Expert answer

Hello Breda,

I have driven both of these cars and they are both good value and will be cheap to run too. The offers on the Renault Mégane at the moment under the scrappage scheme are pretty hard to resist.

An 86hp diesel version will cost you from €14,800 and that is seriously good value. You can get better equipped variants for a little more and the higher powered version is €18,400. I enjoyed my week in the TOMTOM edition and it came with a very clever multimedia centre.

You can find the prices and details here:

http://renault.ie/cars/grandmegane/prices.html

The Mégane never really stood out against its rivals until the scrappage scheme, but now it is the second-biggest selling model under the scheme. Price is the key here. It is a decent sized estate car for the price of a supermini. Renaults are way better built than they were before, so you can probably expect few problems if any.
To drive it is comfortable, very easy to live with and the fuel economy is super.

The other French car you have in mind is the Peugeot 308 SW. This starts at €25,475 (for the diesel) and comes with a more powerful 110hp diesel engine. Obviously this is quite a major price difference. Under the scrappage scheme however you get €4,000 off this so it will end up at €21,475. This is good value for what is a high quality car and it is much better than the 307 SW that is replaces.

Here are the details of the Peugeot scrappage offers:

http://www.peugeot.ie/contentv3/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&pageID=18547&parentID=18457

There is a €6,675 difference between the two cars as it stands under the scrappage scheme and equipment levels are likely to be very similar. Under normal circumstances, if the prices were similar, I would say go for the Peugeot, but I'd say out of these two you are getting so much for your money with the Renault, then perhaps go for that.

Expert answer

Hi Kayleigh,

The Rio is very good value under the scrappage scheme so I can understand your interest in it. You are getting a five-door family car for €10,565 (excluding delivery and related charges) under the scheme:

http://www.kiamotors.ie/showroom/scrappage/rio scrappage.aspx

The thing about scrappage is that the discount given by the Government is one part, the discount from the car firm is another; whether or not you will get further discount on top of this from the dealer is debatable. We will check in with Kia to see if you get the same level of discount from an Opel dealer - it may well be restricted to Kia outlets.

Let us come back to you on this one.

Expert answer

Hello Ken, 

For that sort of mileage it is a small bit less than you might normally be asked to pay for a diesel A3, but this would depend on whether it was a private sale or from a main dealer.

I'd say you would expect to pay €19,500 for one from a main dealer, with a private sale or independent dealer costing about €1,000 less. Remember, if you aren't trading in, you should expect you to get a decent discount off this asking price. 

Hope this helps!

Expert answer

Hi there Barry

I know that it is very tempting to choose a large executive German car on a tight budget, but as someone who has done this a couple of times and has the empty bank account to prove it, I would tend to steer clear of something with this many miles on it because the problems will tend to start to emerge around about now and the repair bills are very high in most cases. 

I know the car probably looks great and is running well, but if or rather when a huge issue comes up, like a clutch goes or you have a problem with the suspension, the price of parts and labour will be high and since you are adding 20,000 miles per year to what is already high mileage, this car is going to be worth virtually nothing in two years and you won't have a chance of trading it in. 

From a quick look around the classifieds, you could buy something with half the mileage for about the same money, as there were a lot of these imported during the Celtic Tiger years and people are now trying to sell them on so the market is flooded. 

Unless you are prepared to say goodbye to that €7,000 totally in two years, I would, either get an A4 with less miles or bite the bullet and buy something way more sensible, like a Ford Focus or VW Golf diesel that will put up with all those miles with minimum fuss. 

Expert answer

Hi Alice

It isn't totally unusual for someone to trade in two cars against one. Car dealers are a little short on good used cars and the two you have to trade are likely to be quite welcome. 

You could try and sell one privately and use the cash as a deposit against your newer car, but selling privately can be a headache and you might be waiting a while for the car to sell. I would suggest that you try your local Toyota dealer initially, as they're likely to offer better deals on your Toyotas. 

You mention scrappage in your question. Unfortunately neither of your cars qualify for the scrappage scheme as they are not yet ten years old. So it would be a case of trading in both cars against a new car as normal. 

