Thanks for the clarification Cloughy. My understanding also is that you have to pay VAT on new cars being imported into Ireland at 21% irrespective of whether VAT has been paid in another EU state.
For further info on importing a new car and information on VAT see the thread
www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=603419#post603419.
In relation to buying a car for ‘cash’, dealers make at least 3% to 4% on their finance. It doesn’t make business sense therefore that a dealer would provide the same discount for a ‘cash’ sale than a sale organised through their own finance. Why would a dealer ‘share’ more of their profit for a cash sale than a sale organised through their own finance?
A UK BMW dealer’s margin on a new car is around 15%. If they’re giving you a discount of 9%, there margin is then only 6%. The profit element from selling finance (3% to 4%) therefore is a huge part of their total profit.
I negotiated a deal with a garage in the past buying through the dealer finance. After researching further I realised I could get a more competitive APR through a personal loan. The dealer’s response to me buying through a personal loan was that they couldn’t proceed with the deal on the same terms as they depended on selling the finance as there wasn’t enough of a margin from solely selling the car.