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Hi Pat,

Actually, it’s a UK insurer you’ll have to go to, as until the car has its new Irish registration and tax, you won’t be able to get it covered by an Irish company. All the big UK insurers offer temporary cover, but obviously just check that they’ll cover you for driving in Ireland before you decide. If you already have car insurance with an Irish provider on your existing car (I’m presuming you do) it is worth checking with them first, though, as they may be able to offer you something for the switchover period.

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Hi Kevin,

The Tourneo uses a 2.0-litre TDCi diesel engine so taxing it as a private vehicle means using the old engine capacity tax system, which means €710 a year.

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Hi Shane,

Both are excellent, but in general we’d lean towards the Skoda. Although a slightly smaller car overall, you’re not sacrificing much rear seat space, and you are gaining a bigger and more versatile boot. Our only concern would be to get a very careful history check done, as the Octavia is popular as a taxi, and that’s something to be avoided. 

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Hi Tracey,

OK, the Triton is basically the same as our L200 pickup, so it’ll be assessed for Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) at 13.3 per cent of the Irish market selling price. An L200 of that sort of age, depending on condition, will be worth around €10-12,000 so you’re probably looking at around €1,500 or so in VRT costs. Because it’s an older car you won’t  need to worry about VAT, but because it’s coming from outside the EU, there will be customs duty to pay, which is usually charged at 10 per cent of the vehicle cost plus shipping. When you bring the car in, you have a week to officially notify Revenue that the car is in the country, and then 30 days to book your VRT inspection appointment and complete the process. 

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Hi Chris,

The answer here is Skoda Superb. Nothing else, at least nothing else affordable, has the sort of rear legroom to truly allow a very tall driver to get comfy in front of a rear-facing infant seat, and the Superb has the kind of massive boot that every parent of two growing kids will truly need. They’re not expensive, either — go for the second-generation or later model (which first launched in 2009, although the current version, launched in 2015 is nicer still) and you’ll be onto a winner, just make sure to get one with a full and comprehensive history and make sure that it’s not been previously used as a taxi (many have). Even better — get the Combi estate for maximum practicality. 

Read our Skoda Superb reviews for more

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Hi Marcin,

It can be taxed privately. Oddly, as it's a commercial, to tax it privately, the rate is calculated on the old by-engine-capacity regime, regardless of the fact that it's a 2016 model.

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Hi Philip,

Generally speaking, long-term hybrid reliability seems to be excellent. It probably helps that most hybrids that have been built and sold so far have been made by those paragons of reliability, Honda and Toyota. Both companies say that many of their older hybrid models — first generation Prius dating back to 1997, and Civic IMAs dating back to 2002 — are still on the road and in regular use. Indeed, Honda says that it has never had to replace a battery pack on models such as the post-2010 Insight or the little-seen Jazz Hybrid. Toyota says similar things about older Prius and Auris models, and points to the huge numbers of those cars being used on taxi fleets, racking up mega-miles with no major reliability issues to report. That’s likely helped by two things — electric motors are simple and therefore generally reliable, and most hybrid cars on the road at the moment use older-style nickel batteries, which aren’t as energy-dense as newer lithium-ion batteries, but which again are simple, rugged and reliable.

Even if you do need to eventually replace a battery pack, it’s not that expensive to do so — a second generation Prius pack change costs around €1,400 — not far off what you’d have to pay for a major engine rebuild or replacement, and you’re about as likely to need one. Basically, the advice is as for any second hand purchase — buy on condition, not mileage, make sure it has a full and complete service history and, if you have any concerns in the longer term, consider taking out a second-hand warranty programme.

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Hi Katarzyna,

You can, but there are two things standing in your way — first you will have to tax the van as a private vehicle, and that means you may end up paying more every year than the flat-rate €333 commercial vehicle road tax rate. Secondly, you will need to make sure you tell your insurer that the van is being used for private, social, domestic and pleasure use, as that may have an impact on your quote and coverage. 

Read our Buying a commercial vehicle for private use feature for more

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Hi Tim,

Yes, that looks about right to us and, if you’ve used the Revenue VRT calculator, then the VRT cost should be close enough to what you’ll actually have to finally pay. One word of warning — the calculator doesn’t allow for extra optional equipment, which can jack up the cost of VRT, so beware of that when you bring it down for inspection.

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Hi David,

Right, I’m going to make a couple of assumptions here — one is that this is the 140hp 2.0-litre TDCI diesel that we’re talking about, and that it’s the post-2010 facelift model. If so, then CO₂ emissions for the automatic model are 149g/km, and that means you’re in Band C for motor tax, which is €390 a year.