Importing from the UK - definitive guide (Q&A)

bazz26

There is bigger profit in it for these chancers posing as private sellers if they buy cars with chequered pasts, missing service histories, high mileage, swimmers or down right rough, for small money in the UK and then sell them on over here to unsuspecting buyers.

If buyers did proper background checks then these characters would be less profit or demand in selling crooked motors here.

An Ri rua

Any chance of some advice?

I'm following up a DD ad for a few days now and have traced the mobi number back to an NI crashed repairables (and non-crashed) dealer. But the ad is definitely posing as private seller in Dublin.

How can I establish good history on what is most likely an ex-UK car? The guy could merely be avoiding tax/warranty but the car 'could' still be fine. Its bangernomics region. Should I ring my insurance company to check it if was ever crashed? How do I get the old UK reg if it had one? Its mileage is too close to the magic 100k mark for my liking. Is there a UK national mileage register? Or would a good cartell / motorcheck check followed up by a pre-purchase inspection be sufficient?

MidlandsM

An Ri rua wrote: »

Any chance of some advice?

I'm following up a DD ad for a few days now and have traced the mobi number back to an NI crashed repairables (and non-crashed) dealer. But the ad is definitely posing as private seller in Dublin.

How can I establish good history on what is most likely an ex-UK car? The guy could merely be avoiding tax/warranty but the car 'could' still be fine. Its bangernomics region. Should I ring my insurance company to check it if was ever crashed? How do I get the old UK reg if it had one? Its mileage is too close to the magic 100k mark for my liking. Is there a UK national mileage register? Or would a good cartell / motorcheck check followed up by a pre-purchase inspection be sufficient?

Run a cartell report, ask the seller to give you the original uk reg. Its on the irish log book. Remember...lots of crashed car are never recorded on any registers also.

Old diesel

MidlandsM wrote: »

Run a cartell report, ask the seller to give you the original uk reg. Its on the irish log book. Remember...lots of crashed car are never recorded on any registers also.

very good points.

Id also be asking oneself - why would you deal with someone pretending to be selling a car in Dublin but the number is tracing back to an NI dealer.

That's not exactly a recipe for a decent seller is it????.

debabyjesus

Hi all, I recently imported an A4 and VRT appointment is on 28th. I was looking over the V5 and there is no emissions info on it at all.

Looking at the vrt procedure online and it says they will charge the % at the highest rate if no emissions info is available. Its a fairly rare 1997 A4 Avant Quattro 1.9tdi and its not listed on the revenue calculator of course.

Any advice on what I should do here?

An Ri rua

Old diesel wrote: »

very good points.

Id also be asking oneself - why would you deal with someone pretending to be selling a car in Dublin but the number is tracing back to an NI dealer.

That's not exactly a recipe for a decent seller is it????.

Appreciate the input, but its a tad patronising isn't it? I have asked for advice on minimising risks on the car by getting to its truth. That's my goal. If a guy has a tax strategy, its not my affair. No more than it is when an indy mechanic keeps an old car on the road for me with a cash job. I just want to judge THE CAR with my eyes open. I've bought a few cars from roadside dealers, I've even traded in one or two and made a profit out of guys with so-called bad reps. Not all of their cars are lemons. Its the truth of the car I want to flush out. MidlandsM's advice is pertinent in that regard as i now see some extra risk. Thanks guys for always helping others improve.

Old diesel

An Ri rua wrote: »

Appreciate the input, but its a tad patronising isn't it? I have asked for advice on minimising risks on the car by getting to its truth. That's my goal. If a guy has a tax strategy, its not my affair. No more than it is when an indy mechanic keeps an old car on the road for me with a cash job. I just want to judge THE CAR with my eyes open. I've bought a few cars from roadside dealers, I've even traded in one or two and made a profit out of guys with so-called bad reps. Not all of their cars are lemons. Its the truth of the car I want to flush out. MidlandsM's advice is pertinent in that regard as i now see some extra risk. Thanks guys for always helping others improve.

Apologies if it came across as patronising.

While the car may be fine - and if so - then happy days - I just feel - in general - why would you want to mess around with a dealer that pretends to be a private seller from Dublin - when in fact they are a dealer in Northern Ireland.

Obviously if the cars something very rare and you really want it - then fair enough - look at the car and if it all checks out - do a deal - happy days

If the car is something common - like an Avensis or Focus - then theres plenty of them around without entertaining cars from iffy dealers.

