Expert answer

Hi Shane,

Both are excellent, but in general we’d lean towards the Skoda. Although a slightly smaller car overall, you’re not sacrificing much rear seat space, and you are gaining a bigger and more versatile boot. Our only concern would be to get a very careful history check done, as the Octavia is popular as a taxi, and that’s something to be avoided. 

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Hi Noel,

No, it does not appear so. The daytime running lights are LED and the headlights are a projector design. There is automatic turning on of the lights when it is dark, but not of the high beam. It does not appear to be on the options list from Hyundai Ireland, either.

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Hi Brendan,

A couple of things. Obviously, any of the car’s on-board systems will be setup for Japanese language, so you will need to get those changed, and the radio may not be set to receive European FM frequencies, so the car’s entire audio system may need to be replaced. Generally speaking, a Japanese Passat will be mechanical similar to a European one, but there will inevitably be some detail differences in specification and equipment, so you may run into trouble further down the line with parts availability.

I’d suggest that you’d be better off looking at the UK market than the Japanese one — the Passat is hardly a rare car, so there may be an easier option out there for you.

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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 Linda,

To be honest, we’re not really the experts when it comes to vehicle access in this respect, but we do know the right people to talk to — Motability Ireland, who can be contacted at www.motabilityireland.com

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Hi Shevaun,

Simple: ignore the engine size. The 1.4 TSI turbo petrol engine has 150hp and is totally at home and happy in either the Tiguan or the Passat. In fact, it’s arguably the best choice of engine in either car. Thanks to compact, low-pressure turbocharging, engine size is these days more or less irrelevant. Look at the power and torque figures instead.

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Hi Tony,

Well, it would certainly be worth trying to track down a petrol-engined 3 Series Touring estate, but as you rightly point out these are rarer than hens’ molars at the moment. Same story for the Audi A4 Avant and Mercedes C-Class Estate too, I’m afraid. Would you consider a VW Passat Estate? Or a Skoda Superb? A bit of a step down in class terms, I’ll grant you, but good, solid cars and you can track them down with the 1.4 TSI turbo petrol engine. 

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Hi Ruairi,

Oh, that’s just not good, and I’m worrying that you may well actually need a solicitor at this point, especially as clearly one garage or other has reneged on what they told you they were going to do. Did you get, in writing, the assurance that a new wiring loom was going to be installed in the car? That would be helpful.

Basically, under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, either the car or the repair was clearly not ‘of merchantable quality’ and you are entitled, under consumer law, to a full replacement or refund. Car dealers will often try and squirm out of that, but if they do I suggest you tell them you’re going to take it to the small claims court (where there’s no need for a solicitor). If that doesn’t get them moving, then it’s time to get the lawyers in.

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Hi Diarmuid,

Your 161 Passat should be worth around the €20-23,000 mark as a trade-in (depending on the condition and history) and a new Passat Highline 1.6 TDI starts at €34,795, so your cost of change is going to be around €12-14,000.

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Hi Fergal,

The Mondeo is a fine car, but it has fallen back a bit compared to previous versions and I don’t think it’s really comparable to the current crop of premium-badge saloons, which is a shame. The A4 is very, very good, but if you’re going to have to ‘rob a bank’ to get a BMW 520d then you’re going to have to do the same for the new A6.

That said, there are some very good mid-size saloons around at the moment that are better than a Mondeo, and which can give an A4 a serious run for its money. A Skoda Superb, perhaps? Volkswagen Passat? Mazda6? All well worth a look, and better value all-round than the A4.

Here are a few of our reviews to help you decide:

Audi A4 review

Ford Mondeo review

Volkswagen Passat review

Skoda Superb review

Mazda6 review

BMW 520d review