VALUE FOR MONEY, reliability and child-friendly features in a crossover and a saloon – sometimes it’s hard to tick all the boxes.

This week, DoneDeal.ie has picked out two styles of car from Joe Duffy Mazda dealers that fit the bill.

First up, this 2009 Nissan Qashqai 1.5 diesel.

The Nissan Qashqai is the king of the crossover section and a constant best seller in Ireland.

The Qashqai is a good-looking car with a nice raised driving position, which gives great all-round visibly. It is a comfortable and practical car and what marks this one out is the low 67,904km on the clock.

This first gen Qashqai has a 1.5-litre dCI engine with 6- speed manual transmission and falls into tax band B2 so that’s just €280 a year with average fuel consumption around 5.4 litres/100km (52mpg).

It also comes with a host of practical features including electric windows, multifunction steering wheel, Bluetooth and rear parking sensors. In the back, there are two iosfix points for child seats and the rear seats split 60/40.

The boot space goes from 410 litres with the seats up to a generous 860 litres with the rear seats down.

Then there is this ex-demo 2016 Mazda6 with zero miles on the clock.

The Mazda6 is a great drive and very comfortable for long distances.

This ex-demo model features all the bells and whistles that Mazda could fit in, including rear privacy glass, leather interior, keyless entry, electric windows and mirrors, Bluetooth, automatic lights and wipers, a three spoke multifunctional leather steering wheel, dual climate control, front and rear parking sensors and a rear reversing camera.

It rolls on 19-inch alloys, has a twin exhaust and is finished in metallic paint. It has a 2.2-litre turbo SkyActive-D engine and a 6 speed manual gearbox.

It falls in to tax band A3 which is just €190 per year.

The official fuel economy figure is 3.9 litres/100km (74.2mpg), but expect less in the real world.

The boot holds 489 litres, which isn’t huge but there is lots of rear leg and head room so it is very comfortable for passengers back there. You’ll also find two isofix child seat points in the back.