Advice about insurance and tax

Bandon

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can answer a few questions I have.

I need to buy a car/van to get to Portugal, and most of the motors of interest in my price range of up to €1K, tend to have 4-12 months NCT and no tax.

After doing some research, I think I'm right in saying that to get more tax put on a car where the tax has ran out, it has to be insured because you need to quote your insurance policy number to get the tax done, is that correct? if so, I can't do that because I'm a non driver and wont be driving it or insuring it myself.

So, my idea to try and get around that was to buy a car with at least 6 months NCT left on it, and then give the the seller the money to put another 3 months of tax on it so I can get to Portugal during that time frame.

But reading some other stuff earlier on has made me think that might not be possible, because I read somewhere that if the seller has cancelled the insurance on the car they're selling, then they'd have to insure that car again in order to be able to put more tax on it, is that correct?

Another question I have is regarding insurance, once I buy a car, I need to find someone and pay them to drive me to Portugal in it, is it the case that any person could drive my car by adding it to their insurance, or if they're insured to drive any car they can just get in and drive it, or would I need to take out an insurance policy for my car in the employed drivers name?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

CiniO

I'm bit lost..
You are saying you are "non driver". Does that mean you don't have a driving licence?

If so, you won't be able to buy a insurance policy on your car in Ireland.
Are you resident in Ireland or Portugal?

What do you need a car for in Portugal if you don't drive.

Among all those, Irish motortax would be the least of my worries.

CiniO

CiniO wrote: »

I'm bit lost..
You are saying you are "non driver". Does that mean you don't have a driving licence?

Bandon wrote: »

I need to find someone and pay them to drive me to Portugal in it.

OP; Find someone first. Cos that'll be a hell of a challenge in itself!

To answer your questions though, the motor tax form does require an insurance policy number, an insurance policy will be pricy and is generally applied for 12 months (though you can cancel it fairly swiftly you'll still be down cash due to 'admin' fees and deposits).

Bandon

@ CiniO,

You are saying you are "non driver". Does that mean you don't have a driving licence?

If so, you won't be able to buy a insurance policy on your car in Ireland.

That's right, I don't have a driving licence, as I said above, "I'm a non driver and wont be driving it or insuring it myself." That is why I asked if I employed someone to drive me there, can they drive it under their insurance, or if they're insured to dive any car.

Are you resident in Ireland or Portugal?

Yes, I'm from Ireland and moving to Portugal.

What do you need a car for in Portugal if you don't drive.

I didn't say I need a car in Portugal, just that I need someone to drive me there, as I have 5 cats that are coming with me and that's the best way to get them and my stuff there.

colm_mcm

There has to be an easier way than that.
Are Linus cargo will transport cats for example.

Bandon

Deleted User wrote: »

OP; Find someone first. Cos that'll be a hell of a challenge in itself!

You're not wrong on that one, I don't expect it to be easy to find someone.

Thanks for confirming that the tax form does require an insurance policy number, I had read that somewhere but was looking for confirmation.

Re the other thing you said about cancelling the policy, during a search on here someone else suggested the same thing to another member, so that could be an option with only losing admin and cancellation fees etc

CiniO

Bandon wrote: »

@ CiniO,



That's right, I don't have a driving licence, as I said above, "I'm a non driver and wont be driving it or insuring it myself." That is why I asked if I employed someone to drive me there, can they drive it under their insurance, or if they're insured to dive any car.



Yes, I'm from Ireland and moving to Portugal.



I didn't say I need a car in Portugal, just that I need someone to drive me there, as I have 5 cats that are coming with me and that's the best way to get them and my stuff there.

OK that cleared up a lot for me.

In short, you won't be able to get a insurance policy in your name, as you don't have a driving licence.
If you find a person to drive you down there, it would be ideally someone who has a car and insurance policy on it, and that person could switch his/her's policy to your car temporarily. Usually that should be cheap enough for them or even free of charge. That way they'd be insured to drive your car, and that would obviously include all over EU.
I wouldn't really hope for their's "driving other cars" extension to work, as vast majority of insurers (if not all) limit that cover to Ireland only (and sometimes UK).

