© Telling Tales Ltd PO Box 106, Naas, Co Kildare, Ireland. Tel 086 8267104. Fax 045 481091. Email

Brian Byrne's Car Buyers Guide 2000

Toyota Prius It's not a new concept - the world's first mass-produced 'hybrid' car has been on sale in Japan since late 1997, but it is now officially here in Europe. In Ireland, the Toyota Prius will go on sale in November ...

Power Puma Take one standard, unsuspecting Puma. Feed it steroids, beef up its engine, muck around with its suspension and add massive low-profile tyres. Then let it out on a public road with special 'Ford Racing' decals. Whoops ...!

Citroen Picasso If there's a good way to try out any of these compact MPVs, it's an early-morning run from one side of Ireland to the other. And this is just what we did with the Picasso ...

A very special Subaru Subaru's top of the range Legacy is something quite special, and definitely a serious option for those who like elegance and performance without the ostentation of a Beemer or Merc badge ...

Audi A3 gives what is expected Audi say first impressions are usually right when it comes to judging character. I suppose it all depends on what you’re looking for. If it’s reliability, then you won’t go far wrong with the Audi A3 which behaves exactly how you would expect it to, given its pedigree.

A brace of 156s If the British weren't so British, Fiat Auto Ireland wouldn't have such a magnificent place to launch their Alfa Romeo cars as Lucan House ...

Hyundai Coupe If you want to be seen, this certainly fits the bill! It’s also fun to drive. You might as well know from the outset that I left this car back with an awful lot of regret! ...

Xsara Coupe HDi When the Xsara won an Irish Car of the Year accolade in its introductory year, it did so as much for its nice looks as for engineering excellence. I think it still looks as good today, and has crossed over into the 2000s very well ...

Nissan Maxima QX first drive At its best, the old Nissan Maxima QX only sold around 200 copies in a year, and that was three or four years ago. The new one has just been launched, with Ireland the first market in Europe to get it, and Nissan Ireland are expecting to move up to 350 copies in the rest of this year alone ...

MotorNews Toyota’s newest sporty car on sale ... Smart Car for BofI smart savers ... Racing Puma comes to Ireland ... Peugeot shows off Feline ... Astra coupe in last half of year ... Opel’s new baby here for summer ... Rover dealers call ‘last orders’ for Mini ... Accident report form is launched ...

Toyota Yaris 1.3 There’s one thing about the Yaris, you can’t ignore it. They’re everywhere. It seems that the Semperit Irish Car of the Year is well set to being the drivers’ favourite car in its class too ...

Hyundai Accent If the last Hyundai Accent was the one that hadn’t quite achieved the standards of its Japanese equivalents, the latest one is really facing it up to the likes of Corolla ...

Mazda MPV Being stylish can date a car, being handsome makes it dateless. And that’s the option Mazda took with their latest full-sized MPV, a vehicle that will bring it for a fair few years into this new millennium ...

Toyota Corolla 1.4 Hmm ... Corolla has grown up. Maybe that sounds a little paternalistic, given that Toyota’s bread and butter automobile is the ‘best-selling car in the world’. But some of its reputation is only because of how long the Corolla name has been rolling on the roads of the world. While there’s no gainsaying that the product has long been consistently reliable, tough and ... well, inoffensive ...

Fiat Multipla It has to be the most plug-ugly car design in recent years. Although Fiat would rather we used ‘aesthetically challenged’ to describe its Multipla compact MPV. Listen, every time I walked away from it and looked back, it seemed to be surrounded by people. All laughing their heads off. It’s ugly, period ...

Nissan Primera 1.8 When Nissan decided to revitalise its key Primera, the second facelift since it was first produced to replace the Bluebird, the company opted not to make major changes to the core car. Wisely, I would agree, as a completely new one will be rolling out sometime next year, and what they had already was still serving well ...

Rover 75 I was turning the car at the bottom of town when my local friendly Rover dealer came across to me and opened the door. "Any idea of where I can get one?" ...

This service is free to KNN viewers. Fax details to 045 481091 or email (pictures should be in JPEG format and sent as attachments). Ads will be left up for one week unless renewed.

1967 Classic VW Beetle. Fully restored and undersealed. Porsche wheels (originals available). Beautiful condition - must be seen to be appreciated. Engine perfect. Phone 045 860287.

BACK TO KNN

NOTE: KNN takes no responsibility for car condition or descriptions. All dealings CAVEAT EMPTOR. Mention KNN when calling.