Questions re importing in 30 year old car

V1llianous

Hi,

Just got a couple of quick questions re importing in a 30 year old car.

The vendor has answered a couple but just want to confirm.

1) If the car is over 30 years old motor tax will be about €40

2) As above the VRT will be something similar to the tax

3) As it is on a UK plate is an irish plate issued (quite like the current reg:D )?

TIA !

mike65

1) Yes (€45 I think) but only 30 years from the date of the original registration

2) Yes again - 50 euro VRT

https://www.ros.ie/VRTEnquiryServlet/showCarCalculator

3) Obviously you'll need to get an Irish reg which will give away the year of original registration ie 76-D-1234

Mike.

commited

An alternative to 3) is to get a ZV reg

mike65

Yeah but a ZV is a strange compromise for me, why not admit its an import?

Mike.

Abelloid

ZV is only available to imports, all it hides is the year.

V1llianous

Thanks for that guys !

Is there any grace period for an imported car with regard to VRT ?

Just wondering in case for instance it was a July 1977 regged car it would obviously fall just outsite the 30 years.

PaulK_CCI

V1llianous wrote:

Is there any grace period for an imported car with regard to VRT ?

No. It goes by EXACT date of 1st registration, and it doesnt matter if it's a year, month or even as little as a week out, they will have to charge the full VRT rate once it's in the system.

Officially you should present the vehicle at the VRO office within 24 hours of arriving in the country. BUT as with many things, not a single soul in this country would ever enforce this clause in the law...

So the suggestion is to make your own provision in bridging the gap (in simple terms: store the car!) until the EXACT date that the car is going to be 30 years old has passed.
Once you've started the registration process, there is no going back and they will have to charge you the official VRT rate, so be carefull as to when you bring your car up to the VRO office

Abelloid

If it's any help the last car I imported I rang the VRO to ask about bringing it in for registration on a trailer, they told me to leave it until it's roadworthy

Traumadoc

i rang them, and they told me too many staff were off sick - "try the week after"

corktina

V1llianous wrote:

Thanks for that guys !

Is there any grace period for an imported car with regard to VRT ?

Just wondering in case for instance it was a July 1977 regged car it would obviously fall just outsite the 30 years.

wait til July to re-reg it.....you wont have a problem...

V1llianous

corktina wrote:

wait til July to re-reg it.....you wont have a problem...

It now turns out from check of the original registration document that it was first registered on January 1st, 1978. Which means quite a while to wait till it is over the 30 years barrier.

I spoke to one of the VRT offices and got quoted between €315-815 for VRT which would honestly blow my budget.

The vendor currently has it in the country and will probably leave it till January to register it as he won't use it, if I don't buy it.

If I was to take it and take Corktina's advice above, as other people have also said once it is over 29½ years it is often accepted, a few questions arise hypothetically (wondering as suspect a lot of this is happening):

(i) what would happen if I was spotted and I was told to register it, would it just be the VRT or fine or would the car be confiscated.

(ii) if I did wait to register it till January how would I tax the car, is it possible to tax on the UK plates (obviously it wouldn't be as cheap as quoted above but could tax for the six months it takes to "mature")?

(iii) if it is less than the 30 years would it then have to do an NCT before it could be taxed ?

(iv) is it possible to set insurance up on the UK plate then change to the Irish plate when registered.

Thanks for assistance in this as really getting confused now. Lovely motor and have my heart set on it but don't know if I can wait until January for it, would be nice to have for summer fun

Going to look at the motor on Sunday and vendor says he will take into account the VRT, would it be worthwhile getting him to VRT before buying or would it not make much difference ?

Also are there more favourable VRT offices for quotes than others, rang Kildare earlier as no answer from either Dublin office?

overdriver

The best advice anybody here can give you is this:

If you're not going to VRT it now, then store it, and VRT it in January. You're leaving yourself open to all manner of hassle otherwise.

V1llianous

overdriver wrote:

The best advice anybody here can give you is this:

If you're not going to VRT it now, then store it, and VRT it in January. You're leaving yourself open to all manner of hassle otherwise.

If I was to store it as I don't have a garage etc would it be sufficient to store it on driveway if it is an unroadworthy state ie - starter motor missing etc ?

corktina

Gawds sake...there are cars pouring in on every ferry...half of them are running round on UK plates and most of the rest have been "ringed" using old logbooks that people have held on to for long -scrapped cars....so I don't think you have much to worry about....there will be a purge one day no doubt, but you will be very unlucky to get caught and the worst that is likely is that you'll get away by saying it's only on the road this week and I'm re-regging it on monday.....(yes you can get insurance on UK plates...)

January will soon come round and you can make it legal for €50 then....:)

Abelloid

I drove a car on UK plates for nearly 3 months, not by choice but because they (VRO) couldn't decide how to register it as it had an engine that wasn't listed :rolleyes:

Carole Nash insured it on UK plates, no questions or hassle.

Blue850

My brother's insured his 78 car on its UK reg as the VRO couldn't find the car on its database, so he's waiting until its 30 to clear it.

OT Why couldn't the powers that be put ZV after a 3 or 4 digit number instead of introducing a 5 digit number ie 123 ZV instead of ZV 12345, its like black wiper blades on chrome arms...it looks wrong:rolleyes:

corktina

Blue850 wrote:

My brother's insured his 78 car on its UK reg as the VRO couldn't find the car on its database, so he's waiting until its 30 to clear it.

OT Why couldn't the powers that be put ZV after a 3 or 4 digit number instead of introducing a 5 digit number ie 123 ZV instead of ZV 12345, its like black wiper blades on chrome arms...it looks wrong:rolleyes:

yep...or go to AZVxxx (xxxAZV) if that is available or even ZZV maybe...

101sean

My local VRO office keep giving me cover notes in case I get stopped on my UK plates for both my Land Rovers, one of which is vintage, both bought in under the 6 month rule as I've just moved here. Been nearly 2 months now since I declared the first one and they don't seem to be in any hurry to issue my registrations, they were suprised I turned up within 2 days of arriving!

Sean