Expert answer

Hi Bartosz,

Easily done, normally, but perhaps a little less so at the moment. It will depend on the precise model you have whether or not it’s App-Connect compatible, but a trip to your local Volkswagen dealer, once they’re open again, will sort you out.

Expert answer

Hi Alannah,

Probably not much, no, though insurers seem to be wary of cars over 10 years old. Saying that, when you’re under 30 and on a provisional, you’re the risk factor, not the car. Keeping the engine size as small as possible will help (closer to 1.0-litre is better), but it won’t make a huge difference. 

Expert answer

Hi Pat,

It probably depends more on the year than the mileage, but I’m going to assume with 100,000 miles on the clock, it’s probably a 2015 model? If so it should be worth around €12,500, or about €10,500 as a trade in. 

Expert answer

Hi Margot,

Well, you could go for the alternative option to both — the Toyota Auris Hybrid estate. Lots of space and excellent economy. I’ve put my reputation on the line recommending these to a couple of friends recently and so far, I’ve not been told off for sticking them with a bad car...

Other good alternatives are the Peugeot 308 SW, the Kia Ceed SportWagon, the VW Golf Estate and the Skoda Octavia Combi. The only issue, really, is finding any of these — estate sales in Ireland are so small that you may have to consider an import.

Here are our relevant reviews to help you decide:

Toyota Auris Touring Sports review

Peugeot 308 SW review

Volkswagen Golf Estate review

Skoda Octavia reviews

Expert answer

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...

Expert answer

Hi Mateo,

I think the best thing to do is to go and have a word with your nearest Volkswagen dealer. I suspect that it may not be as simple as whipping off your wheel and hooking the new one on — there are complex systems and a lot of wiring to work out, so I’d say that a word with the experts would be the best place to start.

Expert answer

Hi Aoife,

If your five-year old is big/heavy enough to get by on a booster cushion, that would be a big help, as the narrowest cushions will generally fit into the middle seat of just about any car of Golf-Focus-Corolla size or bigger. If you’re still using a high-backed seat, then it becomes a little trickier, and you basically need to go for the biggest car you can with the widest back seat possible. Would you consider a Volvo S80? That has one of the widest rear seats known to human-kind, and if you get the 1.6 diesel version, they’re impressively economical too. If you need something smaller on the outside, consider a five-seat MPV such as a Volkswagen Golf SV.

Before you commit to any car, though, make sure you physically try out your car seats in it.

Expert answer

Hi Dara,

The best plug-in hybrids around at the moment are the Kia Niro PHEV, the Toyota Prius PHEV and the Volkswagen Golf GTE (assuming you can find a GTE in stock...). Now, these are smaller than your Qashqai inside, so you may need to make that compromise in order to get the plug-in hybrid efficiency. The revised Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is massive inside, and rather nice, but thirsty if you’re not plugging it in all the time and making maximum use of the electric part of the powertrain.

A conventional hybrid might also be worth a look, especially given that you’re driving mostly in town. Honda is just about to launch a hybrid version of the hugely impressive new CR-V, and the new Toyota RAV4 is arriving in dealerships around now. Both are well worth considering if you can stretch the budget out to something brand-new.

Here are some relevant reviews:

Kia Niro PHEV review

Toyota Prius PHEV review

Volkswagen Golf GTE review

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV review

Honda CR-V Hybrid review

Expert answer

Hi Roseanna,

First things first — if you’re doing mostly urban and motorway miles, you really don’t need an SUV. A more conventional hatchback, saloon, or estate is going to be more comfortable, better value, more economical and a better-engineered vehicle all round. If you’re looking for something with practicality then the likes of a Skoda Octavia Combi estate, a Volkswagen Golf Estate, a Kia Ceed SW, or the new Ford Focus Estate all have much bigger boots than any small-to-medium SUV (more than 600 litres, all of them, compared to around 450 litres for, say, a Nissan Qashqai), and they’re all better to drive and more frugal.

However, if you’re hooked on SUVs then we’d recommend a SEAT Ateca (plain wrapper, but it’s roomy, comfy and nice to drive) or a Toyota C-HR (small on the inside, relatively, but hugely stylish and the hybrid version is frugal). If you’re looking to ‘posh-up’ a bit, then the incoming new Audi Q3 is a bit of a stunner, or if you want something smaller and more affordable than any of those, try the updated Fiat 500X, which is kinda cute and charming.

Here are our relevant reviews for you to read more:

Skoda Octavia Combi review

Volkswagen Golf Estate review

Kia Ceed Sportswagon review

Ford Focus Estate review

Nissan Qashqai reviews

SEAT Ateca reviews

Toyota C-HR reviews

Audi Q3 reviews

Fiat 500X reviews

Expert answer

Hi Silvester,

We have got so many questions from readers about non-functioning stop-start systems (from all makes and models) that we put together this guide to help you get to the bottom of it:

Why won't my car's stop-start system work?