Poor new car deals in Ireland V UK

carsfan

I have been looking at the cost of cars here vs. the UK and trying to work out why we pay so much more.
I don't mean the higher VAT rate and VRT which is a seperate argument but the actual monthly costs to buy or lease against what we pay here.
when you look at the UK car ads the rates are way lower with low repayments.
it seems possible to lease or buy on pcp very high end cars for small up front costs and low payments.
I look at Bimmerpost forum regularly and the discount levels they discuss are huge, typically 15% up to 20% for a new car and I believe it is not just BMW. Try that with an Irish BMW dealer!
Do the UK dealers have much bigger margins? unlikely surely.
We are both right hand drive markets so our cars are not more expensive to make. Many manufacturers have the same distributor for UK and Ireland so you would think that any incentives would be rolled out for both areas.
The UK new car market is going well now probably on the back of these deals.Why do we not get similar here?
Am I missing something with regard to this or have I been a rubbish negotiator in the past?

yoshiktk

I would say that size of the market does it all. The UK one is bigger then Irish, so they can afford such good deals, more cars sold will still produce income even with smaller price tag.
For example currently im looking at new Skoda Octavia, in Ireland 1.2l TSI Active - 19,995€ , Poland the same spec/engine cost 63,500ZŁ which with current avg exchange rate gives You 15,264€... If only the steering wheel was on the right side.

TBi

yoshiktk wrote: »

For example currently im looking at new Skoda Octavia, in Ireland 1.2l TSI Active - 19,995€ , Poland the same spec/engine cost 63,500ZŁ

Are you sure it's the same? I sat inside a Romanian Octavia and the quality (and price) was much lower than the base Irish model.

NIMAN

Would our VRT make up most of the difference in price?

Re: Ire v UK, I appreciate that due to market size we will never get the same kind of deals, but I remember when I used to live in NI and when I first passed my test there were loads of manufacturers doing 0% finance and often free insurance too. I don't think I ever seen free insurance advertised in Ireland.

Plus our spec is often lower on Irish cars, surely we deserve the same spec as everyone else if paying higher prices?

wonski

yoshiktk wrote: »

I would say that size of the market does it all. The UK one is bigger then Irish, so they can afford such good deals, more cars sold will still produce income even with smaller price tag.
For example currently im looking at new Skoda Octavia, in Ireland 1.2l TSI Active - 19,995€ , Poland the same spec/engine cost 63,500ZŁ which with current avg exchange rate gives You 15,264€... If only the steering wheel was on the right side.

And then you would be hit with VRT which would make it pointless, even if the steering wheel was on the other side.
Comparing prices from different countries makes no sense - different markets/taxex.government initiatives etc.
Not too mention that 19,995 euro is nothing compared to 15,264 euro in Poland. It takes a year to earn 20k over here, it takes 3 years to earn 15k in Poland - you could say that cars are actually cheaper over here;)

yoshiktk

TBi wrote: »

Are you sure it's the same? I sat inside a Romanian Octavia and the quality (and price) was much lower than the base Irish model.

I havent check the details of specs, both are branded as "active" model.
Maybe they are a little bit different but i wouldnt be surprised that polish spec was a little bit better, but cant be sure.

wonski wrote: »

And then you would be hit with VRT which would make it pointless, even if the steering wheel was on the other side.
Comparing prices from different countries makes no sense - different markets/taxex.government initiatives etc.
Not too mention that 19,995 euro is nothing compared to 15,264 euro in Poland. It takes a year to earn 20k over here, it takes 3 years to earn 15k in Poland - you could say that cars are actually cheaper over here;)

If You change the plates to IE yes, then VRT would be around the difference in price, but if I would keep it in original plates why not?
For someone thinking about getting home after few years, that could be a good deal. After few years instead of selling the car to get something in home country, You are left with quite good car.

NIMAN

yoshiktk wrote: »

I havent check the details of specs, both are branded as "active" model.
Maybe they are a little bit different but i wouldnt be surprised that polish spec was a little bit better, but cant be sure.

If You change the plates to IE yes, then VRT would be around the difference in price, but if I would keep it in original plates why not?
For someone thinking about getting home after few years, that could be a good deal. After few years instead of selling the car to get something in home country, You are left with quite good car.

Don't think you are allowed to. But I may be corrected (again).

yoshiktk

I dont know exactly how they do it without Garda being a pain in a*** but all cars should be VRTed, still You can see a lot of cars on polish plates.

R.O.R

Just had a quick look at the BMW 520d SE Auto, with metallic. Used this as I have one here, and know the exact VRT amount.

In Ireland:
Ex. Works - €49,225
Ex. VRT - €41,527
Ex. VAT - €33,761.79

Sterling equivalent (XE.com current rate) - €28,009.08

UK - £34,190
Less VAT - €£28,491.66

Technically, cheaper in Ireland and the difference is probably down to currency fluctuations. Despite the myth about Paddy Spec, these vehicles are identical except for the Speedo.

BMW UK seem to be able to offer much higher margins than BMW Ireland. In Ireland most margin goes to the dealer, with little support from BMW Ireland, but it seems to be different in the UK - dealers have very small margin, but manufacturer can add a lot of discount. That is probably down to the relative volumes involved.

The total car sales for one year in ROI, in a good year, are similar to the total car sales in Manchester in an average year.

bazz26

BMW UK and BMW Ireland are the same company and have been for about 10 years or more which is why the base spec on their cars is the same both here and over there. The reason the UK have higher spec is because UK customers generally tick the options list while Irish customers don't as extras get screwed on VRT here.

I think pre tax prices of cars here have always been cheaper than in most of Europe.

carsfan

I know that pre VAT and VRT lots of cars are cheaper here than UK but it appears that deals are harder to get off list.
For example, when you go on BMW uk to spec a car, the cost to finance usually includes a "dealer contribution" which amounts to a discount without asking and apparently can be just the starting point for negotiations whether you take finance or not.
Perhaps the size of our market is the reason.
Conversely when you compare second hand cars, the reverse seems to apply, with the UK price much more rigid and less up for negotiation than the Irish dealers.
I have read on some UK threads that it is cheaper to buy a new car than a used in some instanes when you take into account the APR rates on new vs. used and the level of discounts available.

lomb

Yes its all true. Irish dealers dont want people to know what good deals they get that cant be explained by vrt in the UK. I think they are leasing M135i for 250 stg a month vat inclusive on a 6+23 deal. So 1500 down and a new M135 is yours for 250 a month. Hand the care back at the end of 2 years and not your problem. Another great deal is a new X6 for 400 a month.

Thing is you can still enjoy cars here if you are willing to pay max tax but they will be used and not new.