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

LillySV

User1998 wrote: »

Are you really going to the UK without even knowing what car you want? Someone may advise you on some other car supermarkets, all I know of is Car Shop in Manchester, but ideally you’d want to have picked out the cars you want beforehand and even have a deposit on one before you head over. Have a look on Autotrader and narrow the search to the locations you plan on going to.

If your using Revolut you can upgrade to a premium account for like €10/€15 or something and I think you can cancel in like 30 days and get that back. The upgrade happens straight away but why would you wait until the last minute? Just upgrade before you go. I paid £12k using my Revolut card chip and pin and it was instant. No idea about transferwise.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated... only thing is i see that it says on my Revolut app that upgrading to premium costs 7.99 a month, 12 month contract so that be more expensive than charge ... anyway would u give car shop the thumbs up?

LillySV

LillySV wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated... only thing is i see that it says on my Revolut app that upgrading to premium costs 7.99 a month, 12 month contract so that be more expensive than charge ... anyway would u give car shop the thumbs up?

Any bartering or reduction in price ?

bazz26

Not from the car supermarkets anyway. The price displayed is the price you pay + their admin/documentation fee and they will try to up sell things like valeting/detailing and warranty.

crystalbrite

Apart from getting getting an RAC/AA/Dekra check run on the car, what other checks should be done to make sure the car hasn't been written off, ex taxi, outstanding finance etc?

Should I use these, any other suggestions?:

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

https://www.cartell.ie/

https://cartaxcheck.co.uk/

Brianmwalker

LillySV wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated... only thing is i see that it says on my Revolut app that upgrading to premium costs 7.99 a month, 12 month contract so that be more expensive than charge ... anyway would u give car shop the thumbs up?

You can cancel within 14 days for full refund

crystalbrite

I'm emailing a UK dealer at the moment about a car I'm interested in. He said:

"The car is HPI checked and also has undergone an AA inspection prior to us purchasing it. If that is sufficient I can send you copies of all the paperwork and we normally take a £500 deposit to reserve the car subject to a satisfactory test drive and inspection."

If the paperwork looks good is it still recommended I do my own RAC/AA/Dekra check or should this be sufficient?

Thanks!

LillySV

Brianmwalker wrote: »

You can cancel within 14 days for full refund

U 100% on that ? So I could upgrade now to premium transfer 20k in free, pay it over to car dealer and cancel it a day later... that sounds too sweet... do I have to give a reason for cancellation

Brianmwalker

LillySV wrote: »

U 100% on that ? So I could upgrade now to premium transfer 20k in free, pay it over to car dealer and cancel it a day later... that sounds too sweet... do I have to give a reason for cancellation

I'm too new to post a link but search legal/metal and premium. You can downgrade for a full refund within 14 days once you don't get a new card.

Brianmwalker

crystalbrite wrote: »

I'm emailing a UK dealer at the moment about a car I'm interested in. He said:

"The car is HPI checked and also has undergone an AA inspection prior to us purchasing it. If that is sufficient I can send you copies of all the paperwork and we normally take a £500 deposit to reserve the car subject to a satisfactory test drive and inspection."

If the paperwork looks good is it still recommended I do my own RAC/AA/Dekra check or should this be sufficient?

Thanks!

What price is the car? I paid a guy 120 sterling to check out a car. Worth every cent, very through and I didn't buy in the end. Was a 3 year car with 18k miles and looked great in the photos and checks were clean.
If I'm flown over I must likely would have bought it.

crystalbrite

crystalbrite wrote: »

I'm emailing a UK dealer at the moment about a car I'm interested in. He said:

"The car is HPI checked and also has undergone an AA inspection prior to us purchasing it. If that is sufficient I can send you copies of all the paperwork and we normally take a £500 deposit to reserve the car subject to a satisfactory test drive and inspection."

If the paperwork looks good is it still recommended I do my own RAC/AA/Dekra check or should this be sufficient?

Thanks!