I honestly wouldn't be worried about Irish Motortax.
Once you are abroad, fact if you have it or not will be completely irrelevant.
In Ireland, you (or rather person who will be driving) will most likely get away with driving from your home to ferry port without a tax, especially if there will be ferry ticket to be shown that car is going for export.

wonski

colm_mcm wrote: »

There has to be an easier way than that.
Are Linus cargo will transport cats for example.

Ryanair

Unless it is some special car. And by special I mean 500k+

Other than that just get a plane

Bandon

@ colm_mcm, I wish there was, but by road is the only way, it would also be too stressful for the cats on a plane, they're mostly rescues and I wouldn't put them through having to go in the hold of a plane, as they're very nervous due to previously being abused before we rescued them, in a car would be much easier on them.

colm_mcm

I'm sure driving to Portugal with a randomer for 29 hours minimum and 3000 odd km in a €1000 car wouldn't be their idea of fun either though.

wonski

Bandon wrote: »

@ colm_mcm, I wish there was, but by road is the only way, it would also be too stressful for the cats on a plane, they're mostly rescues and I wouldn't put them through having to go in the hold of a plane, as they're very nervous due to previously being abused before we rescued them, in a car would be much easier on them.

You are transporting cats???

colm_mcm

do your research on travelling by plane. talk to your vet. talk to cargo company. thousands of pets fly every year.

EIREDriver

I recently purchased an imported car, so have gone through insuring and taxing a car in the last few days/weeks.

You need the car insured in order to tax it. You also need to tax the car within 30 days or so of insuring it.

Insurance require a driving license number from you, so doubt you will be able to able to get insurance seeing as you haven't gotten the licence. What are you planning on doing with the car after the person drives you to Portugal? And how will the person get home if they are keeping the car?

Sounds like an awful lot of trouble and could cost you a lot of money for a few cats.

Also, out of interest what route would you be taking. Sounds like one hell of a road trip!

Atlantic Dawn

I am sure if you placed an ad up on Donedeal or something looking for someone to drive you and your cats for say €1k plus ship, fuel and accommodation expenses it would work out much cheaper than buying something yourself. A right hand drive in Portugal will be worth zero.

Bandon

colm_mcm wrote: »

I'm sure driving to Portugal with a randomer for 29 hours minimum and 3000 odd km in a €1000 car wouldn't be their idea of fun either though.

The price of the car has no bearing on anything comfort wise, nor has who is driving. The cats would be travelling in large comfortable enclosures, and they're used to travelling in a car and on ferries, they've travelled Ireland/UK that way more than once, so I know it's easier on them and they don't get stressed.

@ CiniO, thanks for your second post, that's the sort of information I was looking for, much appreciated.

@ Wonski, yes, the cats will be travelling with us as we're relocating to Portugal to live.

FortySeven

While the form for the motor tax does have a box for insurance policy number it can be filled with random numbers without issue. It is not checked in any way. I have been doing this for ten years. It started because I was taxing a car I was driving on my third party extension. I still do it to this day just because I'm a bit perverted when it comes to pointless forms. (I am fully comp)

Just write axa, then a few letters and numbers. Like cms638675 or the likes.

wonski

Bandon wrote: »

The price of the car has no bearing on anything comfort wise, nor has who is driving. The cats would be travelling in large comfortable enclosures, and they're used to travelling in a car and on ferries, they've travelled Ireland/UK that way more than once, so I know it's easier on them and they don't get stressed.

@ CiniO, thanks for your second post, that's the sort of information I was looking for, much appreciated.

@ Wonski, yes, the cats will be travelling with us as we're relocating to Portugal to live.

Your first post hasn't mentioned cats.

If you want good answers you should provide all the details first.

