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Hi Dave,

The van still must get the CVRT, regardless of how it's taxed and used.

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Hi David,

OK, let’s take the last question first. No, there’s no publicly available second hand value guide for Ireland (more’s the pity), but you can get a good idea of values and prices by keeping an eye on classified ad websites, such as Carzone, and if the specific model isn’t sold in Ireland, then prices for its competitors or other models in the same range will at least give you an idea. Feel free to send us queries to do the estimating for you as well.

If the bands change in the Budget (and they most definitely will this year), then that will usually be implemented from the 1st of January, but there’s a chance that with the big changes coming up this year, there might be a slight deferment or lead-in period. As for when you pay your VRT, don’t expect any mercy — the rates used will be the rates on the day that your car is inspected, not the date it was brought into the country.

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Hi Paul,

I’m presuming that has the 2.0-litre EcoBlue engine? If so then it’s €710 a year to tax as a private car. As for insurance, yes you can insure it privately, but you might have to shop around a good bit. Some insurers are wary of such policies, but a good broker should be able to help you out.

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Hi Caroline,

For a a 1.9 engine, switching back to the old by-engine-capacity tax system, that’s going to be €673 per year.

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Hi David,

A trade-in value of €10,500 doesn’t look too bad to us to be honest. Values for a 2013 Scirocco are going to be at about the €12-14,000 level, and they’re not the easiest cars to sell so the dealer is probably leaving themselves some headroom to allow for that. I wouldn’t price it at more than €14,500 privately.

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Hi Ann,

Yes you can and it’ll cost you €414 per year to do so.

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Hi Shane,

Yes you can. The tax part is pretty simple — you just call into or phone your local motor tax office and let them know that you want to convert the van to private tax. With a 1.9-litre engine, you’ll pay €710 per year in motor tax. Insurance, to judge from the responses we’ve had from some readers, is a little more tricky, but is possible. You’ll probably have to do a good bit of phoning around, or possibly get in touch with a good local broker.

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Hi Margaret,

In theory, as a disabled driver, you’re allowed to be exempted from, or able to receive a rebate of, both VRT and VAT on a new car purchase, and the VAT on any costs of conversion to suit your needs. However, right now while the tax relief scheme is not suspended, the issuing of Primary Medical Certificates is — thanks to a high court ruling that has thrown the system that assess people for PMCs into confusion. It’s hoped that the scheme will be back on track soon, but the short answer is that we don’t know when that will be.

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Hi Aiden,

You will pay the princely sum of €710 for a year’s private car tax for a 2.0-litre Amarok. One of the benefits of VW’s decision to go with a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine instead of a larger unit. 

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Hi Paul,

Short answer: yes. The good bit is that you can still pick up second hand crew-cabs, or large SUVs that (briefly, technically) qualified as commercial vehicles and they are generally cheaper to buy than their regular passenger car counterparts. However, if you tax such a vehicle as a commercial, you can only use it as such — no social, domestic, nor pleasure use and there are some hefty fines if you’re caught out.