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Hi Alan,

No. You’ll need to show proof of insurance when you tax the vehicle so if you’re taxing it privately, but insuring it as a commercial, then alarm bells might well be raised. Also, if you did have an accident and your insurance company found out that you were playing both sides of the system, you’d probably have your claim denied. 

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Hi Ger,

It’s a tough car to value, the Amazon, not only because they’re so thin on the ground in Ireland, but also because they really, really, hold onto their value. I’d take a wild guess at a VRT charge of around €9,000 (based on a rough calculation of a €25,000 valuation), but Revenue could well take a different view. By the way, if you’re going to import one, do it before Jan 1st. The NOx emissions for a 4.2 diesel Amazon are 570mg/km, which means an extra VRT charge of €4,850...

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Hi John,

Nope, it wouldn’t. 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.

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Hi Eric,

It’s tempting to answer this with a simple ‘good luck’ and leave it at that… The problem, of course, is one of sheer rarity. The Thompson Motor Company at one point claimed to have made 100 Costins before the Wexford-based firm went bankrupt in 1987, but the general consensus is that this was entirely made up. The actual production figure seems to have been around 40, maybe slightly fewer. We can currently find none for sale in Ireland or the UK at the moment, but it could be a question of simply taking your time and trying to make some contact with those in the know. I’d suggest having a chat with the guys at the Irish Veteran & Vintage Car Club and the Irish Jaguar & Daimler Club, and make sure you visit the next Terenure classic show.

Or, alternatively, make friends with cycling superstar Stephen Roche. We think he has two...

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Hi Philip,

First up, it's worth mentioning that there is not a massive worldwide problem with timing chains. They fail in some cars some of the time, but that does not mean they are inherently less reliable than timing belts. Every car is different in that regard so we'd urge you not to choose a car based on that.

There is no 'norm' - each car maker chooses which to use for a given engine and there doesn't seem to be any trend one way or the other as far as we can seen. 

The 2.0 TDI diesel engine in the pre-facelift Superb definitely used a timing belt, but there's a new engine in the facelifted model ('2.0 TDI evo') and we've not had a lot of information on the timing system. The one photograph of the image I've found shows a plastic cover to the front of the engine, suggesting that it does still have a timing belt.

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Hi Sean,

The short answer is that we don’t know yet — the XCeed is only going to be first shown to the public at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month, and so that means we’re a long way from Irish prices and specs just yet. However, we can make an educated guess. Kia in Ireland tends to offer a single specification for its niche models, such as the Proceed sports estate and the e-Soul electric car, so it’s possible that the XCeed will follow suit. In fact, and I must emphasise that is is a guess, I’d expect that the XCeed and the Proceed will probably be closely aligned on price and spec, with the XCeed coming in just a little cheaper than the Proceed’s €28,946. The Proceed comes, as standard, with an eight-inch touchscreen with navigation, wireless smartphone charging, 17-inch alloy wheels, lane keeping assistance and auto-dip high-beam lights (among other items).

We do know that items such as connected services and a new 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster will be available as options, but we’ll just have to wait and see what Kia Ireland comes up with when the car is launched here.

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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.

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Hi Rob,

Yes, if you have registered the car to your London address, and can show proof of continuous tax and insurance for six months prior to your move, then you’ll be able to avoid VRT when you import it here. On the Discovery Commercial, you’ll be looking at rather more than €200 VRT to import it, I’m afraid. N1 and Cat B commercial vehicles don’t pay a flat rate any more, they pay 13.3 per cent of the Open Market Selling Price, or the Irish market price as defined by Revenue. The same will go for a crew-cab, and 13.3 per cent is the lowest possible rate of VRT. 

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Hi Tim,

It doesn't need to be done until 210,000km on the clock - regardless of time.

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Hi Anne,

Our information shows that the recommended change interval is 140,000 kilometres (about 87,000 miles) or every 10 years, whichever comes first.