Okay so the dealer emailed me a copy of the 1st two pages of the V5C, an AA report, and a HPI check. This is for a 2016 BMW 330E.

The AA report looks like this except it doesn't have the BCA assured on the top left. Everything is all green in the report.
Inspection was done on the 18/11/2019.

https://bcamediaprod.blob.core.windows.net/private/pdfs/SpecificationSheet/GB/EGZ3778/3795007?sv=2017-04-17&sr=b&sig=93vRq1X2rOPx0qMux0p49dq5BfVpH2tnavDA3pGnXZs%3D&spr=https&se=2020-02-13T13%3A07%3A37Z&sp=r


Who does the HPI check? It looks like it might be done by the actual dealership. It looks like it was done just before he emailed me it based on the date and time of 13/02/2020 09:35:44.

Vehicle ID, MOT details, Stolen, Finance, Security Watch, Insurance write off (damage & theft), condition, plate transfer all clear.

Safety recall, V5, NMR not checked.

It states there were no former keepers and there is no start date of current keeper. Does this seem strange, should there be at least 1 former keeper? It's a 2016 car.

The Tax is expired since the end of November. Is this an issue?
The MOT is valid until this august.


Would it still be recommended to get my own RAC/AA/Dekra check done or would you think the above is enough?

Should I also still get a Cartell/motorcheck done or is that covered by the HPI (if reliable)?

Any questions in particular I should be asking when speaking on the phone?


Thanks!

LillySV

Brianmwalker wrote: »

I'm too new to post a link but search legal/metal and premium. You can downgrade for a full refund within 14 days once you don't get a new card.

Is there any bother if I transferred to Revolut, didn’t buy and wanted to transfer it back to original account .. I assume that be fine?

Ps sorry for dumb questions

crystalbrite

crystalbrite wrote: »

Okay so the dealer emailed me a copy of the 1st two pages of the V5C, an AA report, and a HPI check. This is for a 2016 BMW 330E.

The AA report looks like this except it doesn't have the BCA assured on the top left. Everything is all green in the report.
Inspection was done on the 18/11/2019.

https://bcamediaprod.blob.core.windows.net/private/pdfs/SpecificationSheet/GB/EGZ3778/3795007?sv=2017-04-17&sr=b&sig=93vRq1X2rOPx0qMux0p49dq5BfVpH2tnavDA3pGnXZs%3D&spr=https&se=2020-02-13T13%3A07%3A37Z&sp=r


Who does the HPI check? It looks like it might be done by the actual dealership. It looks like it was done just before he emailed me it based on the date and time of 13/02/2020 09:35:44.

Vehicle ID, MOT details, Stolen, Finance, Security Watch, Insurance write off (damage & theft), condition, plate transfer all clear.

Safety recall, V5, NMR not checked.

It states there were no former keepers and there is no start date of current keeper. Does this seem strange, should there be at least 1 former keeper? It's a 2016 car.

The Tax is expired since the end of November. Is this an issue?
The MOT is valid until this august.


Would it still be recommended to get my own RAC/AA/Dekra check done or would you think the above is enough?

Should I also still get a Cartell/motorcheck done or is that covered by the HPI (if reliable)?

Any questions in particular I should be asking when speaking on the phone?


Thanks!

Also from V5C I can see it was previosly owned by a leasing company.
Is this something I should be wary of?
I imagine it's similar to buying off a private seller, it varies car to car and who was driving it.

Service history is:
06/08/2019 47k miles
11/01/2019 40k miles
06/10/2017 19k miles


It'd be great if I could get some feedback on all of this as I keen on purchasing this car. I suppose my main questions are:

1. From the information in the my last 2 posts, is there any red flags?

2. Would you still recommend getting an RAC/AA/Dekra check along with doing a cartell/motorcheck?



Thanks!

Creamy Goodness

Do people still suggest getting a car checked over by AA etc. if it's 2019 with less than 15k miles buying from a main dealer and still under manufacturer warranty?

crystalbrite

What site is the best to book the Holyhead-Dublin ferry through?

