Cars in Northern Ireland

gourcuff

travelling around n.i for a week or so and was struck by the quantum of high end or more expensive car brands you see on the roads up there. we even made a game of it for a while, it was nothing but audi, bmw, mercedes, land rover, range rovers etcs.

Especially the coastal towns like portstewart, it was actually staggering to me.
Living in dublin but from a town outside dublin, the difference definitely struck me from the areas i'm used to.

Is it being part of the UK, cheaper imports, or is the cost of running a high end car so much less up there?

kenmm

Ireland is sh!te for cars in general vs NI Is closer to GB setup (i.e. not the same insurance and MOT systems) - but tax is generally much cheaper, cost price cheaper (larger economies of scale etc), cheaper finance / access to larger financial markets.


Looking at 2nd hand market tho - there is still more choice over the water - there are still a lot of "paddy spec" cars up north..

Isambard

the difference is VRT

bazz26

The difference is tax, tax, tax and more tax.

pinktoe

Not only are the cars cheaper to buy, tax and insure, you also have to take into account how cheap houses are up there compared to us.

Restaurants, cinema, food, public transport etc is cheaper.

So having more disposal income helps alot

grayzer75

gourcuff wrote: »

travelling around n.i for a week or so and was struck by the quantum of high end or more expensive car brands you see on the roads up there. we even made a game of it for a while, it was nothing but audi, bmw, mercedes, land rover, range rovers etcs.

Especially the coastal towns like portstewart, it was actually staggering to me.
Living in dublin but from a town outside dublin, the difference definitely struck me from the areas i'm used to.

Is it being part of the UK, cheaper imports, or is the cost of running a high end car so much less up there?

There's a lot of money around places like Portstewart, Bangor, etc.

Lower costs for tax and insurance help too e.g. I drive a 2.0TDI VW Tiguan 4Motion 150BHP - tax £120 per year and insurance was £280 fully comp this year. Also access to finance is a lot easier through dealerships in the north and don't forget there's quite a few DLA cars about too.

Atlantic Dawn

LIGHTNING wrote: »

^

But wages arent the same though. Looking at the same jobs in Dublin/Belfast there is a decent difference.

Also they don't have the same gold plated dole and pension we have down here, theirs is not far off 50% of ours.

grayzer75

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Also they don't have the same gold plated dole and pension we have down here, theirs is not far off 50% of ours.

But the DLA makes up for that on the car front.

micah537

LIGHTNING wrote: »

^

But wages arent the same though. Looking at the same jobs in Dublin/Belfast there is a decent difference.

Roughly what percentage did you find? I know Dublin would have the better opportunities but there seems to be savings everywhere up north.


https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Ireland&city1=Dublin&country2=United+Kingdom&city2=Belfast
The above shows 21% but other sites are around 30%. I think you wold have more disposable income up North.
A Golf is 19% cheaper but I'm sure the percentage is higher for nicer cars.

kenmm

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Also they don't have the same gold plated dole and pension we have down here, theirs is not far off 50% of ours.

Is it now part of the Ts and Cs of boards that every thread must have a "Dole people are scrounging off the state they are all scumbags" sort of post?

micah537

kenmm wrote: »

Is it now part of the Ts and Cs of boards that every thread must have a "Dole people are scrounging off the state they are all scumbags" sort of post?

Yeah, did you not get an email on the 22nd of June about this?

Pkiernan

Wait until there a United Ireland and all the Northerners will have to drive poxy little 1l kias!

kenmm

micah537 wrote: »

Yeah, did you not get an email on the 22nd of June about this?

Fu(k - in my spam.

Ok - ffs if we didn't have to pay all those millions of work shy, lazy benefit cheats we could reduce VRT - When can I get my new Audi?

better?

gourcuff

gourcuff wrote: »

travelling around n.i for a week or so and was struck by the quantum of high end or more expensive car brands you see on the roads up there. we even made a game of it for a while, it was nothing but audi, bmw, mercedes, land rover, range rovers etcs.

Especially the coastal towns like portstewart, it was actually staggering to me.
Living in dublin but from a town outside dublin, the difference definitely struck me from the areas i'm used to.

