Expert answer

Hi Noel,

'OK' just about sums it up. The Captiva was never up to much to be honest - it's spacious and rugged and that's about where it begins and ends. Acceptable to drive, plain grey cabin and that 2.4 petrol engine will prove ridiculously thirsty.

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Hi Peter,

You're really comparing two quite different cars here. The Auris is a larger car than the Jazz, which is really more of a rival to the Ford Fiesta. Which means that the Auris is going to be more comfy and refined over a long distance, but if you're sticking mostly around town, go for the Jazz. There are no reports of the Auris' stop-start system causing any issues, but the Auris has been generating reports of problems with squeaky front brakes, slipping handbrakes and noisy gearboxes.

The Jazz, by contrast has generated no repeating fault reports and Hondas are usually incredibly reliable. Yes, parts can be a bit pricey for them (the Toyota would be cheaper to service and repair), but so few things go wrong that you probably won't need to spend much. Go for the Jazz so - it's sweeter to drive, has a cleverer interior and will probably prove more reliable.

Hope that helps

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Hi Susan,

Cracking car the i30, and an excellent purchase. Just avoid the petrol engined ones - there are reports of persistent misfires and even full-on engine failures. And if you're buying a car that's still under Hyundai's five-year warranty (which it might just be) then make sure that it has a full main-dealer Hyundai service history with completed routine inspections - or the warranty will be invalid. Also keep an ear out for squeaky interior trim - not a serious issue, but they do seem prone to it.

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Hi Jimmy,

Try a Skoda Octavia 1.2 TSI petrol. It's massive inside and has a huge boot, and it can easily reach 50mpg in daily driving, with around 900km to a tank possible.

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Hi Donagh,

All of the cars you've listed there will be both a lot more reliable and much more economical than your 407, but potentially your best bet is to stay within the Peugeot dealer network where you'll most likely get the best deal on your trade-in. The new 308 is looking pretty impressive, comes with a five-year warranty and Peugeot's build quality has come on a long way since the 407...

Let us know which way you go

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Hi Peter,

Yes, it's reliable and no, there are no major issues to watch out for. Just bear in mind a couple of things. Automatic cars can be a little harder on brakes than their manual cousins, and they can of course be more thirsty. More significant still, the smaller-engined versions of the Polo 55- and 65hp 1.2 petrols are pretty sluggish at the best of times and with an auto 'box both drawing power and adding weight, you could be looking at really slow-motion driving.

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Hi Feena,

If you need actual space for seven full-sized adults (as opposed to jump seats for occasional use by small kids) then pretty much all of the medium-sized SUVs, such as the Opel Zafira, Peugeot 5008, Citroen C4 Picasso and Ford C-Max are out of the question. They're simply not big enough. You'll need, therefore, to trade up to a proper, full-size SUV and in that category there's simply nothing better than a Ford Galaxy. There's real space in the third row even for big people and while the 2.0-litre 140hp diesel engine is a bit juicy on tax (Band C) it's pretty good on overall fuel economy .

They're robustly made too, and while the Galaxy isn't on Ford's official Irish price list any more, a quick ring around the dealer network should easily turn up either a dealer demo model or a very young used car.

Let us know how you get on

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Hi David,

It's interesting that the 1.6 petrol Focus of that generation was generally more reliable than the 1.6 diesel version - probably something to do with the petrol engine being older, dumber and simpler. Not that the 1.6 TDCi is especially bad, it's just sensitive to having the right grade and type of oil at major services, the exhaust gas recirculation valve in the turbo can give trouble and software issues can cause slow starting and misfires.

Hope that helps

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Hi Nessa,

Yes it is. In fact, in the latest generation RAV4, it doesn't appear possible to get a front-wheel drive only petrol RAV4. The 2.0-litre petrol 'Valvematic' model with AWD (all-wheel drive) starts at €33,830. Full details on Toyota's own website.

Hope that helps

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Hi Amanda,

Yes it will - the new S-Max will have two down-sized engines compared to the current model. A development of the current 1.5 TDCi, as seen in the Fiesta and B-Max, probably developing around 115- to 120hp and a new three-cylinder petrol turbo 1.5-litre EcoBoost engine. Both of those should significantly bring down the running costs of the car, and we'd be very surprised if both don't sneak into Bands A1-A4 for tax.

Quite whether their day-to-day fuel economy will match up to their expected quoted figures is another thing; small engines in big cars tend not to do so well when it comes to real-world economy, but we look forward to finding out. The current S-Max is one of our favourite cars and the new one looks likely to pick up where the outgoing one is leaving off.