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Hi Mark,

Thank you for contacting us. I can understand your dilemma in that you are going to be using your car quite sparingly, but you need it to be something that can last a long time. We know from speaking to you since that you have a Ford Focus that you might sell privately or hope to get around €2,000 for as a trade-in, so given that your budget is around €10,000, which is decent enough.

I take your point on the Ford Focus diesel estates. They tend to have quite hard lives as many are bought by business users more so than private individuals and they often have mega miles on them and hence can be tatty. They also often have the older 1.8-litre diesel, which is a bit of a tractor to be honest.

You mention that you are going to be keeping this car for about five years, so as such I wouldn't worry too much about whether petrol cars are falling out of favour because your used car is unlikely to be worth a whole lot in five years with another 50,000km on the clock.

You don't really do a lot of miles per year anyway, so running a petrol car might not end up being too expensive. Also you could perhaps look at buying something with slightly higher mileage (as long as it is diesel) because these cars would be well able to put up with your low mileage. For example, you mentioned the Volkswagen Jetta, which is a fine car. You could have a diesel version, with slightly more mileage, for well within your price range. Here is one from a SIMI dealer for €8,900.

I would be inclined to go for a VW Golf with your budget. You could have a 2005 model with low mileage for €9,000. This one here caught our eye. It comes from a main dealer and will have a good warranty. These cars will put up with lots of mileage and are also likely to hold their value well. This example would still have lots of life left in it after 50,000km and might actually be worth a few quid too.

I hope this helps. Come back to us by adding comments below if you want to discuss this further.

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In a word, yes. These cars were practically identical, so in theory their NCAP scores would have been identical too. Hope this helps.

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Hi Jimmy,

A quick scout around suggests that it should be possible to buy either of those two cars for about the same price on the scrappage scheme so we'll take price out of the equation.

In terms of economy, emissions and performance, the cars are well-matched too and both are well-equipped as standard.

However, the Passat is a significantly bigger car and it feels it, with more room for passengers and a significantly larger boot. It hence feels like you're getting a lot more for your money in the VW.

Hope that helps.

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Hi Frank,

You are likely to get up to €6,000 for your Grand Punto as a trade-in. Having spoken to you via e-mail we know that you have a budget of around €8,000 - €10,000 on top of this.

A car like the Mazda3 saloon with an automatic transmission would make a great choice, as it would be more than suitable for the small mileage your wife does and even though it is a petrol engine it won't cost a lot to run. Here is an example that should be well within budget.

If you wanted something that is a little bigger and more comfortable, then you could have a 2008 Volkswagen Passat automatic within budget. Here is a 2008 one on sale in Naas.

Another good choice would be a Honda Civic saloon automatic, which would be ultra reliable. This model would be well suited to your wife's needs.

I know that you didn't mention an SUV, but if your wife suffers from mobility problems, it can be a lot easier to get in and out of a higher vehicle and this Suzuki Vitara could be great, as it comes with an automatic transmission and has plenty of space for the grandkids too.

Out of all these, my hunch is that the Mazda3 would make the best buy for your needs. I hope this helps. Feel free to come back to us if we haven't quite hit the mark!

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Hi Martin,

You should be offered about €9,000 to €9,500 for your car as a trade-in against a new model.

Let us know how you get on by posting a comment in the box below here

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Hello Dan, here is one just like yours with similar mileage and it is retailing at €31,000, so you might offered a little less than this as a trade-in, perhaps around €29,000. This is our best guess. 

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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. 

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Well firstly, congratulations on your impending arrival. I am going to be conservative and say that you might get around €4,000 for your Focus, but let's say that you have a budget of around €14,000.

You could indeed have a Ford Galaxy for this price, with a 2005 model with 79,000 miles (1.9 110hp diesel) costing you €12,950. 

It seems to be hard enough to find examples of the Alhambra around that are on sale from official SIMI dealers, which is something we would recommend, but you would pay very similar money for an equivalent Alhambra.

The Sharan is pretty much identical to the Alhambra, but they tend to end up a little bit more expensive because of the VW badge on the front, so I think these should probably be avoided, as there is no major benefit for quite a lot of extra money.

In terms of alternatives, there are a few you could look at. Have you considered the Opel Zafira? The rear seats might not be as big as you would like, but they are fine for small ones and it is a nicer car to drive than the ones you have mentioned.

If you wanted something a lot newer, you could have a petrol Renault Grand Scenic. We found a 2008 example with low mileage for under €14,000. I know you might prefer a diesel, but if your mileage is low then this could be a good buy.

In terms of your query on mileage on older cars, it isn't unusual for cars like this to have low mileage, because they tend to do things like short school runs and are often second cars in families. However, you can always be as sure as possible by buying from an SIMI dealer. 

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Hi Fergal,

This is quite an eclectic mix of cars. We can't really give you an exact valuation on your Mondeo, but if we guess that it will be worth around €11,000 (you might get more) then you should have a budget of €31,000.

You could get into a brand new Jaguar X-Type for this price without too much difficulty. Bear in mind that this car is no longer made and while there are a few around, residuals won't hold up too well in the future. But you are getting quite a lot of car for your €30,000 with that. 

You could have a 2008 BMW 520d from a BMW dealer for under €30,000, obviously less than that if you decided to go non main dealer. Have a look at this one from a main dealer here.

A 2007 Mercedes-Benz E 220 CDi from a main dealer will cost you about €28,000. Here is an example. This would be more comfort-orientated, but obviously a year older than the BMW.

Finally if you wanted a passenger Touareg (as opposed to the commercial version), you would get a 2007 model, maybe a 2008 with this budget. This would obviously be a very different drive to what you are used to and running costs could be a little higher. Here is a good used example. 

Out of this lot, I would have the BMW, just from a personal point of view. That 5 Series was better than the E-Class of the same age. The X-Type is an old, discontinued car and I wouldn't spend that sort of money on a new one. The Touareg is nice, but it's very different to the others, so you would need to try it.

Hope this helps.