Buying a used car in Ireland guide

colm_mcm

Has your wife driven a modern diesel?

What sort of driving will the car be doing?

An Auris Touring Hybrid thing might be the answer, but getting 3 child seats in there might be tricky.

I wouldn’t bother with the i40 - I think they’re a bit risky.

The Avensis is very outdated as it was launched in 2009, it’s not exactly more reliable than rivals either.

I have an Octavia estate and even though it’s technically a class below the likes of an i40 or an Avensis, it’s still quite a big car. You could look at the Skoda Superb too.
They’re supposed to be quite reliable but nothing will touch your old Yaris for that.

If you’re talking outright reliability and anti diesel than the Auris hybrid estate is the thing to get so long as it’s big enough.
Prius+ 7 seater might be worth shout too. They’re not very big but you have the flexibility of having the extra seats. Some specs come with individual rear seats which makes handling child seats easier. A lot only have a bench seat though.

bazz26

I'd say your best chance of finding any of those in petrol estate will probably be the Octavia but they are not cheap. I don't think they ever sold the Auris estate in petrol, it was diesel and hybrid only.

You could get an Auris hybrid estate at the top end of your budget if you want to stay with Toyota:
https://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=2700600&r=s.php%3Fm%5B%5D%3D88%26o%5B%5D%3D1154%26b%3D3%26pp%3D50%26g%3D0
https://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=2690442&r=s.php%3Fm%5B%5D%3D88%26o%5B%5D%3D1154%26b%3D3%26pp%3D50%26g%3D0

Avensis petrol estate is rare and they are 1.8 litre but still have cheap tax:
https://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=2563004&r=s.php%3Fm%5B%5D%3D88%26o%5B%5D%3D726%26f%3D1%26b%3D3%26pp%3D50%26g%3D0
https://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=2551346&r=s.php%3Fm%5B%5D%3D88%26o%5B%5D%3D726%26f%3D1%26b%3D3%26pp%3D50%26g%3D0

I'd rule out the i40, they are nearly all diesel and those are not without their problems and everyone will think you are a Garda.

lorcanfarrell

Thank yo for the reply. I'd get a diesel in a heartbeat but my wife hates the smell of diesel from filling up and the smell of diesel smoke and has basically said no chance of diesel. Since she'll be the one driving it, if we were to pick diesel, I'd be hearing about it until I was on my deathbed. Great woman but once the mind is made up, that's it. The Auris Hybrid estate is a beautiful car and definitely an option but pricey and not too many about. I love the look of the Skoda octavia and superbs but have zero experience of them so would love peoples opinions on them. The i40, I've heard from a few that have them are either great with no problems or a constant stream of problems.....

grennans2

Hi all,

Any thoughts on the below car? First time I've come across this dealership and its location along with the fact that it was only set up in April 2019 has me a little suspect. Should I be?

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volkswagen-golf-2017-1-0-tfsi-se-nav-full-ser-h/26737908

Thanks

jake frost

grennans2 wrote: »

Hi all,

Any thoughts on the below car? First time I've come across this dealership and its location along with the fact that it was only set up in April 2019 has me a little suspect. Should I be?

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volkswagen-golf-2017-1-0-tfsi-se-nav-full-ser-h/26737908

Thanks

Never heard of this dealership IGM Motors but they get some good google reviews if you can believe them..The car looks sweet though, very well presented, and not a bad price if you could get them to knock another few quid off.. its worth a look.

colm_mcm

Oh it’s on “Nass” road

grennans2

Yeah the English in the ad doesn't inspire too much confidence! I've been warned to be wary of some dealers in that location also

claiomh solais

Hi all,

I'm buying a used car but the tax is out. The dealer said he would give me a letter on purchase and there was a 30 day 'grace period' to get the tax on it.

I was wondering if this is true or just a myth? I can't find any law online that says I get a 30 day window to pay the tax.

I was just wondering how do I get the car off the lot and back home when I buy it?

