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Hi Patrick,

It’s a bit of a catch-22, adding two-stroke oil to your RX-8 rotary. In theory, it can help with delaying the onset of rotor tip wear, but the problem is that it will destroy your catalytic convertor and that means you definitely won’t pass the NCT. I wouldn’t recommend it. Much better merely to make sure that the engine is properly and regularly serviced, rather than trying any short cuts like two-stroke oil. 

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Hi Owen,

In terms of taxing a vehicle as a private car, there are no particular restrictions. All you have to do to tax a commercial vehicle as a private car is to let your local motor tax office know, and they’ll shift your tax to the old engine capacity system, instead of the flat-rate €333 annual commercial tax.

What makes a vehicle a ‘commercial’ is its original homologation (whether it’s classified as an N1 commercial vehicle, or an M1 passenger vehicle), but it’s entirely legitimate to tax an N1 commercial as a private car. However, even if you do so, it will still need to be tested, annually, under the Light Commercial Vehicle test, not the passenger car NCT. There’s no VAT issue in that you’ll pay the normal VAT rate when buying a commercial vehicle, but you won’t be able to claim back the VAT unless you’re using the vehicle for commercial purposes.

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Hi Ken,

It depends on what exactly we’re talking about here. If it’s a two-seat Land Cruiser with a cargo bay in the back, then Revenue should treat it as a purely commercial vehicle for VRT purposes, even  if you later go on to tax it as a private vehicle. If, though, it’s a four-seat model that has been categorised as an N1 in the UK, Revenue won’t accept it as a van here anymore, and it’ll be charged at the full passenger car VRT rate. 

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Hi James,

OK, at 25,000km per year, you’re just about over the line for diesel to make good sense for you. Both the Passat and the Avensis are rugged, reliable cars so they’re both good choices. The Passat has the nicer interior and is more comfortable overall, and that 1.6-litre diesel is remarkably economical (we once drove from Galway to Glasgow, via Belfast, and back on one tank…).

However, the Avensis would have an edge on overall reliability, which, when dealing with cars of this sort of mileage and age, could be significant. I’d say, on balance, go for one of the Avensis, but carefully check over the history and condition of each car, and go for the one that’s the best in those regards, rather than mileage or price. Oh, and as with any four-door saloon with high mileage, check to make sure that neither has been previously used as a taxi. We recommend Cartell.ie for a full history check.

Read our Toyota Avensis reviews

Read our Volkswagen Passat reviews

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Hi Janice,

It depends when you bought it. If you bought it at least six months ago, and can show that it’s been taxed and insured for that period, plus you can show proof of transfer of residence, then there’s no import duty (Vehicle Registration Tax) to pay. When it comes to paying road tax, it depends on the model. If it’s a commercial vehicle, and used as a commercial vehicle, then it will cost €333 a year to tax. If it’s a commercial vehicle but used as a private car, then it will be €1,034 per year. If it’s a passenger model Defender, then with CO₂ emissions of more than 225g/km, it’ll cost you €2,350 per year in motor tax.

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Hi Brian,

Well, in the first instance, it would probably be a good idea to ring the company back and ask to see their permits. If you don’t fancy doing that, then I would send your registration document off pretty quickly, as otherwise you may still be liable if the car is illegally dumped or some other such nefarious activity takes place. Send the form off, and then contact the local motor tax office, or possibly the Gardaí, and talk through your concerns with them.

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Hi Ray,

Generally speaking, if you re-tax a commercial vehicle as a passenger car, you revert to the old by-engine-capacity tax, which, with a 2.0-litre engine, would cost you €710 per year. If that X-Trail is a converted passenger car, you could of course return it to full passenger car status, which would cost you the same in tax per year, as it’s a pre-2008 car. 

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Hi Tina,

There can be many different reasons for a start-stop system not to work. We get so many queries about it that we wrote this feature: Why won't my car's stop-start system work?

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Hi Mark,

The government knows the emissions of each vehicle simply because each vehicle is put through a series of official laboratory tests as part of the process of homologation — the legal process whereby a car is pronounced as passed for sale to the public - and that data is made available by the car manufacturers. As for which is cheaper to tax, it’s down to the CO₂ emissions and we’d have to know which make and models you’re looking at before we could give you a precise answer, but in most cases, for a given car, the diesel would have lower CO₂ emissions and hence motor tax.

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Hi Lydia,

To get a replacement NCT cert, you need to fill out a form, get it stamped at your local Garda station and pay a €15.50 fee. There’s a helpful page on the Road Safety Authority website that explains what you need to do, and you can find that here: https://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Your-Vehicle/Your-Vehicle-/The-NCT--Recognition-Certs/ Just bear in mind that at the moment, you might want to exercise a little caution about going out to get forms stamped, and allow some extra time for processing etc.