What differences are there between Irish and UK models?

kuro68k

I'm looking at buying a car in Ireland but might have to go back to the UK at some point, so I was wondering if there are any differences between Irish and UK models.

Only thing I can really think of is the radio. Is Irish DAB the same as British DAB? Otherwise everything should be EU spec, the same I think.

It will be an electric car if it matters.

TheBoyConor

Depends on make and model.

UK models tend to have better spec.

Irish models tend to be offered with the the most basic and absolute minimum amount of options. "Paddy Spec". Irish cars still tend to be offered as standard with steel wheels whereas these are practically unheard of in the UK.

Krombopulos Michael

As above, depends on the car.

I've had Honda Accord and the spec north and south was almost the same.

However, I have a Ford Mondeo Zetec that I bought from NI, that had alloys, front fogs, body colored handles.

Same car in south I saw was on steel wheels, no front fogs and black handles. I believe the BHP of the 2.0 TDDI engine was higher in NI car too over IRL.

Other thing to note, is items that may be standard on car in UK/NI could be considered Options in IRL and potentially increase any VRT costs.

kuro68k

Well this would be a Kia Niro EV and they are all coming from Korea, so the UK and Irish spec should be the same. The first batch will only be the high end models anyway. Then again maybe some stuff is dealer fitted...

Aside from the radio there is the sat nav maybe. Presumably it would have European maps, not just Ireland.

bazz26

Irish spec car will have kmph only speedo dials, you may be required to have a mph speedo to register it in the UK unless it's a digital speedo that can change between one and the other.

kuro68k

bazz26 wrote: »

Irish spec car will have kmph only speedo dials, you may be required to have a mph speedo to register it in the UK unless it's a digital speedo that can change between one and the other.

Good point. Niro one is digital but I will check it can be switched.

Shefwedfan

kuro68k wrote: »

Well this would be a Kia Niro EV and they are all coming from Korea, so the UK and Irish spec should be the same. The first batch will only be the high end models anyway. Then again maybe some stuff is dealer fitted...

Aside from the radio there is the sat nav maybe. Presumably it would have European maps, not just Ireland.

Ok, on the Hyundai Kona the Irish spec is shocking


It is more or less the bottom spec in the UK with leather seats. We don;t have option and the UK does


Will the Niro be the same? no idea....but they did release some information on it and on the bottom of article mentioned that some features will not be available in Ireland....so doesnt look good

Heres Johnny

Do Irish cars still come with steel wheels as per post above? Seriously? I wouldn't have thought so but I could be wrong

TheBoyConor

yes. many cars come with steel wheels.

Heres Johnny

TheBoyConor wrote: »

yes. many cars come with steel wheels.

Surprised at that. That's terrible!!

Henry Ford III

TheBoyConor wrote: »

yes. many cars come with steel wheels.

Plenty come with alloys to be fair.

kuro68k

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Ok, on the Hyundai Kona the Irish spec is shocking


It is more or less the bottom spec in the UK with leather seats. We don;t have option and the UK does


Will the Niro be the same? no idea....but they did release some information on it and on the bottom of article mentioned that some features will not be available in Ireland....so doesnt look good

Look at the Kona EV version. Not out yet in Ireland. The first ones in the UK were only available in the highest spec and you had to wait until January for lower spec ones, so maybe the Irish ones will be offer that spec too.

I spoke to a dealer about the Niro EV and he said that he expected it to be the highest spec version only. If it's not I won't get it.

colm_mcm

Krombopulos Michael wrote: »

As above, depends on the car.

I've had Honda Accord and the spec north and south was almost the same.

However, I have a Ford Mondeo Zetec that I bought from NI, that had alloys, front fogs, body colored handles.

Same car in south I saw was on steel wheels, no front fogs and black handles. I believe the BHP of the 2.0 TDDI engine was higher in NI car too over IRL.

Other thing to note, is items that may be standard on car in UK/NI could be considered Options in IRL and potentially increase any VRT costs.

You’re not comparing like with like. An Irish zetec isn’t as low specced as you’re saying there. Chances are the model you were looking at was an LX if it’s the older type or a base model.

Zurbaran

colm_mcm wrote: »

You’re not comparing like with like. An Irish zetec isn’t as low specced as you’re saying there. Chances are the model you were looking at was an LX if it’s the older type or a base model.

I had a 99 Irish spec focus zetec and it had alloys so that mondeo must have been an lx.

I’m starting to think the uk vs Irish spec thing is turning into a bit of a myth. They will have different names for some strange reason but for the most part I just think higher spec cars were more popular in the uk.