Debub

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

Do people still suggest getting a car checked over by AA etc. if it's 2019 with less than 15k miles buying from a main dealer and still under manufacturer warranty?

If the Manufacturer warranty will be honored in Ireland - then not required

Creamy Goodness

Debub wrote: »

If the Manufacturer warranty will be honored in Ireland - then not required

Great thanks, it's Audi so it'll be honoured here for 1 year and then another year in the UK (which I can cross the border to NI for).

L-M

LillySV wrote: »

One more quest regarding payments... I know the two best options are either Revolut or transferwise ...

I have a standard Revolut account and a KBC bank account .... I’m planning on taking a few k out of credit union tomro in advance of next week ... just wondering how long it would take for me to transfer money from my KBC to the dealers account through transferwise if chose that option ?

And if I chose to move my credit union account money to Revolut .... would my money be safe or guaranteed? I think there’s nearly as much of a charge for transferring the money I’m considering as it is to upgrade to Revolut premium..... if I upgraded does it happen straight away or does it take time...?

Ie if I transfer 15k to Revolut basic... travel to uk... find an actual car I like ... can I change to premium there and then... and then transfer the figure?

I tried transferring 2k into my Revolut account recently and KBC blocked it. Probably a limit on my card. Just FYI

LillySV

L-M wrote: »

I tried transferring 2k into my Revolut account recently and KBC blocked it. Probably a limit on my card. Just FYI

thats what im worried about ...go over there and get caught out...
if i tried move miney from my kbc by this transferwise thing...would that be more sure i wonder?

Creamy Goodness

L-M wrote: »

I tried transferring 2k into my Revolut account recently and KBC blocked it. Probably a limit on my card. Just FYI

KBC limit on card is €70 per day. doing bank transfer is limited to €15,000 daily and €5000 max per transaction.


Was on to the dealer of the car I’m looking at, he said that I need a UK address to register the car first. Is this legit even if I’m importing to Ireland? I could use my cousins but I’d rather not. Can anyone explain what’s entailed with giving a uk address?

Esel

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

Was on to the dealer of the car I’m looking at, he said that I need a UK address to register the car first. Is this legit even if I’m importing to Ireland? I could use my cousins but I’d rather not. Can anyone explain what’s entailed with giving a uk address?

See my post from today in this thread:

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2058053861/1/#post112535536

It is absolutely *vital* that you are given the V5C (reg cert) by the seller as you cannot register the car here without it.

Procedure is explained on the DVLA website.

Do not proceed if seller does not agree!

crystalbrite

I'm going to go ahead with an RAC check. This would give me the confidence to buy without even seeing the car.

Going through the cost of travelling over and bringing back the car myself it would take a full 24 hours of travel (3am-3am), a day off work, and €320.
If I can pay a company to bring it back for me for 350-500e I think this might be worth it.

Can someone recommend a company to transport the car back? I've see this suggested but never any actual companies named.
Are these companies aware of the process and ensure they get the V5C and proof of sale off the dealer, along with ferry receipt for NCT centre?

Thanks!

Esel

Esel wrote: »

See my post from today in this thread:

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2058053861/1/#post112535536

It is absolutely *vital* that you are given the V5C (reg cert) by the seller as you cannot register the car here without it.

Procedure is explained on the DVLA website.

Do not proceed if seller does not agree!

Relevant link:

https://www.gov.uk/responsibilities-selling-vehicle

heffo500

crystalbrite wrote: »

I'm going to go ahead with an RAC check. This would give me the confidence to buy without even seeing the car.

Going through the cost of travelling over and bringing back the car myself it would take a full 24 hours of travel (3am-3am), a day off work, and €320.
If I can pay a company to bring it back for me for 350-500e I think this might be worth it.

Can someone recommend a company to transport the car back? I've see this suggested but never any actual companies named.
Are these companies aware of the process and ensure they get the V5C and proof of sale off the dealer, along with ferry receipt for NCT centre?

Thanks!

I got the RAC check on my car and it was excellent and extensive.

