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Hi Michael,

No, I’m afraid you can’t. In Ireland a car has to be at least 30 years old before it qualifies for classic (vintage, as it’s somewhat erroneously known) tax or insurance.

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Hi John,

It may well be. Generally speaking, when it comes to longer warranties such as those offered by Hyundai and Kia, for example, they stipulate that the warranty continues to be valid only if the car is serviced at a main dealer. Hyundai Ireland tells us "Please note that only cars sourced through Hyundai Cars Ireland Ltd. and purchased through a Hyundai Authorised Dealer qualify for the five-year triple care package." It would be worth having a word with your nearest Hyundai dealer before you take the plunge, perhaps?

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Hi Umair,

Don’t. Buy. It. Major can of worms. If someone has been breaking the law by driving around in an imported car that hasn’t had its VRT paid, then you do not want to get involved. Plenty of other cars out there, so go and buy one that’s fully above-board and legal.

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Hi Sean,

There’s no reason that it wouldn’t be possible to import a Citroen Ami to Ireland. However, it is only being produced in left-hand drive with no plans currently in place for right-hand-drive models. It’s also worth noting that the Ami doesn’t have a very powerful electric motor and has a top speed of only 45km/h making it only useful in cities and urban areas. 

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Hi Stephen,

Currently, there isn’t one. Volvo Cars Ireland has confirmed to us that it hasn’t yet made many plans to introduce the Polestar brand or models here as yet, although given the huge success that Tesla has had in Ireland, we’d be surprised if it doesn’t happen at some stage. Most likely, it’ll be a combination of waiting to launch a couple of core Volvo electric models (the battery-powered XC40 especially) and then, once initial European and US roll-outs have taken place for Polsetar, then they’ll start to think about us.

If we had to hazard a guess, we’d say 2022 at the earliest. 

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Hi Mark,

Unfortunately, that’s correct — DS has disappeared from these shores for now. Apparently it’s because DS dealers have to meet certain minimum standards for decor and presentation, and no-one in Ireland is quite prepared to make that investment right now. 

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Hi James,

You mean get it re-registered? Yes, you have to — it’s the law. Thankfully, as it’s a change of address, as long as you can demonstrate six months' previous tax and insurance in the UK, it will only cost you the price of the new numberplates. 

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Hi Peter, 

At the time of writing, the starting price of the new model is €23,950. Read our news story on the new Octavia for more details of the range.

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Hi Marietta,

I think a Skoda Karoq might be a good bet for you. It’s a roomy car, and a safe one too, for the grandkids. Get it with the 1.0-litre turbo petrol engine and it’ll be economical on those short runs to town and back, and good enough on those four regular long journeys. It's cheap to tax, and Skoda makes reliable cars, so it should cover all bases. 

Read our Skoda Karoq reviews here

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Hi Matt,

In theory it would, but the seats would have to have been fitted as an original option to those specific chassis codes, so that might trip you up. It’s worth a try...