Is it being part of the UK, cheaper imports, or is the cost of running a high end car so much less up there?

Portstewart would be where wealthy people would have holiday homes. They are also much more into cars bikes and campervans up there, they seem to spend a huge proportion of their income on toys from what I have seen up there at bike races.

Also as noted vehicles are much cheaper.

MetzgerMeister

I recently saw a 2020 BMW 440i with 14 (yes, fourteen) miles on it for £32k (about €36k) on Autotrader. Now imagine what that would cost here - you'd be looking at north of €60k.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

A tale of two Sundays:

Bible-wielding, suited Presbyterian takes the new/almost new X5/Macan (inevitably sporting 'personalised' plates) to Church. Has roast beef for lunch and heads to Portstewart for a Morelli's.

Nursing a hangover, Paddy takes the '96 Almera/Fiesta to Mass. Spends the afternoon in the pub and Boylesports.

Charles Babbage

I think this perception might depend on where in NI you were. I noticed this while travelling in DOwn, North Down big cars, middle of the county very modest ones and the Mercs reappeared in Warrenpoint.
Less VRT should mean bigger cars, but people cannot always afford them.

Best sellers in NI are not especially notable
1 Volkswagen Golf
2 Ford Focus
3 Hyundai Tucson
4 Ford Fiesta
5 Volkswagen Tiguan
6 Volkswagen Polo
7 Nissan Juke
8 Volkswagen t-roc
9 Nissan qashqai
10= Renault Kadjar

In the 26 counties the VW Tiguan outsells the Golf and the Yaris is the only smallish car in the top 10.
Both sides of the border see some posher models coming in used from England.

10= Seat Arona

micah537

off topic but if you lived in NI and imported a car from the UK, do you put it on NI plates?

Northern Monkey

micah537 wrote: »

off topic but if you lived in NI and imported a car from the UK, do you put it on NI plates?

You have a choice. You can keep the UK plates or request a NI plate. It used to be much simpler and you would be offered the switch at the point of taxing the car in your name but now you have to write a letter to request it and return the tax book to Swansea.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

A tale of two Sundays:

Bible-wielding, suited Presbyterian takes the new/almost new X5/Macan (inevitably sporting 'personalised' plates) to Church. Has roast beef for lunch and heads to Portstewart for a Morelli's.

Nursing a hangover, Paddy takes the '96 Almera/Fiesta to Mass. Spends the afternoon in the pub and Boylesports.

Paddy will have the fake Traynors RS4 TDI where the body kit doesn’t match the rest of the paint.

whippet

The grass is always greener and all that.

My inlaws are from NI and I spend quite a bit of time up there and live about 30mins from the boarder.

While there is some lovely metal about up there .. it’s no different to in the south. All depends on where you are ... and there are some absolute bangers on the road up there also.

Wages down south are much better than NI.

Philb76

I would be up the north often enough BMW are very popular when you think about it you can get a nearly new Audi a4 or 3 series for wot you would pay for a Nissan qashqai down here

Philb76

Here's an example https://www.usedcarsni.com/265276097

kenmm

A lot of people getting company cars will have access to better fleet options as well.

Charles Babbage

micah537 wrote: »

off topic but if you lived in NI and imported a car from the UK, do you put it on NI plates?

No, not usually. In the past people did this, sometimes through losing the logbook and the like, but as simple observation will show this does not happen now.
The NI vehicle registry was closed and moved to Swansea, so there is no administrative difference and nobody bothers much changing plates.

kenmm

Charles Babbage wrote: »

The NI vehicle registry was closed and moved to Swansea, so there is no administrative difference and nobody bothers much changing plates.

I didn't realised they moved that?


I wish they would use Swanseas system for tax and MOT - UK(GB) MOT History check is handy when browsing the ol' classifieds

Charles Babbage

kenmm wrote: »

I didn't realised they moved that?

6 years ago now https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-28336940
Coleraine wasn't properly computerised, to "save jobs", and rather than upgrade it they just closed it. This is not a devolved function, apparently.

I wish they would use Swanseas system for tax and MOT - UK(GB) MOT History check is handy when browsing the ol' classifieds

The MOT remains different, with proper test centres.