Without knowing details of your two trade-in cars in terms of mileage and condition we wouldn't be keen to give you an estimate of the price of these, but it would seem logical that you would stick with Toyota and get another Avensis (a diesel) as you are likely to be most welcome by the Toyota dealer. 

Feel free to come back to us with more details on your cars and we will see how we can help further.

Paddy

Expert answer

Hi Ollie,

Cars like your Golf are retailing for around €8,000, so you might get close to this as a trade in against another car. Presuming that it might be a little less, say €7,000, we could say that you have a €13,000 budget overall. I will come back to you shortly once I have done some more research for you. 

Expert answer

Hi Stephen,

I presume this relates to the question that you asked on Sunday about Passat petrol vs. diesel figures. Yes, the 1.6-litre FSI Passat from memory does feel a little on the slow side because it is quite lacking in torque. Here are the figures once more, versus the 1.9-litre TDI from the same year:

In 2007, the 1.6-litre Passat had 115hp and 155Nm of torque. Top speed was 199km/h, with 0-100km/h in 11 seconds and fuel consumption was 7.6l/100km (or 37mpg).

The 1.9 TDI had 105hp and 250Nm of torque. Top speed was slower at 188km/h and 0-100km/h took 11.7 seconds, but fuel economy was much better at 5.6 l/100km (50mpg).

The extra torque in the diesel Passat will probably make it a nicer car to drive. 

If you do need more power, the 2007 Passat is also available with a 2.0-litre TDI engine with 140- and 170hp options and there are several on sale at the moment, if budget allows.

Expert answer

Hi Alec,

First, the disclaimer: a huge number of factors will influence your average fuel consumption, including the route you take; whether your tyres are inflated correctly; if you're driving around with a boot full of golf clubs; and of course how you drive.

All that aside, a good rough estimation is to split the official combined and urban economy figures. This varies for every car but I think you should use about 6.0 litres/100km - which is 47mpg in old money.

Let me know if you want a few basic tips on how to improve your economy and how to measure your consumption precisely.

Expert answer

Hi Neil, 

We'd love to help, but we need a little more information first. Do you want a saloon, hatchback or SUV? How old are you prepared to go and what kind of driving do you do? You can answer by adding a comment below. I have several cars in mind but let us have more detail and we can really help you out then.

Expert answer

Hi Angela,

Let's start with looking at the prices of the cars you listed when bought new:

Kia cee'd: 1.6-litre diesel starts at €18,550. There are four versions to chose from, including an automatic and a version that sneaks into band A for tax.

Kia Venga: only available with Kia's new 1.4-litre turbodiesel engine. There are just two trim options, LX and EX and the price is either €18,320 or €19,615. Both have emissions of 117g/km, which means cheap band A road tax.

Hyundai i30: five versions of the same 1.6-litre diesel engine (CRDi) available. Ranging from €18,495 to €25,495. There's an automatic option and two different power outputs, the lower of which is in band A.

Peugeot 308: five versions of the same 1.6-litre diesel engine (HDi). Ranging from €19,795 to €24,335. Four of these are in band A, including the 'Ecomatique' automatic version.

SEAT Leon: a massive eight-model diesel (TDI) range in both 1.9- and 2.0-litre sizes. Two of them drop into band A, while the fastest 2.0-litre model is in band C. Prices range from €20,105 to €26,290.

As your question was purely about value, then it comes down to the Hyundai and Kias. We found the Venga to be quite impressive, though it's a pity there is so little choice in the range.

This appears to boil down to the Hyundai i30 and Kia cee'd. The latter was facelifted earlier this year and it's an even better car than before, but what tips the balance in the Kia's favour is its untouchable warranty. All models get a seven-year warranty, which is huge peace of mind.

Depending on your budget limits you should also take a look at the Skoda Octavia.

I assume you don't have a car to trade in on the scrappage scheme, as that would change things a little. Renault for instance has fantastic offers on its Mégane.

Obviously all of these cars can be had second-hand too, where you'll get a higher spec car for the same money, albeit with kilometres on the clock.

Let us know what you decide or if you have any other questions just pop them in the comment box below.

Thank you