If you are happy to transfer the money before you go, you could do it on Saturday and not take a day off? You might even make an earlier boat home, but get a flexible ticket so you can get the later boat if that doesn't work out.

I was looking at website called Shiply which is like a comparison site for transport companies, which may be of use to you. Maybe you can see will the transport company take documents over with you or maybe the dealer would post them over with registered post.

I think you are better off going over rather than the transport option IMO

heffo500

User1998 wrote: »

No it doesn’t make a difference if they do or not. They probably should have but it won’t effect you in any way

I spoke to the DVLA who said I need to post over the export slip. The dealer should have done this they said.

Perhaps the car will still be registered in UK on the English plates unless I send this over or do the NCT/VRT crowd notify them I wonder.

bazz26

crystalbrite wrote: »

I'm going to go ahead with an RAC check. This would give me the confidence to buy without even seeing the car.

Going through the cost of travelling over and bringing back the car myself it would take a full 24 hours of travel (3am-3am), a day off work, and €320.
If I can pay a company to bring it back for me for 350-500e I think this might be worth it.

Can someone recommend a company to transport the car back? I've see this suggested but never any actual companies named.
Are these companies aware of the process and ensure they get the V5C and proof of sale off the dealer, along with ferry receipt for NCT centre?

Thanks!

Are you willing to buy and have shipped a used car you have never laid eyes on or test drove in person?

heffo500

bazz26 wrote: »

Are you willing to buy and have shipped a used car you have never laid eyes on or test drove in person?

To be fair him to him, he's planning on getting the RAC check. Which is IMO will spot anything and everything about the car, a hell of a lot more than a normal joe soap would. Therefore there should be no surprises...

bazz26

I understand the RAC check thing but I still like to have my own visual and feel of how the car looks and drives first myself before handing over a lot of money for it because once it leaves the dealer forecourt it's your problem. Maybe I'm just old fashioned.

at9qu5vp0wcix7

crystalbrite wrote: »

I'm going to go ahead with an RAC check. This would give me the confidence to buy without even seeing the car.

Going through the cost of travelling over and bringing back the car myself it would take a full 24 hours of travel (3am-3am), a day off work, and €320.
If I can pay a company to bring it back for me for 350-500e I think this might be worth it.

Can someone recommend a company to transport the car back? I've see this suggested but never any actual companies named.
Are these companies aware of the process and ensure they get the V5C and proof of sale off the dealer, along with ferry receipt for NCT centre?

Thanks!

You can request transportation quotes from independent contractors using Shiply. Average cost for me was about £500 - will be a little less of you're on the east coast.

crystalbrite

bazz26 wrote: »

Are you willing to buy and have shipped a used car you have never laid eyes on or test drove in person?

Yes that's what I'm considering and wondering if it's advised against.

I suppose I'm putting all my trust in the RAC check but the guy doing the RAC check will know a lot more about cars than me.
If I'm looking at it myself all I can really access is if there's any visual scratches, dents, faulty electronics in the car. I don't know enough to access the any subtle engine/driving issues.

In my head it's similar situation to buying through auction with flippingcars or ukcarimports. You just go off the car reports on these websites, pay in full and then it gets shipped over to ireland.

The car dealership I'm talking to already had an AA inspection done when they bought the car off a leasing company. They sent me this an everything was all good.
I want to get an RAC check on top of this for my own peace of mind.

I still might go over myself to drive it back. Going to do the RAC check first.
I've emailed a few transport companies for quotes.
NVD have come back the cheapest so far with 300e but I'm not sure if this includes VAT yet but even if it doesn't it seems like great value.
Also in a different boards thread I found from a few years ago, several people were recommending NVD.

User1998

heffo500 wrote: »

I spoke to the DVLA who said I need to post over the export slip. The dealer should have done this they said.

Perhaps the car will still be registered in UK on the English plates unless I send this over or do the NCT/VRT crowd notify them I wonder.

I’ve bought several cars from the uk with the export slip still attached. Send it if you want but it makes no difference