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Hi Philip and thanks for this,

You make some good points here, but the main one I'd like to focus on is the uncertainty. It is, without a doubt, reducing car sales right now, as people don't know what to do, and all we can do is present the facts. They are this:

1 - There are many motorists in Ireland for which there is no economic alternative to a diesel car. Those that travel long distances day in, day out, could not use an electric car. Plug-in hybrids would be useless to them as well as they only return good economy when regularly charged up. The latest non plug-in hybrids are more economical than ever on a long run, but still not as cheap to fuel as a good diesel. And let's not forget, the majority of drivers are buying used, so there's very little choice in the used market for anything other than conventional diesel or petrol.

2 - For another large number of Irish motorists, petrol power would be perfectly fine. We've been saying for years that too many people have diesel cars because that became the default after 2008. Regardless of air quality and health issues, diesels come with higher maintenance costs, especially if they aren't used at higher speeds regularly.

3 - It seems to have been lost in the conversation that the diesel bans being discussed are not for all diesels, but for older diesels that emit much higher levels of NOx and other pollutants. 

4 - The Irish government needs to hurry up and let the country/industry know what it plans to do, for this uncertainty is killing the market full-stop, not just diesel power.

With all the above in mind, we will continue to help buyers choose a car based on their individual circumstances and for many that will still mean a diesel. For now.

I welcome thoughts and comments on this below. Would be great to get some feedback on what people think and whether they are holding off buying a car because of the uncertainty.

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Hi James,

The R version of the S60, the high-performance model, used a 2.5-litre turbo engine and, as it’s pre-2008, it’s on the old engine capacity tax system so that’s going to be €1,080 for a year's tax.

Read our Motor Tax Prices in Ireland Explained feature for more

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Hi Catherine,

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Hi Karen,

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Hi Paul,

At 24k a year you’re probably best going for diesel, to be honest. While we’re equally in the dark as regards what the Budget holds in store for us, it seems (at the time of writing) unlikely that any drastic moves are going to be made just yet. There’s also an urban/rural divide in all of this. If you live in the Dublin, and to a slightly lesser extent, Cork, Limerick, Wateford and Galway city areas, then there is a distinct move away from diesel and towards petrol, but in rural areas, diesel is still king.

That said, the 150hp 1.4-litre TSI turbo engine is absolutely excellent, and we’ve found that while it is, of course, less economical than the equivalent diesel, you’re only talking about 1.0 litre per 100km or so in the real-world difference. It’s well worth considering if you’re concerned about future diesel values. 

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Hi Mark,

While we haven’t loaded an Octavia 1.0 to its total maximum GVW capacity, we have driven it with four passengers and a boot full of luggage and it performs very well indeed. Not the fastest car around, no doubt, but we found no lack of performance and fuel economy remained at an impressive 50mpg.

Read our Skoda Octavia 1.0 TSI review

(there's a video review embedded in the copy, too)

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Hi Tina,

That's on the old pre-2008 engine-capacity based tax system (unless it's an import) so it'll be €710 a year. 

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Hi Martin,

There are certainly no concrete plans that we’ve heard of. There was some discussion of the subject, back in 2014 when the UK did away with paper tax discs, that Ireland might move to a similar system, and the abolition of being able to carry over unused vehicle tax from one owner to another is kind of the first step on that road. Dublin City Council this year suggested that we should start moving towards paperless tax but plans haven’t gone any farther than that for now.

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Hi Declan,

It’s a tough one. Generally I’d say for the moment, diesel is still best for that kind of mileage, especially day-to-day. A model with a good stop-start system should help keep the consumption down in heavy traffic (Mazda’s system on the 6 2.2 diesel is especially good) and those long motorway miles are just what diesel was designed for. A plugin hybrid is really for those doing short urban journeys most days, with only an occasional long trip, so I don’t think any would be really suitable for you. It would be worth looking at a new-shape Toyota Prius hybrid though – we managed to average 60mpg in one recently over the course of a week, including several long motorway runs, so it’s worth thinking about.

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Hi John,

No, it’s not just another cost to the consumer. Stop-start systems are designed to prevent the car from running the engine unnecessarily at standstill when doing so would be at its most wasteful of fuel. After all, if you’re not moving then what is the point in having the engine on? Stop-start systems are specially designed with either a beefed-up alternator or an integrated starter/generator so that it can handle multiple stops and restarts in rapid succession, and it’s estimated that on an average car, stop-start can save as much as ten per cent of overall fuel consumption – not to be sniffed at, never mind the benefits to city-centre air quality.

Admittedly, the car makers have brought in stop-start to bring their cars' official CO₂ and fuel consumption figures down, and the benefits are only really felt if you are stopping and starting regularly. If you spend all your driving time on the motorway then you won't use the system at all.