Paddy Comyn

AS THE FACE of DoneDeal Cars and with 25 years’ experience in the industry, Paddy Comyn is ‘the’ car guy to everyone in his life and is now widening out that role to you, The Journal readers. 

In his Car Clinic series, he will answer all your motoring questions and queries. Have one? Send it to with the subject line CAR CLINIC to motoring@thejournal.ie – we will publish all answers on Mondays on The Journal. (Your questions will be anonymised.) Please let Paddy know what your budget is if you’re asking about your next big purchase. 

Here’s this week’s question:

How much can I expect to spend on maintenance for a plug-in hybrid?

A solid servicing plan is essential with plug-in hybrids, but let’s break this down.

For the most part, new cars will come with a decent manufacturer’s warranty and some will come with a service plan option, which makes it attractive to stick with the main dealer for servicing.

There is always merit in sticking with the main dealer/manufacturer for the first few years of ownership – at the very least – as you are getting the best technicians, genuine parts, and you are also quietly getting access to the potential for any goodwill payments when you do fall out of warranty.

Put very simply, if something goes awry out of the time period of the warranty, if you have done your part by getting the car serviced with the manufacturer, then you are dramatically increasing your chances of getting so-called “goodwill” should there be a major mishap technically.

If you have opted to go for cheaper servicing outside of the network, then this gives the manufacturer an out in giving you much in the way of support, so it can be a wise investment to spend that little bit more, especially if you intend to keep the car for a long period of time.

When the car gets a little older or if indeed you are buying a used plug-in hybrid then you should look for a State of Health (SOH) of the battery as this is a very important marker of any potential problems and costs with a PHEV.

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We spoke to Dave Corbally (@servicestopltd) from Service Stop in Oldtown, Co Dublin, and he told us that you need to make sure that you buy from a reputable dealer in terms of ensuring that you have your consumer rights, that there is a history check and full service record on the car and that you budget between €20-€50 per week in a fund for the upkeep of your car, with that figure depending on the value of the car, with some more expensive BMW X5 models or Volvo XC90 models potentially serving up some of the more expensive repair bills when things go wrong. 

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.

Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with DoneDeal Ltd.