There is cases of course of the higher spec car in either having a few differences but I think it’s mostly like for like. Also each market might have different offers on packs like vw for example.

Del2005

TheBoyConor wrote: »

Depends on make and model.

UK models tend to have better spec.

Irish models tend to be offered with the the most basic and absolute minimum amount of options. "Paddy Spec". Irish cars still tend to be offered as standard with steel wheels whereas these are practically unheard of in the UK.

You can get good spec'd cars in Ireland but since most people buy the registration plate here they don't worry about the car. In the Uk they buy the car and not the registration plate.

I've gotten plenty of high spec 2nd hand cars as I buy the car not the plate* so have plenty of options.


* I don't care for the county on the plate I care for the quality of the car, but plenty of people won't buy cars unless they are D or local.

Krombopulos Michael

colm_mcm wrote: »

You’re not comparing like with like. An Irish zetec isn’t as low specced as you’re saying there. Chances are the model you were looking at was an LX if it’s the older type or a base model.

it was 2001 car and I compared to a Zetec on Carzone.ie

R.O.R

Krombopulos Michael wrote: »

it was 2001 car and I compared to a Zetec on Carzone.ie

I had an Irish 2001 Mondeo Zetec, which had alloys, front fogs and body coloured door handles / mirrors all as standard. Was the 2.0Tddi 115ps model.

At that time, the LX got the 90ps, the Zetec got the 115ps and the Ghia got the 130ps diesel engines - they didn't offer higher power in the LX or lower power in the other models.

There's still a few manufacturer's who have different specifications between Ireland and UK, but there's more and more where the difference is only the speed display on the clocks. Audi's tend to be a bit better in the UK, BMW are exactly the same, Ford are now either the same or very similar on the new models. VW have differences, but neither is better if comparing like for like, and Irish Skoda's tend to be a little better than their UK counterparts.

Irish Hyundai spec is decided by the Irish importer so can differ quite a bit to the UK spec. Think Kia are the same, but not 100% on that one.

kuro68k

Well it looks like it might be a bust anyway because of lack of charging infrastructure in Ireland.

Shefwedfan

kuro68k wrote: »

Well it looks like it might be a bust anyway because of lack of charging infrastructure in Ireland.

You give up too easy :D

colm_mcm

Del2005 wrote: »

You can get good spec'd cars in Ireland but since most people buy the registration plate here they don't worry about the car. In the Uk they buy the car and not the registration plate.

The people in the U.K. that buy new cars don’t buy them because they’re new?

colm_mcm

Krombopulos Michael wrote: »

it was 2001 car and I compared to a Zetec on Carzone.ie

Good chance the one on carzone is just advertised wrong.

kuro68k

colm_mcm wrote: »

The people in the U.K. that buy new cars don’t buy them because they’re new?

Every car I've ever bought in the UK came with plates attached, ready to drive off. Usually they give you the "on the road" price which includes everything, even the first year tax and often some insurance for a couple of weeks.

colm_mcm

kuro68k wrote: »

Every car I've ever bought in the UK came with plates attached, ready to drive off. Usually they give you the "on the road" price which includes everything, even the first year tax and often some insurance for a couple of weeks.

Irish cars come with plates too

If you paid the retail price here they’d tax it for you and all!

standardg60

colm_mcm wrote: »

Irish cars come with plates too

If you paid the retail price here they’d tax it for you and all!

I think what he basically means is that most people here would choose a new car with basic spec over a year old one with higher just to have the new plate and i'd agree that wouldn't be the general case in the Uk.
Having said that i'd imagine most people in the UK would spec a new car to their own preference as options cost a lot less than here because there's no vrt on them.
I'd also be very wary of what a dealer here would call top spec, most manufacturers would have a specific 'irish top spec' which wouldn't be anywhere near what would be available in the UK.

colm_mcm

That’s a very generalistic view. The U.K. new car market is very fleet driven for a start. The amount of people importing nearly new high spec cars from the U.K. over new cars tells you that the appetite is also here for higher spec cars. If you look at the number of R Line and Highline VWs as an example in Ireland, people are clearly buying more than base models.
Not all U.K. models are high spec either, if you look at superminis for example they have a lot of very basic 3 door hatches with less spec than we get here.
Of course with cars being cheaper in the U.K. it’s not so much of a burden spending up.
Basically what I’m saying is that the argument that Paddy will take a new base model 182 Corolla with wheel trims over anything else for the money is unfounded.