Expert answer

Hi Eoin,

VAT isn’t charged on second hand car sales in the UK, so while technically you will be paying a residual portion of the car’s original VAT cost, on a car that’s between seven and eight years old, it’s not going to be a particularly big proportion. You could — technically — claim it back from the UK authorities on export, but the process is byzantine and time consuming, and generally not worth the effort.

You will definitely have to pay Irish VAT, though, which will now be charged at 23 per cent as the rate has gone up since the 1st of March. Unlike VRT, which is charged according to the OMSP, the Open Market Selling Price or what Revenue thinks the value of the car would be on the Irish market, VAT is charged on the price you paid for the car, plus shipping costs.

As for the import duty, you may well get away without paying that, as the XF’s structure and engine (the V6 diesel was made by Ford in Dagenham) were built in the UK, which should push it over the minimum value necessary. You’ll have to fill out a customs declaration form first, though, which should help you figure all of that out. 

Expert answer

Hi John,

We really can’t comment with any accuracy on a specific car, sight unseen. However… the charitable answer could be that the 1.6 TDI diesel is rather unfashionable, especially in a car as small as the A1 (the 1.0 TSI petrol engine was always the better seller), so it could be that the previous owners decided that diesel wasn’t for them and the dealership has since struggled to move it on.

That said, we’d tread carefully. Have you gotten an independent history check through the likes of Cartell.ie? It might also be worth getting an AA Inspection, which will go through the car with a fine toothcomb and find anything that’s wrong. In theory, buying a car that’s been idle shouldn’t present a major problem, but we always work to the rule that mechanical devices are at their best when used, and regularly serviced, rather than left to sit. 

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Hi Ronan,

You will have to tax the van as a private car if you’re going to use it for social, domestic or pleasure purposes. That’s relatively easy to do — you just need to ring up you local motor tax office and ask them to make the switch for you. Annual motor tax will cost you €413 a year for the 1.5-litre engine (taxing a commercial as a private car means you go back to the old engine capacity based system).

Insurance is the trickier aspect, and we’ve heard from a lot of readers that they struggle to find cover for commercials as private vehicles. We always advise to try and track down a good, reputable, broker and get cover sorted before you make any decisions.

Take a read of Buying a commercial vehicle for private use for more information.

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Hi Kathryn,

Not quite. You don’t deduct the VAT and VRT to find out the OMSP — Open Market Selling Price — as that’s a figure arrived at independently by Revenue. It’s on that figure, whatever it might be, that your VRT and VAT will be calculated. 

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Hi Joe,

There aren’t any specific battery issues to look for, and the good thing about a plug-in hybrid is that you can’t fast-charge them, so there’s less likelihood of wear and tear on the battery cells from repeated rapid charges. Obviously, batteries do degrade a little over time, but you shouldn’t see more than a few percentage points wiped off the performance. Make sure you go for a fully-charged test drive first though, and if the range seems abruptly short (allowing for weather, traffic etc) then the battery might have been physically damaged at some point.

Other plug-in hybrids worth considering would be a BMW 530e, although that probably won’t squeeze into your budget, or a Volkswagen Passat GTE, which provides performance almost as good as that of the 330e, but for a much lower cost overall and it's more spacious. Don’t forget that the battery eats considerably into the 330e’s boot space, and it was never a big car inside to begin with. The updated Passat GTE (2020) was available as an estate, too...

BMW 330e review

Volkswagen Passat GTE review

Volkswagen Passat GTE Estate review

BMW 530e review

Expert answer

Hi Seamus,

This is obviously a tricky decision, and we wish your wife all the best in coping with this. When it comes to ride quality, the most important factors are the stiffness, overall, of the suspension, the size of the wheels, and the sidewall depth of the tyres. Basically, smaller wheels and normal suspension is the rule of thumb if you’re trying to get a car with a soft ride quality.

SUVs are actually generally quite bad for ride quality. That sounds counter-intuitive, because of course they’re taller and have longer-travel suspension, but the problem is that the springs and dampers have to be stiffened up to prevent the higher centre of gravity from inducing too much body roll. I would therefore suggest that keeping away from SUVs would be a good bet.

That said, the Subaru Forester you’ve mentioned below does indeed have a soft ride quality, again as long as you avoid the larger alloy wheel options. Ditto the smaller Subaru XV, which is helpfully lower to the ground and can get away with slightly softer suspension rates. Citroen, of course, is famed for having pillowy-soft ride quality, and the current C5 Aircross is pretty soft and springy, and has great seats into the bargain. You should definitely look at a Toyota Camry as well (very soft, and again with great seats) and the Skoda Superb.

Avoid anything that has a sporty designation (S line, R-Line, M Sport etc) as that will almost automatically have stiffer springs and bigger wheels.

Hope that helps. Below are links to our reviews of the cars mentioned above:

Subaru Forester reviews

Citroen C5 Aircross reviews

Subaru XV reviews

Toyota Camry reviews

Skoda Superb reviews

Expert answer

Hi Stephen,

As a private car, you’ll have to tax that according to the engine capacity, so that means a €1,494 annual bill I’m afraid.

Read Buying a commercial vehicle for private use for more

Expert answer

Hi James,

Yes, you can. As long as your car is registered to your Northern Ireland address, and so is your insurance, all you need is a ‘Green Card’ from your insurer to extend the cover to the Republic. 

Expert answer

Hi Dan,

OK, so I’m assuming that you mean bringing in a Range Rover Sport from the UK? It’s going to be pretty expensive. A rough VRT calculation suggests you’re looking at around €5,500 minimum for VRT, and then you’ll have to pay import duty (ten per cent) and 21 per cent VAT on top of that. Most likely you’re looking at a total cost of around €9-10,000 to get it registered here.

If you converted it to a commercial, that might help, but it would mean an expensive, full conversion, removing the back seats and bolting in a load floor. You’d also have to get the work done in the UK before the car comes to Ireland, as otherwise you’d have to pay the full passenger car VRT when it gets here. That would lower your VRT rate to 13.3 per cent, and take out the NOx levy, which would help, but you’d still get stung for the VAT and import duty.

Expert answer

Hi Joseph,

We hope you’re on the mend from the heart attack. All the best wishes from us.

Yes, I would certainly imagine that such a serious medical emergency would be a valid reason for any delays and overruns in the VRT application procedure. Knowing Revenue, though, you’ll need paperwork so maybe give your GP a ring and ask for a letter confirming your condition and the dates on which you suffered the attack and any hospital stays.