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Looking to run a commercial BMW X5...

Looking to buy a BMW X5 which is a commercial and use for personal use. Any advice what or how could I do this and what tax implications there are?

Thanks

Dan

Apr 2025 Filed under: taxation

Expert answer

Hi Dan,

The rules from Revenue are clear: if a commercial vehicle is used for any private reason whatsoever, no matter how infrequently, it must be taxed for private use. If the X5 you are referring to is already registered as a commercial vehicle, then, bizarre as it sounds, the private motor tax will be determined based on the engine size - yes, even if it's a post-2008 model.

In the case of the X5, if it's powered by the popular 3.0-litre diesel engine, that would mean an annual motor tax bill of €1,494.

If you're thinking about buying a regular X5 and re-classifying it as a commercial, that would only be possible if the rear seats are removed permanently, and a bulkhead is put in place behind the front seats. Even so, it would have to be taxed privately if you intend to use it for any private reason.


Looking to buy an EV for about €25,000...

I'm looking to buy my first EV but not sure which is best value, performance, warranty, most suitable for family of five that, alongside city driving can also travel on 400km trips about 10 times per year and 1,000km drive once per year.

Looking for advice please. My budget is about €25,000.

Thank you.

Niall Murphy (Dublin)

Apr 2025 Filed under: choosing new car

Expert answer

Hi Niall,

With your requirements and budget, you'll certainly be looking at a used EV rather than a new one, which may mean buying a car that doesn't have much of its original regular warranty remaining (as the industry default is three years - though there are exceptions). However, the car makers include a longer warranty on the drive battery to reassure buyers of their longevity. Typically, this is for eight years and 160,000km (from new), though the precise figures vary from model to model.

You've not specified if any of your kids are in small seats or boosters so we assume three of them can fit across in one row of a normal car (do come back to us if we're wrong on that as that will limit your options considerably).

In terms of your driving use, and assuming you'll get a home charger to cover day-to-day charging, you're going to have to plan to use the public charging network on your longer journeys. Very few used EVs in your budget will do 400km on a charge all year around with five people on board.

Most should require just one top-up on that trip, however, taking no longer to charge than it will to get the kids all out and into the bathroom and for you to grab a coffee.

I'm sure you'd have to stop a few times on a 1,000km trip regardless of charging up the car.

Taking a look at what's on the market for under €25,000, here are some options we'd recommend:

Cupra Born: This is a five-seat, five-door hatchback about the same size as a Volkswagen Golf on the outside (and indeed it's the same underneath as the Volkswagen ID.3), but it has way more rear-seat space. Your budget gets you a 2022 example using the 58kWh battery pack, which means a realistic range of about 300km between charges.

Read our Cupra Born reviews here

Hyundai Kona Electric: The Kona is a five-door, five-seat crossover you should find as new as 2023 available within budget. That's the last of the previous-generation model. It's smaller in the boot and back seat than the Cupra mentioned above, but it is efficient. There are even some available with a 64kWh battery for a realistic range between charges of nearly 400km.

Read our Hyundai Kona reviews here

Kia e-Niro: This is another five-seat crossover, actually sharing its underpinnings with the Hyundai. However, the Niro is noticeably bigger inside the cabin and boot. There are loads of 2022 examples around with a 64kWh battery - meaning a real-world range of nearly 400km again. Sidebar: the Kia e-Soul is a stylish alternative sharing most of the same components, though it's less practical as a family car.

Read our Kia Niro reviews here
Read our Kia Soul reviews here

Skoda Enyaq: The Enyaq is a fantastic family car with much more space in the cabin and boot than all of the above. Sadly, there are very few about at your budget, though we did find a couple so it might be worth holding out for. The compromise is that you'll only be able to afford the 58kWh model, which should manage a little over 300km between charges.

Read our Skoda Enyaq reviews here

Volkswagen ID.3/ID.4: The ID.3 is VW's equivalent to the Cupra Born above and there are more of them about, most with the same 58kWh battery. Saying that, we did find a few with the 77kWh battery pack, enabling a much longer range. The ID.4 is notably larger inside and comparable with the Skoda Enyaq. It's not common within budget though.

Read our Volkswagen ID reviews

Hopefully that's some useful food for thought. Don't hesitate to come back to us if you want us to help narrow down your search.


How much BIK on a Volkswagen Amarok?

I'm looking at buying a new VW Amarok Aventura for around €80k including VAT. It will primarily be used for work, but I will on occasion use it for personal use. How do I work out the BIK?

