Expert answer

Hi Ray,

VRT is the only charge you have to pay (aside from transportation costs) when you import a car from the UK because once VAT has been paid on an item in the EU it cannot be paid again. As regards the accuracy of the online calculator I would say that it can be hit and miss but this can both work for or against you. 

VRT is calculated as a percentage of the Open Market Selling Price (OMSP) and this is pretty much estimated by Revenue based on what cars are selling for and some other combinations that only it seems to know the answers to!

Sometimes the prices can be really high and sometimes they can be thankfully low. You do have the right to appeal a VRT price if you feel it is unduly high. Certainly the calculator will give you a good idea of what you will pay and as such is the same system that a VRT office official will use. From there, they may decide to start charging you for any optional extras that there are on the car and they now have better access to this information. 

Full details of the charges associated with VRT can be found here. 

Take the estimate as a guide price, but be prepared to have to spend a little bit more if your car is subject to a full inspection. 

I hope this helps

Expert answer

SIMI are the Society of the Irish Motor Industry and as such, buying from one of its members is the closest you can get to total security when buying a used car. Of course there are no guarantees when buying a used car but at least here you are getting a car that has gone through a thorough car history check, and the dealers also have signed up to SIMIs code of conduct so they are answerable to a higher power. 

A spokesperson for SIMI outlined some of the benefits of buying from a SIMI dealer. "SIMI have high membership standards. To become a member of SIMI the garage must pass an audit and inspection. The dealer must submit among other documentation a tax clearance certificate, proof of planning permission, and be nominated by 3 existing members. Should a dispute arise we have a standards department that will investigate the consumers complaint. The first step is mediation between the customer and the garage. If that does not resolve the issue we have an independent tribunal that is headed up by a former rights commissioner and also a consumer group. The tribunal decision is binding on the SIMI garage."

Cars from SIMI dealers tend to be better, but this is not to say that there are not good independent dealers who choose not to become members of the SIMI and pay their fees. There are good independent car history check websites around such as Cartell.ie and Motorcheck.ie and for a fee there are several layers of check you can do on these cars. So, no, we wouldn't say to avoid non-SIMI dealers, but SIMI dealers do come with some security as-standard. 

If you want to come back to us with an idea of your budget and needs, feel free and we will guide you a litte bit more.

Expert answer

Hello Raymond,

One word: tax. The United States and our near neighbours the UK aren't subject to anything like the taxation that we are when it comes to cars. The base price of our cars before you add VAT and Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) have always been among the lowest in Europe. But when you add the taxes obviously the cars start becoming expensive. 

But also, because these taxes are also on optional extras (including safety features) then car distributors often have to bring in very basic versions so that the ordinary buyer can afford them. Hence, items that you would normally see as standard in other markets have often been taken out, even if this is something like ESP, which is a life-saving safety device. 

Those selling the cars have to do this because of how much of the car's value is going to the Government coffers. It has long been an issue in Ireland and one that the EU have taken a strong interest in too, because it sees it as double taxation on an item, which is against EU law. 

There are also other issues in relation to strengths of currencies at any given time and also that the USA has a manufacturing supply, so specific US-built cars are sold there and aren't treated as imported vehicles. Of course the US is a massive market and hence economies of scale come into play, where as Ireland is a tiny market in comparison.

Prices have come down here because at least now cars are taxed on their CO₂ emissions and not their engine size, which was the case until July 2008 and made little sense. It meant that nobody bought diesel cars but instead bought small, underpowered petrol ones instead. 

With petrol (or should I say 'gas') much cheaper in the US, it has always been easier to buy V6, V8 or even V12 petrol cars there too.

Obviously it isn't ideal for us here in Ireland, but in Europe there are many countries just like us, including Denmark, Norway and Portugal so we are not alone. Just count yourself lucky that you are buying in the US!

I hope this answers your question.

Expert answer

Hello Pat,

As a trade-in it would probably be accurate enough to assume that your Volvo would be worth about €2,000, although you might get a little more if you sold it privately.

