Buying a car from the UK can be a minefield with warranties, taxes, currency conversion and the logistics of getting it home. Trying to calculate if it is cheaper to buy a car from the UK can be complicated, so we did the legwork for you. We took ten popular cars and compared prices for Ireland and the UK.
For the UK total, we take into account the VRT, flight, ferry home and currency conversion. Currency conversion is based on currency rate (www.xe.com) at time of writing this blog - £1 is equal €1.08. Check with your bank for up to date rate. The cost of the flight (Dublin to Manchester – www.skyscanner.ie) and ferry (Holyhead to Dublin – www.irishferries.com) is based on a ticket booked a week in advance of travel. The websites used in pricing the cars were www.carzone.ie and www.autotrader.co.uk.
To calculate VRT of each car we used the VRT calculator.
Volkswagen Golf
Country | Ireland | UK |
Year | 2014 | 2014 |
Mileage (m) | 49,863m | 45,426m |
Engine | 1.6L | 1.6L |
Gearbox | Manual | Manual |
Fuel | Diesel | Diesel |
Colour | Black | Silver |
Interior | Cloth | Cloth |
Extras | None listed | Cruise control, M/F Steering Wheel, A/C, Alloy Wheels |
Price | €13,500 | £8,199 (€8,890)* |
VRT | €0 | €1,832 |
Flight | €0 | €41 |
Ferry | €0 | €218 |
Total (€) | €13,500 | €10,981 |
Difference: €2,519
Ford Focus
Country | Ireland | UK |
Year | 2014 | 2014 |
Mileage (m) | 46,000m | 44,000m |
Engine | 1.6L | 1.6L |
Gearbox | Manual | Manual |
Fuel | Diesel | Diesel |
Colour | White | Blue |
Interior | Cloth with leather trim | Cloth |
Extras | M/F Steering Wheel, A/C, Alloy Wheels | M/F Steering Wheel, A/C, Alloy Wheels |
Price | €13,950 | £8,000 (€8,671)* |
VRT | €0 | €1,732 |
Flight | €0 | €41 |
Ferry | €0 | €218 |
Total (€) | €13,950 | €10,662 |
Difference: €3,288
Volkswagen Polo
Country | Ireland | UK |
Year | 2014 | 2014 |
Mileage (m) | 44,360m | 44,705m |
Engine | 1.0L | 1.0L SE |
Gearbox | Manual | Manual |
Fuel | Petrol | Diesel |
Colour | Silver | Blue |
Interior | Cloth | Cloth |
Extras | Basic Spec | M/F Steering Wheel, A/C, 15” Alloy Wheels |
Price | €13,950 | £7,795 (€8,450)* |
VRT | €0 | €1,145 |
Flight | €0 | €41 |
Ferry | €0 | €218 |
Total (€) | €13,950 | €9,854 |
Difference: €4,096
Ford Fiesta
Country | Ireland | UK |
Year | 2014 | 2014 |
Mileage (m) | 48,125m | 47,729m |
Engine | 1.0L Zetec | 1.0L Zetec |
Gearbox | Manual | Manual |
Fuel | Petrol | Petrol |
Colour | Blue | Black |
Interior | Cloth | Cloth |
Extras | A/C, Alloy Wheels | M/F Steering Wheel, A/C, Alloy Wheels |
Price | €10,450 | £6,795 (€7,366)* |
VRT | €0 | €1,215 |
Flight | €0 | €41 |
Ferry | €0 | €218 |
Total (€) | €10,450 | €8,840 |
Difference: €1,610
Volkswagen Passat
Country | Ireland | UK |
Year | 2014 | 2014 |
Mileage (m) | 43,677m | 48,235m |
Engine | 2.0L Highline | 2.0L Highline |
Gearbox | Manual | Manual |
Fuel | Diesel | Diesel |
Colour | Black | Black |
Interior | NA | Cloth |
Extras | Cruise Control, M/F Steering Wheel, A/C, Alloy Wheels | Sat Nav, Cruise Control, M/F Steering Wheel, Climate Control, Alloy Wheels |
Price | €14,600 | £8,000 (€8,671)* |
