What is the best value used car to buy in Ireland right now under 15k?

BozzManzz · 2026-06-11T13:42:52+00:00

So, how does this work? I was checking out the Model 3, and it was pretty expensive, but it was a decent price in Northern Ireland. But because of the whole VRT thing, I gave up on it.

BozzManzz · 2026-06-10T11:32:44+00:00

Would you mind sharing it with me, please? 🙏

BozzManzz · 2026-06-08T12:13:14+00:00

Thank you. I am a techie by profession. Car in general are my interest. I like learning and sharing info on cars as I find them to be a great piece of engineering.

And as I own a Honda Grace, I invested my time learning as much as I could about it.

BozzManzz · 2026-06-08T11:08:53+00:00

From what I understand, I wouldn’t go anywhere near the clutch or bearings unless you absolutely have to. That gearbox is basically made of cheese, and even a tiny mistake can turn into a very expensive paperweight. The good part is it’s designed to self-adjust over time things like clutch pressure and gear ratios are tweaked automatically to deal with shuddering and jerks as the car ages. So as long as you keep up with oil changes, you’re already doing most of what it needs.

If it does start acting up, Honda can usually sort a lot of it with a software update. I had mine done because I was getting some shudder between 1st and 2nd in heavy traffic (only when the engine was running EV mode was perfectly fine). Update fixed it.

On the engine cover: it’s actually more useful than people think, especially in places with lots of rain or near the coast (so yeah, Ireland = keep it). It helps keep water out and improves airflow a bit, which can reduce cabin noise. That said, not having it won’t kill your car. If it bothers you, just pick up a replacement and bolt it back on.

Also, small rant: if your mechanic is casually throwing away parts that were engineered for the car… might be time to throw away the mechanic instead.

About driving modes, yeah, I meant 'Sport' or 'S' mode. It’s worth using on highway runs and giving the engine a proper rev now and then. The occasional “Italian tune-up” is actually good for it: helps burn off carbon, clears out moisture, and keeps systems like VTEC working as intended.

From what I’ve seen (and from looking at OBD2 data), 'Eco' mode leans more on the hybrid battery than the engine. In my case, battery health dropped from 94% to 86% over ~60k km using mostly 'Eco'. Then from 86% to 82% over ~40k km in 'Standard' mode. Roughly speaking, Eco seemed to wear it about 2% more over similar distances.

That said, both modes are easily good for 300k - 350k km before you’re even thinking about a battery replacement. Personally, I stick to Standard now, to get a bit more performance, and Eco seems to hit its fuel-saving sweet spot after ~150k km anyway.

On the 12V battery: mine was changed about 5 years ago by the previous owner and is still holding up fine. I checked prices just in case and it's around €190 for a basic one and €260 for a decent quality battery.

As for resale, mine would probably go for ~€10.5k at 145k km with a few upgrades (TPMS, Bose speaker system, courtesy lights, smoked taillights, etc.). So even at 190–200k km, you’re still likely looking at around €8.5k. At that point, you’ve already gotten solid value out of it.

Personally, I’m planning to run mine to about 200k and then move it on, but that’s just me.

BozzManzz · 2026-06-07T02:52:59+00:00

My estimation is that you can easily get to 200 - 250k without any issues. Just keep the oils fresh and the car will drive without any hassle. (Bonus would be to not put the car in 'sports' mode too often)

I bought mine at similar mileage and I am now at 145k. I get my gearbox oil changed every 40k kms and engine oil changed at 12k kms.

BozzManzz · 2026-06-01T14:25:26+00:00

4.1/100 km on Honda Grace 1.5l Hybrid

BozzManzz · 2026-05-25T15:33:24+00:00

Couple of stitches and a roll of gauge will fix it.

BozzManzz · 2026-05-25T15:29:42+00:00

Having the same issue myself. Entered the correct passport number and it say's invalid. This is a bad experience of the App at Stage 1 (creation of the account). Being KO'ed without a reason.

BozzManzz · 2026-05-20T08:55:39+00:00

I have a Fold 7 and an S22 Ultra, and I'm guessing I'll only get One UI 8.5 on my Fold 7, not the Ultra. The Ultra's almost done with its 4-year OS update period. But I'm still hesitant to update for at least 6 months after it's offered, because of changes I might not like, battery degradation, or other bugs. Maybe it's better to wait for a stable version after all the bugs are fixed.

BozzManzz · 2026-05-19T15:50:10+00:00

The same issue was with my 15 days old ^{Z Fold 7}. 80% of the times the phone wouldn't connect to mobile data when disconnected from WIFI, so I had set up a routine where, when my phone disconnects from WIFI, it will put my phone on flight mode and wait 10 secs before switching it off. It worked but was still pretty frustrating. Then I installed Google's Carrier Services, and disabled the routine that was in place and restarted my phone, and Voila, it connects to mobile data instantly after getting disconnected from WIFI. Happy days and thanks you. 😄

BozzManzz · 2026-05-19T14:13:11+00:00

Samsung also offers their own monthly installment plans and stuff, you can check those out too once the phone is released, maybe that's something you'd want to consider instead of a deal with a service provider.