Sorry for any offence caused

An Ri rua

Old diesel wrote: »

Apologies if it came across as patronising.

While the car may be fine - and if so - then happy days - I just feel - in general - why would you want to mess around with a dealer that pretends to be a private seller from Dublin - when in fact they are a dealer in Northern Ireland.

Obviously if the cars something very rare and you really want it - then fair enough - look at the car and if it all checks out - do a deal - happy days

If the car is something common - like an Avensis or Focus - then theres plenty of them around without entertaining cars from iffy dealers.

Sorry for any offence caused

Thanks, appreciate the help, genuinely. It is a rare enough one alright. Bodyshape-wise. Engine and parts readily available. I will tread carefully. If the car is 100%, I will ignore other agendas. Its a tad over Bangernomics prices and that's my budget level; so beggars can't be choosers, within reason. Once the car's right, I'm happy.

debabyjesus

So I found the emission rate of the A4. Its on the code sticker in the boot along with the mpg figures. I also have the original owners manual that explains what each code on the sticker means...

Surely this will be enough evidence for the revenue as its from the manufacturer and the sticker also has the vin on it.

Anyone had to prove emission rate before?

MidlandsM

debabyjesus wrote: »

So I found the emission rate of the A4. Its on the code sticker in the boot along with the mpg figures. I also have the original owners manual that explains what each code on the sticker means...

Surely this will be enough evidence for the revenue as its from the manufacturer and the sticker also has the vin on it.

Anyone had to prove emission rate before?

relax, so the ncts minnion on that day will accept the emmissions from that sticker in the boot, or the worst that can happen (on the day @nct centre) is they'll have to clarify the emmisions rate with Revenue in Rosslare, so they'd inspect the car,and send you off until you get a call or letter back from the ncts office in Dublin, with the VRT amount to pay. Then you'd go back to the nct centre another day (no appt necessary), pay the vrt, and you get a reg. A PITA, but there ya go.

No biggie....you'll pay no extra.

ryan101

If you bring a car in from the UK, can you store it off road for a few months before you VRT it ?
Or does that only apply to dealers ?

MidlandsM

ryan101 wrote: »

If you bring a car in from the UK, can you store it off road for a few months before you VRT it ?

No

ryan101

MidlandsM wrote: »

No

So how do people do it, as it seems to be done all the time ?

corktina

Dealers can do when they are authorised to do so. Private individuals may not do this

ryan101

corktina wrote: »

Dealers can do when they are authorised to do so. Private individuals may not do this

So buying a UK reg vehicle, imported a few months ago, off a private seller, would be a mistake. Yet I see people getting away with this, presumably by forging the UK sales invoice / import date. Seems a bit risky to me.

timmy4u2

ryan101 wrote: »

So buying a UK reg vehicle, imported a few months ago, off a private seller, would be a mistake. Yet I see people getting away with this, presumably by forging the UK sales invoice / import date. Seems a bit risky to me.

Traders who were issued with a TAN number(Trader Account Number) are allowed to have unregistered vehicles on their premises.
Others are not allowed to do this for longer than thirty days with the proviso that the vehicle is declared within seven days.
Those who get away with holding a vehicle over the prescribed time and then register it in the manner that you describe are taking a big risk as it is fraud.
The ferry ticket has to be produced at the VRT office also so that would not be easy to over come.
Now if the vehicle was imported from the North, or through the north that is another story.

ryan101

timmy4u2 wrote: »

Traders who were issued with a TAN number(Trader Account Number) are allowed to have unregistered vehicles on their premises.
Others are not allowed to do this for longer than thirty days with the proviso that the vehicle is declared within seven days.
Those who get away with holding a vehicle over the prescribed time and then register it in the manner that you describe are taking a big risk as it is fraud.
The ferry ticket has to be produced at the VRT office also so that would not be easy to over come.
Now if the vehicle was imported from the North, or through the north that is another story.

So if it comes through the north, how do these these private buyers manage to get round the well over 30 days ? Dodgy invoice dates again I suppose.

Out of interest is it true the trader must not advertise a car for sale with UK/northern plates on it, hence those year only plates you sometimes see ?

The_Conductor

debabyjesus wrote: »

Anyone had to prove emission rate before?

