Guides

• How Japanese car auctions work: USS, TAA, JU and bidding through an exporter

  Members-only halls, about 20 seconds per car, and the week from inspection to documents. How overseas buyers bid and what to ask the exporter.

• How much is VRT in Ireland? Six real cars, worked out

  The 7% to 41% bands, the NOx levy, EV relief and what a Golf, Qashqai, Corolla hybrid, Focus and Model 3 actually pay in 2026.

• Motor tax in Ireland: 2026 rates, CO2 bands and calculator

  Motor tax versus VRT, all 2026 rate tables, the costs people forget, and a calculator for any registration year.

• VRT booking: how to book an NCTS appointment online or by phone

  The 7-day and 30-day rules, the booking phone number, the 28 centres that do VRT, the document checklist by country and form VRTVPD2.

• UK reg check before you import

  What the DVLA record and MOT history say about a UK car (year, CO2, mileage at every test, export status) and the VRT that follows from it.

• Importing a car from the UK to Ireland: the 2026 process

  Customs, VAT, VRT and the two hard deadlines - the whole sequence in the right order, with the checklist.

• VRT statistical code: what it is and how to find yours

  The eight-digit number that decides your valuation, with a worked example: why one car has several codes and how to find yours.

• Importing a car from Northern Ireland

  When the 10% customs duty and 23% VAT drop to zero, and the documents Revenue asks for to prove it.

• NOx charge calculator

  The VRT NOx levy by mg/km, typical figures by Euro standard, and why a blank costs €4,850 on a diesel.

• OMSP and VRT appeals

  What Revenue does when your car is not on its calculator, and how to appeal a valuation that is too high.