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Hi Frank,

I'm afraid we can't provide vehicle histories, but we do recommend you go to Cartell.ie and purchase one there.

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Hi Louise,

Well, in terms of reliability and solidity there aren't any major issues to report. Daihatsu is owned by Toyota and the most significant fact is probably that Toyota sells the current Terios under its own badge in Japan. Parts could be a small issue as Daihatsu has departed the Irish market following several years of falling sales, but independent retailers such as MicksGarage.ie can provide most of the major bits and pieces. Just check and make sure that any previous owner hasn't bashed panels and underlying mechanical parts in off-road use, and make sure that the cabin is in good shape as it's full of cheap plastics that mark and scratch easily.

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Hi Stan,

OK, well currently (as of the end of September), the best selling cars in Ireland are, in descending order, the Hyundai Tucson, the Nissan Qashqai, the Volkswagen Golf, the Skoda Octavia, the Ford Focus, the Ford Fiesta, the Kia Sportage, the Toyota Yaris, the Toyota Corolla and the Volkswagen Tiguan. The biggest-selling market segment is the SUV/H1 segment (that’s the Qashqai-Tucson-Sportage mid-size SUVs) all of which cost between €24,000 and €40,000 depending on spec.

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Hi Carol,

Well, we'd definitely go for diesel unless your mileage is really low, and while both cars are reasonably reliable, both have issues with electrics and fragile cabin trim. 

If you want something with (near enough) total reliability in this class, go for a Toyota Corolla Verso.

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Hi Mary,

It's probably worth around €9,000 to €10,000 depending on condition and mileage. The Kia Rio is an excellent choice but do bear in mind that it's a significantly smaller car than the Auris, so you are coming down in terms of cabin space and refinement.

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Hi Denise,

Go for the Avensis, by a country mile. Both cars are solidly reliable but the Avensis is bigger and comfier. The Tiida's only advantage is that it came with standard Bluetooth, but that's easily remedied with an aftermarket kit for the Avensis.

Let us know what you do

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Hi Aideen,

Wow. That's a request, and frankly, space and time simply don't permit. So I'll boil it down to the two best options for pre-and-post 2008. Pre: Toyota Corolla Verso. Spacious, simple and very reliable. A very hard car to beat.

Post 2008? Ford C-Max (the current model). Perhaps not as utterly reliable as the Toyota, but solidly built, spacious and with an excellent and efficient 1.6 litre diesel. Good cars, both.

Is that enough information for now?

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Hi Joe,

Not really, no. You may be thinking of the case of the massive recall, back in 2010-2011, where millions of Toyotas were recalled across the globe to fix supposed 'unintended acceleration' problems (in the US) and sticky brake pedals (in Europe). Generally speaking, it was a lot of fuss over nothing.

The Avensis, and this goes for any Avensis model, is as close to a paragon of reliability as you can get. The only common issues are an exhaust gas recirculating valve failure on turbodiesel models, and a cold-starting issue on the same. Essentially, it's a very hard car to go wrong with.

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Hi Paul,

Of the two cars mentioned the Kia cee'd SW is undoubtedly the better looking car and it does come with the famous seven-year Kia warranty, but when it comes to taxis we would probably take the consensus of other taxi drivers.

While the Toyota Avensis is top dog in the segment at the moment it is being pushed by the Skoda Octavia with the 1.6 TDI being the engine of choice for its fuel efficiency. When Global Taxis took delivery of 110 Octavias it reckoned each car would offer a fuel saving of €1,400 a year over the old fleet, money that will go into your pocket instead.

As well as that the Octavia offers a huge a mount of space (both passenger and boot wise) for the money, important considerations when you are moving up from The Kesh to pick up a fare at Dublin Airport.

Hope that all helps

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Hi Jack,

The Toledo is too new for us to have any angle on its reliability but you'd have to say the prospects are good. SEATs in general are exceptionally robust (we have family experience of four that have been near faultless) and the new one is based on the latest, highest Volkswagen Group components, so we'd be surprised if it's anything over than very reliable. The only concern, we suppose, is that there are a lot of high-tech electronics on even the base model so the potential for issues there is higher than once it was. The same can be said of any modern car really.

As for the Yeti, again, Skodas tend to be very reliable indeed, usually right up at the top of customer satisfaction surveys with the likes of Toyota, Honda, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz. We have heard some isolated stories of issues with fuel pumps and power steering, but they appear to be just that: isolated.