Expert answer

Hi Joe,

A hugely underrated car, the S80. Big, comfy and mostly very reliable. As ever with something that started out in life as an expensive model, don’t buy anything without a full service history and check carefully for any electrical gremlins. They’re also sensitive to knocked-about suspension, so check the tyres carefully for any uneven wear and tear. Other than that, reliability is pretty decent. The bigger diesel engines can be expensive to run, but if you go for the 1.6 diesel you’ll have a car that’s really frugal and not all that under-powered.

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Hi Donal,

Short answer – no. That’s partially down to the fact that such in-depth comparisons have to take into account the type of mileage you do, the electricity tariff you’re on and more. The best I can suggest is that you have a good long look through our various electric car reviews and then use the cost calculators on both the ESB and SEAI websites to further refine your research:

BMW i3 review

Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric

Nissan Leaf review

Renault Zoe review

Tesla Model S review

Volkswagen e-up! review

Volkswagen e-Golf review 

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Hi Gavin,

I’d still tread carefully. Yes, the Sensotronic was dropped but the basic electrical system remained the same and it was still prone to glitches and issues. Mercedes didn’t really start to get its quality mojo back until the 2009 W212.

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Hi Justin,

It was always a nice car to drive and never less than pretty, but watch out on the reliability front - it comes from Merc's dodgy period. The engines and gearboxes are pretty solid but everything electrical is suspect, and the interiors are pretty poorly built in some cases. Watch the frameless glass in the doors too - it can slip away from its rubber seals and let in a lot of wind noise. 

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Hi Michael,

Yes, the Berlingo is generally excellent. It is occasionally prone to electrical issues, but they tend to be minor and the engines and gearboxes are long-lived and hard-wearing. As long as you buy one with a full service history, you should be fine. The cabins can be a little fragile at times, but being van-based, it should be easy to clean out after the dogs.

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Hi Noel,

Not bad actually – comfy and hugely economical, but check it carefully for electrical faults and clonking suspension, not to mention any possibility of diesel particulate filter failure. And don’t dare buy it if it doesn’t have a full service history.

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Hi Kathleen,

The new Toyota Prius looks to be rather impressive, and with just 70g/km of CO₂ it'll certainly be cheap to tax. We reckon you should probably look beyond the Prius though, to the new generation of plugin hybrids that can offer significantly longer electric-only range (as much as 50km) and which still have a petrol engine and a decent fuel tank for longer journeys. Have a look at the Volkswagen Golf GTE or Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV for example.

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Hi Pat,

The flippant answer to this would be 'buy a Tesla...' But they're expensive as hell so maybe not an option. The actual answer is I don't know for sure because I've never tried it in an electric car, but, from my reckoning, assuming you're driving a Leaf with a range of about 160km, you should be able to get from Kilkenny to Cork in one hop, find a charger, top up, and then get to Killarney. The trick will be to stay off the motorways and stick to slower roads.

After Killarney I'm just not sure. Dingle is a long way off and I'm not sure what the charging point situation is along the way.

Best bet is to consult the ESB's charge point map and plan your route around that.

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Hi Brendan,

There is no specific market data for Ireland in this respect. The old rule of thumb still holds true - if you want ultimate reliability, buy a Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Suzuki, Subaru or Mazda. You could probably pretty easily add Kia and Hyundai to that list too now.

The best I can do for you is to point you towards the results of the JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study for the UK market in 2015. An independent research agency, JD Power ranks the various brands surveyed by problems per 100 cars - although it's worth remembering that those problems can range from minor electrical niggles to total engine failure, so you can't read everything into the stats. The last set of figures, ranked from best-performing to worst, were:

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Hi Gerard,

Depends on the year. If it's post-2008 and especially if it's a GTC coupe then yes, it's lovely - nice to drive, punchy and frugal. If it's an older model then it's going to be pricey to tax and it'll be hard to shift on again as the market doesn't generally like hatchbacks with big engines. The coupe version kind of sidesteps that issue a little. 

Reliability should be fine, but test the electrics (especially the central locking and alarm) and check the boot for any signs of water getting in through leaky seals.