Another point on the reg numbers is that people may have personalised numbers, so someone will have a BMW and will use their personalised reg W1 LLY or whatever which disguises the age.

kenmm

ye - but you could always easily transfer reg numbers between GB and NI. Feck - you can even transfer the old Irish ones to UK but they tend to cost a fortune!

reubenreuben

tax/vrt,

high tax on old cars pre 2008. You can run an old jag v8 in the north for hardly anything if you can afford the fuel.

Its the worst thing about living in the republic that pre 2008 tax.

Philb76

A lot of the young drivers in the north take great pride in their cars always seem to be spotless

chalky_ie

More Protestants.

grayzer75

There's a serious amount of cars on the road in the north via the mobility scheme. It's a leasing scheme where the DLA gives an allowance and you can get a car with within that allowance or top it up for an upgraded car - the insurance, tax and all maintenance (including tyres) is included. I'm sure there's plenty genuine cases getting the allowance but there's a hell of a lot of people working the system too.

kenmm

grayzer75 wrote: »

There's a serious amount of cars on the road in the north via the mobility scheme. It's a leasing scheme where the DLA gives an allowance and you can get a car with within that allowance or top it up for an upgraded car - the insurance, tax and all maintenance (including tyres) is included. I'm sure there's plenty genuine cases getting the allowance but there's a hell of a lot of people working the system too.

Can you back that statement up, or is it a generalisation or impression (I would be genuinely interested).

From my understanding, its not quite so easy to work the system (I am sure there is fraud, no system can be free of it). How much is a "Serious amount" in the first place? 1%, 10%? 50%?

grayzer75

kenmm wrote: »

Can you back that statement up, or is it a generalisation or impression (I would be genuinely interested).

From my understanding, its not quite so easy to work the system (I am sure there is fraud, no system can be free of it). How much is a "Serious amount" in the first place? 1%, 10%? 50%?

I'll put it to you this way, I played 5-a-side in Newry and 2 of the lads were driving DLA cars all claimed for 'back' problems which only seemed to appear whenever they were being periodically assessed. I know lads working on sites in Dublin who drive their DLA cars at the weekend.

Over 10% of the population of the north are claiming DLA which is twice as many as the UK average:
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/210000-people-claiming-dla-in-northern-ireland-34483824.html

kenmm

grayzer75 wrote: »

I'll put it to you this way, I played 5-a-side in Newry and 2 of the lads were driving DLA cars all claimed for 'back' problems which only seemed to appear whenever they were being periodically assessed. I know lads working on sites in Dublin who drive their DLA cars at the weekend.

Over 10% of the population of the north are claiming DLA which is twice as many as the UK average:
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/210000-people-claiming-dla-in-northern-ireland-34483824.html

Christ thats pretty bad.
On the flip side I know someone who struggled to walk and couldn't get one! Plus the Torys in GB regions have been really militant (using companies with targets to do the assessments - another sort of scam..).

Maybe regional differences then?

grayzer75

kenmm wrote: »

Christ thats pretty bad.
On the flip side I know someone who struggled to walk and couldn't get one! Plus the Torys in GB regions have been really militant (using companies with targets to do the assessments - another sort of scam..).

Maybe regional differences then?

I heard they weren't very successful in their crackdown in the north as it's still carried out by civil servants rather than private companies.

It'll be one of the big issues to be resolved before any unity referendum (along with the free doctors, prescriptions, etc.)

kenmm

I wouldn't necessarily call the private company approach 'successful' either.. but that's a topic for another thread..

RE Card in NI - ye - lots of reason then..!

kenmm

kenmm wrote: »

Can you back that statement up, or is it a generalisation or impression (I would be genuinely interested).

From my understanding, its not quite so easy to work the system (I am sure there is fraud, no system can be free of it). How much is a "Serious amount" in the first place? 1%, 10%? 50%?

He’s dead right. It’s a running joke up there.

Voodoomelon

We talk about it all the time. 15 minutes from Dundalk and 25% smaller population, there's some serious cars in Newry by comparison. I was only there last week, Bentleys, M3s, M4s, C63s, M135is, 750s, XKs, Range Rovers, its crazy. They're seriously into their hatches too and the spec on many cars is just so much higher than down here with the more normal brands, Ford, Vauxhall, Honda, etc.

