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Hi Pat,

Actually, it’s a UK insurer you’ll have to go to, as until the car has its new Irish registration and tax, you won’t be able to get it covered by an Irish company. All the big UK insurers offer temporary cover, but obviously just check that they’ll cover you for driving in Ireland before you decide. If you already have car insurance with an Irish provider on your existing car (I’m presuming you do) it is worth checking with them first, though, as they may be able to offer you something for the switchover period.

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Hi Tracey,

OK, the Triton is basically the same as our L200 pickup, so it’ll be assessed for Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) at 13.3 per cent of the Irish market selling price. An L200 of that sort of age, depending on condition, will be worth around €10-12,000 so you’re probably looking at around €1,500 or so in VRT costs. Because it’s an older car you won’t  need to worry about VAT, but because it’s coming from outside the EU, there will be customs duty to pay, which is usually charged at 10 per cent of the vehicle cost plus shipping. When you bring the car in, you have a week to officially notify Revenue that the car is in the country, and then 30 days to book your VRT inspection appointment and complete the process. 

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Hi Fintan,

At the moment we don’t have a set date for when the Model 3 will arrive in Ireland, as the first European deliveries are all left-hand-drive cars. We expect that it will be early 2020 before the first Irish deliveries are due to start. If you’re keen to get one early on we recommend contacting Tesla (in Sandyford, Dublin) to discus order placement. You can currently reserve a Model 3 through Tesla’s own website, too. Initially, all-wheel-drive, long range versions will be offered, which we expect to cost between €60,000 and €70,000 depending on specification, but in time the cheaper standard range car should become available in Europe. 

In the meantime, check out our review of the Model 3 here.

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Hi there,

The problem, of course, isn’t the price you pay, it’s the value Revenue puts on it. It’s a tricky car to value (so much depends on condition and history, as well as spec), but I’d imagine Revenue willl say it’s worth around €40,000 on the Irish market, which suggests a VRT figure of around €14,000. 

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Hi Alma,

It’s most likely to be the 23kW battery, as the Zoe 4.0 was only launched at the very end of 2016 and, Irish car sales being what they are, few if any would have been sold before January 2017. If you need confirmation, check the VIN number with a Renault dealer and they will be able to tell you more precisely. 

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Hi Tim,

Yes, that looks about right to us and, if you’ve used the Revenue VRT calculator, then the VRT cost should be close enough to what you’ll actually have to finally pay. One word of warning — the calculator doesn’t allow for extra optional equipment, which can jack up the cost of VRT, so beware of that when you bring it down for inspection.

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Hi Tony,

Currently you can buy the following hybrids on the Irish market: Toyota Corolla, CH-R, RAV4, Prius, Yaris, and there are probably a few run-out  examples of the Auris Hybrid out there still in dealerships. There’s also the Kia Niro and the Hyundai Ioniq. There’s the full Lexus range — CT, IS, RC, GS, ES, LS, NX, RX and LC. There’s the Ford Mondeo Hybrid, too. There’s the new Honda CR-V Hybrid, some Mercedes diesel-hybrids and petrol plug-in hybrids, oh and the new AMG 53 six-cylinder mild hybrids.

Suzuki does mild hybrids too — for the Baleno, Swift and Ignis. Then there are the plug-in hybrids — Kia Niro and Hyundai Ioniq again, plus the Volvo XC90 and XC60 T8 models, along with the S90 and V90; the BMW i8, 330e, 530e, X5 40e, 225xe, and the MINI Countryman S E; there’s also the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport plug-ins, the Mitsubishi Outlander, the Volkswagen Golf and Passat GTE, the Audi Q7 e-tron and the Porsche Panamera and Cayenne.

I bet I've forgotten some...

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Hi Shubham,

Hey, thank you for reading it!

OK, in terms of the way you’ve weighted your needs, the XC40 comes out as an obvious top choice as you’ve said safety is the most important thing for you. Nothing’s safer than a Volvo, so that’s job done then.

Right? Well, maybe not… We do love the XC40 — it’s a cracking car — but it’s a touch small on the inside. Fine for small kids, but not so great if you’ve got a fast-growing family. Which brings the Kodiaq into play, as it has a massive boot and the option of extra seats. Plus Skodas are very safe too, and have excellent resale value.

The only issue then is that you’re more or less locked into buying a diesel, which really doesn’t suit your annual mileage. You can see where this is going, can’t you? The new RAV4 Hybrid is probably the best balance of what you need. Roomy and comfortable inside, very safe, nice to drive and Toyotas always have excellent resale.

Here are our reviews of each to help you decide:

Volvo XC40 reviews

Skoda Kodiaq reviews

Toyota RAV4 reviews

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Hi Felicitas,

It’s a tricky one. Theoretically, the amount of VRT you’d have to pay on an imported Kona would be zero or close enough to it, as the €5,000 rebate should more or less cover the VRT payment (I say more or less because the Irish spec of the Kona is slightly different to the UK’s so there may be some optional equipment charges). The payment you will have to pay is the VAT. If a car is less than six months old, even if the VAT has already been paid in the UK, you have to pay it here, so that’s going to be 21 per cent, which will be around €4-5,000. Also, beware of the BIK rebate — that is designed strictly for company car users, so I’d check with your accountant to make sure everything is above board. 

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Hi Anthony,