20 , 25 or 30 year

phoenix_nights

Hi,

Am confused about when a car gains classic status. I always thought it 30 years , then i read on a thread here somewhere 25 years, but then on buy and sell a guy was selling a '86 merc 260E and it said it had classic insurance.

---> as a side note.......my idea is to import from OZ a toyota FJ40 and since classic cars (this is where i need to know what years qualify) attract no VRT and the fact the euro is stronger against the oz dollar it would work out well.

Dades

"Classic" status is different depending on what you're talking about...

Motor Insurance = Can be as low as 20 years if you persuade the insurance company you treat it as a classic, and have another car. Have been even younger cars on classic policy but rare.

VRT = Strictly 30 years from date of first registration.
NCT = Strictly 30 years from date of first registration.

So for importing to work, the car really needs to be 30+.

G'luck!

PaulK_CCI

phoenix_nights wrote:

Hi,

Am confused about when a car gains classic status. I always thought it 30 years , then i read on a thread here somewhere 25 years, but then on buy and sell a guy was selling a '86 merc 260E and it said it had classic insurance.

---> as a side note.......my idea is to import from OZ a toyota FJ40 and since classic cars (this is where i need to know what years qualify) attract no VRT and the fact the euro is stronger against the oz dollar it would work out well.

BEWARE that importing from OUTSIDE the EUROPEAN UNION is not as simple as importing from the Uk or another EU country, as the "EXCEMPT FROM VRT" rule (that is: a set standard admin fee of 50 euro's instead of a calculated percentage on the Open Market Value) only applies to cars from within the EU. When a car comes from outside the EU union you will be paying IMPORT DUTIES and VAT to the tune of 21% over the value of the car (that you paid, so easy to keep as low as possible) PLUS the transport costs! This can work out as quite an expensive added surprise to your calculations!

phoenix_nights

I noticed that your location is the netherlands so rules may differ.

Does anyone know if this is correct as i always thought that it did not matter where the car came from. The reason i say that is that if you worked in japan or say denmark for 1 year you would be entitled to bring the car into ireland (provided you are returning ) without any tax. So what country you worked in would not matter.(except Uk where 6 month rule applies) I would have thought importing a classic from outside the eu would follow somewhat simmilar grounds. ?

Could somone clear this up ?

PaulK_CCI wrote:

BEWARE that importing from OUTSIDE the EUROPEAN UNION is not as simple as importing from the Uk or another EU country, as the "EXCEMPT FROM VRT" rule (that is: a set standard admin fee of 50 euro's instead of a calculated percentage on the Open Market Value) only applies to cars from within the EU. When a car comes from outside the EU union you will be paying IMPORT DUTIES and VAT to the tune of 21% over the value of the car (that you paid, so easy to keep as low as possible) PLUS the transport costs! This can work out as quite an expensive added surprise to your calculations!

Traumadoc

I am importing two cars from Australia, one I have owned for over 6 months (2004 Mercedes Ml 270) the other (1974 Porsche 911) I bought in december , )as we just sold the house and i wanted to buy something before the money was converted into jewlery or a new kitchen ). They should be arriving in a couple of weeks time , PM me and I will tell you the VAT, costs etc

PaulK_CCI

phoenix_nights wrote:

I noticed that your location is the netherlands so rules may differ.

Does anyone know if this is correct as i always thought that it did not matter where the car came from. The reason i say that is that if you worked in japan or say denmark for 1 year you would be entitled to bring the car into ireland (provided you are returning ) without any tax. So what country you worked in would not matter.(except Uk where 6 month rule applies) I would have thought importing a classic from outside the eu would follow somewhat simmilar grounds. ?

Could somone clear this up ?

Even though my location is in the Netherlands, I focus exclusively on importing cars into Ireland , so the rule applies to cars being imported into Ireland. However, the rule is more or less similar in ALL european countries (as we are looking at Customs and Excise duties here, which is an altogher different beast than the VRT duties, which is a unique and punitive system for Ireland and Portugal). In the different countries, it's sometimes purely the VAT percentage that is different, hence importing into the UK first (with only 17,5% VAT) is a more lucrative way to get the car into Europe...

Importing a car that you already own for more than 6 months is a potentially interesting way to avoid paying taxes, but it is based on REMIGRATING TO IRELAND after being a resident abroad, and has essentially nothing to do with importing a car: it would be viewed as bringing along your personal possessions as part of a relocation to Ireland, rather than importing goods. Also if you are an Irish citizen, the Customs and Excise people will be extra vigilant to avoid anyone dodging the system!

phoenix_nights

Thanks mate. There goes my idea of importing a FJ40. I would not mind so much but i lived there for 3 years and should have bought one a year before i came home. Had thought of bringing home with me my mercedes '73CE but suffered (even in oz) terribly by rust.

Tramadoc...i pm'd you for more details. Cheers.

PaulK_CCI wrote:

Even though my location is in the Netherlands, I focus exclusively on importing cars into Ireland , so the rule applies to cars being imported into Ireland. However, the rule is more or less similar in ALL european countries (as we are looking at Customs and Excise duties here, which is an altogher different beast than the VRT duties, which is a unique and punitive system for Ireland and Portugal). In the different countries, it's sometimes purely the VAT percentage that is different, hence importing into the UK first (with only 17,5% VAT) is a more lucrative way to get the car into Europe...

Importing a car that you already own for more than 6 months is a potentially interesting way to avoid paying taxes, but it is based on REMIGRATING TO IRELAND after being a resident abroad, and has essentially nothing to do with importing a car: it would be viewed as bringing along your personal possessions as part of a relocation to Ireland, rather than importing goods. Also if you are an Irish citizen, the Customs and Excise people will be extra vigilant to avoid anyone dodging the system!

el tel

On the theme of classic status and in particular to classic insurance, can ANY car get classic status once they are old enough or are there any other requirements? (e.g. make, model etc)

PaulK_CCI

el tel wrote:

On the theme of classic status and in particular to classic insurance, can ANY car get classic status once they are old enough or are there any other requirements? (e.g. make, model etc)

effectively ANY car that is over 20 or 25 years old (depending on the insurance company) should be eligible for Classic/Limited mileage insurance.

However, the premiums differ from company to company. Some companies will not touch a Porsche 911, others insure Porsches that are even as young as 15 years (the car ofcourse NOT the driver!!!!), so the rule is here, just as with your regular insurance, to just ring them all and compare prices!!!

tazamia

have a green 1979 FJ40 for sale if anyone interested get in touch and i can forward on photos