For all I know there could be 5 cats, 3 dogs and 2 people without passports.

EIREDriver

wonski wrote: »

For all I know there could be 5 cats, 3 dogs and 2 people without passports.

Noah picked two of every animal, packed them into a transit and paid Smiley Miley to drive them to the Algarve! lol

tuxy

Couldn't you get the ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg then rent a car in Cherbourg for use in France,Spain and Portugal?

Del2005

Bandon wrote: »

The price of the car has no bearing on anything comfort wise, nor has who is driving. The cats would be travelling in large comfortable enclosures, and they're used to travelling in a car and on ferries, they've travelled Ireland/UK that way more than once, so I know it's easier on them and they don't get stressed.

@ CiniO, thanks for your second post, that's the sort of information I was looking for, much appreciated.

@ Wonski, yes, the cats will be travelling with us as we're relocating to Portugal to live.

3 people and 5 cats, in large cages, in a car will be impossible trying to get to the port never mind driving thousands of km in summer across continental Europe. I hope you aren't planning on bringing anything else to Portugal. You'll need a van but the only people who could transfer their insurance are other van owners and they aren't going to leave their livelihood uninsured.

Your going to have to hire a "man with a van" to take you down and it won't be cheap. A few hours in an aircraft hold would be way less stressful than several days in a cage.

EIREDriver

Bandon have you transported cats around before like this in a car/van? If not where did you get the idea from?

As others have said, it will cost a lot of money. I would think that planes can't be that stressful on animals. Plenty have done so before. Could you sedate the cats for the duration of the flight?

savagethegoat

lets put this one to rest first....you do not need insurance to tax a car.....do it online...put a random number in the ins pol no box....done.

You won't be able to get insurance yourself with no license (unless you lie, which would not be smart).

that's the easy bits....the rest of the scheme sounds rather impractical.

€1k for a car, plus the cost of the ferry and Insurance, petrol etc. Probably easier to find a car owner willing to drive you to Portugal and pay them €2000. You might well find someone willing to do it, they get a free holiday too.

Bandon

colm_mcm wrote: »

do your research on travelling by plane. talk to your vet. talk to cargo company. thousands of pets fly every year.

I always research everything I do, hence my post here to seek further information.

If you do some research on animals travelling in plane cargo holds, it doesn't make pretty reading when compared to travelling with their owners in a car. For example, from 2005 to 2009, U.S. airlines killed, injured or lost 224 dogs. In 2014 on the same airline, 17 animals died, 26 were injured and 2 were lost. That's just on one airline in a 4 year period, imagine if you had the figures for all airlines worldwide

EIREDriver wrote: »

What are you planning on doing with the car after the person drives you to Portugal? And how will the person get home if they are keeping the car?

@ EIREDriver, thanks for your thoughts, pretty much along the same lines as what CiniO was saying.

I have no plans to use the car once I get to Portugal. I'll be part of an eco project over there so I'll recycle it, the seats can be used for sitting in the sun . The glass can be used as windows in earth/cob structures, the diesel engine can be converted to run off vegetable oil and used for pumping water up from the river for irrigation of the land etc, the chassis can be used to make a trailer, metal body panels can be cut up and used for things like rotors when making a wind turbine, all manner of things.

As for the person doing the driving, I'd be paying for them to fly back to Ireland.

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I am sure if you placed an ad up on Donedeal or something looking for someone to drive you and your cats for say €1k plus ship, fuel and accommodation expenses it would work out much cheaper than buying something yourself.

@ Atlantic Dawn, I posted an advert before about a year ago, as we were supposed to be going there at that time, and there was some interest in my request, but real life got in the way and I had to put the trip off at that point, so I'll be trying the same thing again once I get a motor sorted.

EIREDriver

savagethegoat wrote: »

lets put this one to rest first....you do not need insurance to tax a car.....do it online...put a random number in the ins pol no box....done.

