[krissovo]

Compared to Europe like for like?

I am in the market for a new motor, I work a lot in Germany so when I had some free time I went to a few dealers over there to arrange test drives. I tested Merc E series, Audi A4/5 & 6, VW Passat CC, I narrowed it down to either the Merc E and Audi 6.

I have finished a test drive over here of the same model cars for both the E and 6 and the cars are no way the same I drove in Germany. Standard in Ireland is cloth seats, the standard wheels are gross and the overall looks of the cars inside and out are very plain compared the the equivalent German spec.

Next question are the cars the same poor spec in the UK?

[dev100]

It keeps the import duties taxes down on cars imported into country etc. All these fancy extras cost you when importing unfort welcome to free trade

[krissovo]

The Merc for example will cost a futher €9k to bring up to a similar spec to a German model. However the look of the car will still not match a German car

[Eric Cartman]

its also an irish mentality , instead of spending 1-2000 euro speccing out a car irish people will just buy a car thats 1-2000 euro dearer in poverty spec. Only for the e class , 5 series and all lexus models we import coming with leather as standard theyd all have cloth seats.

I dont buy cars that dont have every possible option on them (i hate empty switches or looking at the manual to see what I could have had), but thats left me with 2 options 1) buy new 2) import from the UK , almost nothing here is specced well

[krissovo]

Sounds like I will have to look at the UK, I am in grey for tax so will probably work out better for me.

[Eric Cartman]

Originally Posted by krissovo

Sounds like I will have to look at the UK, I am in grey for tax so will probably work out better for me.

the only concern with UK cars is the salt they use on roads, underside rust is an issue, aside from that , the cars tend to be cleaner and better spec

[Limerick man]

Vrt, vrt and vrt... That's it

[krissovo]

Plenty of salt lashed on Irish roads that last few years so I guess that is now an Irish concern as well.

[dr.fuzzenstein]

I always think if they sold a 5 series BMW 1.4 petrol with non-metallic paint, non tinted windows, no aircon, no traction control (wouldn't need it anyway as do 90% of cars sold here that have it), no sat-nav, cassette stereo, cloth seats, steel wheels with plastic hubcaps, no computer gadgets of any kind, maybe power steering (at extra cost), manually operated mirrors, etc..., and make it about 5% cheaper than the nearest better equipped model, it would sell 50000 in the first week.

[rebel.ranter]

Originally Posted by Eric Cartman

the only concern with UK cars is the salt they use on roads, underside rust is an issue, aside from that , the cars tend to be cleaner and better spec

Eh, they use salt on Irish roads too...

[Eric Cartman]

Originally Posted by dr.fuzzenstein

I always think if they sold a 5 series BMW 1.4 petrol with non-metallic paint, non tinted windows, no aircon, no traction control (wouldn't need it anyway as do 90% of cars sold here that have it), no sat-nav, cassette stereo, cloth seats, steel wheels with plastic hubcaps, no computer gadgets of any kind, maybe power steering (at extra cost), manually operated mirrors, etc..., and make it about 5% cheaper than the nearest better equipped model, it would sell 50000 in the first week.

nah, somebody would still bitch about it being in the 156 tax band and wait for the 1.2 diesel model

[scholar007]

Cars here are so poorly spec.ed and have been since year dot because Paddy will accept any oul sh*te - same when it comes to politicians

[dr.fuzzenstein]

Originally Posted by Eric Cartman

nah, somebody would still bitch about it being in the 156 tax band and wait for the 1.2 diesel model

That one will have a starter handle.

[heate]

If it's the new A6 or 5er you are referring to; I think you will find that the Irish market model (I think the UK one has the MMI nav as standard on the a6 which is a €2500 option in Germany) has actually got an higher spec which includes leather.
On a A6 2.0tdi to bring a german market model up to Irish spec (yes up) you will need €42695 (base price + Milano leather + mmi radio plus + audi music interface). The Irish list price is €42500. VRT and VAT making a huge difference now is it?
The 520d base model with leather in Germany is €42740 in Ireland this is €42820.

What people also fail to point out is that in many other European markets the availability of good lease terms (owing to higher used car values and a more liquid market in some cases) allows people to add costly options like full nav a €3-4k and comfort seats at €3k.

[coylemj]

In Ireland the badge on the bonnet is the first consideration for a lot of people so importers like BMW were able to leave off most of the goodies that people in other countries expected as standard. I remember doing a test drive in a BMW 318i a few years ago and being amazed at how basic the fittings were - manual windows in a car that cost more than 30K . Even Japanese cars were less well spec'd here, the Toyota Carina in the UK had a/c several years before they started shipping it as standard to Irish models.

You'd also have the situation next door in the UK where a huge number of cars are sold as fleet sales and in large organisations with big fleets the word quickly goes around about features and goodies meaning that most people getting a company car will be able to get very good advice at the coffee station or smoking room about what features are standard in the different models, this leads to pressure on manufacturers to match the specs. of the competition. I'd say the average UK buyer is much better informed than people over here so won't accept inferior standards of fittings.