Passenger Disability Grant

Lmnover

Hi
We have just been awarded a passenger disability grant for the purchase of a car for my mother, who lives with us full time.
Our own car wasnt suitable so we have sold it and want to buy something larger with space for wheelchair and a chair in the front thats easier to get her in and out of.

The documents for this grant say its for a maximum of 15K and that can use to to buy a brand new car or second hand car, Then claim the VRT and VAT back on the car - depending on where you bought it.
There are lots of grey ares and when you call the section dealing with it in Monaghan they are no commital and seem to have the attitude that you are trying to cream the system as apposed to get the maximum benefit from the grant.

My query is whether if we buy the car second hand privately - can we claim VAT and VRT back on it? As I know if you buy a brand new car from a dealer you can - but we cant afford this. Or can we buy a second hand car in the north privately and claim under this scheme. It seems from visiting dealers and doing research that if we have to buy from dealer - any saving from being able to claim back VAT/VRT is lost because the price is higher anyway.

Yesterday we went to a dealer who had a 2 year old car and said he said that because he imported the car from Northern Ireland - that we could only claim back VRT on the car which would amount to approx. 1400 - considering we then have to put a chair into the front passenger seat - we actually dont end up any better off than when we started!

Apologies for blathering on but I am now totally confused about this scheme and would appreciate advice from anyone who has gone through it..???

thanks!

SerialComplaint

The section in Monaghan - Is this Revenue or HSE or what?

Rev Hellfire

I've purchased a few cars this way, though not in the last three years so things may (and probably have) changed in the time being.

It was very straight forward when I did it. The VRT was taken off at the garage and the vat was claimed after. I would suggest you also talk to some of the vehicle adaptation companies who are very helpful on this matter.

The one piece of additional advice I would give is to try and avoid doing structural work to the vehicle (or purchasing one) such has lowering the floor since this can affect the resale value of the car/van.

Joey the lips

Lmnover wrote: »

My query is whether if we buy the car second hand privately - can we claim VAT and VRT back on it? As I know if you buy a brand new car from a dealer you can - but we cant afford this. Or can we buy a second hand car in the north privately and claim under this scheme. It seems from visiting dealers and doing research that if we have to buy from dealer - any saving from being able to claim back VAT/VRT is lost because the price is higher anyway.

Yesterday we went to a dealer who had a 2 year old car and said he said that because he imported the car from Northern Ireland - that we could only claim back VRT on the car which would amount to approx. 1400 - considering we then have to put a chair into the front passenger seat - we actually dont end up any better off than when we started!

Apologies for blathering on but I am now totally confused about this scheme and would appreciate advice from anyone who has gone through it..???

thanks!

You cannot buy a car privatly down here but yes you can buy a car privatly in the north. That way you wont have VRT however s/he would have already paid VAT, Also as far as i know vat is not charged on a second hand car by the dealer which is why you cannot claim it for a second time.

This is what a lot of people do in your situation however i would pay to have the vehicle checked. Its very important. The motoring section can explain this.

Also consider cars like the Citron berlingo. These go cheap and there is room in the boot for a wheelchair. The maintenance is cheap on them asd its just as well sometimes the engine gard for the med gards come away and they are good on diesel.

skippy2

bought a second hand car in the uk like this and you dont have to pay the VRT on the way in but the VAT has already been paid in the UK so you cannot get this back obviously in Ireland. tried so hard to give money to an Irish garage but they had an unbelievable attitude and the cars in general were rubbish eventually bought 2nd hand through UK dealer and was treated like i was buying a new rolls. I think you do need to buy a high spec car to justify this and to be able to get the max benefit. The IWA also advertise converted cars on their website and in their magazine. Hope his helps

Vote 4 Pedro

This is a good scheme but you get the most benefit out of it buy by getting a new car, this is damed expensive but getting the VRT and VAT back make it a lot easier
but the real benefit comes after the first 2 years is up and you can then change your car for a new one,
the same make again but for free or very little money.

The cost of the passenger seat is a killer but also the benefit is that its only a small free for transferring it to the new car after 2 years.
as long as it's the same make & model

If you buy a second hand car, the older the car, the smaller the benefit.

Its important when you are choosing to buy the car have selling it in mind,
e.g. get something popular like a ford focus c-max,
before you make the final decision to get your car try and remember that once you buy it you will find it very expensive to change it for anything other than the same again
because the car dealers will give you very bad px value on anything other than what they sell.

Don't forget that you can also claim back the vat on fuel once a year, the car also gets free road tax and free passage through the tolls.