Expert answer

Hi Philip,

Yes you’re right — the T8’s acceleration is a combination of the engine and the electric motor working in concert. When you run the battery down in electric-only mode, it will always keep a minimal charge on board, so that the car can then function in hybrid mode. If you use maximum acceleration repeatedly and in quick succession, you might well reach a point where the battery cries enough, but it will have charged up again — from both the engine and the regenerative braking system — to go again within a few minutes. 

Wall chargers generally cost around €900 to €1,000 fully installed, but there’s a grant from the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland available that will cover up to €600 of that.

Finally, you’re absolutely right — a V60 only gives away a 31-litre advantage to the larger V90 when it comes to boot space.

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Hi Andrew,

That’s a tricky one as you’ve not told us the precise cars in question. The thing is, an electric car with a price of €30,000 has probably already had the VRT rebated on it, so you won’t make as big a saving — you’ll only save the VAT, which will represent a discount of around €5,000, bringing the price down to around €25,000. 

With the hybrid, assuming it has CO₂ emissions of under 100g/km, and therefore is in the 15 per cent VRT band, you could make a huge saving. It’s a rough guess, but we reckon you’d save €4,000 worth of VAT and €3,000 worth of VRT, bringing the price down to €17,000. 

Now, these are just rough calculations, and the final, proper figures may differ, but on the face of it the hybrid model offers a better up-front saving, but then you have to work in the potential for much cheaper running costs with an electric car when it comes to fuel and servicing. 

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Hi Felix,

Looking at the 2.0 TDI automatic model at the start of the 2011 generation A6, there are a couple of known issues with the gearbox. The first is with the hydraulic accumulator, which may cause juddering. This potentially needs to be replaced to eradicate the issue. A separate issue comes from the transmission control module that can lead to error codes appearing on the dashboard - it requires reprogramming most likely.

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Hi Sharon,

Slim at best, I’m afraid. While finance has become much freer in the past few years compared to where we stood post-recession, few finance providers will be happy signing someone up for repayments when they’re not currently employed. If you can demonstrate significant savings, or can have someone else guarantee the payments for you, it might work, but you’d probably be better off talking to your bank manager or your local Credit Union rather than going for a conventional finance package.

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Hi Keiron,

The short version is we simply don’t know. Until the UK government and parliament gets its act together and either exits with a deal, or crashes out with no deal, then everything is both on and off the table. In general, it’s assumed that the UK will continue to shadow most EU regulations in the immediate period after Brexit, which might suggest that VAT and customs duty won’t apply, and it’s unlikely that VAT would be charged in any case on a second hand car that’s more than six months old. That said, the Irish Government may take a view that, if there is no deal, it may have to protect the Irish market from the ‘dumping’ of cheap imports and may apply taxes or restrictions accordingly. The short version, I’m afraid, is that we still simply don’t know, and — given the current turmoil in UK politics — probably won’t for some time. 

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Hi Katie,

OK, it’s only a rough calculation, but assuming that it’s a Civic VTEC Turbo 1.5 Sport, we reckon that’ll cost you around €2,600 in VRT. 

Expert answer

Hi Robert,

The M50d has more peak power and torque and is quicker accelerating than the hybrid model, no question. However, the six-cylinder diesel engine is a lot louder and less smooth than the straight-six in the xDrive45e model and obviously, when the hybrid is running in electric mode it is far far quieter again. As you say, the PHEV comes with compromises, and may not be as economical over a long journey where the battery cannot be charged from an external source. 

Read our BMW X5 xDrive45e review

Read our BMW X5 M50d review

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Hi Aaron,

Not necessarily. Officially the emissions-based taxation system came into force from the 1st of July 2008. Everything registered after that date is automatically on the CO₂-based system. For cars registered between January 1st and June 30th 2008, it’s a little different. Initially, they would have been taxed on the old engine capacity system, but if the tax cost would have been lower under the CO₂ system, then the car should have been switched over at first renewal. If it hasn’t been switched by now, it probably means that it’s more affordable to tax on the old capacity system, so has been left on that one.

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Hi Brendan,

I think your best bet is to find a good local insurance broker, who may be able to find you a particular deal or provider who can help. If you try and just ring around, you’re going to run into a brick wall as you have no recent insurance in your name, nor any named driver experience. It’s probably going to be expensive, either way, I’m afraid...

Expert answer

Hi Con,

You can, and the good news is that you’ll get a €5,000 rebate on the cost of the VRT. The bad news is that you’ll still have to pay VAT if the car is less than six months old. The worse news is that you might struggle to find a Model 3 to import at all — there’s a big waiting list for them and second hand examples are thin on the ground.