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Hi Mike,

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Hi Conor,

The two best SUVs of similar elevation to the Freelander would be the Honda CR-V and the Nissan X-Trail. Both are excellent choices (and the X-Trail can be had with seven seats), but the Honda’s more spirited driving experience nudges it for us. Also worth looking at a Land Rover Discovery Sport (effectively the third-generation Freelander), although they’re pricier than the Honda or Nissan.

As for choosing a buying time, yes, if you wait until the end of January, depending on how new car sales go, there should be a few more trade-ins and the like cluttering up dealer lots so you might get a sharper deal. Any of the big car rental companies will set you up with a good deal on a long-term rent, and Enterprise is probably the best place to start.

Here are a few of our reviews to help you choose:

Honda CR-V review

Nissan X-Trail review

Land Rover Discovery Sport review

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Hi Jim,

You don’t reclaim the UK VAT if you’re exporting a brand new car to Ireland, you simply don’t pay it in the first place. According to HMRC, you won’t be liable for UK VAT on your purchase if you take it out of the UK within two months of buying and don’t drive the vehicle in the UK unless you register and tax it. You’ll also have to fill out a VAT 411 form.

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Hi David,

No, you would only have to pay VAT if the car were younger than six months old or had mileage of less than 6,000km. You will need to show that VAT has been paid when the car was originally purchased in the UK though.

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Hi Deirdre,

Prices for a 2007 Mondeo seem to hover at around the €5,000 mark, so as a trade-in you’re only likely to get offered €3,500 or so – dealers have to allow for some profit margin and expense when it comes to valuing cars.

If you’re going to sell privately, I'd pitch the price at around the €4,500 mark and see how you go.

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Hi Eoin,

Mapfre and Carprotect provide decent cover, but, as always with these things, you need to make sure you read all of the small print, and we mean ALL of it, to ensure you know exactly what’s covered and what’s not and in what circumstances. Basically, rather like accident insurance, aftermarket warranties are there to cover utter disasters, not replacement of day-to-day items.

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Hi Martin,

To be fair to the car companies, they would all like to see the end of VRT – there’s little or no protectionist advantage to them (aside from it causing a small, largely ineffective brake on personal imports) and freeing customers from that yoke would make the Irish car industry much more competitive.

As for lobbying against it, that has largely dried up now. Why? Because of the tacit admission that even if VRT could be dismantled, any Irish Government would simply come up with a replacement for it. Even with the Apple tax decision hanging in the air, no Minister for Finance is going to turn off a €4 billion annual tap of combined motoring revenues, of which VRT makes up a a major component.

As for the application of both VRT and VAT to major safety items, you’re quite right – that is a staggering shame, one that should (but probably doesn’t) weigh heavily on the consciences of all in the Department of Finance, the Road Safety Authority and the Society of the Irish Motor Industry. Whether it’s autonomous emergency or a child safety car seat, adding VRT and/or VAT increases the price and makes it less likely that a customer will spend the extra to buy that system, not least because there is no benefit to your insurance premium for doing so.

Mind you, in some ways, Irish customers have only themselves to blame. Back in the early 2000s, when anti-lock brakes were often an option, and not an especially expensive one at that, most buyers shunned them in favour of a sunroof or a better stereo…

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Hi Gerry,

Well you won’t have to pay VAT as it’s too old for that, but as for VRT it’s very hard for us to say. There are very few Doblo-based campers on the market for us to be able to try and work out a rough value, and none that we can find in Ireland so quite what view Revenue might take of its value is totally up in the air. Our best guess is that its Irish Open Market Selling Price will be around €7,000, which, with a VRT rate of 13.3 per cent, would suggest a VRT charge of around €800 to €1,000.

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Hi Declan,

For a private buyer, once an imported vehicle is older than six months or has more than 6,000km on the odometer then it's no longer liable for Irish VAT. However, it is a little different for a business and Revenue is closely watching such things to ensure that VAT is properly accounted for. We'd advise you seek professional advice from your accountant.

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Hi Lorna,

Do you mean motor tax or purchase tax? If purchase tax (VAT basically) then yes – the VAT must be paid before or when it’s imported. If it’s motor tax, then no. It would help if the car has been declared as legally off the road by the previous owner, and obviously you can’t drive it across the UK to a ferry port to bring it here (you’ll have to put it on a trailer), but the Irish authorities won’t be bothered if it comes in with no tax as long as you pay your VRT properly and then tax it here. Unpaid UK road tax is an issue for the UK authorities and the previous owner.