR-V. However we would ask the customer to speak to their mobility solutions provider too, as it depends on the design and the size of the seat."

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Hi Kieran,

We would expect most stop-start issues to be sorted by a new battery, but the installer is correct: auto stop won't always work. In fact, we get so many queries about the subject that we wrote this feature you may find of interest: Why won't my car's stop-start system work?

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Hi Robert,

Yes, it’s a very solid shortlist, although obviously we can’t comment either way on the Tiguan plug-in hybrid as we’ve not driven one yet. As for the Honda and the Toyota, the Honda is roomier and rather more engaging to drive (better for all those twisty roads) so is probably the one we’d go for. The new RAV4 is well worth looking at, though, and it has impressive performance, so it’s good for all that overtaking. Links to our reviews below:

Honda CR-V Hybrid review

Toyota RAV4 Hybrid review

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Hi Philip,

Generally speaking, long-term hybrid reliability seems to be excellent. It probably helps that most hybrids that have been built and sold so far have been made by those paragons of reliability, Honda and Toyota. Both companies say that many of their older hybrid models — first generation Prius dating back to 1997, and Civic IMAs dating back to 2002 — are still on the road and in regular use. Indeed, Honda says that it has never had to replace a battery pack on models such as the post-2010 Insight or the little-seen Jazz Hybrid. Toyota says similar things about older Prius and Auris models, and points to the huge numbers of those cars being used on taxi fleets, racking up mega-miles with no major reliability issues to report. That’s likely helped by two things — electric motors are simple and therefore generally reliable, and most hybrid cars on the road at the moment use older-style nickel batteries, which aren’t as energy-dense as newer lithium-ion batteries, but which again are simple, rugged and reliable.

Even if you do need to eventually replace a battery pack, it’s not that expensive to do so — a second generation Prius pack change costs around €1,400 — not far off what you’d have to pay for a major engine rebuild or replacement, and you’re about as likely to need one. Basically, the advice is as for any second hand purchase — buy on condition, not mileage, make sure it has a full and complete service history and, if you have any concerns in the longer term, consider taking out a second-hand warranty programme.

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Hi Tony,

Currently you can buy the following hybrids on the Irish market: Toyota Corolla, CH-R, RAV4, Prius, Yaris, and there are probably a few run-out  examples of the Auris Hybrid out there still in dealerships. There’s also the Kia Niro and the Hyundai Ioniq. There’s the full Lexus range — CT, IS, RC, GS, ES, LS, NX, RX and LC. There’s the Ford Mondeo Hybrid, too. There’s the new Honda CR-V Hybrid, some Mercedes diesel-hybrids and petrol plug-in hybrids, oh and the new AMG 53 six-cylinder mild hybrids.

Suzuki does mild hybrids too — for the Baleno, Swift and Ignis. Then there are the plug-in hybrids — Kia Niro and Hyundai Ioniq again, plus the Volvo XC90 and XC60 T8 models, along with the S90 and V90; the BMW i8, 330e, 530e, X5 40e, 225xe, and the MINI Countryman S E; there’s also the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport plug-ins, the Mitsubishi Outlander, the Volkswagen Golf and Passat GTE, the Audi Q7 e-tron and the Porsche Panamera and Cayenne.

I bet I've forgotten some...

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Hi Jon,

Go for the Civic. It’s roomier, it’s more fun to drive, it has the better diesel engine (the best, in fact) and it’ll be more reliable in the long term.

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Hi Dara,

The best plug-in hybrids around at the moment are the Kia Niro PHEV, the Toyota Prius PHEV and the Volkswagen Golf GTE (assuming you can find a GTE in stock...). Now, these are smaller than your Qashqai inside, so you may need to make that compromise in order to get the plug-in hybrid efficiency. The revised Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is massive inside, and rather nice, but thirsty if you’re not plugging it in all the time and making maximum use of the electric part of the powertrain.

A conventional hybrid might also be worth a look, especially given that you’re driving mostly in town. Honda is just about to launch a hybrid version of the hugely impressive new CR-V, and the new Toyota RAV4 is arriving in dealerships around now. Both are well worth considering if you can stretch the budget out to something brand-new.

Here are some relevant reviews:

Kia Niro PHEV review

Toyota Prius PHEV review

Volkswagen Golf GTE review

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV review

Honda CR-V Hybrid review

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Hi David,

It’s a tricky one. As a fellow bad back sufferer, I know the pain (literally) of sitting for too long on the wrong car seat, but the problem is it’s a case of one man’s meat is another’s poison. I, personally, find the seats in the Civic absolutely fine. You may, or may not — the only thing I can suggest is to ask your local Honda dealer for as long a test drive as possible, explaining the reason why you need it. Alternatively, you could always fit the utterly brilliant bucket seats from the Civic Type R as an aftermarket extra...