User1998

There isn’t an official grace period but no Garda will punisher you for no tax on a car you just bought

bazz26

There is no 30 day grace period on motor tax. However there is a bit of common sense with expired tax from the AGS after purchasing a used car where it takes time for a car to change over to the new owner before you can tax it. Once you have the receipt from the garage with the date of purchase on it then the AGS won't have any problem if stopped at a check point. However do not park in a public place with no tax as you risk getting a ticket for having no tax disc/no tax. A traffic warden won't know/care that the car was only just bought.

claiomh solais

Grand I'll just drive it back to the house and leave it there until the tax is in, cheers

Christmas period I'll probably be waiting a while for the transfer

bazz26

Most dealers can do it online these days. Keep checking the change of ownership status on motortax.ie

Gadge

Last car I bought took a while for the tax to be sorted, the log book got lost in the post (allegedly) anyway about 5 weeks in I got pulled by a Garda for no tax. Told him the situation, he said he didn't understand how I could get insurance without tax? Anyway, he asked me to produce my proof of insurance (disk in front not enough) at my local station, which I did a few days later along with a letter I got off the dealer stating the situation with the log book. I asked the nice Garda at the station what can I do the next time I get stopped and she said I'm covered with the letter, nothing I can do but wait and said it's ok to keep driving the car. Anyway a week letter I get a fine in the door for Failure to display tax disk! Your man was just out to get me one way or the other, I was disgusted

claiomh solais

Gadge wrote: »

Last car I bought took a while for the tax to be sorted, the log book got lost in the post (allegedly) anyway about 5 weeks in I got pulled by a Garda for no tax. Told him the situation, he said he didn't understand how I could get insurance without tax? Anyway, he asked me to produce my proof of insurance (disk in front not enough) at my local station, which I did a few days later along with a letter I got off the dealer stating the situation with the log book. I asked the nice Garda at the station what can I do the next time I get stopped and she said I'm covered with the letter, nothing I can do but wait and said it's ok to keep driving the car. Anyway a week letter I get a fine in the door for Failure to display tax disk! Your man was just out to get me one way or the other, I was disgusted

This really is my big fear. That I'll be going about my business and I run into a garda having a bad day. I can technically be done for it so it's just an annoyance of the law the way it's been drafted.

L-M

The offence is for “non display”.

So even if you have tax and don’t display it you can technically get a fine.

I’m selling cars almost 15 years now and I have never, ever met someone who has been done for no tax on a car they’ve just bought. At the same time I wouldn’t park it somewhere where a traffic warden be as again, “non display” is the offence.

Gadge

L-M wrote: »

The offence is for “non display”.

So even if you have tax and don’t display it you can technically get a fine.

I’m selling cars almost 15 years now and I have never, ever met someone who has been done for no tax on a car they’ve just bought. At the same time I wouldn’t park it somewhere where a traffic warden be as again, “non display” is the offence.

I was driving when i got pulled for not having tax, i was just unlucky I'd say.

Lord TSC

Hey lads,

I'm looking to buy, and truth be told, it's my first time going through the process of buying a car (have been using an older Toyota Avensis that I inherited for a decade now. Awesome car, but time to move on). I'm working with a budget of 18k, and won't have anything to trade in.

I'm leaning towards a Nissan Qashqai, 2017. There's a few available in town round that budget, so I'm reading up on them. (If anyone has any experience with them, I'd appreciate it )

For the moment though, my question is a bit general. Given Xmas is 2 weeks off, am I better waiting till the new year to start approaching dealers? Will the car being "a year older" make a big difference to the price, or would that be worked in yet?

(Realistically, I won't get much chance to get it done this side of Xmas anyway, but curious if prices tend to drop as the new year starts...)

grogi

Lord TSC wrote: »

For the moment though, my question is a bit general. Given Xmas is 2 weeks off, am I better waiting till the new year to start approaching dealers? Will the car being "a year older" make a big difference to the price, or would that be worked in yet?

(Realistically, I won't get much chance to get it done this side of Xmas anyway, but curious if prices tend to drop as the new year starts...)

No, they won't. What could matter is when people start trading in/renewing PCP in the new year - you'd have much better selection.

Itchyness

Hi lads, have my eye on a Jaguar SUV. There is not much supply around so there are only a few models that I would see as being a runner. Dealer money for what I'm looking at is ~€33-35k but there is a similar model, just with more extras, looking for the same money. My feeling is that a private sale should be looking at ~€30-33k. Am I way off here? Warranty wise, I'm not sure there is anything significant from the garage, its more just a look over and a valet. You do get the security of buying from the garage though (it is reputable) so I would OK with that. The private sale car has the extras, so a nicer model, but I would prefer to have that cushion should anything go wrong. Is my thinking right?

bazz26

It's a lot of money to be sinking into a private sale with no comeback afterwards imo. It needs to be a bit more than just 2k cheaper than a dealer to forgo the risk and have money aside for the inevitable. A good warranty is a valuable commodity especially on a premium brand car when something goes wrong as it's rarely cheap to put right.

