What car? Any advice?

School runs and shopping trips will kill a diesel - and your diesel will be killing everyone else while you're doing it.

What about an EV? Plenty in the 15-18K band that would give you more range than you'd need.

Mainland Europe is also better served than Ireland for charging stations, so you'd have even less reason to be anxious about anything.

Would you consider a Skoda Octavia, there's a few low mileage one's on Done Deal withing your budget and age. The 1 Litre ones seem a little underpowered for the size of the car but others on here may be more knowledgeable on this issue and be able to advise you accordingly.

What don't you like/are nervous about EVs @faucet?

There is a lot of FUD out there that is distorting the message around electric cars.

I am interested in electric, what EV could i get for 15-18k that would have a good battery with 5-7 years of driving left in it. Hyundai Inster and Dacia Spring are too small, I'm a looking for an Auris size vehicle

😆 I read this and was like "did this person see my mums car on DD before they wrote their post". You're requirements are what I wrote as "Ideal daily use" minus the trips to Europe part haha.

Like someone else mentioned, your shortlist doesn't seem to square with the requirements you mentioned. Also, for trips - a roofbox might be worth a shout. My bro did that instead of going bigger.

That was early DSGs. These issues were sorted by the mid 2010s and for some models / configurations earlier than that. I love DSGs for everyday cars.

I'm pretty forensic when I'm looking at car options and things to watch out for mechanically. My general approach is you've got to drill down to know whether certain things are an issue or not for a given configuration of a car. Ruling out all VAG or assuming another marques whole lineup is on point can lead you away from finding the car that really fits your needs.

Buying right is tricky, especially when you land on what you're after - but then specs, service histories (lack of!) etc. can thin out the options massively.

For the years you're looking at, on VAGs there is a gear-lever sensor that needs doing at some point. The fix is relatively simple. But worth mentioning some mechanics turn the fix for it into a bigger job that it needs to be, but either way the gearbox doesn't need replacing.

***

As an aside, it's wild to me how bloated some modern cars have got - especially hatchbacks. Have you ever seen that shot of mid 90s BMW e36 park beside the newer Corsa. It's hilarious 🤣

I know a lot of it has to do with added safety and features, but most people would be better off buying the next smaller option in a brands line up - assuming they want to go for the same sort of car again. So anyone with say an early 2010s Astra would be as well buying a Corsa from a size / space standpoint. And similarly - A3 to A1, Golf to Polo etc.

Edit: turns out someone posted about this the other day: A very interesting piece here on how car sizes have grown over the last 60 years

Oh wow, I thought that ev batteries were in decline once they hit 6 years +. Tesla at 30 years is incredible. Thank you

………agree with above, and if you buy new it comes with a 10 year warranty - something not to be sniffed at !

Pay no attention that that "rated for 30+ years" propaganda from EV zealots trying to shoehorn an EV suggestion into every thread. Easiest thing in the world to spew out comments like that when it is other people's money that is at stake. Actually despicable behaviour, their purpose in threads like this is not to assist you but to promote their own ideology and give meaning to their own lives.

It's far from obvious. As he is doing Fcuk all mileage, fuel savings with an EV are going to be small which is the main point of an EV. As usual in threads like this, zealots have jumped in without asking key questions about the OPs home charging or the condition of the wiring in his house to accept a charger. And we can see the way concerns about battery life and degradation get dismissed with propaganda about 30 year battery projections which the OP has swallowed. That is the main reason I responded.

Some people like to take their cars on holiday. Each to their own .

In a thread where there's a litany of known issues mentioned of common faults and reliability issues with auto gear boxes wet belts, and short journeys diesel. It's a bit ironic to ignore all that.

Fuel saving isn't the main point of an EV. It's only one advantage. Arguably it's emissions. For me though EVs are less complex and don't suffer from these reliability issues. It's actually a better choice for lots of short journeys. Which is exactly why I bought one for lots short journeys. Yes they can have expensive failures but then so can ICE. I wouldn't buy any modern car EV or ICE without a good warranty.

But if someone doesn't want an EV not much point suggesting them. Though it's a discussion forum and the whole point is to have a discussion..

The old adages for reliability is go Japanese. Toyotas with a good warranty. They at least honour their warranties better than many other manufacturers.

Dunno if the op is looking for two people or a family. So no idea what size they are looking for.

Lol now corrected.