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Hi Doteen,

A car's history and how well it has been serviced is important no matter what fuel type it is. The added complication with modern diesels is that their DPFs – and other components - can clog up if they're only used for short trips. I don't believe where you buy the car has any bearing on that. It's all about how the car was used.

Make sure all the warning lights are working and going off when the car is running, insist on a detailed and complete service history and take the car for a decent test drive (again, regardless of the fuel).

A diesel car will be far more economical than a petrol one when it comes to towing and for the most part will be better suited to the job in terms of low-down pulling power (torque).

Nonetheless, if you'd prefer a petrol car, that's entirely doable. Just don't go for a small-engined, lightweight car and expect it to do a good job. Cars such as the Ford Mondeo, Skoda Octavia, VW Passat and others all came with powerful turbocharged petrol engines, though they're much rarer and hence harder to find than the diesel equivalents.

Hopefully that has given you some food for thought but come back to us with more information on the weight of the caravan you're buying and your budget for the car and we can help further if you need it.

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Hi Derek,

Assuming you mean just replace the wet belt, then prices will vary considerably from garage to garage, but you could be looking at up to €800 or so. Shop around is our advice.

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Hi Joseph,

We're not convinced. There are some advantages for sure, such as getting a car that is often in better condition than an Irish-market model of the same age, and sometimes with more equipment for the price as well.

But there are loads of downsides, including potential issues with sourcing parts if it's not identical to the car that was sold in Ireland and increased insurance. Many Japanese cars do not come with alarms or immobilisers, either.

For rare cars that have value then it's certainly worth looking at, but for a regular car such as the Toyota, we'd advocate for seeking out cars already in Ireland.

If you want to investigate it further, it's definitely worth working with a reputable importer that will do it all for you, up to registering the car on Irish plates, as that in itself can be tricky. We don't have first-hand experience of any one company though so can only suggest you do some Googling and looking for independent reviews of the companies you find.

And make sure you read our Guide to buying Japanese imports.

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Revenue does run a tax-relief scheme for vehicles adapted for drivers and passengers with disabilities, but the Government has confirmed that this does not apply to public service vehicles such as taxis or hackneys, wheelchair-accessible or not. In other words, a wheelchair-accessible taxi is not automatically free of VAT and VRT.

What you can benefit from is the National Transport Authority's Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) Grant Scheme, which offers a cash grant towards the cost of buying or converting a wheelchair-accessible taxi or hackney. That grant doesn't remove VAT or VRT, but it can significantly reduce the overall cost to you – by up to €17,500 depending on the age of the vehicle.

Read the information guide on the WAV Grant Scheme here

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Hi Niall,

If the car has been in use in the North since new, or for what Revenue loosely calls “a reasonable amount of time”, then no VAT or customs duty will be payable. A full MOT history from the North should cover that, along with details in the car's equivalent to the old log book.

The VRT relief is limited, though, and only applicable to cars worth up to €50,000 in Revenue's eyes. There is no relief for cars worth more than that and it tapers down for cars worth more than €40,000 as well.

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Hi Fred,

We did find a CO₂ rating for that BMW on the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism website (click here for the file) – it's 121g/km, but it's much harder to find NOx ratings on there and I've not been entirely successful either.

I did find this official PDF showing a NOx figure for the BMW 320d (0.063g/km), but it does not specifically mention “LDA-8C20”.

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Hi Robert,

Yeah, it would be fine as a taxi, although I'd avoid the seven-seat one as the extra seats are useless.

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Hi Frank,

In general we like it, so long as you're on board with the premium pricing - as you are getting a premium car. It's spacious, has an excellent interior, is good to drive and decent to look at.

Read our reviews of the Renault Austral here, but come back to us if you have another specific question about the car.

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Hi Jim,

We believe that should be sufficient, yes, but we always recommend people check with Revenue before committing to a purchase. 

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Hi Shah,

That isn't very high mileage, regardless of how the car was used, so we doubt that has caused any issue.

The Mazda2 hybrid is effectively the same as the Toyota Yaris, so any seats that fit in that car will slot in seamlessly to yours. It won't be cheap to replace the seats, however.