You won't be able to get insurance yourself with no license (unless you lie, which would not be smart).

Are you not lying as well by putting in a fake number on tax form. Surely they ask for it because you need insurance to tax a car?

Bandon

Your first post hasn't mentioned cats. If you want good answers you should provide all the details first.

I didn't need to mention the cats in my first post, it wasn't relevant as I was only asking about tax and insurance.

Couldn't you get the ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg then rent a car in Cherbourg for use in France,Spain and Portugal?

No, because as already stated, I can't drive

I hope you aren't planning on bringing anything else to Portugal. You'll need a van but the only people who could transfer their insurance are other van owners and they aren't going to leave their livelihood uninsured.

@ Del2005, by a car, I don't mean something small like a mini , something like a van or a 7 seater would be preferable, it would just be myself, the driver and the cats, so the rear 5 seats would be removed prior to leaving, I travel light, so just a couple of bags, laptops, a mountain bike and the cats really.

Thanks for the heads up on the driver of a van needing to transfer their van insurance over, I didn't know that it had to be like for like, assuemd a car driver could drive a van on if they were insured to drive any vehicle, so it's useful to know. There are a good few drivers who advertise on Gumtree looking for driving work, so I can only ask.

@ FortySeven and savagethegoat, I don't fancy doing something that is technically illegal by entering random numbers in to tax forms.

@ EIREDriver, Yes, they're fine in a car, they've been to Ireland/UK a couple of times and were absolutely perfect. Plane cargo holds on the other hand are stressful places for animals, and sedation is a big no no for pets who are flying, there's no way I'd put an animal on a plane, I'd rather the expense of doing it this way.

I read a report that a lot of animals are often over sedated by vets, and in cases where animals are sedated, over sedation is the most frequent cause of animal deaths during flights, which accounts for more than half of all deaths where an animal has been sedated, so no, not an option I'd go for.

€1k for a car, plus the cost of the ferry and Insurance, petrol etc. Probably easier to find a car owner willing to drive you to Portugal and pay them €2000. You might well find someone willing to do it, they get a free holiday too.

@ savagethegoat, yes, I had thought of doing it that way as it would probably be easier, but I was thinking about the person who then has to drive back, and that they might prefer to fly in order to get home quicker. But It's looking like I may have to look at that angle again

tuxy

Bandon wrote: »

No, because as already stated, I can't drive

I realise that but I was thinking if it was just you, the driver and the 5 cats you could get the ferry then rent a car in France. Then the driver can fly home.

EIREDriver

Bandon wrote: »

@ EIREDriver, Yes, they're fine in a car, they've been to Ireland/UK a couple of times and were absolutely perfect. Plane cargo holds on the other hand are stressful places for animals, and sedation is a big no no for pets who are flying, there's no way I'd put an animal on a plane, I'd rather the expense of doing it this way.

I read a report that a lot of animals are often over sedated by vets, and in cases where animals are sedated, over sedation is the most frequent cause of animal deaths during flights, which accounts for more than half of all deaths where an animal has been sedated, so no, not an option I'd go for.

Fair enough! You seem to have done your homework on this one. When are you thinking of going? I'm sure a lot of people would be interested. In a strange way I kind of am as it sounds like a great experience.

I wouldn't spend a lot on whatever you get seeing as you're going to basically scrap it when you get to Portugal. You'd get a runner with a few months NCT (to tide you over until you left) and a few months tax hopefully for 500 or 600 if you looked hard enough. Just enough left in it to get you to Portugal.

You could always just pay for insurance on a whenever you need it basis. I know I did it before when doing driving test. Was able to insure myself on my parents car for the day or two. Not sure if its that easy regularly but it'd be worth researching.

Bandon

@ tuxy, I'd still need a motor for the driver to pick me up from home and drive to the ferry in the first instance, and in most instances, when booking the ferry with pets, you stipulate that they remain in the vehicle. On some services like the Cork to Roscoff ferry, I think it's the case that you can't take pets on as a foot passenger, you need to be in a vehicle to take them on board, so I'd rather get a motor and be done with it.