Paul (Athlone)

Apr 2025 Filed under: benefit-in-kind

Expert answer

Hi Paul,

Revenue is likely to treat that vehicle as a company car – not a van – due to it having rear seats, a high specification and suitability for use as a regular car. That's irrelevant of what you actually do with it.

BIK is calculated using the Original Market Value (OMV), a percentage determined by the car's CO2 emissions and the annual business mileage. In the case of the Amarok Aventura, the CO2 is 267g/km, and the retail-on-the-road price is €76,820 before options.

Such a high emissions rating puts this vehicle into the highest band for BIK, category E, and the percentage then depends on the annual business mileage from a high of 37.5 per cent for up to 26,000km to a low of 15 per cent for over 52,001km (it's 30 per cent for 26,001-39,000km and 22.5 per cent for 39,001-52,000km). You must keep records.

Say for example you do 25,000km a year for business reasons. That means 37.5 per cent of €76,820 as the calculated “cash equivalent” (€28,807.50) and that is then added to your total pay from a tax calculation point of view.

You can bring that down by doing more business mileage or choosing a more efficient – or cheaper – vehicle.

There are plenty of other bits and pieces to take into consideration, so it's worth taking a look at Revenue's own Private use of employer provided vehicles page for up-to-date information.


Can I convert a VW Tiguan van back into a car?

Hi,

Is it possible to put seats back into a VW Tiguan commercial van and change its use from commercial back to private and insure it as private vehicle?

Thank you

Eimear (Monaghan)

Apr 2025 Filed under: commercial vehicle

Expert answer

Hi Eimear,

That would be technically possible, yes, but we'd expect it to be prohibitively expensive to do and rather pointless when there are so many examples of the Tiguan already available.


Leather seats on the new Toyota Land Cruiser?

Does the N1 commercial Toyota Land Cruiser come with leather seats as standard?

Alan Mulligan (Dublin Ireland )

Apr 2025 Filed under: commercial vehicle

Expert answer

Hi Alan,

Yes it does. The seats are also heated and ventilated. 


Will future Volkswagens have buttons instead of touchscreens?

Hi,

Do you know if it's true that Volkswagen is putting a/c and heating control buttons back on its vehicles for 2026? I'm not a fan of having everything on screen. Changing basic settings can take my attention off the road for longer than it's safe and it's so easy to press the wrong setting by mistake. Turning off the heated seat when at its highest takes four swipes on my Golf. I don't have voice control. Buttons are far more instinctive.

Thanks.

Teresa (Co. Clare)

Apr 2025 Filed under: infotainment

Expert answer

Hi Teresa,

There is certainly a move that way, though don't expect all models to change all at once. It would appear that the car makers (not just Volkswagen) have listened to buyers such as you and critics such as us on this, and there will be a gradual reintroduction of some physical switchgear. Organisations such as Euro NCAP and even the EU are closely monitoring this, too, so we have high hopes for a return to less reliance on touchscreens for basic tasks in a car.

Volkswagen's recent show cars that preview forthcoming production models - such as the ID.1 and ID.2 - have buttons as well as a touchscreen.


Are these VRT estimates on a Transit Custom right?!

Hello,

I am looking to buy a family nine-seater like the Ford Tourneo Custom in NI. Unfortunately, Revenue's VRT calculator can't find anything from the years I've searched (2018, 2019, 2020), giving me a "No vehicle found for combination selected" error.

I tried vrt.ie, but it's giving me very high estimates. Could they be true?

For example, for a Feb 2019 Ford Tourneo Custom 2.0 EcoBlue 130hp Titanium, asking price £20,000, it came out at €16,493.48 CO2 (WTLP CO2 emissions: 215.867g/km, which seems crazy?) and €2,625 NOx charge.

For another specimen, a Jan 2020 Ford Tourneo 2.0 EcoBlue 130hp Titanium, they came at €8,979.6 CO2 (WTLP CO2 emissions: 164g/km) and €2,625 NOx.

Are these estimations even realistic? NOx is most certainly not right, but even the CO2 part seems excessive. But it's my first rodeo, so I really don't know! I would be very grateful for any clues.

Slawek (Lucan)

Apr 2025 Filed under: VRT

Expert answer

Hi Slawek,

We've found Revenue's VRT estimator to be lacking in a lot of ways and it certainly doesn't list all makes and models for all years.

Let's break down the figures.

