One for the Irish Surf Experts!

[sheriff]

I've been accumulating as much info as possible from this forum with a view to buying a 2.4 or 3.0 Surf in the next couple of weeks. Still have a couple of queries you guys might be able to help me with before I take the leap though.

1. Am I mad buying from a used car dealer who's charging approx €10k for a 91-93 2.4 with 70k mls on the clock? Buy and Sell prices seem a hell of a lot cheaper.

2. Commercial or Private Tax? Big difference in price! Been told that it's possible to tax commercially and insure privately (and still retain the back seats!)

3. Running cost. What can I expect to pay for a service and how often will she need one? How much can I expect to pay for a new set of tyres for the beast?

4. €1400 fully comp from Quinn Direct, 28 yrs old, 3 yrs NCB. Sound about right? I was given the same quote for a 2.4 or 3 ltr model.

Any light you could shed would be greatly appreciated!

[kevb]

im with quinn direct on a 1990 2.4 30yrs old,full no claims bonus,third party fire and theft in meath.602 euro with my wife as well and with no claims bonus protection.i think its 5000 miles for oil change.thats insured as a private car,821 euro tax . I talked to a few people and they said it worked out about the same wether you insure it private or commercial taking into account road tax(ie. commercial insurance dearer)

[Cmar]

I have a 1998 3.0 and am paying €1100 to insure it full comp. It's commercial so the road tax is cheaper...but I have an annual DOE test and thats €100. NCT is every two years for €50.

Mine is insured private/commercial with Hibernian.
Running costs are high for any big 4x4, the surf is no exception, tires service fuel economy etc etc all add up.
But it's worth it!

[Morr]

I've been accumulating as much info as possible from this forum with a view to buying a 2.4 or 3.0 Surf in the next couple of weeks. Still have a couple of queries you guys might be able to help me with before I take the leap though.

1. Am I mad buying from a used car dealer who's charging approx €10k for a 91-93 2.4 with 70k mls on the clock? Buy and Sell prices seem a hell of a lot cheaper. I reckon the dealers are taking the P*ss at these prices, I'd personally buy privately

2. Commercial or Private Tax? Big difference in price! Been told that it's possible to tax commercially and insure privately (and still retain the back seats!) Mine was taxed commercially when I got it but is a full passinger model, I'm insured privately with carraige of own goods cover also. Most companies would not cover me when revealed it was commercial tax but private car, so I went with the only one that diddn't ask me about the tax when I requested carraige of goods. To change from pte to goods you must (among other things) sign a decleration that it will only be used for commercial purposes, however if its like that when you buy it, and over a certain weight (can't remember it but the Surf's well over) you don't have to declare anything.

3. Running cost. What can I expect to pay for a service and how often will she need one? How much can I expect to pay for a new set of tyres for the beast?

4. €1400 fully comp from Quinn Direct, 28 yrs old, 3 yrs NCB. Sound about right? I was given the same quote for a 2.4 or 3 ltr model. Last year paid €1100ish with St. Paul thru broker, private, self only, this year same price with AXA thru broker plus goods and girlfriend named too.

Any light you could shed would be greatly appreciated!

[sheriff]

Thanks for the advice guys, looks like the private route is the way to go, unless I can haggle the sh*te out of the dealer! Keep up the great work.

Alan

[mandy]

cost of new tyres

Hi I have recently bought a 3.0lt ssrx surf and was worried about the cost of new tyres, i went onto e bay and bought 4 new tyres for £130.00 which i thought was excellent for the size.The postage was £26.00 but i still thought this was a good price for brand new tyres. Sorry i haven't got the address but try e bay and i hope you have good luck.

[silvtr1000]

Hi Sherrif,

Did you get yourself a Surf yet? I sold my '98 FireStorm to get a Surf. I had an '88 FJ12 for 4 years before that.

Anyway, I looked at loads of options before I got my 1990 2.4TD Surf. First I looked at using AutoAdvan (http://www.yotasurf.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=6360), but that turned out to be out of my price range.

Then I looked at Buy & Sell, where there were a few 120,000+ mile Surfs, but likely shagged (quite common builder's or farmer's cars) that were within my price range.

Then I looked at a private purchase from England, which was scuppered by a €300 ferry charge back from Holyhead.

In the end I found a gem of a 1990 2LTE manual in a rare blue colour in Cork. I spoke with the guy a couple of times on the phone, and it seemed to be too good a car to be true. But he swore it was a genuine car and that he'd pay for my round trip if I didn't like the car .

I paid €3900. It had no NCT & no tax. It was a northern Ireland car, but had been registered in in the republic. I looked into the commercial tax/ins possibility, but found that I couldn't tax it commercial cos it had been registered as a private car. So tax at €821 pa was unavoidable. We have 2 kids and wanted everything to be 100% unquestionably kosher for insurance & legal. We got a few good quotes and ended up going with FBD at €641 fully comp, with NCB protection. (http://www.yotasurf.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=7118) They are kinda hard to find in the republic, but if you can wait, and you keep a good eye on Buy & Sell, they do pop up now and then...

When I got it home, a mechanic uncle had a good look over it and we found that the complete exhaust was fooked. 20+ fingertip-sized holes all along it and loads of welds/patches . I just got my new complete system yesterday, from Milner Off Road in Derby - €400 delivered.

So, all in, I've paid €5762 so far. The wife's not happy about the exhaust surprise, nor the recurring €821 annual tax, but she does like driving it, so maybe she'll let me keep it after the first year...

I did a lot of looking into the viability of running a Surf - I'm not a high earner, so if it was going to be too dear, it wasn't going to happen. Tryes, spares, accessories are all available from good independant suppliers in the UK - the Surf is fast becoming a cult car (with obvious good reason) and they're flying into the UK & Ireland, so these suppliers know this, and are providing well priced good stuff for us.


Mark