Yes.
I went back to the manufacturer and got a Certificate of EU Conformity- which has the factory emissions on it.
Cost £120. Saved 4k in VRT.

debabyjesus

The_Conductor wrote: »

Yes.
I went back to the manufacturer and got a Certificate of EU Conformity- which has the factory emissions on it.
Cost £120. Saved 4k in VRT.

Audi north dublin wanted €120 to confirm emissions. They had to get clarification from Germany and could take weeks.

I'll take my chances with the code sticker.

CountingCrows

Is there any savings booking the ferry beforehand, or extra cost for just turning on the port on the day? If all goes to plan I'm hoping to sail out of Liverpool with the new wagon on Monday.

bazz26

It would depend on the price difference between pre-booking and just turning up at the port. If there is not alot in it then I'd tend to just turn up at the port otherwise you are putting yourself under pressure to buy the car even if you find something not right with it on the day or not.

corktina

if you have AXA insurance you can get 10% off Stena

muscas

Am moving back to Ireland shortly from the UK and want to bring my December 1999 2435cc car with me.

Don't think I will be subject to VRT because I've owned it since 2003.

From what I can gather I have to make an appointment with a VRT testing station within a week of arrival and present the car where upon I am notified of the registration number.

Armed with the registration number I can then present the car for the NCT test and I then pay the all mighty road tax of 1080E's a year. Is this the correct figure under the circumstances or will it be 2350E's?

Is that all about right?

BTW - I don't know the CO2 figure as its too old for that

Also does the VRT lot really need a certifivate of export from DVLA as DVLA reckon they dont issue them?

Many thanks in advance

corktina

Motor tax on my 2.5 Mondeo is €365 a quarter so your €1080 looks a little low. Otherwise you are on the ball, although you don't have to wait to NCT it before you tax it

You don't need an export cert , just the V5C and I think you have to contact Revenue in advance to be VRT free

Pacifico

Anyone been to CarGiant recently?! Trying to work out if it would be worth my while importing a 09/10 Accord...!

Old diesel

corktina wrote: »

Motor tax on my 2.5 Mondeo is €365 a quarter so your €1080 looks a little low. Otherwise you are on the ball, although you don't have to wait to NCT it before you tax it

You don't need an export cert , just the V5C and I think you have to contact Revenue in advance to be VRT free

Open to correction here - but firstly I think the 3 month fee when multiplied by 4 ends up at a higher figure then the 12 month figure.

Also (again open to correction) - I think the V6 Mondeo MAY be in the next tax bracket - as it may be over 2500 cc - although I may be thinking of the Focus ST 5 cylinder - so apologies.

With regard to the poster looking to bring a 1999 2435 cc car - you won't be paying the 2350 - as only post 2008 cars are taxed on emissions afaik.

Your car will be taxed according to its engine capacity - the 2435 cc - and will be in the 2400 cc to 2500 cc category.

the 1080 euro figure could be correct but not sure if it changed in last budget or not

Confusingly - if you were paying VRT - that would be assessed on emissions but since you've owned the car since 2003 - you won't have to worry about that.

muscas

Thanks! Much appreciated

Old diesel wrote: »

Open to correction here - but firstly I think the 3 month fee when multiplied by 4 ends up at a higher figure then the 12 month figure.

Also (again open to correction) - I think the V6 Mondeo MAY be in the next tax bracket - as it may be over 2500 cc - although I may be thinking of the Focus ST 5 cylinder - so apologies.

With regard to the poster looking to bring a 1999 2435 cc car - you won't be paying the 2350 - as only post 2008 cars are taxed on emissions afaik.

Your car will be taxed according to its engine capacity - the 2435 cc - and will be in the 2400 cc to 2500 cc category.

the 1080 euro figure could be correct but not sure if it changed in last budget or not

Confusingly - if you were paying VRT - that would be assessed on emissions but since you've owned the car since 2003 - you won't have to worry about that.

Esel

€1080 for 2401-2500 c.c.

b.gud

Pacifico wrote: »

Anyone been to CarGiant recently?! Trying to work out if it would be worth my while importing a 09/10 Accord...!

Had a quick look at Accords* when I was looking to import recently and it looked like there was very good savings to be made on them. They are big money for decent models over here. Being conservative I'd say based on what I saw there's at least 2k to be saved.

EDIT: I'm not sure about CarGiant because I personally didn't look too much at them I went through AutoTrader and looked at dealers there.

*I really wish my budget had been able to stretch to the Accord

Pacifico

Did you import What did you end up going for?!