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Hi Eamonn,

I guess a lot would depend on the price, but I didn't really rate the E-Class of that generation. It was troublesome and with that engine is pretty lifeless. My call would be the Audi everytime.

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Hi Sean,

Out of the three cars here, by far the best value under scrappage is the Hyundai i30. You could have a petrol model for as little as €13,995. The diesel is €15,495, which is quite a bit more. If your annual mileage is small then you should perhaps save some money and buy the petrol model. I know everyone buys diesel cars these days but the petrol alternative will only cost you €52 more than the diesel each year to tax and if your mileage is low then you wouldn't see much of a saving on fuel in the diesel car anyway.

The Peugeot 308 is comfortable and good on fuel.

If you are planning on changing the new car quite soon, then the Focus will be worth the most money as a trade-in, but I think the Hyundai would be the best buy in this case for you.

I hope this helps.

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Hi Melanie,

If you are selling it privately, you should ask about €7,200 for it. This should be what you advertise it for. If you are trading it in against another car, then you might get offered about €6,500 against a used car and perhaps as much as €7,000 if it against a new car.

I hope this helps!

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Hi Maty,

Overall, the Nissan Qashqai is a great car and has been a huge success in Ireland. You didn't specify which diesel model you're interested in, as there's a 1.5-litre and a 2.0-litre. They're both good, though obviously the latter has more oomph and is better suited to the car if it's full of people and luggage all the time. Saying that, the 1.5-litre is no slouch so don't be put off by the engine size.

It's worth trying a petrol version too, as they're cheaper to buy and quieter around town. The diesel model is more economical, but that only pays off if you do high mileage. Saying that, over 83 per cent of the Nissan Qashqais sold in Ireland in 2009 were diesel, so there are not many petrol versions available.

Hope that all helps. If you want to know anything specific about the car come back to us.

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Hi Peter,

Diesel cars are now outselling petrol cars by 3 to 1 and of the petrol models that are selling, they are mainly small runabouts. The fact is that the majority of people are being drawn to the lowest possible road tax and in some cases, oddly, this means that they are actually spending more on the car then they really should have. There seems little sense to spend €2,000 - €3,000 more on a diesel car if you are saving €50 a year in road tax and your mileage is low, but that is the way it seems to be happening right now.

The problem with this is that buyers are missing out on on some really good petrol cars. Fiat and Volkswagen in particular have some smart new petrol engines. Take for example the Jetta, which you  mentioned: the new one is out now, but in the older model there was a 105hp 1.2-litre TSI petrol engine and most people baulked at this because they thought it would be too weedy for the car. The same is true of the 1.4-litre TSI, while both are more than capable of adequate performance. 

In terms of fuel economy, sure enough the diesel will usually trump the petrol, but this will only really start to make monetary sense when you do a lot of mileage. It you intend on high mileage, then you are probably better off sticking with the diesel car - Volkswagens are generally quite good at mega mileage, as are Skodas.

We've been getting quite a few queries about DPFs (diesel particulate filters) here in CompleteCar.ie but Mazda appears to be the only brand showing up faults. The Passat though has not been without its troubles and, to be honest, I am not sure if I would be buying a used one with a lot of kilometres on the clock if big mileage is likely.

You mentioned the Jetta, well this one we found would be a top buy. It has just 14,000 miles on the clock, the right 2.0-litre diesel engine and is within your budget. This would be a good buy.

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Hi Philip

We spoke to Toyota Ireland and they had this to say about your issue. "There's very little info to go on but the clue seems to be in the fuel used. It could possibly be a knock sensor reacting to octane rating or fuel quality causing the light to come on."

It might be an idea to stick to the best fuel possible and check with your local Toyota service agent. Come back to us if you need more help.

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Hi Liam,

If you planning on selling it privately you should ask around €6,000 as your starting point leaving you room to negotiate. As a trade-in from a garage, you are likely to be offered around €4,000 - €5,000 at best, obviously depending on what you are trading in against.

I hope this helps!

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Hi Brendan,

I think the Golf is your best bet here. The 1.2-litre petrol engine tends to freak out a lot of people because they think it will be way too small and meagre for their needs, but this just simply isn't the case. We have tried this engine in a number of body styles and have always found it to be more than capable. The Auris isn't a bad car as such, but it is simply not better than the Golf in any way so if it is a straight choice between these two, for me anyway, the Golf would win every time.

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I think the new BMW X3 is where the BMW X5 used to be and the Audi Q5 is a little like where the BMW X3 used to be, if that makes any sense!

The Q5 is a decent compact SUV and it comes in cheaper than the X3 at base level. While there is a 2.0-litre TFSI petrol Q5, if we ignore that (as you should in Ireland at least) then you are left with the 2.0-litre TDI model with 143hp for €42,350. In comparison, the BWM X3 has 184hp for €45,900. Even though the X3 has more power, it is cleaner, with Band C road tax compared to Band D in the Audi.

BMW X3 - 184hp - €45,900 - Band C

The problem right now with the X3 is that you simply can't get one. They are in very short supply, so you could be waiting months. There is a similar situation with the Q5, but we believe you would get one sooner than you would get a BMW.

If you are asking us to choose one regardless of that, then I would have to say I'd much prefer the new X3. I didn't really like the old model, but this one is now so much better than before.

Audi Q5 - 143hp - €42,350 - Band D

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Hi Ciaran,

Thank you for your query. The Kia pro_cee'd is a good car, but thankfully the only thing negative about it is the silly name. We really rate the car and it would make a great second-hand buy. It has been a while since we drove a pro_cee'd so we called Kia Ireland to get a reminder on the engines. We were told that very few 1.4-litre petrol models were sold in 2008 and practically none in 2009 after the road tax laws based on emissions were introduced.

The first thing to note then is that the petrol models are scarce, but quite a bit cheaper than the diesels. A petrol model will cost you €9,945 while a diesel from the same year could cost you €12,950 - more than €2,000 more. You certainly won't save €2,000 in fuel and road tax in a hurry, so it depends on how long you intend to keep your car. If you change your car quite often and residual values are a concern then you probably need to get the diesel, but if you will be keeping the car for a long time then you should get the petrol, especially given the relatively low mileage that you do.

In terms of what to look out for, there is nothing. There have been no recalls that we know of and the car has few real faults apart from the fact that visbility isn't great out of the small rear window, but then you can expect that with any coupé-like hatchback.

Anyway, I hope this helps and doesn't actually make it more confusing! If there is anything else don't hesitate to come back to us.