Should I buy a top-spec Kia Sportage from the North?
I've been looking at buying a new Kia Sportage hybrid, but I prefer the GT Line S spec offered in the UK to the Irish GT Line spec. Does the Irish Kia distributor allow for factory orders so as to give me a similar spec to GT Line S, or should I look at buying it in the North?
And if so, how much more expensive would you reckon it to be?
William (Dublin)Jan 2026 Filed under: choosing new car
Expert answer
Hi William,
Kia Ireland confirmed to us that it can't order a car to the specification another country offers it in – Irish buyers can have the Kia Sportage HEV as a K3 or GT-Line.
You could of course import one from Northern Ireland, though there's a lot of hassle involved, and hence cost. And it will limit how you pay for the car in terms of finance and a trade-in.
The new Sportage in GT-Line S Hybrid spec (front-wheel drive) in the UK is currently listed at £42,175 and the CO2 emissions rating is 130g/km.
Based on the €53,000 price of the regular GT-Line model in Ireland, let's assume Revenue places an Open Market Selling Price (OMSP) of €58,000 on the GT-Line S.
At 130g/km, the Sportage would be in Band 12 for VRT, at 17.5 per cent of the OMSP – i.e. €10,150. The actual figure paid could go up or down dependant on Revenue's determination of the OMSP – which would only happen after the car is presented for inspection with the NCTS within 30 days of arrival in Ireland.
The NOx levy will be on top of that, but likely only a few hundred Euro.
It's trickier to calculate the VAT and import/customs duty. We believe that import duty at 10 per cent will be required, but what that's calculated against depends on how the car is treated for VAT.
If the seller does not zero-rate the car for VAT for export, then you'd pay UK VAT within that £42,175 price and also Irish VAT on top when you import it. That would make it prohibitively expensive.
Assuming you could get the dealer to zero-rate the car, and UK VAT is 20 per cent, that means the value of it with the VAT knocked off is £35,146. At today's exchange rates, that's about €40,500.
Import/customs duty of 10 per cent is therefore €4,050.
Now, you will have to pay Irish VAT, and this will be charged as 23 per cent of the cost of the car plus the import duty, i.e. €44,550, so the VAT works out as about €10,246.
Totting it all up in Euro:
Pay the dealer (if they zero-rate for VAT): €40,500
VRT based on OMSP assumption: €10,150
Import duty: €4,050
Irish VAT: €10,246
Add those up and it comes out at €64,946, and that's before you travel to the North to bring the car back and pay for registration plates, etc.
Sure, there are a few assumptions built into this calculation, and it's only a rough guide, but it probably indicates that it's really not worth the money or hassle to go down this route.
Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Advisor