UK Reg car on our roads

setanta5

Have a question regarding driving a uk reg'd car over here. My girlfriend is living in Glasgow and has just got a company car, meaning her car is now sitting idle except for when i'm there. I was looking for a new car over here but am now considering usnig hers until i move there in the spring.

My question is, what would be the issue, if any, in driving that car over here on UK plates and not getting it registered over here. I don;t want to transfer ownership and pay VRT given that I will most likely be bringing it back with me anyway. She's had the car 6 months now and its registered to her at her Glasgow address. She has maintained the Tax on it even though its mostly off the road.

ircoha

setanta5 wrote:

Have a question regarding driving a uk reg'd car over here. My girlfriend is living in Glasgow and has just got a company car, meaning her car is now sitting idle except for when i'm there. I was looking for a new car over here but am now considering usnig hers until i move there in the spring.

My question is, what would be the issue, if any, in driving that car over here on UK plates and not getting it registered over here. I don;t want to transfer ownership and pay VRT given that I will most likely be bringing it back with me anyway. She's had the car 6 months now and its registered to her at her Glasgow address. She has maintained the Tax on it even though its mostly off the road.

You go to Glasgow to drive the moths jamjar rather than...:) [could'nt resist that;) ]

Couple of issues:

1 Nosy neighbours who may report u to customs, have seen it done as loads of people are doing it to avoid insurance costs here, as well as having the UK drivers licence for the PP's:p

2 following on from the other Insurance thread of this am, it seems as long as u are resident in the same country the insurance will work so her UK insurance may not work here.

3 All other things being equal I believe the car can be in the country for 12 months as long as the owner is NOT living here, ie the tax concept of residence.

Owen

AFAIR, you can have the car in Ireland for 6 months, but you must travel to the UK at the end of that period and return if you want to use it in Ireland for a full 12 months, oh, and you must have a permenant address in the UK.

Anan1

An Irish resident may not drive a foreign-registered car here, I'm afraid. If customs stop you (and they are good at it), they can impound the car. I'd just buy a cheap car here and sell it when you leave.

setanta5

Does the owner have to have the permenant address in the UK or would i have to. I mean the car is registered in her name and to her address. Don't really want to change that.

I rang my insurance and they said they could cover me no problem if the car was here but if i want to get cover while i'm in the uk driving they would have to give me extended holiday cover. (??) my girlfriend just added me to her policy over there as named driver, but again her insurance company would have issues with her or me driving here long term on that policy.

It seems as far as insurance is concerned, the issue of registering/taxing the car is between me and customs/county council.

Henry Ford III

Anan1 wrote:

An Irish resident may not drive a foreign-registered car here, I'm afraid. If customs stop you (and they are good at it), they can impound the car. I'd just buy a cheap car here and sell it when you leave.

Bingo.

commited

setanta5 wrote:

She's had the car 6 months now and its registered to her at her Glasgow address.

Get her to import it over here, it'll be free as she's owned it 6months.
Then get her to insure it with you as a named driver.
It's the only way I can think of you doing it anyway near legally!

Anan1

commited wrote:

Get her to import it over here, it'll be free as she's owned it 6months.
Then get her to insure it with you as a named driver.
It's the only way I can think of you doing it anyway near legally!

It's a company car (not in her name), she's only just got it (not 6 months), and she'd have to transfer residence back here to do it (she's staying there and the OP is moving over there in the spring).

lynchie

Anan1 wrote:

An Irish resident may not drive a foreign-registered car here, I'm afraid. If customs stop you (and they are good at it), they can impound the car. I'd just buy a cheap car here and sell it when you leave.

I've been stopped before driving a friends UK reg jeep by the gardai. After checking my id etc.. they let me go. They never said anything about not being allowed to drive it. Got any links to where it says you cant drive a foreign reg vehicle here?

HelterSkelter

lynchie wrote:

I've been stopped before driving a friends UK reg jeep by the gardai. After checking my id etc.. they let me go. They never said anything about not being allowed to drive it. Got any links to where it says you cant drive a foreign reg vehicle here?

Same happened my bro, they just made him produce tax & insurance certs at his local Garda station.

Lex Luthor

commited wrote:

Get her to import it over here, it'll be free as she's owned it 6months.
Then get her to insure it with you as a named driver.
It's the only way I can think of you doing it anyway near legally!

does she not have to go through some sort of interview to avoid the VRT and prove all the reasons why she's moving here, etc, etc, or does she just have to prove she was abroad for more than 12months?

setanta5

It is her car...not a company car. She has a company car and thats why this one is available.

I think Lex is correct, for her to register it here she would have to move over and prove she was moving over. Thats not what we want at all. And as for buying a cheapo car in the meantime, i'm trying to save money buy using a car she is already paying for, not spen more money and leave her car sitting idle for 6 more months

MrPudding

lynchie wrote:

I've been stopped before driving a friends UK reg jeep by the gardai. After checking my id etc.. they let me go. They never said anything about not being allowed to drive it. Got any links to where it says you cant drive a foreign reg vehicle here?

This has been done to death to be honest. Go to the revenue site and do a search, or even search boards for VRT threads.

Irish residents are not allowed to drive a car in Ireland unless VRT has been paid on it. The only exception is in cases where the car is owned by the company you work for, and this is a foreign company. Even then it is only a temporary entitlement.

MrP