vrt valuation

seantheman

Registered User
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was browsing some uk motor websites and saw a 08/08 vauxhall antara 2.0 ltr diesel suv on motors.co.uk for £13,000, checked on the revenue vrt site and it states that this car has an omsp of €43,600 and the vrt payable would be almost €14,000. I'm loathe to use the word r** o**, but..........
 
First off that valuation on the ROS web site seems to be very high considering that the Antara has a starting price of just over €40,000 here, but I can only think that the valuation is based on the higer spec option which has a retail price of around €53,000. However, there are a few key things you have to keep in mind:-
Trim level: The UK use a different trim level to us so you need to value the UK car on as near a trim level as possible to here to get a true value for the car. If the Antara you are looking at is automatic then the value is higher again. The trim level has an influence on value and any added extras can (and sometimes will) be added to the OMSP that the revenue have on the web site. You can dispute the value on the site with your local VRO if you think the value on the web site is too high. You may need proof that the car is being sold in Ireland for less than they are stating but you need to find an identical car here with similar trim level and mileage. Maybe a print out from CARZONE.IE with similar cars might help your case.
C02 Emissions: All cars being brought into Ireland are charged VRT based on the cars emissions regardless of age (unless classic or vintage). The Antara has a C02 rating of 198g/km which is quite high and this gives a 32% VRT rating of the OMSP of the car. Even if you can get the VRO to drop the price to say €30,000, the VRT would still be around €9600.
Road Tax: For a car with a C02 level of 198g/km you are looking at an annual road tax bill of €1050. That could rise over the coming years as the Government increase the taxes to try and get their coffers back in order. However if the car was first registered in the UK between 1st Jan 2008 and the 30th June 2008 you will be able to pay the road tax based on the older engine cc system which at the moment would give you a road tax bill around €600+ per year.

Hope this info helps and doesn't confuse you even further.
P.S 4x4 vehicles will have a pretty high C02 rating so if you don't need the 4x4 option maybe a 2x4 vehicle might be a better "financial" option!!!!
 
thanks for the detailed answer aidomoss.when filling in the vrt calculator, it's only possible to put in one type of antara.when i get to the version box it's only possible to input all versions, then when it gets to body type it only accepts estate. that is when i choose manual transmission and diesel engine.why do you say that the road tax would only be lower on jan 08-june 08 car, the one i was looking at was august 08
 
I probably didn't answer your original question in relation to R** O** Ireland but I agree that VRT is a R** O** but we are stuck with it for another while anyway:(!!! I seen that the ROS web site only gives you one version to choose from so maybe you should give your local VRO a ring and see what they say, they can only say no but if you point them in the direction of CARZONE.IE they should see that there is a big difference in the selling price of the different versions available. I have heard that alot of people have been successful in getting the OMSP reduced once they were able to prove that the same car was being openly sold in Ireland for less than they were stating.

The tax situation is a bit more complicated but here it goes, The new C02 emissions based system was brought into Ireland on the 1st of July 2008 and any car first registered (in Ireland or abroad) on or after that date will have its road tax charged on the rated emissions of that car. Because it started in the middle of the year, they probably wanted to be "fair" to people that bought their new car earlier in 2008 and give them the lower road tax rate if the car they bought was "greener". See the paragraphs below from the MOTORTAX.IE web site which may make this a bit clearer.
So since you state that the car your looking at was first registered in August then the road tax will be based on the emissions which in this case will be higher than if it was charged at on the older CC based system.

New Cars Registered in Ireland

A private car registered before 2008 continues to be taxed under the system related to engine size (cc). New cars registered in Ireland between 1 January 2008 and 30 June 2008 will initially have their motor tax charged on the basis of the existing engine size (c.c.) system.
However, a low CO2 emitting new car registered between 1 January 2008 and 30 June 2008 will have its motor tax switched to the lower CO2 based motor tax rate on first renewal of motor tax post 1 July 2008, when the new CO2 based system commences.
New cars which are registered in the first 6 months of 2008 whose tax would be more under the new CO2 based system will continue to pay motor tax on the basis of engine size (c.c.)

New cars registered after 1 July 2008 will be taxed on CO2 emissions.
Cars First Registered Outside Ireland
A private car first registered abroad prior to 1 January 2008 will be taxed on engine size (cc).
The new CO2 based system does not apply to second-hand imports that were registered abroad prior to 2008.
A private car
first registered abroad between 1 January 2008 and 30 June 2008
inclusive and subsequently registered in Ireland will be taxed on whichever is the lesser
of the motor tax rates based engine (cc) or CO2 emissions.
A private car
first registered abroad after 1 July 2008 and subsequently registered in Ireland will be taxed on the CO2 rate.
 
Not an answer to your question but from my neighbours experience the Antara is an unreliable hunk of junk. Hers is a year old and she's had all sorts of electrical issues with it culminating in her being told this week by the local Opel dealer that a new Xenon bulb for the headlight costs 200 Euro!!!!
 
... culminating in her being told this week by the local Opel dealer that a new Xenon bulb for the headlight costs 200 Euro!!!!
I believe these cars are fitted with HIDs so the cost is probably for a replacement headlight unit (the least of her worries).
 
thanks for clearing up the road tax issue aidomoss. ancutza cheers for input, at this stage i'm just browsing. kuga,antara,tiguan,crv. looked at sportage and tucson and wasn't keen.would like a suv as i feel it gives a nice driving position. i know i'll get hammered on co2 and road tax
 
Unless you really need an SUV then do yourself a favour and steer clear! I have a Nissan Pathfinder and whilst it's a fine, fine car and especially good off-road ( where I use it about 30% -40% of the time) realistically it's a bit of a tractor on the road. The up-keep costs are crazy (750 Euro for a 60k service and brake pads in Romania (for Christssake!!) last week) and things like tyres are brutally expensive. Don't get me wrong. I don't plan to change it soon as I need it for work but if I didn't do the things I do then I'd just love to swop it for a new Mondeo or, spending a bit more cash, a new A6.

Contrary to popular belief it isn't too heavy on diesel but unless it really is a work horse and not a tool to stroke your ego with then an SUV does not make sense for the average person.

True I know that if I have an accident then I'm probably going to come off better than with anything other than a truck but really that still doesn't justify the overall expense.

Buy something a little more individual and quirky if you want want to get noticed and not something which my father-in-law describes as a 'wardrobe on wheels'!
 
... True I know that if I have an accident then I'm probably going to come off better than with anything other than a truck ...
Stats from North America and other places contradict this. Due to SUVs' high centre of gravity they are more likely to overturn and crush the occupants.
 
There are a number of other SUV's you could check out. If you log into CARZONE.IE and select "Body Type" from the search menu and then select "SUV" from the next menu you should get a pretty good idea of all the SUV's available and also engine options and weather some have 4x4. Pick a few of them and check out the makers website for specifications on C02 emissions and other option that might be available. Test drive as many as you can and if there are 2 or 3 that take your fancy maybe ask the good people here on AAM what there opinions are of the cars you like. Also check out the UK and ROS.IE to weigh up all you options. Some options for you could be Nissan Qashqai, Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota Rav4, VW Tiguan, Volvo XC60/ XC/90 to name but a few. Some of these may not appeal to you and some might be buckets of bolts, but do the research to get the best possible option for you.
 
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