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Hi Brenda,

It depends on the van, and the configuration of those seats. According to Revenue "Car derived and jeep derived vans” will be charged 13.3 per cent of their OMSP (Open Market Selling Price, basically what Revenue thinks the car would be worth were it on sale in Ireland), but "Other vehicles such as tractors, large vans, lorries, vintage cars (over 30 years old), minibuses (minimum 12 passenger seats)” will be charged a flat rate of €200. The easiest way to find out is to get the VIN number and description of the vehicle you’re looking at and give your local motor tax office a ring and ask.

They’re usually very helpful people.

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Hi Grainne,

As previously noted, you’ll need to have a current and valid primary medical cert as new certs are not being issued right now thanks to a Supreme Court decision that  has thrown the rebate scheme for disabled drivers into limbo. However, if you already have the cert, you should still be able to avail of the VRT and VAT rebates, so that should be fine (although it’s worth checking ahead of time — it’s a bit of a moving target at the moment).

I think that a Skoda Kamiq might be the right sort of car for you. Not much bigger on the outside than the Merc, but more roomy within, and with the necessary automatic gearbox and reversing camera on the options list. Get it with the sweet little 1.0-litre petrol  engine and you’re onto a winner. It’ll be well within your budget, too. 

Read our Skoda Kamiq reviews here

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Hi Aidan,

Well, generally speaking, vans fall into one of two categories for VRT. Most will be charged 13.3 per cent of the Irish open market selling price (OMSP), which in the case of a 2014 Transporter is likely to be in the region of €13,000. So 13.3 per cent of that is €1,279 and that should be your VRT cost, more or less.

Of course, there’s a chance that your Transporter of choice will fall into the second category, which gets charged a flat-rate of €200 if, says Revenue, “it always had less than four seats and at any time a laden mass greater than 130 per cent of the mass in service.” 

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Hi Paul,

I’m presuming that has the 2.0-litre EcoBlue engine? If so then it’s €710 a year to tax as a private car. As for insurance, yes you can insure it privately, but you might have to shop around a good bit. Some insurers are wary of such policies, but a good broker should be able to help you out.

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Hi Una,

Sadly, I suspect not. It's highly unlikely there is enough width on the back seat to accomodate all three. If you already have the infant seats, give it a go to make sure, or bring the car along to a good child seat store and they should help you check it out for size as well.

Please do let us know how you get on.

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Hi Martin,

It will be safe in terms of the seatbelt mounting etc. The only thing to consider is that there is less room between the back of the car and the child in the case of a rear-end crash, but that's the case for nearly all seven-seat cars in fairness.

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Hi Eoin,

The only cost will be in the change of tax. There’s no cost to have a commercial vehicle re-registered as a private car (although you will have to satisfy the NCT that the conversion has been carried out to an adequate standard), but your tax costs will go up, as you’ll be put onto the by-engine-capacity tax system, which, depending on the engine in the Transporter (I’m presuming it’s a 2.0-litre), will be much more costly than the existing commercial tax of €333 per year. 

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Hi Fidelma,

A Skoda Kodiaq would be a very good bet — lots of space in the rear seat, plus the option of extra seats in the boot (although those ones are a bit tight for teens), but there’s no hybrid version as yet. Its close cousin, the SEAT Tarraco, will soon be offered as a hybrid, while the new Volkswagen Tiguan arrives next summer.

The Toyota RAV4 is pretty roomy, but there’s no seven-seat option and you might find the rear bench a little narrow for three teens side-by-side. The best thing to do is bring them on the test drive and see if they all fit comfortably.

Peugeot’s 3008 plug-in hybrid could also be worth a look, although you might be better off waiting for the larger 5008 version using the same powertrain. Toyota will be launching its new Highlander seven-seat hybrid SUV in early 2021, but that might be too far away for you. 

It all depends on how much you want to spend, as there are hybrid versions of the BMW X3 and X5, plus the Volvo XC60 and XC90. Come back to us with your budget if you want more specific advice.

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Hi Matt,

In theory it would, but the seats would have to have been fitted as an original option to those specific chassis codes, so that might trip you up. It’s worth a try...

Expert answer

Hi Laura,

It'll be difficult to get three child car seats into the back of a Tucson I'm afraid, as the rear seat just isn't wide enough. There may be particularly slim child seats out there that make it possible, but even so, our experience is that it's not an ideal set-up. Recommending specific child seats is outside our remit I'm afraid, as we don't habitually test various models of seat.