When you say the Skoda Combi I am assuming that you mean the Fabia Combi, which is Skoda's small estate model. It is indeed a nice little car, but perhaps something of an odd-ball and it might not be the best car to choose if you are focusing on resale value. 

There is really only one car that stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to residual value in the small car segment and that is the Volkswagen Polo. If you look back at the classifieds you will notice that these command a used price significantly higher than any other car in the class, so if you are buying with a view to the car being worth something in five years, this is where you should be putting your money.

It isn't necessarily the best car in the segment though - for us the Fiesta would claim that particular title. There is no doubt that if your budget is restricted then you won't get a Polo with tons of equipment thrown in and it might be shorter on power than some of its rivals, but I'd go for a 70hp 1.2 Comfortline Polo in a safe colour (silver, black or red) and you will get decent money for this car in five years time.

I hope this helps

Expert answer

Hi Alan

The scrappage scheme has been good news and as you might have seen today SIMI is calling for an extension of this. Unless this happens, there would be no point in you getting a new car at the end of the year under scrappage because the €1,500 that you would get off this in the case of something like an Insignia would not be as much as you could lose eventually by buying a car later in the year. 

Sure enough, you could buy the Laguna and get €3,000 off. It isn't an awful car, but there really isn't anything remarkable about it and I personally wouldn't spend over €20,000 on one. I actually think the Renault Fluence is a better buy than the Laguna and it costs much less. It is a fine big car and really well equipped. 

However, with your budget we could do a whole lot better. Supposing that you get at least €1,000 for your Corsa, then you still have a generous budget. There is always the temptation to look at the German cars and as long as you realise that these can get pricey to service and run as they get older, they can be a great buy. 

You have a staggering amount of choice. For sheer ease of ownership I have noticed that Lexus IS models are really good value now. You can get a 2008 IS 220d for under €25k and that would be a pretty nice car to own. Here is an example. 

If you were buying new or almost new, this 2010 Subaru Legacy diesel is also within your budget. 

However, you could go a little larger and get yourself a 2007 BMW 520d. This example is from a main dealer and has tiny mileage and would be a really nice car to own. It has done just 20,000km and is an automatic too with a nice spec for just €28,000. I would find it very hard to pass up on this car to be honest. You could opt for one with a manual gearbox and get lower road tax, but to be honest, this is where my money would go.

I hope this helps

Expert answer

Hi David,

A quick look at any taxi rank or a chat with any taxi driver will answer this question for you pretty quickly. For any sort of high-mileage, high-intensity task such as taxi driving, then it is probably worth paying that bit extra for the Avensis because long distance drivers swear by them as they are capable of racking up huge mileage and prove themselves to be reliable. 

That is not to say that the Mondeo is a bad choice - they have served Gardai up and down the country for a number of generations now at this stage. However if you are investing your own money, there will be more value in a high-mileage Avensis than there will be in a high-mileage Mondeo. Obviously it would make more sense if either of these were diesel rather than petrol, but I am pretty sure the Avensis will age better and will put up with more abuse than the Ford. 

I hope this helps. 

Expert answer

Hi Stephen,

If you have owned a BMW 5 Series before then you might want a change. The 6 Series is a good car, but like anything else in BMW land when it gets a little older repairs can start to become expensive when things go wrong. I personally wouldn't go near one unless it had a full set of BMW service history stamps and unless I could budget another few thousand for things that might go wrong.

This one here is in a main BMW dealer so will have all the right history and paperwork and is pretty nicely equipped too. It is a little over budget, but I would be shocked if they weren't flexible on a 3.0-litre petrol car these days! The mileage on that example is also very low for the year. These cars have great handling and are usually generously equipped too. Remember though that it will cost quite a bit to run, both in terms of road tax and petrol costs.

Now, for alternatives. You did mention Lexus and the GS 450h hybrid is a wicked car. It is very, very fast, superbly equipped and comfortable. It will be ultra reliable too. You could have this one here, a 2007 model, for €25,950 and it would be a superb car to own. It actually does pretty decent fuel economy too. I'd prefer this to the 6 Series myself.