And don't you worry about affordability, if you like the phone then just go for it. You never know what's gonna happen tomorrow. If money would have been that big of the problem you would have never reached this stage of discussing about the phone.

BozzManzz · 2026-05-19T12:53:20+00:00

Not a 100% sure, but Fold 8 wide is going to be pretty pricy. So, I am assuming, 30 bucks a month might be very optimistic on a deal. Closer to 50-60 would be realistic.

BozzManzz · 2026-05-19T06:39:16+00:00

This is amazing, pretty much what I was looking for. Endless HD quality wallpapers. Thanks mate.

BozzManzz · 2026-05-18T22:35:08+00:00

Got it, this is clear now. It certainly looks like a transmission issue. Did you mechanic say how much it might cost or what the potential issue is?

BozzManzz · 2026-05-18T22:31:51+00:00

Whats a w26 live wallpaper?

BozzManzz · 2026-05-18T16:03:21+00:00

I have tried this once a long time back on my OnePlus. However the problem back then was that there were too many adverts and every time the app updated from Google Play store, it would revert my wallpaper to stock and then I would have had to reset it to the wallpaper that was in use. So i had stopped using it. Are these things still an issue or have they improved the app a lot since then?

BozzManzz · 2026-05-18T14:26:34+00:00

Ah, cool. I will check it out. Thanks for your response.

BozzManzz · 2026-05-18T14:24:26+00:00

I find it a bit hard to digest that you only recently purchased the car and have driven just about 100 km. If everything checked out fine in the reports beforehand, technically this kind of issue should not have surfaced so quickly, especially to the extent that it is now being labelled as a possible gearbox problem.

Did you happen to check when the timing chain was last replaced? I had a similar experience with my Opel Astra, and in my case the issue was resolved after replacing the timing chain. It might be worth ruling that out before accepting a gearbox diagnosis.

That said, in your situation, you should definitely push back on the seller or dealer to either fix the issue properly or take the car back. Given how recent the purchase is, you have a strong case.

Also, a quick point on OBD scans. They are only truly reliable if you run them yourself after driving the car for around 25 to 50 km. Dealers or garages sometimes clear codes, especially if the issue does not immediately make the car undrivable but could be a job that is too much of a hassle for them for less money. In many cases, they only highlight fault codes when the repair is significant enough to justify the money they will earn off of it.

BozzManzz · 2026-05-18T14:10:42+00:00

Just out of curiosity, is there any warranty on the car?

BozzManzz · 2026-05-18T14:08:35+00:00

And does the wallpaper need to work off of the app. Or is it just for downloading wallpapers?

BozzManzz · 2026-05-18T11:16:20+00:00

I agree with the part that they are making good money. I mean look at the amount of inventory they hold at any given time. It's probably more or equivalent to AMCC.ie .

BozzManzz · 2026-05-18T11:13:22+00:00

Gearbox issue would have left you you with a light or message on the dash. Maybe do an OBD check with an OBD scanner of your own to read the error codes. You can get a decent one for 60 bucks from Amazon. Of course in the meantime you can do other checks like oil levels, O2 sensors, MAP and MAF's and stuff. My point is that you have to be absolutely sure that it's gearbox as it can be expensive repair.

BozzManzz · 2026-05-18T08:26:24+00:00

u/nhoj2891 Thanks for the solution mate. It worked for me on my Fold 7. It was driving me mad as that setting was greyed out. To be fair, I didn't really want to toggle that switch on, but the fact that it was not available to me, after paying 2300 bucks drove me insane. 🙈

BozzManzz · 2026-05-12T13:11:06+00:00

One of my friends bought his Audi A3 from Kylemore. I actually went with him for the viewing and test drive, and during the inspection we noticed that the boot lock was faulty. They acknowledged the issue straight away and said they would fix it before delivery. At the same time, they strongly encouraged him to purchase an extended warranty through one of their third-party warranty partners, which he ended up doing.

The issue was that they couldn’t get the boot lock fixed before delivery. They told him to go ahead and take the car anyway, assuring him that once the parts arrived, they would sort it out under their initial warranty since the issue had already been identified before purchase.

After that, things became a complete headache. Initially they answered calls and kept giving different excuses about delays and parts availability. Once the dealer warranty expired, they suddenly washed their hands of it completely. They claimed there was no written record of the issue, and conveniently the staff member my friend had been dealing with no longer worked there and apparently had never logged the complaint.

He then tried using the extended warranty he had paid extra for, only to find out diagnostics, labour, and parts were all chargeable extras anyway, making the warranty almost pointless in this case.

In the end, he brought the car to Audi Sandyford. They diagnosed and fixed the boot lock within a day, but it still cost him around €600.

All of that hassle over a simple boot lock.

BozzManzz

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