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Hi Gerry,

In terms of tax there won’t be any changes before the Budget in October, and there are unlikely to be major changes then. There have been rumblings of a change in the diesel tax system, but the various departments are known to be hesitant to introduce a third motor tax regime on top of the two we already have. A general increase in the cost of motor tax, within the existing bands, is quite likely though, as the Government starts to push people towards electric motoring.

In terms of fuel costs, prices at the pump have spiked up in recent weeks thanks to the Trump-Iran standoff, and this week the average per-litre cost of diesel rose to €1.31. That is likely to continue to rise as long as tensions in the Middle East, and indeed in the White House, remain high. 

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Hi Brian,

To be honest, no — we haven’t heard of any major problems with the current-shape Fiesta, but perhaps the problem lies in the diesel engine and how it’s being used? If you’re only covering a relatively low mileage, you could be getting a clogged up exhaust particulate filter, which is a common issue with diesels that get driven for short hops, or stuck in traffic a lot. Beyond that, if the car has caused you to stop three times in succession, to the point of having to call out roadside assistance, then clearly there is an issue and, if it’s not the particulate filter problem, then it could be something more serious. As a 181, you’re still well within warranty, so I would demand of your Ford dealer that they do something, as there must be a problem somewhere. 

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Hi Gareth,

It won’t make a huge difference to be honest. Because Revenue take note of the month of registration as well as the year, the extra few weeks won’t really affect the VRT charge very much. And if it’s an older diesel, definitely get the VRT done before January as on the 1st, the new NOx tax comes in and that could add a significant amount extra to your bill.

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Hi Anne,

Is that a 100km round trip every day? Or 100km each way? Either way, you could potentially get away with a fully-electric car, assuming that you can charge at home and charge again at work. Either way, though, you’ll have to spend big and go for one of the latest electric cars with a  50kWh or 62kWh  battery, such as the Hyundai Kona Electric or the new Renault Zoe. What could well be an easier (and much cheaper) option would be to go for a hybrid. There’s only one hybrid-engined car in the Polo-size class at the moment, and that’s the Toyota Yaris. The current version is pretty good, but there is an  all-new one coming next year, so you might be best off waiting for that to appear. By then, the new Honda Jazz, also a hybrid, should be available. Or, you could keep it a lot simpler and go for a new Polo with the excellent 1.0-litre turbo petrol engine. It'll be tough to beat your diesel Polo for outright economy, though.

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Hi Alison,

We have to give you a slightly cop-out answer on this one as Renault is in the process of launching the new Clio on the Irish market, and so isn’t prepared to confirm pricing and spec details with us just yet. What Renault has told us is: “The Dynamique version of Clio IV was by far our most popular, accounting for almost 9,000 of the 12,000 Clio IV sold in Ireland since 2013.  We’ve built the Clio V range to ensure that the new car has the easy-life features that Clio IV Dynamique owners enjoy, while now including a raft of life-saving active safety features as standard.”

The new Clio will go on sale in Ireland next week, so keep an eye on CompleteCar.ie, and at your local Renault dealer, for more details.

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Hi David,

The recommended interval is 160,000 kilometres or eight years, whichever comes first, so technically it's not due yet. However, in your position, I'd definitely go ahead and change it, just in case.

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Hi Harry,

The most likely culprit is that there’s some electrical item draining the system as you’re driving. Or, possibly if you’re only driving for short hops, the engine is still in its warm-up phase and can’t be shut down by the stop/start. Or, and this is a wild guess, Land Rovers often have flakey electrics. 

Maybe read our Why won't my car's stop-start system work? feature for further understanding. We get a lot of questions like this.

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Hi Mark,

Your dealer is definitely the starting point here. It is very annoying, I agree, but you'll need to work with them to sort this out. Hopefully there will be no further issues, but of course they are responsible for sorting those as well.

Best of luck.

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Hi Brendan,

We do love a bit of car-related man-maths around the CompleteCar.ie office. Yes, in theory, you could save that €425 per week travelling cost with a Tesla Model 3, once we make a couple of assumptions, and bearing in mind that a Model 3 is not free — a basic Standard Range Plus model is quoted at €625 per month in repayments on Tesla’s Irish website. With a claimed one-charge range of 409km, your theoretical Model 3 should be able to get from Dublin to Monaghan and back in one charge, with a little left over for safety (assuming it’s around 135km door-to-door). If you can charge at home and charge in Monaghan, then each full charge will cost you around €8-10, depending on your electricity tariff and how low the battery gets before you plug it in. That should put a significant dent in your travelling costs. It would also be helpful if you could charge up at work, but that’s more for ensuring you have a full charge in case you need it — the shorter intra-Dublin commute wouldn’t put much strain on your battery.

So, that’s all good. Buying in the UK, though? Not worth it. We ran the maths on this a while back and working off the base model prices — £38,500 in the UK and €48,900 here, a quick conversion at today’s rates shows that the equivalent Euro price of a new Tesla Model 3 would be €45,069. A saving? No — although the VRT would cost you nothing at the point of import (thanks to the €5,000 rebate), you would have to pay VAT on entry, as it’s a new car, and so the price would go up by €10,350. You’re better off buying local in this instance.

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Hi Barry,

Basically nothing. At 30 years old, your Land Rover will qualify for ‘vintage’ tax and insurance. The only wrinkle might be that your insurer might insist that you have a ‘modern’ car taxed and insured as well, as classics are supposedly only for weekends etc.