Even so, the Bigster represents remarkable value for money at this level. <\/p>\n
Any comparable, competitive family SUV from another brand will cost \u20ac10,000 more than this, and the Bigster doesn\u2019t just cost on its monetary merits. It\u2019s genuinely a good car to drive, with a well-balanced chassis and steering, and its cabin is massive and comfortable for a full-sized family. <\/p>\n
Add to that the huge boot, and Dacia\u2019s solid reputation for reliability, and you\u2019ve got arguably the best single car currently on sale in Ireland<\/a>. True, you get a better Bigster (hybrids, especially) if you spend a bit extra, but going strictly by list price, this is our pick. <\/p>\n 2. Cupra Raval You\u2019ll indeed have to spend more than \u20ac30,000 \u2013 around \u20ac36,000, actually \u2013 to get the best version of the Raval, which is the 226hp VZ hot hatch variant, with its adaptive suspension and general all-round sportiness. But that\u2019s okay, because the Raval, in its more basic forms, is inherently good. <\/p>\n There\u2019s plenty of space in the cabin and boot, and even without the VZ\u2019s performance add-ons, there should still be plenty of driver enjoyment to be had, plus the unusual looks (not to all tastes, admittedly) will be a talking point with the neighbours. <\/p>\n A long-range 450km 52kWh battery version will cost comfortably less than \u20ac30,000 (Cupra Ireland is still finalising prices in advance of a September launch) and, honestly, this is a bit of a landmark electric car. Frugal, but fun.<\/p>\n Wild card: Kia EV2 Once again, the EV2 is a car that only sneaks under the \u20ac30,000 barrier in its most basic form, but even so, you\u2019re getting quite a bit of car for the cash. <\/p>\n Even the cheapest \u201cAir\u201d spec EV2 is well-equipped, and while the smallest battery gives you only a 317km range, the good news is that Kias generally get closer to their stated range in real-world driving than most (and if you want a longer range version, you only have to spend a little more than our budget allows). The EV2 looks cheerful inside and out, and is wonderfully smooth and eager to drive.<\/p>\n The Irish Times best new car picks for the summer of 2026 \u2013 under \u20ac25,000<\/a>Best second-hand first cars for learners and young drivers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. Dacia Bigster Now it\u2019s true that only one Dacia Bigster sneaks in under the \u20ac30,000 barrier, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,31867,18,8888,19,17,55418,8300],"class_list":["post-546194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-dacia","tag-eire","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kia","tag-motors"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116786202689910872","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Cupra](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7IREMW6RGBGMVGVFQNBSDQDCKQ.jpg\")
Cupra Raval <\/p>\n![\"Kia](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Z72QQ3QWHVCOTD6F4IOOO5HWIA.jpg\")
Kia EV2 <\/p>\n