Itchyness

Thanks for the that. Seller seems genuine and it has only had one owner. I can imagine he is reluctant to crystallise the depreciation!

BinnionBenny

Hi,
Anyone have any advice for a first time buyer?
Im not really sure where to start...
Budget = 4k
Petrol preferred
More cross country / rural driving than city
Have most recently been driving a 2018 Peugeot 308 (not mine) and might want something that size or a bit bigger.
Any suggestions on what to consider or what to avoid would be really appreciated.

One suggestion I've had so far is a 2011 Hyundai i30. Any thoughts on that would be really helpful too.

Thanks !

bazz26

Have a look at the Kia Ceed too, it's mechanically the same car as the i30 but they tend to be a bit cheaper to buy.

road_high

Itchyness wrote: »

Thanks for the that. Seller seems genuine and it has only had one owner. I can imagine he is reluctant to crystallise the depreciation!

Not your problem! For the love of god do not spend €30k on a private sale of a premium make that isn’t known for being exactly trouble free.
Better spend a few thousand more and get the security and sales presentation of a main dealership.
Presume it’s an E Pace? There’s plenty of them about and also if your heart is set one look at the LR Discovery Sport or RR Evoque as very close alternatives

thegeezer

I created a simple spreadsheet (which I can share if if this is allowed). You simply choose the cars you like or feel could be a good fit, go to one (or more) of the car review sites - it is important that you use the same site for the information your retrieve. Fill in the spreadsheet and adjust the important to you rating if you need to (for example, within price range, within emissions levels etc.), once you have done this, you will see which cars are rated highest and can then make an educated choice. I used this to choose my second hand car and have not looked back.

One other key piece of advice I would echo is to take a mechanic with you, mine was able to put the car through its paces and tell me any drawbacks.

Good luck !

maik3n

thegeezer wrote: »

I created a simple spreadsheet (which I can share if if this is allowed). You simply choose the cars you like or feel could be a good fit, go to one (or more) of the car review sites - it is important that you use the same site for the information your retrieve. Fill in the spreadsheet and adjust the important to you rating if you need to (for example, within price range, within emissions levels etc.), once you have done this, you will see which cars are rated highest and can then make an educated choice. I used this to choose my second hand car and have not looked back.

One other key piece of advice I would echo is to take a mechanic with you, mine was able to put the car through its paces and tell me any drawbacks.

Good luck !

Any further guidance on this piece of advice.
Forgive me asking a silly question but as none of my mates are mechanics, do I just randomly phone up a garage and ask them if they have a spare mechanic that fancies joining me on a road trip to view a car, lol? :P

grogi

maik3n wrote: »

Any further guidance on this piece of advice.
Forgive me asking a silly question but as none of my mates are mechanics, do I just randomly phone up a garage and ask them if they have a spare mechanic that fancies joining me on a road trip to view a car, lol? :P

No, but you might call a mechanic closeby and bring the car to the workshop.

Sonya.Max

Hi!
We are thinking of buying opel astra 171, 1.6ctdi, 113k km, from a private seller on donedeal for 10k, we have viewed the car. We know that the car was in accident, front passenger side, the airbags are more likely were not deployed - by the way it looks from the inside. The previous owner says he knows nothing about the accident. We ve done the history check, the car had 1 owner and current owner is the garage - is it suspicious? The car has passed nct on 23.01.21. The man who sells says he bought it, made nct and sells it now.
We don't mind having a car after accident once it was properly repaired - my dad is a panel beater and he says the car was repaired ok and the damage wasn't big.
Myvehicle.ie doesn't provide information of what category the write off. Is there any way of checking it?
Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks.

road_high

Jesus run for the hills. Astra’s and similar are two a penny. No need to dwell on one you’re not happy with

Atlantic Dawn

How do you know the car was in an accident? There's no official write off record in Ireland so it could have been crashed and repaired. Call your insurer to see if they will insure the car first, could be blacklisted and impossible to insure here.

Out of interest is this car much cheaper than an identical model? You would want to be getting it 30% plus cheaper to even consider it.