Can we use a commercial Land Rover privately?

Hello

We are looking at buying a 2015 Land Rover crew cab [a five-seater] Discovery from a family relation. He owns the car and pays commercial tax rate of €333/year. My wife and I are employed in the private sector and do not own a company.

We want to know:

1. If we buy the car and use it for day to day commute, dropping kids to creche etc, can we still avail of the €333 tax rate?

2. Is it possible for us to take out insurance on the vehicle whilst availing of the tax rate above?

Any advice would be much appreciated

Thanks

Owen Stephens (Dublin 15)

Sep 2024 Filed under: commercial vehicle

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Expert answer

Hi Owen,

There are strict rules forbidding the use of vehicles registered as commercials (as the Discovery described above is) for anything other than purely business/company use. The rule says you cannot use it for private use as you've described. Many do, I might add, and just hope not to get caught...

Insurance might be trickier, however. The insurers don't seem to like insuring private individuals on commercial vehicles. Only way to know if that will affect you is to ring around and see what they say. Or employ a broker to do the same. 

Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Advisor
@Shane_O_D