Except for Japanese imports all cars in Ireland are UK imports, but new cars in Ireland have different specifications than the same new car in England. In an effort to counteract the crazy taxes on new cars in Ireland manufacturers build cars to a lower specification than the UK or Europe as those items omitted are taxable items e.g. alloy wheels that are standard on UK models are steel on Irish models. This means buying a UK model has advantages. The only disadvantage is the speedo in miles not kilometers.

There is a shortage of good used Irish cars and this shortfall is filled by UK imports. I will outline the pros and cons in no particular order:

Cons:

• Price – you will have to pay more for a UK import than an Irish car.

• For a car to be economically viable for a car dealer to import it has to be bought for less than its open market UK value, which is almost impossible. The result is “trade cars” with high miles, no service history, adverse history such as damaged, stolen, taxis.

Pros:

• Higher specification.

• More selection.

• It is illegal to clock cars in the UK so the mileage is correct 98% of the time.

• The cars are driven on better roads so there is less wear and tear.

• The cars are generally better serviced.