VRT | €0 | €2,638 |
Flight | €0 | €41 |
Ferry | €0 | €218 |
Total (€) | €14,600 | €11,568 |
Difference: €3,032
Toyota Auris
Country | Ireland | UK |
Year | 2014 | 2014 |
Mileage (m) | 41,640m | 42,540m |
Engine | 1.6L D4D Luna | 1.6L D4D Icon |
Gearbox | Manual | Manual |
Fuel | Diesel | Diesel |
Colour | Ultra Silver | Black |
Interior | Cloth | Cloth |
Extras | M/F Steering Wheel, A/C, Alloy Wheels | M/F Steering Wheel, A/C, Alloy Wheels |
Price | €12,945 | £7,495 (€8,124)* |
VRT | €0 | €1,750 |
Flight | €0 | €41 |
Ferry | €0 | €218 |
Total (€) | €12,945 | €10,133 |
Difference: €2,812
Opel Astra
Country | Ireland | UK |
Year | 2014 | 2014 |
Mileage (m) | 45,671m | 40,000m |
Engine | 1.4L | 1.4L |
Gearbox | Manual | Manual |
Fuel | Petrol | Petrol |
Colour | White | Ultra Blue |
Interior | Cloth | Cloth |
Extras | Cruise Control, M/F Steering Wheel, A/C, 16” Alloy Wheels | Cruise Control, M/F Steering Wheel, A/C, Alloy Wheels |
Price | €9,950 | £5,390 (€5,842)* |
VRT | €0 | €1,374 |
Flight | €0 | €41 |
Ferry | €0 | €218 |
Total (€) | €9,950 | €7,475 |
Difference: €2,475
Toyota Yaris
Country | Ireland | UK |
Year | 2014 | 2014 |
Mileage (m) | 44,118m | 41,958m |
Engine | 1.0L VVT-I Luna | 1.0L VVT-I Icon |
Gearbox | Manual | Manual |
Fuel | Petrol | Petrol |
Colour | Blue | White |
Interior | Cloth | Cloth |
Extras | M/F Steering Wheel | Climate Control, M/F Steering Wheel, Alloy Wheels, |
Price | €10,950 | £5,990 (€6,493)* |
VRT | €0 | €1,593 |
Flight | €0 | €41 |
Ferry | €0 | €218 |
Total (€) | €10,950 | €8,345 |
Difference: €2,605
Audi A4
Country | Ireland | UK |
Year | 2014 | 2014 |
Mileage (m) | 40,509m | 47,053m |
Engine | 2.0L | 2.0L |
Gearbox | Manual | Automatic |
Fuel | Diesel | Diesel |
Colour | Silver | Grey |
Interior | Leather | Leather |
Extras | Climate Control, Cruise Control, M/F Steering Wheel, 17” Alloy Wheels, Sat Nav | Climate Control, Cruise Control, M/F Steering Wheel, 18” Alloy Wheels, Sat Nav |
Price | €17,950 | £8,995 (€9,750)* |
VRT | €0 | €3,341 |
Flight | €0 | €41 |
Ferry | €0 | €218 |
Total (€) | €17,950 | €13,350 |
Difference: €4,600
Renault Clio
Country | Ireland | UK |
Year | 2014 | 2014 |
Mileage (m) | 48,399m | 48,597m |
Engine | 1.1L | 1.1L |
Gearbox | Manual | Manual |
Fuel | Petrol | Petrol |
Colour | White | Blue |
Interior | Cloth | Cloth |
Extras | Cruise Control, M/F steering Wheel, A/C, Alloy Wheels | Cruise Control, M/F steering Wheel, A/C, 16” Alloy Wheels |
Price | €8,700 | £5,300 (€5,745)* |
VRT | €0 | €1,515 |
Flight | €0 | €41 |
Ferry | €0 | €218 |
Total (€) | €8,700 | €7,519 |
Difference: €1,181
What's Next?
So if you don’t mind the extra effort and administration involved there certainly are savings to be made by buying a car in the UK. At Liberty Insurance we provide cover for a wide range of imported vehicles so get a car insurance quote now to ensure you have all your costs fully budgeted for.
If you want to check the history of a car in the UK visit https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/ or https://www.hpi.co.uk/
To calculate the VRT of a UK car visit https://www.ros.ie/evrt-enquiry
