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Hi Ebere,

You’ll need two crucial documents. You’ll need the V5C form, which is the vehicle’s identity papers (it’s the red, pink and blue form with the car’s reg number, VIN number etc.) and you’ll need an invoice showing the date and location of sale and the amount paid for the car.

Other than that, you’ll need the usual proof of identity for yourself (passport or driver's licence, utility bill with your home address etc.).

I’d suggest you have a good careful read of two pages before you start out:

1 - from www.citizensinformation.ie

2 - from www.revenue.ie

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Hi John,

I’m afraid the answer to your questions will very much depend on the individual dealer with whom you're dealing. Generally speaking, your trade-in is your deposit, but the fine print on some specific deals may rule this out. As for repayments, that will depend totally on your circumstances and what interest rate you’re paying at, although for reference’s sake, a high street bank loan of €20,000 over three years will cost you about €600 a month.

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Hi Eric,

Possibly slightly, assuming that a strong January for new car sales means a softening of used car values, but to be honest the current flood of UK imports (70,000 so far this year and counting) is already killing second hand prices, so there’s probably not going to be a huge difference.

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Hi Frank,

As a trade-in it should be worth in and around the €4,000 mark.

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Hi Paul,

It depends on the wheels, but assuming you have a 175/65 14-inch tyre, then you need 31psi of pressure on the front tyres and 26psi for the rears.

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Hi Mike,

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Hi Therese,

Both will hold their value pretty solidly, although the Hyundai might just do a shade better as it's a more popular brand overall. We'd still prefer the Kia though - it has the nicer cabin and is fractionally the nicer to drive. Here are our reviews to help you further:

Hyundai Santa Fe review

Kia Sorento review

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Hi Martin,

Unfortunately, this being Ireland, there's little (nothing actually) in the way of a central database for these things so the only thing is to shop around. I know - I sound like Mary Harney... PCP is, like any form of finance, wildly variable depending on your deposit, your trade in, your credit score and more. The advertised rates are, as ever, based on a theoretical perfect version that may or may not exist in actuality. Think of them like Ryanair seat prices... 

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Hi David,

The Renault Laguna Coupe was indeed a very small-selling car in Ireland. Being launched into the teeth of a recession didn’t help, and nor did being a big, expensive French car to be honest. We can only find four on sale in Ireland at the moment, and none of those are the Monaco GP Edition. I think a trip to the UK might be your best bet…

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Hi Anne,

Actually, it’s not far off. I’d say, with a bit of practice, you should be able to beat 60-65mpg on a regular basis with that Polo, and to be honest you’re not going to get much better than that from any car. There are plenty of cars with official economy figures up in the 70s and 80s mpg, but those are laboratory figures and damned near impossible to reach in real world driving. If economy is your priority, then I’d stick with that Polo.