Also, with car hire, you can't always pick up a car in one country and drop it off a couple of countries away, I actually have an affiliate car hire site with all of the major car hire companies on it, and using my own booking form you can't pick up in France and drop off in Portugal.

@ EIREDriver, hopefully I'll be going in the first half of June providing I can get everything sorted by then. I have a website that I'll be blogging from once I'm over there, it'll all be eco stuff like green building techniques, permaculture, forest gardening, making and setting up water wheels and wind turbines to generate electricity etc.

Yes, if I can get a motor for €500 or so that had even 1 month of tax on it that would be a bonus, that would be good enough to get me over there. I've been trawling Done Deal and other sites trying to find the right size, make/model of motor, I was thinking transit or 7 seater like an Opel Zafira, or a small car/van like a Renault Kangoo.

I'm not sure what you mean paying for insurance on a whatever you need basis, do you mean like temporary insurance that you can take out for a couple of days or a week? I did search for things like that before but apparently there's no market in Ireland for temporary insurance, so none of the companies here do it, had I been in the UK it would have been easy getting that sort of insurance.

During a forum search regarding exactly that, I found a post where and someone suggested using the Aviva site in the UK, but I couldn't see anything on their site about them offering temporary insurance in Ireland.

Before I forget, FAO of gufc21, I can't reply to your PM as you've exceeded your PM quota until you clear some space.

savagethegoat

come on step up people, who wants a free road trip to Portugal and a few quid in you pocket?

what's that? yes, travelling with a potentially mad cat person? yes well it's not as if they would be fingering an axe blade as you drive.....what could go wrong? :-)

(No offence OP )

Del2005

Last time I got the ferry to France the animals where kept in kennels on board, only saw dogs so don't know where cats where kept. The ferries to France are 18 hours and on every ferry I've been on the car deck is locked for the whole journey.

The chances of finding a cheap 7 seater with working air con will be nearly impossible.
A journey across France, Spain and Portugal in June will be torture for you and the cats without air con.

Guffy

Bandon wrote: »

Before I forget, FAO of gufc21, I can't reply to your PM as you've exceeded your PM quota until you clear some space.

Space cleared

greengone

My cousin takes his dogs often to France . When he travels he keeps the dogs in the foot well of the back passeger
seats as they dont seem to get sick when they are low down in the car .In the back boot region more high up they nearly always throw up

I know many people from northern europe like Sweden Norway etc who do not fly thier animals such as cats and dogs .

There has been too many storys about animal cages dropped injuring or killing animals and other problems .
My Swedish friend saw his own dogs cage drop from the cargo door of the plane to the ground .
The cage burst open and his dog now lose running around the airport runway had the runway closed down until his dog was recovered .
Now his dogs all travel in his car to Portugal each winter for 6 months of the winter

Also too many horror stories about the rent a van who promise to deliver animals from UK to Spain with too many complaints for many animal owners keen to want to do that

I used to do the trip by car frequently to Portugal from Ireland as part of my contract work at that time
However I never did trips with animals much I like animals my life style and animals wouldnt work .

My cars often did not have aircon .I always drove the back roads so I could stop often like every 45 minutes to relax for 15 minutes and see the views .
In France and Spain you can go for hours and not see another car . I have lots of tools with me to do road side repairs as I dont do AA to save costs .I never had to use the tools even though the average ages of my car was 15 years old .However you can risk be dumped in nowhere ville .
Also I could drive at slower speeds like 90KPH so as to keep fuel costs low and save on tolls costs and avoid the mind renching boring motorways.
I would stop at camp sites over night .

That style driving could suit animals but might need planning as for some unknown reason Spainish camp sites often dont allow animals epecaily in August.
French and Portuges camp sites are often more animal freindly

Animals would not suffer heat problems with that system .
Then with suitable walking leads attached to collars each
stop could allow animals time out .
Ok it will take some 8 days to get to Portugal but is more stress free journey.

