Paddy Comynanswering all your questions
Working out the sums on new systems
From AH, Kildare: I bought a one-year-old, ex-demo 2006 Volkswagen Eos TFSI last year at a cost of €35,000. I'm very pleased with the car but find it quite hard on petrol, I'm putting at least €50 worth in at the pumps every week. A second-hand diesel model came up recently in a VW garage in Dublin, and I decided to take a look.
I got a shock when the sales man offered me only €24,000 for my own car, saying that because of the VRT changes in July, the list price of my car was coming down. I pointed out that the list price for it right now is the same as when I bought it but he claims that my car has two owners and will be virtually unsellable when the tax changes take effect. My car tax is fully paid up until the end of April at the old rate.
My questions are: is an ex-demo model counted as having one previous owner? Are all higher emission cars showing such acute depreciation in light of the coming VRT changes?
In answer to your first question, a car which has been a demonstrator model is generally registered to the garage as a first owner, so you would in fact be classified as the second owner.
In terms of the second part of your question, I would be a little puzzled by the response of the salesperson. Because your car is a 2.0-litre TFSI, its CO2 emissions are 194g/km which put it into Band F under the new system, meaning that a new version of your car will have 32 per cent VRT and will have €1,000 road tax per annum. Since your car is used, it will retain its €590 road tax for its lifetime.
The 2.0-litre TFSI version should go up in price and that should make your car a good value prospect. However, the real problem may lie in the fact that dealers have lots of used cars on their forecourts and are worried about taking in more stock. The car is far from "unsellable" and should be an attractive used buy. Our advice would be to shop around; one dealer's quoted price does not reflect every dealer's value for the car. Certainly, however, the view that your car is going to go down in price doesn't seem accurate.
From Ted Murphy: I suggest you ask the SIMI to advise how many new cars imported into Ireland are built in the UK and what reductions have taken place due to euro /sterling values. In relation to upcoming VRT/tax changes, why can't car owners avail of the new annual road tax rates if their car engine is identical to the current qualifying model (irrespective of age). This has no relevance for VRT in their case as this was paid on purchase. Am I missing some important piece of this jigsaw?
Generally, distributors in Ireland will spend months negotiating a price with a manufacturer and because of our taxation laws these are often relatively low prices before VAT and VRT are added. These prices tend to be set for a period and don't fluctuate with changes to currency.
In terms of the second part of your query, there was much debate at the time of the announcement of the new VRT and road tax system, which is based on emissions, that it should be backdated to reward buyers who have already made clean choices with their car.
From what I understand by your point, it does on the surface seem unfair that someone who already owns a 2007 BMW 520d should be able to pay €150 road tax per year rather than the €590 they currently pay, even though the engine is identical to the one that will be in models sold from July 1st.
There was an appeal to this and a concession was made to people who have bought cars in 2008. Buyers who have bought cars since January can avail of the new tax rate on first renewal. This does not apply to car owners before 2008.
From Mary Healy: I have stored my BMW 320 2.2 turbo diesel for the past few weeks until I will be using it again at the end of September. As it is outdoors I bought a cover. Is there anything else I should do? It cannot be driven on the road as it is not taxed.
Tyre damage is likely to occur if the car is not moved for about six months. You will be able to prevent this by moving the vehicle and this will prevent flat spots forming on the tyres. Alternatively you could jack up the car. It is also a good idea to disconnect the battery. However since this is not a huge amount of time and your car is quite modern, then you won't need to worry too much about deterioration. Aside from the battery needing a jump-start, you should be fine.