Or, you could enter Porsche ownership and have the brilliant Boxster S like this example in Galway that has the better engine and comes from a good home. Again, ignore the sticker price, as it is a buyers' market right now. I think you should own a silly car once, so unless you have cots and prams to carry about, I'd be tempted by the Boxster. It isn't going to annoy anyone any more than the 6 Series is.

The UK can be a minefield, but we wouldn't ever rule it out and I myself have bought cars there. What I would say is that the more research you do (and use history checks like motorcheck.ie) the easier it is.

As regards buying new, well you are likely to only afford something pretty dull and I think that you would not be too pleased coming out of a 5 Series. You seem to like interesting stuff.

If it was me, out of that lot I'd probably have the Boxster, but if I needed more practicality, the Lexus.

Hope, this helps. Feel free to come back for more odd suggestions.

Expert answer

Hi Patricia,

Buying a car from the UK can be cost effective. I have done it twice myself and certainly saved money. But like any car purchase you really need to make sure that you do your homework properly and exercise lots of caution. The more you can do in terms of a background check on your car the better.

We would advise you to avoid buying privately in the UK as this could prove riskier. Buy from a main dealer, where there is a proper warrranty and usually a full service history. You are still likely to save money yet there will be greater piece of mind.

Services like MotorCheck.ie offer a very thorough check on UK cars too, so they are worth spending a few Euro on for some added piece of mind. The actual purchase itself isn't really very complicated. You just need to factor in some additional costs like a flight over and a ferry back and then you need to have a good idea of how much you will be paying for the car in Vehicle Registraion Tax (VRT) when you import the car. You can pretty much do this down to the last cent these days on the Revenue on-line calculator.

Research is key; do this and you can perhaps not totally avoid risk, but certainly reduce it.

Expert answer

Hi Fergal,

You're in an enviable position if that's your choice for a new 2011 car! You can't go wrong with either. Before I give my personal preference let's look at the facts:

The new BMW 520d SE will be priced from €41,750. That's for the manual model, which is lovely, but for resale values it makes sense to opt for the automatic, bringing the price up to €43,964.

In comparison, the entry-level diesel E-Class (the E 200 CDI BlueEfficiency) costs from €41,035 - or €43,885 with an automatic gearbox.

However, on paper the BMW beats that car hands down. It has 181hp to the Merc's 136hp (and hence takes only 8.1 seconds to get to 100km/h versus 10.4 for the E 200 CDI) and yet it is much more efficient. In automatic guise it emits 137g/km, which means band B annual road tax. A manual version of the E-Class will do the same, but the automatic transmission moves the car into band C, almost doubling the tax. The BMW's fuel economy is better too.

The more expensive E 220 CDI BlueEfficiency costs €43,425 with a manual or €46,275 with an automatic. It's not much less efficient than the E 200 model, but it's significantly faster. However, the 520d still betters it in both respects.

Having driven both cars my personal preference would be the BMW. The new 5 Series has taken a major step forward in terms of luxury over the old car yet it's still good to drive.

Let us know what you decide by leaving a comment in the box below.

Expert answer

I did like the original BMW X5, although it was probably always a little over-priced for what is was. As they have aged and the new model has arrived the first generation has come down quite a lot in price. You say that you aren't concerned about the running costs as such, which is just as well, as they can be quite high. The repairs and spare parts can be expensive too. I think in buying one of this age and at this price you will certainly not see it depreciate that hard in the next year or so, but once it creeps over 100,000 miles it will drop in value again.

We haven't reviewed this car on the site because it has been quite a few years since it was on the market (and CompleteCar.ie is very new), but we have driven it in the past. It is very agile for an SUV and was always one of the best handling SUVs around.

You did mention to us by e-mail that the car you were looking at is €23,000 with 88,000 miles on the clock. Well we found this one on beepbeep.ie from a SIMI dealer with just 45,000 miles for €19,750, so perhaps this would make a better buy?

Hope that helps