Buying irish townaces

Thanks almost entirely to this excellent website we have bought a Townace and find it a most enjoyable and comfortable vehicle to use. We have had some of the "usual" problems (a replacement engine was required under warrenty when the crank end pulley fell off without any (apparent) warning!!). We live in Southern Ireland and I would advise any prospective new owners to compare our prices with the UK before buying - the Sterling prices appear very high to me. The Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) is a large part of the Irish price of vehicles (1700 euros for us) and (I believe) can be avoided if the vehicle is immediately exported. Our 1993 Townace is very high spec (6 Captains seats, twin air con + hot/ cold box, all electric (incl curtains!), CD, etc. Immaculate, 64K Kms) and cost 7,500 euros (approx £ 4,600) including VRT, Warranty, Thatcham alarm, service etc and it had already been SVA'd (not necessary in Ireland) as it had come via the UK to Ireland. We bought from Redcow Autos 00353 1 464 0207 in Dublin and they also quickly solved our engine "problem", collecting the vehicle and having a new engine installed in less than 2 weeks. Other Irish sellers can be found on the web and in the Golden pages. Thanks again for the excellent website!! - (#4009) Neil Midgley, 17 Apr 02