First up, the NOx levy quoted by vrt.ie (€2,650) is actually the maximum possible charged for a vehicle with a diesel engine. Neither of the examples you provided will emit enough NOx to warrant that, though you will need to have proof of their official figure to avoid paying the maximum. We'd estimate that a NOx levy of about €250 is more realistic in this case.

Be careful with the CO2 figures. The 164g/km rating quoted for the second vehicle appears to be the old NEDC figure and Revenue will actually apply an “uplift” formula (see our Guide to Importing Cars from the UK feature for that) to bring it up to an equivalent WLTP rating. It comes out as 204g/km, meaning VRT at 41 per cent.

In your first example, this appears to have been done already, resulting in the 215g/km rating.

In both cases, that would mean VRT at 41 per cent of the OMSP, the Open Market Selling Price.

Now this is where things become less clear. The OMSP is not the asking price of the car, or even the price you pay for it, but the value Revenue places on it as a vehicle registered in Ireland and on sale here. It's not easy to estimate for relatively rare vehicles. For the purposes of our calculation, let's say €45,000. At 41 per cent, the VRT on that would be €18,450.

Obviously that could go up or down depending on how much Revenue believes the vehicle is worth, but we're certain of the 41 per cent VRT rate, unfortunately.


Which seven-seat EV is the cheapest?

What would be the best (cheapest) seven-seat electric car with smallest deposit?

Diana Jakovljevic (Maynooth)

Apr 2025 Filed under: choosing new car

Expert answer

Hi Diana,

The seven-seat EV market is tiny thus far and most of the vehicles are based on commercial vans. Here's a list in order of starting price:

  • Citroen E-Berlingo, from €38,693 (as 'LWB' model)
  • Opel Combo Life Electric, from €39,504
  • Peugeot E-Rifter, from €39,600 (as 'long' model)
  • Citroen E-Spacetourer, from €48,626
  • Opel Combi Electric, from €49,068
  • Peugeot E-5008, from €50,995
  • Opel Zafira Life Electric, from €62,495
  • Volkswagen ID. Buzz LWB, from €67,785
  • Kia EV9, from €77,500
  • Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, from €114,111
  • Volvo EX90, from €117,910
  • Mercedes-Benz EQV, from €125,830


I want a normal car that holds three baby seats...

Hi,

We have two, soon to be three children and are looking to buy a new car. We currently have a BeSafe Stretch R129 car seat (rated for the middle seat), an Axxkid Minikid 3 and then a Maxi Cosi Cabriofix for the infant. We'd love to stay away from having three rows of seats if at all possible. Do you have any recommendations for cars that would fit the three across?

Thanks!

Caoimhe (Dublin)

Apr 2025 Filed under: child or baby seats

Expert answer

Hi Caoimhe,

You've not told us your budget, as that will be the limiting factor given how few cars there are that can hold three baby seats in one row. The previous-generation Peugeot 5008 could manage it, for example, while the Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90 can as well and so can people carriers such as the SEAT Alhambra or Volkswagen Touran. Unfortunately, all of those are cars that usually happen to have three rows of seating as well so they may not appeal to you at all.

If you can get by without ISOFIX in the middle seat then you may find some wider cars can accept your three child seats, but it'll be a case of going to try them out for size with your seats in tow, as there's such variety between baby seats and the space between the buckles in the middle of the back seat of a car.

Ones that come to mind include the Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Tiguan, along with the new Cupra Terramar, for example.

If you want to come back to us with your budget and whether you're going new or used, we can try to come up with a few other potential candidates.


Can I buy a van for private use?

I am looking at adding a second car to our household. I have spotted a Hyundai Kona 1.6 commercial van for a good price. It has two seats etc. which is no issue as we are a two-adult household with no kids.

This car is purely only for me for social domestic use and commuting to and from work. Can you please advise on whether it's possible to purchase a commercial vehicle and insure and tax it privately? I have no commercial need for this van, purely private use.

John (Wicklow)

Apr 2025 Filed under: commercial vehicle

Expert answer

Hi John,

In theory there's no reason why you could not do this. The taxation is a little different and there's a commercial vehicle equivalent to the NCT, but no legislation preventing a private individual from buying and driving a commercial vehicle.

However, anecdotal evidence suggests that it's not all that easy for private individuals to find insurance for such vehicles. Do some ringing around on that before you commit to buying and if you have no luck talking to the insurers directly then consider employing the services of an insurance broker.


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