THERE ARE A bewildering number of new cars on sale in Ireland right now. Gone are the days when each brand has two or three in their line up. There is an exhaustive list of variants. Even SUVs now have coupé versions (although nobody is buying them and some are now going out of production – looking at you Volkswagen ID.5).

Mention you work for DoneDeal Cars (it often says it on my t-shirt) and you get asked a lot of questions about cars. At the pub. At parties. At parent-teacher meetings (yes, this has happened).

Luckily I don’t know much about anything else, and perhaps the comments section will say about anything at all, so I don’t mind playing the guessing game.

However for you, here, I have picked the 5 new cars that most impressed me in 2025. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and it isn’t in any particular category, but I might mention one or two you hadn’t thought of.

The Dacia Bigster

If you had told me three or four years ago that one of my favourite cars would be a Dacia, I would have laughed in your face. Up until recently they made worthy, but fairly bargain-basement runabouts that you bought if you really wanted a new car, and were happy to drive a car with about as much charisma as toe fungus. But roll on 2025 and the Dacia range is, by and large, brilliant.

Sure some of the plastics are a little patchy in places, but they now look good and have good specification and decent engines. Case in point, the Bigster, which is, as you might have guessed – big. It is their largest SUV and comes in starting under €30,000 (delivery and related charges apply etc etc). It comes with a really massive boot, sadly no seven-seat version, but it is more than made up for by how well it drives and how little fuel the Hybrid version sips.

The Kia EV4

The first EV on the list and I probably have lost some of you already.

The EV market has sort-of found its level for now. They haven’t taken over, but they are certainly becoming more mainstream and if you want one of the best of them, the EV4 is a solid choice. It is a car, more so than an SUV, but still sits a little higher than a normal car, as all EVs do, because you are essentially sitting on the batteries in most of them. Because it’s a car and not that heavy, it is incredibly efficient and a recent test saw us returning 16.7 kWh per 100km (a.k.a. very good) on a motorway drive from Dublin to Cork.

Kias, and indeed Hyundai, have really efficient electric powertrains and they all seem to offer better economy than most other brands. They have huge warranties too. The EV4 starts at under €40,000 but go for the one with the bigger battery from €43,275 because it has great range. There is also a good 0% PCP offer on this car right now.

The Honda Civic 

The Honda Civic has changed quite a lot over the years, from the small 3-door hatchback that was ubiquitous in the 1990s. These days it is a fairly large five-door hatchback with a pretty eye-watering price of just under €50,000. The Honda Civic e:HEV combines hybrid efficiency with strong everyday performance, using a 2.0-litre petrol engine and electric motors to produce 181hp and 315Nm.

It accelerates from 0–100km/h in around 8.0 seconds, making it brisk off the line and confident for overtaking. Smooth, quiet and responsive, it delivers a polished driving experience while still returning around 4.5–5.0L/100km in mixed Irish driving. This truly an excellent car to drive but one that will probably be overlooked by a lot of buyers.

The Škoda Elroq

I do get asked a lot recently, what is my favourite of the EV SUVs and there are a lot now. I’ve owned a Škoda Kodiaq before, but for me now I prefer the new Elroq which is a little more compact but yet still generously spacious enough for most families’ needs.

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From €36,545, the Elroq comes in a variety of battery sizes, from 55 kWh to 84 kWh with range from 375km to 568km (manufacturer figures). It looks good, drives really well and is very easy to live with, so it is probably my favourite of a crowded category.

The Renault 5

Yes, another EV, but for anyone grumbling, go and drive one and tell me you don’t like it. Renault have managed to perfectly capture the essence of the original Renault 5 and produce a small car that is so good, it is almost irrelevant what powertrain is in it. Prices from €25,995, this car is ideal for someone living in an urban area that wants a small, yet practical daily driver that also looks really good. Powered by a 52 kWh battery with up to 400km range (300km is more realistic). 

Changing Landscape

There will be less choice in pure petrol and diesel models as we move into 2026 and beyond, so expect more cars with plugs and batteries. And at the other end of the scale, in DoneDeal Cars we expect a strong demand for used petrol and diesel cars to continue, with prices expected to stay strong as demand for pure ICE vehicles will increase from those who simply don’t want an EV.  

Paddy Comyn is the Head of Automotive Content and Communications with DoneDeal Cars. He has been involved in the Irish Motor Industry for more than 25 years. 

Note: Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with Done Deal Ltd