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Hi Betty,

It depends on the engine:

1.25/1.4/1.6-litre petrol: every 160,000km/8 years

1.4/1.6-litre diesel:
- to July 2011: 140,000km/10 years
- after that: 180,000km/10 years

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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 Antoinette,

The thing is that they’re two very different cars — the Polo is a significantly smaller vehicle than the Auris. So, if you need the space, and you like the hybrid aspect, then definitely go for another Auris. If you’re happy with the space in the Polo, and you can live without the hybrid bit, then the Polo is a very fine car.

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Hi Tshegofatso,

The only 1.6-litre Kuga of that age is the petrol model, so we're assuming you mean that. It has a timing belt, which must be changed at least every 200,000 kilometres or 10 years, whichever comes first.

There will be no warning when the belt needs to be changed, so keep an eye on the mileage. If you let it go too far above the suggested change interval, the belt may snap, but that's not a very common occurrence.

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Hi Lee,

There’s a lot of weighing up in this, but it’s mostly about the finances. The car will, to all intents and purposes, be identical in either scenario, PCP deals are tempting, because of their low monthly repayments, but don’t forget that they are a lease, not a purchase, so you have to keep the vehicle to an agreed standard and condition, or there will be penalty costs at the end of the three years.

There shouldn’t be any issue in terms of depreciation, but obviously a 2017 car will be worth less than a new car at the end of three years, but then you’ve paid less up front for it in the first place, so it should more or less balance out.

Of course, buying from the UK, you won't be able to trade in your current car, so you'll have to factor in the hassle of selling that yourself.

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Hi Evan,

That does seem like an anomaly. According to our data, a 1.6 petrol Jetta with a manual gearbox from 2009 should have emissions of 165g/km, so should be taxed in Band D, on €570 a year, not €750 a year. I’d raise a query with your local motor tax office. 

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Hi Colin,

Yup, Mercedes will be bringing the CLA 220 and CLA 250 diesel models, with their 2.0-litre engines, to the market in due course, but the CLA is launching initially in Ireland with the lower-power petrol and diesel versions. The rest will follow over the next few months.

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Hi Francis,

The cost of the parts and the labour will vary considerably depending on where you get the work done and where the parts are bought from. We can tell you that the work, on the 1.2-litre petrol engine, should take about five hours in total.

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Hi Jackie,

There is no simple answer to that one I'm afraid. I assume this query comes off the back of this news story. That Ferrari cost close to €200,000 to convert, but every car is different - and the owner has a lot of input into the conversion, which can alter the price. 

Needless to say it is an expensive project to undertake by any measure.

Expert answer

Hi Brian,

OK, we’ve had a look around on this one and we think we’ve found a possible solution. It’s true that the Irish insurance industry isn’t as up to speed as some others when it comes to conversions such as this, but the nice people at insuremycars.ie said that they’d be willing to take a look. They told us that: "The main concern would be who is doing the work – is it a professional firm or a bit of a DIY? An engineer's report would be required too, and it may have to be an engineer on the insurer's panel and this could be at the client's cost.” So there are a few hoops to jump through but it’s not a no.