Expert answer

Hi Tom,

There doesn’t, slightly bizarrely, seem to be an online way of doing this I’m afraid. Your best bet is to actually go to your local motor tax office, and bring both your vehicle registration document and your primary medical certificate with you. The actual human in the MT office should be able to sort you out, but it’s odd that there seems no way to do this via the web, which would obviously be much easier for those with restricted mobility.

Incidentally, you’re also allowed to claim back both VRT and VAT on the car you’ve bought (download form DD1 from the Revenue website) and there’s also a fuel grant, depending on your circumstances. Have a look at the Citizens’ Information website. It’s really helpful.

Expert answer

Hi Sasa,

I'm afraid it is not possible to transfer your NCT to another car and there is no mechanism for obtaining a refund when a car with an NCT it taken off the road.

Expert answer

Hi Peter,

The A16LET engine is a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol unit according to our records, producing 179hp and manufactured from 2009 to 2014. 

If your engine is pre-2010, the recommended change interval is 150,000 kilometres or 10 years, whichever comes first. For engines made after that date, it's still 150,000 kilometres, but the maximum time between changes is six years.

Expert answer

Hi Eimear,

It’s a tricky one and it kind of depends on what age of car you’re looking at. I think with your driving profile and the fact that, as you say, you don’t drive much in town, hybrid may not be right for you. Emphasis on the ‘may.’

If you’re buying a new hybrid, that equation changes a little. The current Toyota Prius, for example, gets an easy 65mpg on the motorway, which is better than I’ve ever got out of any diesel. Ditto the Kia Niro plugin-hybrid. It’s not just new cars either. A few years back I squeezed better economy out of a Lexus GS 300h on a run from Dublin to West Cork and back than I did on the same route, in the same week, with a Ford Mondeo Vignale diesel.

Expert answer

Hi Roy, 

That's not something we've come across, I'm afraid. There can be many simple reasons for a stop-start system to not work (see our popular feature on that subject here), but usually they are temporary. I guess if your battery was replaced, there may be some additional reprogramming required, but that wouldn't be standard on all cars.

If someone has told you that this is necessary, make sure you get a second opinion from another garage, preferably an official Suzuki service outlet. And if Suzuki told you that, then ask for a little explanation.

We'd be interested in the answer if you want to pop a comment in below this at a later stage.

Expert answer

Hi Simon,

We’ve double-checked this with Audi, and yes — under certain circumstances you can have both the upgrade pack and the free auto gearbox on your A4. The 191 complimentary Style Pack includes a metallic paint finish, ambient lighting pack, heated front sports seats, comfort armrest and front parking sensors. The Audi A4 Style Pack also comes complete with 18-inch alloy wheels on SE models and 19-inch alloys on the S line, offering a customer saving of over €4,000 for the SE and €4,500 for S line model. It’s only available in limited quantities though, and only up to the 28th of February.

As for the automatic gearbox offer, that’s a dealer-led promotion, where dealers are offering this on certain models, so you might need to ring-around your nearest Audi dealers to make sure you can avail of that on the car you want.

Expert answer

Hi there,

I’m afraid you’re going to get hit for the highest rate of motor tax on that model, of €2,350 a year. Unfortunately, although the car was originally registered before the introduction of the CO₂-based tax system here, the regulations say that "Cars registered outside of the State on or after 1 January 2008 and subsequently registered in the State on or after 1 July 2008 will have their motor tax based on the new CO₂ system.”

Expert answer

Hi Johnny,

If you have the first-generation Audi A3 1.6 petrol, then it's likely to be one of two things. The idle speed could be set too low or there's a seal missing from an unused engine bay harness 14-pin multi-plug allowing water in. Both are cheap and easy fixes for any mechanic to carry out.

Naturally, something else could be causing the problem, but these are known issues with that engine.

Expert answer

Hi David,

First thing to do is get straight on to the garage and ask them what's going on. It could well be just sitting in their office forgotten about.

It is possible to order replacement certificates, but it's a bit of hassle as the form needs to be signed by a Garda and it'll cost you €15.50.

Expert answer

Hi James,

It depends on exactly what Kombi version it is. You see, under the recently changed rules for N1 commercial vehicle VRT and tax, if the van has fewer than ten seats, and the seats and cargo area are all in the one section, then it technically counts as a passenger car and you’ll be paying VRT at either 28 per cent or 31 per cent of the OMSP, and then passenger car motor tax too in Bands D or E.

If it has three or fewer seats, or if the cargo area is physically separated from the seating area, then it counts as a crew-van and you’ll pay 13.3 per cent of the OMSP, but to tax it as a private vehicle you’ll have to put it on the old engine capacity rating (why this is still in use we’re not sure, but it is) and that’ll be €710 a year assuming it has the 2.0-litre TDI engine.