RS3 price in Ireland is one of the highest in the world though isn’t it? €70k base spec that doesn’t include advanced tech pack / Virtual cockpit which is standard in U.K. (€4.5k option in Ireland) Doesn’t include heated seats or Electric lumber.
Just specced a medium spec car upto 90k Euros, full spec has to be pushing 100k Euros.
Irish cars come with Ceramics as standard though, but with no Nav or heated seats. Sounds a little well, Irish
€90k Euros is about £82k at 1.1 exchange rate. Has to be one of the most expensive comparisons in the World. I know the Dutch and Norwegians have a hard time too.
And don’t you guys over in Ireland have to pay a crazy annual tax to own such a car?
We tend to follow the German model here for cars in that the models start off with a really bare bones spec unlike the UK where your entry level car tends to be highly specced. But we certainly don't match the German low prices....we get screwed here by the Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) which puts a tax as high as 30% on the price of a car like an RS3. It's tied to CO2 emissions so low emission cars and Electic cars have a much lower VRT. I can spec up a decent RS3 for €84K with all the nav, VC, SS seats, panther black paint etc. And example of the lunacy of the VRT system is the S4 which starts off at €70K on 18in rims. If you choose 19in rims, it increases the CO2 figure and puts the car into a higher band and just adding those wheels will add €5K and every option will be more expensive as well as the road tax
So when I hint at a good deal, it's all relative! If I spec up a really bare S5 sportback spec, I can't get it below €90K.
And to top it off, Audi put the GFVs ridiculously low. So said S5 starts at €80K and the GFV is €28.5K after 3 years. So your montly payments are big but there is no negative equity really to worry about. It seems to be a protective thing here, even Porsche have a maximum GFV on all cars of just 35% of list price.
Annual road tax for an RS3 is €750 which is not bad really.
The Dutch have the same lunatics running the show when it comes to cars, the same CO2 bands of tax.