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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 Shane,

Yes you can. The tax part is pretty simple — you just call into or phone your local motor tax office and let them know that you want to convert the van to private tax. With a 1.9-litre engine, you’ll pay €710 per year in motor tax. Insurance, to judge from the responses we’ve had from some readers, is a little more tricky, but is possible. You’ll probably have to do a good bit of phoning around, or possibly get in touch with a good local broker.

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Hi Michael,

No, I’m afraid you can’t. In Ireland a car has to be at least 30 years old before it qualifies for classic (vintage, as it’s somewhat erroneously known) tax or insurance.

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Hi Anna,

Yes, you can, and all you have to do is get in touch with your local motor tax office. However, you’ll need to let your insurer know of the change of use too, and that may affect your premium.

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Hi Alan,

The problem here is that you’re trying to do some of it through the company and some of it yourself, which to be honest doesn’t really work. First off, if you want to use the company (or individual’s) VAT number then the car is going to have to be registered to them, not to you. In theory you can tax a vehicle commercially without a VAT number, but in practice it’s tricky, and if you get caught using it for any social, domestic, or pleasure use then there are big fines ahoy. 

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Hi Bill,

You can absolutely tax and insure a commercial vehicle for private use and, as it is more than 30 years old, it’ll be really cheap to import and to tax — the VRT will be a flat rate of €200 while the motor tax will be €56.

Insurance will, as ever, be the wrinkle — generally, if you want to put it on a classic scheme, most insurers will insist that you have another ’normal’ car for everyday use, and it might be tricky putting down your son as a named driver. I’d suggest getting in touch with a good local broker, who might be able to unearth a better deal for you than just searching around on the internet. 

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Hi Roger,

Yes, in theory, you can register any commercial vehicle for private use, once you let the local motor tax office know. There can be issues with getting private insurance on some models, so check that with your insurer or broker first, and with a Hilux you’ll probably end up paying quite a chunk in tax, as it’ll switch to the by-engine-capacity system. 

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Hi Lokeshwar,

How much? Lots. Who? Hardly anyone. Sorry to be cruel, but when you’re under thirty and your engine size is over 1.4, most insurers won’t even touch you, and those that do will be looking for a second mortgage for the first year’s premium. Get a good broker on your side and see what you can dig up, but it won’t be easy I’m afraid to say. 

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Hi James,

You mean get it re-registered? Yes, you have to — it’s the law. Thankfully, as it’s a change of address, as long as you can demonstrate six months' previous tax and insurance in the UK, it will only cost you the price of the new numberplates. 

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Hi Adrian,

Yes, you can. Or at least, you certainly should be able to. Simply ring up your local motor tax office and they should be able to just transfer you to the old engine-capacity tax system. On the insurance front, have you tried getting a good broker? They can often find deals that we orindary humans cannot.