Expert answer

Hi Bill,

Technically, and strictly legally speaking, yes you do I’m afraid. It’s an offence to drive a car on the public road in Ireland or the UK without having paid motor tax. You could be fined £80 on the spot in the UK, and potentially have to pay as much as £1,000 if the case went to court. All in all, it’s just not worth the risk.

Expert answer

Hi Philip,

Yes you’re right — the T8’s acceleration is a combination of the engine and the electric motor working in concert. When you run the battery down in electric-only mode, it will always keep a minimal charge on board, so that the car can then function in hybrid mode. If you use maximum acceleration repeatedly and in quick succession, you might well reach a point where the battery cries enough, but it will have charged up again — from both the engine and the regenerative braking system — to go again within a few minutes. 

Wall chargers generally cost around €900 to €1,000 fully installed, but there’s a grant from the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland available that will cover up to €600 of that.

Finally, you’re absolutely right — a V60 only gives away a 31-litre advantage to the larger V90 when it comes to boot space.

Expert answer

Hi Nick,

Theoretically yes, it is possible to convert an estate into a van. Obviously you’d have to remove the back seats and weld a plate in place over the floor. There are also some minimum dimensions that must be adhered to for the vehicle to qualify as an N1 commercial. Sadly (and oddly) the requisite page on the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) website is returning a 404 'not found' right now. The good news is that your local motor tax office (MTO) will have all the relevant details that you’ll need to be sure that the car you’re thinking of converting qualifies. The conversion work will have to be carried out by someone with the appropriate qualifications and standards (again, the MTO can help there) and you’ll have to bring it for a CVRT test every year, not the usual NCT.

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Hi Kay,

It will depend if you’re importing it. If not, then no VRT applies in any case, but there will be a fee payable for re-registering. At that point, there may also be motor tax implications, but theoretically, if Revenue accepts the conversion, then motorhomes only have to pay €102 a year.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that, to be classified as a motorhome, you’ll have to pass type approval, for which there are minimum standards. The Road Safety Authority has all the details you’ll need, but it might get expensive meeting all the requirements. 

Expert answer

Hi Andreas,

Unfortunately there’s not a lot you can do here, mostly because all 911s prior to the introduction of the 3.0-litre turbo flat-six engine were above the 225g/km cutoff for the top VRT band of 36 per cent, which means you’re probably going to be looking at a significant VRT charge no matter which model you bring in.

You’re right to say that there’s a big disparity between 2008 and 2009 prices, but given that there are so few 911s available for second-hand sale in Ireland, it’s a tricky model to accurately value, and a huge amount is going to depend on condition, mileage and specification.

Expert answer

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...

Expert answer

Hi Aisling,

Our information would agree with what you were told, that the recommended interval is indeed 210,000km, regardless of time. Remember: treat that as a maximum, not a minimum...

Expert answer

Hi Stuart,

Not for some time yet. The recommended minimum change period is every 210,000 kilometres, regardless of time.

Expert answer

Hi Arvind,

The work to change the oil and filter in that Skoda is little different to the same job in any other car, but we'd not recommend it is done by someone without experience unless supervised by someone that has. There are lots of things that can go wrong in the process that could lead to engine damage and further costs, which would massively outweigh the savings made by not going to a professional in the first place. 

If you are determined to do it, here is a generic step-by-step set of instructions that could be applied to most cars, and it's written on the assumption that the car is safely raised on a proper vehicle lift:

- With the lift lowered, turn off the ignition, remove the keys and pop the bonnet.

- Remove and clean the dipstick and remove the oil filler cap. Make sure nothing can fall into the hole.

- Raise the lift so you can comfortably walk under the car and reach the underside of the engine.

- With a suitable collecting recepticle to hand, locate the oil sump plug and remove it. The dirty used oil will start to flow before it is fully out so be prepared for that.

- Once the flow has clearly slowed to a tricikle, locate the oil filter. On some cars this will be accessible from above the engine, in others, below. On some cars, it will be a cartridge within a permanent outer casing, on others, an aluminium-skinned component that screws off in its entirety. It's highly likely you'll need a special oil filter removal tool to take it off. Most of the time, a small amount of dirty oil will leak out, so be prepared to collect that under the car.

- Check the new oil filter against the old one. In particular, the sealing rings must be in an identical position.

- Fit new oil filter tightly to recommended tightness.

- It's often a good idea to fit a new oil sump washer at this stage, then tighten up the sump plug to the recommended tightness and give everything a wipe down.

- Lower the car again and fill with new oil to about a litre less than the official full level. Replace the dipstick and oil filler cap.

- Start the engine without revving it, let it idle a minute, then turn it off again.

- Check the oil level with a cleaned dipstick and top up as necessary.

Expert answer

Hi Amy,

Labour costs and even part prices vary massively depending on which garage you go to and whether the parts are original manufacturer items or not. The best we can do is tell you that the estimated time for changing a head gasket is over eight hours and that for changing the timing chain is nearly five hours, though both jobs involve an overlap in what needs to come off so the total is probably more like 10-11 hours if it's all done together. The head gasket and the chain are expensive components to buy as well.

Whether it's worth all that expense depends entirely on whether the car is otherwise perfect. A 2008 MINI One could be worth between €5,000 and €7,000 depending on mileage and condition. It'll be worth considerably less if it needs that work doing to it.

Let us know how you get on