KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland

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Tue 21 Aug 2018 22:07
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - guygamps

Hi, just back from 4 days on the Antrim coast and Belfast, Avis hire car was on Dublin plates, picked up in Belfast airport , the Speedo was in Km/h only, but N.Ireland being in the UK All road signage is in Mp/h. Hard to keep an eye on our speed and hard to keep legal. All cars I have driven in UK have both Mp/h and Kp/h shown but not this Kia. It was a pretty horrid car all round, not a patch on my Seat Ateca, I think it was bottom of the range most basic.

What's the legality of driving in the UK without a Speedo that shows Mph?

Guy

Edited by guygamps on 21/08/2018 at 22:08

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Tue 21 Aug 2018 22:15
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - Brit_in_Germany

Perfectly legal.

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Tue 21 Aug 2018 22:48
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - Bromptonaut

Did it have an MPH subscale like all UK cars have one for Km/h? If my last few cars are anything to go by the subscale is difficult to read unless instrument panel is illuminated.

TBH though it's not difficult to convert key limits eg 30mph = 50km/h 50mph = 80km/h, 70mph = 110Km/h.

If you're agrieved contact the hire company and ask for an explanation

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Wed 22 Aug 2018 08:31
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - guygamps

no it didn't have a subscale. 30 ia 48, 40 is 64, 50 is 80, but even if you know that its very off-putting

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Tue 21 Aug 2018 22:51
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - Bromptonaut

Perfectly legal.

I think in Great Britain (ie England, Scotland and Wales) MPH is mandatory but different in Northern Ireland.

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Wed 22 Aug 2018 00:06
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - BMW Enthusiast

Perfectly legal.

I think in Great Britain (ie England, Scotland and Wales) MPH is mandatory but different in Northern Ireland.

No different at all to Mainland Great Britain.

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Wed 22 Aug 2018 00:05
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - BMW Enthusiast

Hi, just back from 4 days on the Antrim coast and Belfast, Avis hire car was on Dublin plates, picked up in Belfast airport , the Speedo was in Km/h only, but N.Ireland being in the UK All road signage is in Mp/h. Hard to keep an eye on our speed and hard to keep legal. All cars I have driven in UK have both Mp/h and Kp/h shown but not this Kia. It was a pretty horrid car all round, not a patch on my Seat Ateca, I think it was bottom of the range most basic.

What's the legality of driving in the UK without a Speedo that shows Mph?

Guy

I can't understand why you were given a hire car from a foreign country (Republic of Ireland) at Belfast airport. I would've refused it outright. It was perfectly legal to drive it with the speedometer in kilometres but Southern Irish cars of the same make and model sometimes have totally different specifications than UK models. I would complain to them especially regarding the insurance cover they had in place on the vehicle because if you booked the car through Avis UK you would expect to get a UK registered car to drive on UK roads. Hopefully this didn't totally ruin your trip to Northern Ireland? I live here and the Antrim coast is a great driving route.

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Wed 22 Aug 2018 09:43
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - Brit_in_Germany

Since all non-UK EU registered cars will normally only have a kmh marking, clearly they are allowed to be driven on UK roads as a temporary import. One problem for the OP however is that driving a non-UK registered car with a UK licence is somewhat frowned upon and if stopped by police you would normally have to provide proof that the import is only temporary, e.g. by showing a ferry ticket.

www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/temporar...s

edit: is there also a digital display which can be set to mph?

Edited by Brit_in_Germany on 22/08/2018 at 09:44

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Wed 22 Aug 2018 21:45
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - guygamps

Digital display yes , but I went through all the, menus and could find no way to set it to mph. I have emailed in a complaint today

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Wed 22 Aug 2018 16:05
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - TheGentlemanThug

Not illegal, but definitely irresponsible on Avis' part.

As Auto Steve said, the car was rented from a company operating in the UK, so the car should have conformed to UK standards. Not just regarding the speedo, but other aspects as well (not that these would probably be much different).

Perhaps the person booking the car doesn't know the difference between the RoI and NI?

Edited by Bicycle_Repair_Man on 22/08/2018 at 16:08

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Thu 23 Aug 2018 00:21
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - KJP 123

Looking at a Kia forum it seems user can't change display. But is it such a big issue?

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Thu 23 Aug 2018 01:17
KIA Sportage - Car hire in Northern Ireland - Avant

It must happen often in Ireland with hire cars, where someone has picked up in RoI and returned in NI, or vice versa. The hire companies won't want to waste fuel and drivers' time returning the cars.

I don't think it's a legal issue, but thanks for telling us about it, Guy. Most of us I suspect hadn't thought about it, so forewarned is forearmed: if it's important to anyone intending to hire in NI, they should stipulate when booking that the car should have markings in MPH.

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