Expert answer

Hi Angela,

We spoke to Shane Teskey from Motorcheck.ie and he gave us the following advice:

"Buying a used car through a third party is a risky business and not something we would recommend. Knowing who you're buying a car from is as important as checking the car's history. If you buy through this third party will you have a full 12-month warranty (check the fine print - some warranties aren't worth the paper they're printed on!)?

Have you been given the registration number and V5 documented details? What's the potential saving and would it justify taking a trip to the dealer to inspect the car in person?

Add to this the fact that you risk losing a substantial deposit of €495 and I'd say walk away. Shop local!"

I would echo this, there are so many good used Irish cars around at the moment that I would check all these first, before embarking on anything that sounds like it might be risky. 

Expert answer

Hello Helen

Thank you for your enquiry. In this instance, we are going to look on the website beepbeep.ie, because that is the official classified website of SIMI, the Society of the Irish Motor Industry. Because we are looking at something on a budget we want to get something with as much history on it and as much security as possible for you. On that site, all cars come with a history check and they are also covered by the consumer protection act. 

A couple of things are important here. One is that your car is cheap and the second is that it will be reliable and I suppose, attractive would be good too?

You could never accuse it of being sexy, but this Nissan Micra on sale at a dealership in Drogheda has done 80,000 miles and has had only two owners. It will cost you just €1,550 and will be cheap to run, insure and service:

http://tinyurl.com/3y9m5fh

This Toyota Yaris from 1999 has done 130,000 miles and while that might sound like a lot, this little car is well able for it and this could be a decent little buy that won't cause you too much heartache:

http://tinyurl.com/3ydjl87

How about this? A 1995 Opel Corsa, which has only done 18,466 miles and has an NCT until early next year. That will cost you just €1,250:

http://tinyurl.com/3a59low

However, what I really think would be a great first car for you would be the Ford Ka, which is a great little runabout and still looks funky. This 1999 model has only covered 52,000 miles and has an NCT until 01/11. It is advertised at €1,850 but I reckon you could get it as a straight deal for a little less:

http://tinyurl.com/378vt9h

Let us know if any of these don't float your boat and we will put on our thinking caps again!

Expert answer

Hi Pat

The Nissan Tiida could probably be best described as an experiment that didn't really work in Ireland. Once Nissan had stopped production of the Almera, a car that was very popular in Ireland, Nissan were left with something of a gap in their product range. Rather than leaving this empty they took on the Tiida, which was a car that was sold in markets such as the Middle East, and as the Nissan Versa in the United States and in any market it was sold it was a budget buy.
There is nothing wrong with the Tiida, but it just isn't the most exciting car to drive or probably own and for that reason it has received a pretty lukewarm reception in Ireland.

There is €4,000 off the Tiida at the moment (including government allowance), so that means you would get the Tiida Diesel for €16,480. If you just want a car for getting from A to B then this will do the job perfectly fine.

However, the reason Nissan haven't been overly worried by the Tiida is that they have been selling shedloads of their Qashqai and that is a really excellent vehicle. It sits quite high up, is quite cheap to run and will be reliable. There is a new 2010 model too and there is a €4,000 scrappage offer on that too at the moment.

The Qashqai 1.5d XE costs €23,995 and with €4,000 off that you would be just about under budget and this would be an infinitely better buy than the Tiida, albeit a fair bit more expensive that the Tiida.

You can read our review of the new Qashqai here

http://www.completecar.ie/testdrives/article/Nissan/Qashqai/Qashqai/231/53

And details on the new Qashqai can be found at this part of the Nissan site

http://www.nissan.ie/new_vehicles/pricing.aspx?CarID=137

There are lots of other cars to consider with your budget

You could have a Hyundai i30, which is an excellent 5-door hatchback from €15,995 under the scheme.

The Ford Focus 1.6 Diesel would be well under your budget, or you could try the new Renault Fluence, if you fancied a saloon. Here is a review I did on it for The Irish Times recently http://tiny.cc/30ag3

I am not sure if any of these will float your boat, but please feel free to come back to us for more advice.

Out of this lot, I'd have the Qashqai though.

Expert answer

Firstly, there are probably more diesel automatic cars in Ireland than you might think, but they tend to be executive models rather than mainstream family cars because it seems that there still isn't a huge demand for them.

Toyota does in fact sell an automatic version of its Avensis. It is a 2.2-litre 150bhp diesel and that costs €35,530. Since you mentioned the Toyota Avensis we must assume that you are after a family saloon or hatchback so for a start you could have a Ford Mondeo 2.0-litre TDCi Style Auto for €32,225 - that comes as a saloon, hatchback or estate.

For you a few quid more you can have the run out version of the Jaguar X-Type 2.2 Diesel Auto for €32,995 or you could have the Mercedes-Benz B180 CDi Auto from €33,640.

There are loads of versions of the excellent Opel Insignia available with a choice of 130- or 160bhp diesel engines in saloon, hatchback or estate body styles. There are 24 different Insignia diesels available in total. Prices start at €30,380. You can have a Renault Laguna 2.0-litre dCi 150 TomTom Edition for €36,890.

A Volkswagen Passat 2.0 TDI with the excellent DSG gearbox will cost you from €35,960 and Skoda will sell you something with DSG for even less. How about an Octavia RS 2.0-litre diesel with 170bhp and DSG for €31,195? For us, that last car is the top choice. However you could stick with Skoda and go much bigger and that would be the Superb. You can have that with DSG and 170bhp for €31,195.

There is a fuel economy penalty in some cases and that is because the traditional automatic transmission has a torque converter. Automatic cars are generally a little heavier too, to the detriment of economy. Saying that, the latest generation of dual-clutch automatics and some of the newest conventional autos have massively improved.

Fuel economy and CO₂ emissions are directly linked, so often the manual version of a car can be in a lower tax band than their automatic siblings, but this is starting to change as mentioned above.