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Hi Karen,

We asked Skoda Ireland about this for you and such a kit does indeed exist. It costs €176 plus VAT from your Skoda dealer and all fitted it should be under €300 + VAT. Contact your local Skoda dealer to confirm the availability and pricing. Full list of Skoda dealers here.

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Hi Tim,

It depends on your business setup - most likely you'll have to pay the VAT element up front and claim it back, but I think the best person to talk to about this is your accountant and not us. 

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Hi John,

Sorry, but you'll have to change the plates - if you're bringing a car into the UK you only have to inform HMRC of the car's arrival within 14 days and then begin the re-registering process. The maximum time you could use the car on Irish plates for would be six months. The good news is that the process is relatively painless - you will have to get an MOT test done as the NCT won't be recognised, but other than that it's just some forms to fill out. If it's an older car you won't be liable for any VAT or duty so it'll only cost a little. You can find more details here - https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/overview

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Hi Brendan,

Pretty much the entire industry has long since gone over to bucket-style seats, not least because they offer better back support when cornering, but also locate your body mass more centrally, which allows the driver's airbag to work better. Actually, the C4 Cactus' seats are technically bucket-style, but they're just a bit broader and softer than the norm. I don't think you'll have much luck finding a true non-bucket seat these days, but all I can suggest is to try as many as you can and see if you can find one that's comfortable for you.

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Hi Robert,

It's all down to the history, really, which at least is the one thing you can really investigate before buying a car at auction. Look through to see if it has a full service history and if those services were done on time. If there's a good thick sheaf of receipts, stamped service books, previous NCT or DOE results and more with the car, and if it looks clean and straight when you have a poke around underneath, then it should be a good buy.

One word of caution though - while Nissans tend to be rugged and reliable cars, pickups can be hard working and often abused company machines. Again, check the history to see if the previous owner was a private individual or a company.

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Hi Peter,

As an import, each car is individually inspected and rated for VRT,  which is probably why Revenue is being evasive - they really don't like to pass judgement on something they've not seen, even if it is nominally the same as an Irish market car. Ultimately you shouldn't have any problems - if the X5 can be categorised as an N1 vehicle, it should be fine, but check to make sure as to whether that's with five or seven seats. Seven seats are optional on the X5 and could cut the boot space to under the N1 limit.

On the VAT thing, it just depends on the age of the car. If it's less than six months old, and/or has fewer than 6,000km on the clock, it's liable for Irish VAT on arrival - no ifs, ands or buts. 

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Hi Molly,

Effectively, yes. If you're buying it brand new, then you can, theoretically, export it from the UK and claim back the VAT, but you really need an accountant, not a motoring journalist, to walk you through that process. Of course, you'll have to pay Irish VAT on it then. You'll have to pay VAT twice, essentially, if you're buying nearly new - a car under six months old is liable to Irish VAT upon entry into the state, and of course you'll already have essentially paid the UK VAT in the purchase price. You could claim it back of course, but again that's a job for an accountant.

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Hi Brian,

Yes, you can tax and insure it privately, and indeed you should do because if it were taxed as a commercial, you'd be caught rotten if you were stopped with the kids in the back and it's a €4,000 fine. However, you can legally have it assessed for VRT as a commercial so that's a saving. The odd thing is that taxing it as a private car means, under the current rules, you'll revert to the old pre-2008 tax system, which is based on engine capacity. Odd, but there you go.

As for whether or not an import will be cheaper, it probably depends on how many of the specific style of T5 you want are available on the ground here. All I can suggest is that you do your sums, figure out how much the import will cost, and then have a shop around Irish dealers and ask them if they can match the numbers.

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Hi Philip,

A very, very good point. However, I disagree with you on your broader 'hype about electric cars' comment - the only way we're going to be able to keep motoring, to keep some sort of private, personal transport going, is with electric cars. Now, whether that's with just batteries, or whether that's with hydrogen power or something else that hasn't yet been thought of, I don't know. But the days of digging up Jurassic forests in liquid form and burning them in engines is coming to a rapid close - it's not just about CO₂ and global climate change anymore either; the Volkswagen scandal has shown that we've been slowly and insidiously poisoning ourselves with other gases from car engines too. Some 1,200 people in Ireland this year will die from respiratory illness brought on by pollution, a major multiple of those who will be killed in road accidents.

Your apartment point is well made though, and shows just what a period of transition we are currently in. A huge investment is needed to create an environment where electric vehicles can work simply and sensibly, and for all the efforts put in recently to install charging points and fast chargers, it's not nearly enough. Governments and energy companies, and the car makers too, will all have a major role to play in this, but it's just that no-one's playing enough of a role just yet.

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Hi Francis,

If it's a private vehicle then, technically, no - it's your car and you can do what you want with it, but it might be at least morally correct to let anyone who's being recorded know what's going on. And if you intend using the videos for any kind of commercial project then, yes, you must get written clearance from people before you're allowed to use their image in the public domain for profit.