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Hi Tom,

It is going to be very, very hard to estimate an OMSP for the car, certainly a fair one. The problem is that the Niro Plugin Hybrid has only just been launched in Ireland, so there’s not much in the way of data for second hand prices. Obviously, it’s going to be worth more than an equivalent non-plugin Niro of the same age, but I would think that a rough second hand value would be in the €30,000-ish range, which would give it a VRT cost of around €4,000 or so.

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Hi Anne Marie,

Stop-start systems on cars will stop working for a variety of reasons, some of them outside your control, but if you think your SEAT still has a problem after looking through this list of possibilities, best bet is to get the car along to your nearest SEAT dealer to check it out:

- Ambient temperature too cold
- Ambient temperature too hot (unlikely in Ireland!)
- Battery in poor condition
- Driver's seat belt usually must be on
- Driver's door and bonnet usually must be closed
- Engine temperature is too low
- Climate control settings may force the engine to stay on

Hope that's of some help. This question by an Audi owner has proven very popular and is mostly applicable to your car too.

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Hi Simon,

You’ll need to check the fine print, but in most cases the warranty will be a pan-European one, so it should be honoured in any of that brand’s official dealerships here in Ireland. The only exceptions are where a manufacturer might have a different warranty in the UK compared to Ireland (such as Toyota) or where, in some cases, one or more years of the warranty are covered and backed by the local dealer group, rather than the manufacturer.

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Hi Eamonn,

Later this year. The European version of the updated Mazda6 will be shown this week at the Geneva Motor Show, and it should be on sale here this summer. 

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Hi Sean,

I agree to a certain extent with this, but not completely. Rear-wheel-drive cars with their engines up front (as with your Mercedes) really struggle with traction in icy conditions, but front-wheel-drive cars are no better when it comes to braking and turning in the same conditions so if such a law was to be brought it, it really should apply to all cars, as winter tyres provide much more grip whether you're accelerating, braking or turning.

However, despite the crazy week we've had here in Ireland with snow and ice, long term weather stats clearly show that we don't get enough cold weather in most parts of Ireland (i.e. the temperature below seven degrees C) to warrant forcing everyone to change to winter tyres. Above seven degrees C, winter tyres are not as good as all-weather/summer tyres and they wear much quicker.

The Irish motorist already feels hard done by in terms of taxation and running costs so I don't think any government would bring this in here, but to be honest, I don't think they should, either. It really should be up to the individual. And that's coming from someone that has expereinced how brilliant winter tyres can be. Other opinions area available...

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Hi Linda,

To be honest, we’re not really the experts when it comes to vehicle access in this respect, but we do know the right people to talk to — Motability Ireland, who can be contacted at www.motabilityireland.com

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Hi Philip,

I spoke to Kia Ireland about this and though it won't be offering the 2.0-litre petrol model for sale here, it did confirm that service intervals for the 3.0-litre model will be 15,000km or once a year. The 2.2-litre diesel is 30,000km or once a year.

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Hi Kevin,

I must admit, you had us wondering... However, we took a detailed look at the UK and Ireland price lists and discovered that the 1.0 TSI 95hp engine is only offered in conjunction with a DSG automatic transmission here, whereas it can be had with a (cheaper) manual gearbox in the UK. That pretty much explains the large price jump.

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Hi James,

A tricky one, because that precise model doesn’t appear on the Revenue’s quick-estimate list, and good luck finding one for sale in Ireland to get a representative OMSP valuation. As a rough guess, I would say somewhere between €1,000 and €1,200, but a lot will depend on condition, equipment and history.

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Hi Jan,

If you’ve owned the car for more than six months and have had it taxed and insured at your previous address during that time, then there’s no import duties (or Vehicle Registration Tax - VRT) to pay. Depending on where you’re moving from, there may be some VAT to pay, and you’ll have to pay for the inspection and valuation at the NCT centre, but other than that there should be no cost to bringing the car in.

The last generation of Honda Insight has a CO₂ rating of 105g/km, so that means you’ll pay €190 a year in motor tax.

Read our guide to How Much VRT is Paid in Ireland for more information

You can find much more information on the importing process here: https://www.revenue.ie/en/importing-vehicles-duty-free-allowances/guide-to-vrt/vehicle-registration-tax/index.aspx