Expert answer

Hi Brendan,

We do love a bit of car-related man-maths around the CompleteCar.ie office. Yes, in theory, you could save that €425 per week travelling cost with a Tesla Model 3, once we make a couple of assumptions, and bearing in mind that a Model 3 is not free — a basic Standard Range Plus model is quoted at €625 per month in repayments on Tesla’s Irish website. With a claimed one-charge range of 409km, your theoretical Model 3 should be able to get from Dublin to Monaghan and back in one charge, with a little left over for safety (assuming it’s around 135km door-to-door). If you can charge at home and charge in Monaghan, then each full charge will cost you around €8-10, depending on your electricity tariff and how low the battery gets before you plug it in. That should put a significant dent in your travelling costs. It would also be helpful if you could charge up at work, but that’s more for ensuring you have a full charge in case you need it — the shorter intra-Dublin commute wouldn’t put much strain on your battery.

So, that’s all good. Buying in the UK, though? Not worth it. We ran the maths on this a while back and working off the base model prices — £38,500 in the UK and €48,900 here, a quick conversion at today’s rates shows that the equivalent Euro price of a new Tesla Model 3 would be €45,069. A saving? No — although the VRT would cost you nothing at the point of import (thanks to the €5,000 rebate), you would have to pay VAT on entry, as it’s a new car, and so the price would go up by €10,350. You’re better off buying local in this instance.

Expert answer

Hi David,

If you are using the Navara strictly for business work, and not for social, domestic or pleasure use, then you can tax it as a commercial vehicle for €333 a year. If you are using it for any personal driving, then you have to transfer it back to the old by-engine-capacity tax system and, with a 2.3-litre engine, that’s going to work out at a hefty €994 a year, I’m afraid.

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Hi Ronan,

Well, to be honest, if efficiency is your thing, then don’t buy a pick-up truck — they’re all pretty big and thirsty and around 30mpg is the best you’re going to get from any of them. Of the three you’ve mentioned, the VW Amarok is the best — the most space in the cab, the best comfort, the best on-road handling and ride. The Ranger comes in a decent second, the Nissan a little further behind in third.

Relevant reviews:

Volkswagen Amarok reviews

Ford Ranger reviews

Nissan Navara reviews

Expert answer

Hi James,

You can, and it’ll be taxed according to the old engine capacity system, to it’ll be €514 per year.

Read our feature on this subject: Buying a commercial vehicle for private use

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Hi Anshul,

Ok, let’s take those one by one. As far as a fair price is concerned, you haven’t given us a year for the car, but I’m going to assume it’s a 2016 model. That would put a fair price, in Ireland, if about €15,000 give or take. There’s no issue buying a UK car that has already been registered in Ireland.

Fuel economy should be fine — you can expect to get around 45-50mpg from a 1.7 Optima. 

Expert answer

Hi Francis,

The cost of the parts and the labour will vary considerably depending on where you get the work done and where the parts are bought from. We can tell you that the work, on the 1.2-litre petrol engine, should take about five hours in total.

Expert answer

Hi Philip,

Yes, we have tried them and in both cases they work fine, but please don’t go thinking of them as truly autonomous driving systems — they’ve very far from that, far even from semi-autonomous. In both cases (in fact in all current cases, no matter what some car makers would have you believe) these systems are just glorified cruise control, with a radar to keep you a safe distance from the car in front, and cameras and sensors to detect the lines on the road and keep you steering more or less straight. They’re not fully active, though, and you still need to drive the car, keep your eyes up and on the road and be in control at all times. They do reduce fatigue on long journeys right enough, but only be a small amount to be honest, and they’re not to be relied upon.

Expert answer

Hi Timothy,

The timing belt on the 1.5-litre dCi diesel engine (and hence the water pump) should be changed every 150,000 kilometres or six years - whichever comes first. If the belt on that car has never been changed, it really should be as soon as possible.

All other engines in that car use timing chains, incidentally.

Expert answer

Hi Marcin,

It can be taxed privately. Oddly, as it's a commercial, to tax it privately, the rate is calculated on the old by-engine-capacity regime, regardless of the fact that it's a 2016 model.

Expert answer

Hi Orla,

Get the Skoda. Trust me, as the father of two growing boys a Qashqai is just not big enough inside. The Octavia, on the other hand, has lots of rear legroom (crucial for people in rear-facing child seats or boosters) and a massive boot, especially if you go for the very practical Combi estate version. If you’re looking for other alternatives, stick within the mid-size estate market — they’re much more practical for families than a compact SUV, and usually cheaper too run too. Oh, and they’re not much bigger than the hatchbacks they’re based on, so parking etc. is still a doddle.

Good alternatives to the Skoda are the Ford Focus Estate, the Kia Ceed Sportswagon, the Hyundai i30 Tourer and the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports. Click on those links to read our reviews of each.