The Planning the journey to use formula 1 motels would solve over night housing problems .
Most fromula 1 hotels do not have staff accept cleaning staff in day time to clean rooms .That keeps cost down.
You check in to Formula 1 hotels with your credit card and take the room the computer has allocated and use your credit card to get access to that room .
Often it costs €45 a night and sleeps two people and it has TV showers etc.
I dont know the rules for animals with Formula 1 but if your only staying the night and there is no staff there to see you I cant see any problems .

Many French small hotels or B&B are animal freindly but animals might have to be housed in seperate sections or out houses. Larger hotels can be less animal freindly especaily in cities and larger towns

If you opt to go fast as possible three days will get you to South Portugal from France but tolls will be steep and the fuel costs will be easy double. However there will be less overnight Hotel costs to factor in.
Car Windows open could supply enough cooling for animals with extra stop overs in motorway fuel stations which often come with covered in parking spaces.
However animals would be under more pressure at stop overs and stopovers would be shorter and driving times would be longer.
Even with aircon I often travelewd with windows open as high speed airflow I found better than the stale air from air con .
Aircon also tends to be regional giving cooling to front seats while back seats often are still baking with closed windows.
Use thermometers to montor tempertures .If its real hot stop and siesta from 12 to 4pm and park in shady place
Then travel in cooler times .That suits many animals better .If they get too hot use water to cool them down either drinking water or throw water over them in emergency to cool fur or spray water on them .Water eveporting from skin will cool animals a lot .
Rig a fan for them from the cigarete lighter .
If you let the animals out from cages while you travel they will be more inclined to find cool spots in car to go sleep in as cats are happy to sleep 90% thier lives away.If the cats crowd around the fan they are showing heat stress

The previous posts cover the car and insurance issues pretty well.

If you want to keep the car in portugal the change over to Portugese plates costs a bomb and probably not worth it for low cost car. After six months the Portugese customs will most likley seize and take the Irish car .It is often cheaper to buy a Portugese car than import a Irish car. If you want storage I know a place in spain where it costs €15 amonth in open car park .Harder to find cheaper than that .

If you want the best back road scenic routes through France and Spain PM me I have done the route several ways so knows the pros and cons of some different routes . Always have French spain and Portugal road maps as some of the GPS systems are wrong for back roads been there done that got the T shirt

richardsheil

Just put the cats down and buy new ones in Portugal.

Owryan

Bandon wrote: »

I always research everything I do, hence my post here to seek further information.

If you do some research on animals travelling in plane cargo holds, it doesn't make pretty reading when compared to travelling with their owners in a car. For example, from 2005 to 2009, U.S. airlines killed, injured or lost 224 dogs. In 2014 on the same airline, 17 animals died, 26 were injured and 2 were lost. That's just on one airline in a 4 year period, imagine if you had the figures for all airlines worldwide

Those figures only make sense if you tell us how many dogs were carried in total. If 224 were lost out of 250 then those figures are shocking but if its 224 out of several thousands its less so.

Bandon

Jaysus op, for the right cash I'd be happy to do it!

Bandon wrote: »

@ tuxy, I'd still need a motor for the driver to pick me up

This part is throwing me off though.. why are you buying a car? Use that money to pay someone to do the driving. If I offered to drive you, I'd rather do it in my own car. A car that I know and trust, and that I have faith in.

My car is well taken care of and I know it won't leave us at the side of the road.


A random car that's worth less than a grand and I've no knoledge of the mechanical state it's in or it's history... I think I'd be slowly moving to the back of the queue for that journey..:p

kirving

Personally I think it's a crazy idea versus 3 hours in a cargo hold, but would you not be better to get a lorry driver to take them, and you travel with him as a passenger?

