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Hi Frank,

The process of taxing it is relatively straightforward — just ring up your local motor tax office (list here: https://www.gov.ie/en/service/1fc151-find-your-local-motor-tax-office/) and ask them to switch you over. The problem is twofold — with a 3.0-litre Range Rover Sport, you’re going to be paying the second-highest rate of motor tax (€1,494 per year) because a commercial re-registered for private use is taxed on the old engine capacity-based tax system. Insurance can also be a major issue — it shouldn’t be, but it is, so get hold of a good local broker to help you navigate those waters before you take the leap. 

Read Buying a commercial vehicle for private use for more information.

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Hi Ann,

Taxing a van privately is easy. You just need to inform your local motor tax office that you are changing its use. You'll probably pay more in annual motor tax, as it goes by the engine size.

Insuring a commercial vehicle privately is not so easy, annoyingly. We advise you employ the services of a good broker to find you an insurer, as most of the large insurers will just give you the "computer says no" answer...

Give our Buying a commercial vehicle for private use feature a read too.

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Hi Paul,

In theory, all crew-cab vans fall into Category B for VRT purposes, which Revenue defines as: "commercial vehicles, designed and constructed for the carriage of goods and not exceeding 3.5 tonnes. These vehicles are European category N1 and generally have three seats or less. VRT Category B also includes motor caravans.”

In Category B, you’ll be charged 13.3 per cent of the OMSP, the Irish market selling price as defined by Revenue. There are some vans that fall into a slightly different category, and are charged a flat rate of €200, but these are vans that (a) always had less than four seats and (b) have at any time a laden mass greater than 130% of the mass in service. You should be able to find out which category your Vito fits into by quoting the VIN number when booking your VRT inspection.

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Hi Jess,

It's comforting that so many expensive components have already been replaced. If the car has been properly serviced throughout its life, then we'd hope it'll do you good service for a while yet. Of course, with this level of mileage, you should expect it to be considerably cheaper than a low-mileage car. 

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Hi George,

Taxing it privately is an easy one - anybody can do that. Insuring it privately may be more difficult, so make sure you ring a few insurers to get an answer on that. If you're having no joy then consider employing the services of an independent broker.

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Hi Gerard,

Expert answer

Hi Aidan,

Well, generally speaking, vans fall into one of two categories for VRT. Most will be charged 13.3 per cent of the Irish open market selling price (OMSP), which in the case of a 2014 Transporter is likely to be in the region of €13,000. So 13.3 per cent of that is €1,279 and that should be your VRT cost, more or less.

Of course, there’s a chance that your Transporter of choice will fall into the second category, which gets charged a flat-rate of €200 if, says Revenue, “it always had less than four seats and at any time a laden mass greater than 130 per cent of the mass in service.” 

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Hi Richie,

There is slightly better value to be had on a Tucson in the UK — a 2016 model will cost you around £12-13,000, compared to somewhere in the region of €17-19,000 here, but that doesn’t take into account the cost of VRT (probably in the region of €2,500 to €3,000 depending on spec) and of course the costs of getting to the UK and back with the car.

Trading in shouldn’t be a major issue — most of the big UK dealers are well set up to deal with Irish customers, and there are services that can even find the car you want, arrange a trade-in and then deliver the new car to your door, from the UK.

It’s always, always worth having a good shop around at home though — Irish dealers need the business, and many will trim their prices to match the cost of importing a car if you ask nicely and bargain hard.

The arrival of the new Tucson will, we presume, put a little downward pressure on the used prices of the current model, but it probably won’t be by much — considering how well the current model is still selling, it’s likely that there will be significant demand for used stock for some time to come.

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Hi Colette,

Unless you're covering huge mileage, that seems way too often to us. If a Honda dealer has told you that, you should ask for clarification as to why, as, other than high-mileage, it would be normal for a new car such as that to have an oil change once a year - or when the built-in service indicator suggests it's needed.

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Hi John,

It may well be. Generally speaking, when it comes to longer warranties such as those offered by Hyundai and Kia, for example, they stipulate that the warranty continues to be valid only if the car is serviced at a main dealer. Hyundai Ireland tells us "Please note that only cars sourced through Hyundai Cars Ireland Ltd. and purchased through a Hyundai Authorised Dealer qualify for the five-year triple care package." It would be worth having a word with your nearest Hyundai dealer before you take the plunge, perhaps?