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Hi Paul,

That's a tricky one. We're familiar with the PSE of course and it's a cracking car. Unfortunately, very few people outside of the Peugeot dealer network are likely to understand what it is and you're unlikely to be offered a satisfactory price that reflects its true value.

But you can probably see the dealer's point of view as well: it's a special, niche model that just won't be in demand from the general public.

I'd suggest either finding a showroom that specialises in high-end and performance cars to try and better the trade-in offer (assuming they have a car you want of course) or sell the car yourself. It's a lot messier than trading in the car, obviously, and it may take time to find a serious buyer, but it's how you'd maximise its value.

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Hi Mick,

It's very likely that the dealer is correct, but you will need to make sure they give you all the paperwork ahead of time so you can check. For example, if the car was previously imported to NI, but not by the dealer you're buying the car from, then our understanding is that they could not do the requisite customs declaration now.

Essentially, you need to have proof that the dealer you are buying the car from is the same entity that brought the car from England and that they imported it according to the Windsor Framework rules. They should be able to give you a copy of the SAD (Single Administrative Document – or form C88) for example, plus proof of transportation of the car into the North.

If you're satisfied that the paperwork is in order then you don't need a customs declaration at all, just book a VRT inspection with the NCTS.

However, make sure you do have proof of all the facts, as Revenue can contact importers after the VRT inspection and request more information.

It's highly likely that the NI dealer is familiar with the paperwork requirements and that they'll furnish you with what you need.

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Hi Fred,

We did find a CO₂ rating for that BMW on the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism website (click here for the file) – it's 121g/km, but it's much harder to find NOx ratings on there and I've not been entirely successful either.

I did find this official PDF showing a NOx figure for the BMW 320d (0.063g/km), but it does not specifically mention “LDA-8C20”.

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Hi Frank,

If Ford won't play ball in giving you a CoC with all the details on it, then next step is perhaps to try to find the information on an officially recognised UK website, such as this one from the Vehicle Certification Agency. If you can find your exact car on there, that should be accepted, but we strongly urge you to talk to Revenue ahead of the NCTS inspection about the documentation you have to hand. 

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Hi Kieran,

That's frustrating on the resale value of your car, but we're in no better position than the dealers you've spoken to and they hold the 'power' in that regard so the cost-to-change will all come down to the deal any one showroom is willing to make. Anecdotally, you'll get a better deal if you go back to a BMW outlet, but it doesn't sound like any BMW is on your radar this time around. 

The three cars you've listed are decent enough, but I'd strongly urge you to test drive them before you make any decisions as they'll all feel a big chunky and heavy next to your BMW i4. 

Have you considered Polestar at all? Both the Polestar 2 and Polestar 4 are within the same price ballpark as you're looking and are both great to drive with a bit of an SUV vibe. The Polestar 2 has been around for a while (I own one as it happens) but it was significantly upgraded last year for more performance, spec and efficiency. It's now either rear-drive or all-wheel drive.

Again, take the time to go and test drive all of these cars before you bother trying to make deals, as the driving experience of the BMW i4 is a hard act to follow.

Expert answer

Hi James,

You're not alone in having this issue. We can find that T-Roc on the MLIT website and get its CO₂ emissions and fuel consumption data, but we cannot see a document showing its NOx rating. The best we could come up with is a spec sheet for the 2025 model on sale today in Japan. Given that this should be the same as the 2022 version, Revenue may accept that. It's 150mg/km.

We've not heard of anyone successfully obtaining this information from a European brand directly, and it's unlikely that Revenue would accept data for the T-Roc sold in a country other than Japan, as there can be regional differences.

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Hi David,

If you are buying a used car from a garage in Northern Ireland that originally came from Great Britain, the key question is whether it has been properly customs-cleared into Northern Ireland. In your case, the garage has confirmed that it used the Trader Support Service (TSS) to bring the car in, and it has the paperwork to show that. That means the car is considered to be in 'free circulation' in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework.

When you purchase it from the NI garage and bring it into the Republic, you will not have to pay Irish VAT or customs duty, even though the car is still on GB plates. What you will have to pay is Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) and, if applicable, the NOx levy when registering the car through the NCTS system, as you mentioned.

The important thing is to ensure you receive and keep the TSS documentation from the garage, as Revenue can ask to see it when you register the car. Without that proof, Irish VAT and customs charges could potentially be applied.

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Hi Martin,

The information is supposed to be on this page but it's difficult to find your way around. First up, make sure you use whatever browser you have to translate to English.

Scroll down to the section marked '5. 1. Gasoline passenger car fuel economy'. We found the VW Up in the Volkswagen tab of the Excel file that downloads when you click on 'Imported vehicle (JC08 mode)'. However, that only gives the CO₂ emissions (106g/km) for a single version of the Up, so hopefully that's the correct one.

To find the NOx, we searched the page that link is on for "Volkswagen Up" and found a series of documents, including this one showing a NOx value of 0.013g/km.

Hopefully Revenue will accept both of those documents as proof.

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Hi Elizabeth,

On such a new vehicle, which presumably has a full service history and part of its new-car warranty in place, there aren't many 'cons' we can think of. That's assuming you have access to the car's history and that it has been registered in Ireland already by the dealer.

Ask for all the documentation showing when it was registered and for the full service history, etc. 

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Hi Michael,

DS Automobiles will not be represented at the IAA Munich show next month, unfortunately. 

Your best bet is France, as the car is already available to configure on the French DS Automobiles website. I'd suggest contacting dealers ahead of time there if you're planning to travel to France soon, as it's highly likely they have cars available for test drive.