Get a crate made up for a few hundred which would have a few sleeping areas and also an area for the cats to walk around?

ironclaw

You'd be absolutely barking mad to pay that amount to transport some cats, and I am an animal person myself. The discs on the wind-shield are probably going to set you back €2k. You then have fuel and accommodation on the drive itself. And then pay someone to drive. If you had change out of €4-5k I'd be amazed. Surely you should be able to find someone with a van heading in that direction and pay for some space and a seat. I know a few guys here, Cormie for example, do regular runs deep into Europe.

Any car for less than €1000 is going to be a real challenge to get there, likely under 1.4L and small. I wouldn't fancy trekking through Europe in that, unless you are a up for a long, frequent stop journey with dire fuel economy on the long motorway runs. A quick tally on my average fuel costs would be about €300 each way, and that's an underestimate given you'll be at higher speeds for long periods.

Noisy, warm and monotonous for your animals, I'd imagine 3 quick hours under some sedative on a plane is far less invasive. You'd also need to find someone who would be up for driving you there, and then subsequently coming back. A few people drive to the south of Spain for the summer, I'd see can you swing some space there but its quite a detour.

If it was me, I'd get an all in price from a mover, and go together.

colm_mcm

worth noting that driving for reward isn't covered on car insurance policies.

Del2005

colm_mcm wrote: »

worth noting that driving for reward isn't covered on car insurance policies.

I thought it was changed a few years ago that you could charge for petrol and expenses to encourage car sharing with non car owners.

wonski

Del2005 wrote: »

I thought it was changed a few years ago that you could charge for petrol and expenses to encourage car sharing with non car owners.

Sure you could, but you can't make a profit

bear1

OP, with all due respect this isn't a good idea.
First off, when are you planning to go? Summer? That will be utter torture for the animals.
What is your entire budget?
Think about it, you buy a car which you can't insure and you need to find someone seriously trustworthy to drive you and 5 cats down to Portugal (no mean feat) and then back again to Ireland in a car which will cost max 1k?
What else are you taking to Portugal? belongings?
What if the car breaks down along the way? What if it breaks down when the person is heading back?
The other question, will you be having checks done on the car before going off?
How much are you willing to pay the driver to sacrifice quite a lot of time to essentially drive 5 screaming cats to Portugal?
Honestly, do yourself a favour and put them on a 2 hours flight where they are cool from the AC and aren't cramped in a coffin for the guts of two days min. The trip alone from Rosslare to Cherbourg is 18 hours.

bear1

OP as for cars:

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/fiat-scudo-diesel-9-seater-ex-taxi/12335027

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2002-seat-alhambra-1-9-tdi-red-d-red-i/11947590

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/jeep-grand-cherokee/12330402

K.Flyer

bear1 wrote: »

OP as for cars:

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/fiat-scudo-diesel-9-seater-ex-taxi/12335027

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2002-seat-alhambra-1-9-tdi-red-d-red-i/11947590

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/jeep-grand-cherokee/12330402

That Seat Alhambra looks to be the one to jump on for that trip, get A.A. europe cover on it, but it should get you there easily enough.
Even if it broke down, parts should be cheap and easy to source over there, but I reckon its good for the run.
Now getting someone to insure it is going to be the challange. You cannot go out and buy insure cover for a vehicle that is not yours. So what you may need to do is to put the car in the drivers name, then pay for them to insure it. Which may be difficult or expensive due to the age of the car and the drivers driving experience.
Whilst it is very considerate of you thinking of the cats, it really sounds like this is going to cost you a small fortune whichever way you do it.
As has been said before, probably best to find someone going over who can accommodate you and the cats, but thats a bit of a long shot as well.

bear1

I'd also choose the Seat, AC as well and a bit of go.
The other issue is that the person needs to insure it so essentially if anything happens they are legally responsible.
Crash the car? He loses his NCB etc and would come to you to re-coup the losses.
I think it's a very messy thing to get involved with.
You'd want one hell of a good contract with this person OP.