But as mentioned above, many people claiming disability, lots of folks up to their eyeballs in payments and many people would live week to week up the north and still fork out for "necessary" car payments due to the greater car culture up north.

Plus cheaper list price, lower running costs, better finance deals and overall better deals from the dealers with heavily discounted prices for many of the German brands for example.

colm_mcm

Are houses much cheaper up there? Are council houses more plentiful?

Faith+1

I was in Banbridge last week and as previous posters said the amount of top spec cars I seen was unreal. The cars we drive down south are so bland and generic in comparision.

road_high

kenmm wrote: »

Christ thats pretty bad.
On the flip side I know someone who struggled to walk and couldn't get one! Plus the Torys in GB regions have been really militant (using companies with targets to do the assessments - another sort of scam..).

Maybe regional differences then?

Lot of stuff is viewed as politically sensitive in the North so basically to avoid trouble the English just let them at it.
There’s a lot of buying off welfare and taxation wise to keep the peace.
A big impediment to reunification that seems to be ignored completely- NI is a welfare state from top heavy with civil service jobs to straight welfare dependency.

tabby aspreme

Personal leasing is also a thing in NI, similar to the UK, you can drive a 220 e class for €400/month with 2500 deposit .

Rodin

Much more 0% APR too and VAT rate is less

pinktoe

colm_mcm wrote: »

Are houses much cheaper up there? Are council houses more plentiful?

Belfast is cheaper than Cork or Galway to buy (easily 50 to 80k for average places) and a lot cheaper to rent. Lots of places 2 and 3 beds for 6-800 pounds.
Derry is even cheaper.

Atlantic Dawn

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Also they don't have the same gold plated dole and pension we have down here, theirs is not far off 50% of ours.

Yeah, pretty sure that argument doesn't work in this thread. Nice try though.


The DLA is a good one. Also the insurance game is completely different, along with finance access. When I was trying to get on the road my mother was banging on about teenagers over the border telling her the deals they were getting. 60 quid a week for a brand new Polo including insurance for a newly qualified driver. Galling tbh.

colm_mcm

pinktoe wrote: »

Belfast is cheaper than Cork or Galway to buy (easily 50 to 80k for average places) and a lot cheaper to rent. Lots of places 2 and 3 beds for 6-800 pounds.
Derry is even cheaper.

Could be a factor so, if you had a reasonable job you might have a bit more disposable income than in Dublin.

The J Stands for Jay

grayzer75 wrote: »

There's a lot of money around places like Portstewart, Bangor, etc.

Lower costs for tax and insurance help too e.g. I drive a 2.0TDI VW Tiguan 4Motion 150BHP - tax £120 per year and insurance was £280 fully comp this year. Also access to finance is a lot easier through dealerships in the north and don't forget there's quite a few DLA cars about too.

Known as Derry Living Allowance.

The J Stands for Jay

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Yeah, pretty sure that argument doesn't work in this thread. Nice try though.


The DLA is a good one. Also the insurance game is completely different, along with finance access. When I was trying to get on the road my mother was banging on about teenagers over the border telling her the deals they were getting. 60 quid a week for a brand new Polo including insurance for a newly qualified driver. Galling tbh.

I remember the deals you'd see advertised in the late 90s, cars with free tax and insurance and young, newly qualified drivers snapping them up.

grayzer75

colm_mcm wrote: »

Are houses much cheaper up there? Are council houses more plentiful?

Yes, when we were purchasing in 2003 we paid £78k for a 3 bed semi - a comparable house just the other side of the border was more than double that.

Rents are about 50% cheaper also which is why there's quite a few people have went the extra few miles across the border to Newry to rent as they were priced out of the market in the south.

They also get the benefit of cheaper cars, tax, insurance, etc.

kenmm

McGaggs wrote: »

I remember the deals you'd see advertised in the late 90s, cars with free tax and insurance and young, newly qualified drivers snapping them up.

That scheme destroyed a few Saxos as young drivers on free insurance wrapped them round trees etc..


I remember one time renting a car and they just finished running a "Zero Excess" promotion fort 2 weeks..

Never again they said as people stopped giving a fu(k altogether