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The Octavia is a car that makes so much sense for so many reasons. For a start, it is superbly built, with build quality as good as a Volkswagen. There is plenty of space both inside and also in terms of luggage space. The 1.6-litre engine offers low emissions and therefore is cheap to tax and to run. To drive, it is geared more towards comfort than outright agility (that is why it is a car so favoured by taxi drivers), so what you get is a car that is great for long trips. They have proven themselves to be ultra reliable too. 

The price of the Octavia 1.6 is also very attractive and residuals have remained strong. It is definitely a car we would recommend without too much trouble. 

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Hi Arthur,

I assume you mean a second-hand Skoda Octavia, of the 1998 - 2005 generation. The problem reported relates only to the 20-valve 1.8-litre petrol engine. Its timing belt is prone to snapping if it isn't changed on time and this can wreck the engine. However, if a car has a full service history, including timing belt changes, there should be no reason to worry about it.

We'd rather have the diesel engine, but I don't believe it will be easy to find in Ireland on conjunction with an automatic gearbox.

If you need to know anything else please just pop a comment in the box below this answer.

Thanks

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Hi Tanya,

Without knowing your budget just yet, it is a little difficult to guess, but a car that is a top buy for a family, with a great boot is something like a Skoda Octavia. One like this has low mileage, a frugal diesel engine and will be perfect for a lot of mileage. It is solid and has a great sized boot too.

The Nissan Qashqai has been a massive seller in Ireland of late, with good reason too, as it is very good value, has a brilliant safety record, looks great and is perfect for a family. Here is a fully loaded 1.5-litre diesel for €20,950 with low mileage. 

You could have the choice of a number of family hatchbacks too, such as a Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Auris or perhaps even a small MPV.

Come back to us with more details and we will try and help you further. Just add your comment to the comment box below.

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Hi Chris,

I think that you are getting quite a generous allowance for your car with that offer.

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Hi Angela,

Let's start with looking at the prices of the cars you listed when bought new:

Kia cee'd: 1.6-litre diesel starts at €18,550. There are four versions to chose from, including an automatic and a version that sneaks into band A for tax.

Kia Venga: only available with Kia's new 1.4-litre turbodiesel engine. There are just two trim options, LX and EX and the price is either €18,320 or €19,615. Both have emissions of 117g/km, which means cheap band A road tax.

Hyundai i30: five versions of the same 1.6-litre diesel engine (CRDi) available. Ranging from €18,495 to €25,495. There's an automatic option and two different power outputs, the lower of which is in band A.

Peugeot 308: five versions of the same 1.6-litre diesel engine (HDi). Ranging from €19,795 to €24,335. Four of these are in band A, including the 'Ecomatique' automatic version.

SEAT Leon: a massive eight-model diesel (TDI) range in both 1.9- and 2.0-litre sizes. Two of them drop into band A, while the fastest 2.0-litre model is in band C. Prices range from €20,105 to €26,290.

As your question was purely about value, then it comes down to the Hyundai and Kias. We found the Venga to be quite impressive, though it's a pity there is so little choice in the range.

This appears to boil down to the Hyundai i30 and Kia cee'd. The latter was facelifted earlier this year and it's an even better car than before, but what tips the balance in the Kia's favour is its untouchable warranty. All models get a seven-year warranty, which is huge peace of mind.

Depending on your budget limits you should also take a look at the Skoda Octavia.

I assume you don't have a car to trade in on the scrappage scheme, as that would change things a little. Renault for instance has fantastic offers on its Mégane.

Obviously all of these cars can be had second-hand too, where you'll get a higher spec car for the same money, albeit with kilometres on the clock.

Let us know what you decide or if you have any other questions just pop them in the comment box below.

Thank you

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Hi Joe,

I recently drove the Golf BlueMotion and the review will go up shortly, but what I can say is that I was really very impressed by the car for a number of reasons. Obviously this is the full BlueMotion version and that differs slightly to the 'BlueMotion Technology' model that we have seen before. 

This new car gets a full raft of eco measures. There is Stop/Start, regenerative braking, a modified radiator grille, low rolling resistance tyres and a specially tuned diesel engine. The result is emissions of 99g/km and fuel economy of 3.4 l/100km. Now, you would want to be really hyper-miling to get those figures but we got close to that on our few days with the car. The economy was really staggering. 

There is 105hp from the 1.6-litre diesel and it isn't a rocket: 0-100km/h takes 11.3 seconds. It is however, a very nice car to drive. It doesn't feel slow because it is geared well. And it is a nice place to be. For the price, it is quite well equipped. 

Obviously, price is an issue. There is no real incentive to buy this car for its emissions like there is in other markets. In some markets, such as the UK, if your car has less than 100g/km you don't pay road tax, but here everything under 120g/km is Band A and the Ford Focus 1.6 D Style will cost you about the same to run, yet is €1,545 cheaper to buy. 

To answer your original question though, if I was buying a Golf, yes this is the one I would have (aside from the GTI of course). I really liked it. 

You also have to look at the Skoda Octavia too. For €23,820 you could have an Octavia with the same engine, but with the DSG automatic transmission. Hope this helps, feel free to come back to us if you have any more questions.

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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.