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Hi Lee,

There’s a lot of weighing up in this, but it’s mostly about the finances. The car will, to all intents and purposes, be identical in either scenario, PCP deals are tempting, because of their low monthly repayments, but don’t forget that they are a lease, not a purchase, so you have to keep the vehicle to an agreed standard and condition, or there will be penalty costs at the end of the three years.

There shouldn’t be any issue in terms of depreciation, but obviously a 2017 car will be worth less than a new car at the end of three years, but then you’ve paid less up front for it in the first place, so it should more or less balance out.

Of course, buying from the UK, you won't be able to trade in your current car, so you'll have to factor in the hassle of selling that yourself.

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Hi Evan,

That does seem like an anomaly. According to our data, a 1.6 petrol Jetta with a manual gearbox from 2009 should have emissions of 165g/km, so should be taxed in Band D, on €570 a year, not €750 a year. I’d raise a query with your local motor tax office. 

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Hi Alvin,

You absolutely can buy a Hilux and use it as a personal car, as well as for work, but if you’re not VAT-registered you won’t be able to claim back the VAT on the purchase, which will make it more expensive. On top of that, you will also have to register it as a private car, which means taxing it on the old engine capacity system. With a 2.8-litre engine, that means annual motor tax of €1,391 per year I’m afraid.

Read our feature on this subject for more: Buying a commercial vehicle for private use

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Hi Roisin,

You’ll be exempt from VAT as the car has done more than 4,000km, but not VRT I’m afraid as you’ve owned it for less than six months. 

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Hi Anshul,

Ok, let’s take those one by one. As far as a fair price is concerned, you haven’t given us a year for the car, but I’m going to assume it’s a 2016 model. That would put a fair price, in Ireland, if about €15,000 give or take. There’s no issue buying a UK car that has already been registered in Ireland.

Fuel economy should be fine — you can expect to get around 45-50mpg from a 1.7 Optima. 

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Hi Pat,

Well, generally speaking, it won’t matter, as, if a vehicle is older than six months or has more than 6,000km on the clock, it won’t be chargeable for VAT anyway. The benefit you will get is that you won’t have to pay VRT. Just fill out a form with Revenue to get a Letter of Authorisation with the car’s VIN number and you won’t be charged any VRT at all.

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Hi Catherine,

It’ll depend on the engine size. I’m guessing it uses the Fiat 1.9-litre M-Jet engine? If so, it’ll cost €673 a year to tax privately. 

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Hi Sally,

That’ll vary from lease to lease. Generally speaking, if it’s being leased by a company and they’re giving you use of the car as a company vehicle, they’ll pay the running costs, usually minus fuel. If it’s a case of you being given a car-buying budget as part of a job package, generally you’ll pay for all that stuff, and if you’re buying a car for yourself on a PCP finance deal (which is effectively a personal lease) you cover them too.

There are always differences and details, though, and car makers (Volvo especially) are starting to move towards a mobile-phone style system whereby you pay one monthly fee that covers everything, and change and upgrade your car at regular intervals.

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Hi there,

No on both I’m afraid. The Toyota RAV4 is currently available with a 5.5 per cent APR PCP plan, with repayments of €282 per month (that’s a representative example, of course), and the Kia is available on a 3.9 per cent APR PCP or HP plan, with repayments of €542 per month (assuming a 30 per cent deposit or trade-in).

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Hi Rebecca,

Well, we can’t guarantee that there will be no parts issues, as despite being broadly the same car, there are bound to be a few market-specific differences between the two cars. Also, you’re not going to be able to get parts in your local Opel dealer, so if they’re going to go ahead with it, then I think joining a good owners’ club would be a good idea — always a great source of information, parts and help. As for legality, it should be fine, but you will need to check that the engine used in the South African market will meet 1990-era European emissions standards.