Buy car now, pay VAT later?

HELPDESK:All your motoring queries answered

From RS, Dún Laoghaire:

I am about to order a new car for delivery on March 1st, 2011 (my dealer tells me that it will take that long from the time of ordering).

If I pay a deposit (or even the full price) now and receive an invoice from the dealer, can I be assured that I will not be charged any extra VAT (as distinct from VRT) which might be imposed in the budget on December 7th?

Unfortunately not. The VAT on cars is treated slightly differently to other products and so is applicable on what Revenue refers to as the date of “entry into service”, which is regarded as the date of registration.

So any deal to agree a price based on the current VAT rates would have to be done with the dealer, who would have to cover any extra charges that may be incurred on the back of the budget.

In reality that’s unlikely to be agreed to by most dealers and there is probably a note in that regard included in any paperwork for the deposit or order of the car.

From TS:

We’re going to need a seven-seater soon. Any advice on what to look for? What are the better family sized people-carriers?

While the choice and quality of people-carriers has increased in the last 12 months – and is set to improve again in time for 2011 sales here – a couple of models stand out from the crowd.

Let’s get the criteria out of the way first. There are several variations of seven-seater. First up there are the five-seat hatchbacks with high roofs and a couple of jump seats in the boot. The legroom is tiny and the bootspace is lost.

Next up are the likes of the larger or “grand” versions of those, with more legroom in the last row and a little more easy access and practicality. The downside is that they still lose virtually all the bootspace, which means that they will carry seven, but if you’re going away for a while you either wear multiple layers or courier your luggage along ahead of you.

Finally there is the ultimate version: the posh minibuses that offer the creature comforts and independence of a regular car while accepting that procreation need not spell public transport for the family. These have seven spacious seats and luggage space to boot.

So what’s our favourite in each class? For the small runaround, it’s hard to argue with Renault’s Grand Scenic for value, particularly given its scrappage deals. After that, it’s the Ford S-Max matched against Citroen’s C4 Picasso and its “grand” persona, followed by the seven-seat versions of some of the soft-roaders, such as Hyundai Santa Fe.

At the top of the pile, it’s back to Ford for the Galaxy, if the price is right, or the VW Caravelle, if you don’t mind accepting you have now firmly entered the world of a minibus driver and all that it entails.

Send your queries to Motors Helpdesk, The Irish Times, Tara Street, Dublin 2 or email motorshelpdesk@irishtimes.com