Importing cars from UK

Macca206

Im looking to buy a car in the north and import it here so that when I go to sell it I have paid less than the market value here.

For example a Clio is £5000 sterling (€7500) up north plus €2250 to import so €9750 in total and can be sold for at least €11.5k.

Does anyone knpw of a prticular type of car thats much cheaper in north than here and so more beneficial buying?>

keefg

Macca,

Be very careful before spending your hard earned on a car hoping to make a profit.

Two main reasons for this are.....

1) The used car market in Ireland is VERY slow at the moment. Loads of people have got their hands on their SSIA money now and money is very easy to borrow from banks etc so most people are either buying new or alsmost new cars.

2) A lot of people are very wary when it comes to "foreign" cars due to the number of ringers, insurance write off's etc.

If you do go ahead I would suggest that no matter what make/model you buy make sure you get the highest spec you can afford (leather seats, climate control etc) because it's rare to get those extras on Irish cars unless you pay top dollar.

You may be lucky and sell the car quickly but this isn't a novel idea....a LOT of people are importing high spec cars from the UK on a huge scale and you may get lost in the wave. Just don't be too dissapointed - and budget for - keeping the car as your own for several months.

Good Luck

Henry Ford III

Skoda Octavia. Huge boot. Go for the agricultural and outdated 1.9 TDI. Enough torque to pull 1000 year old redwoods from the ground.

Then sell it to a taxi driver.

Macca206

keefg wrote:

Macca,

Be very careful before spending your hard earned on a car hoping to make a profit.

Two main reasons for this are.....

1) The used car market in Ireland is VERY slow at the moment. Loads of people have got their hands on their SSIA money now and money is very easy to borrow from banks etc so most people are either buying new or alsmost new cars.

2) A lot of people are very wary when it comes to "foreign" cars due to the number of ringers, insurance write off's etc.

If you do go ahead I would suggest that no matter what make/model you buy make sure you get the highest spec you can afford (leather seats, climate control etc) because it's rare to get those extras on Irish cars unless you pay top dollar.

You may be lucky and sell the car quickly but this isn't a novel idea....a LOT of people are importing high spec cars from the UK on a huge scale and you may get lost in the wave. Just don't be too dissapointed - and budget for - keeping the car as your own for several months.

Good Luck

Thanks Keefg.. though that cars being 40% cheaper in the north and VRT being 20% meant that even selling it very cheaply Id make a natural profit..will look into it a bit more though.

okgirl

Macca206,
My hubby has been looking at cars from the north over the past month. Both my parents and ourselves were looking for a car. He reckoned that the Passat up the north were very good value. Definately something to look into. The Northern cars usually have a higher spec that the equivalant in the South. I will ask him later when he is in for advice as it is something he has put reseacrh into. He reckoned we could buy up north, pay vrt drive it for a year and sell it on making our money back. ie. free driving for a year. Likewise you could sell it on asap for a small profit.

JohnCleary

If your main aim is to make profit, don't bother. MArket is too flooded.

If you're trying to save a few bob, then go on ahead. You may strike lucky and sell it at a profit, but be prepared to wait a while.

People get suspicious about imports, and when they see on the reg form how little time you owned it. When they ask you why you're selling and you say 'To make a few bob' (You're an honest guy, right?) they'll walk.

Mates of mine doing this for a living but the only way they make money is because they offer warranty, finance etc... (ie. prober setup)

PauloMN

Macca206 wrote:

Does anyone knpw of a prticular type of car thats much cheaper in north than here and so more beneficial buying?>

Good question. Some marques/models seem more worthwhile importing than others. From talking to a few people, it seems that the likes of a Saab 93 is very worthwhile considering buying up north when you compare the used price here with the used price up north added to the VRT.

Another one I looked at a while back was the Vauxhall Vectra. Lots of nearly new 1.8 petrols available at £9k to £10k. Even converting the currency and adding the VRT, you'd still save thousands. Coupled with the fact that Vauxhall have a 3 year warranty (which you'd still have the guts of 2 years left on if you got a year old car), it's a lot of car for the money. Opel here will honour the Vauxhall warranty (think this is EU law nowadays).

Have a look at the used car section here:
http://www.charleshurstgroup.co.uk/

Agree with above though. Use it to save you a few bob rather than as some business venture.

colm_mcm

depends on what prices you're comparing, nearly new Vectras can be had for small money here too. just not at Opel dealers

PauloMN

colm_mcm wrote:

depends on what prices you're comparing, nearly new Vectras can be had for small money here too. just not at Opel dealers

Well, spill the beans!

I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to beat the total cost of importing - for example - a 2006 Vectra 1.8 SRi with a similar spec Opel bought in the Republic, regardless of where bought.

colm_mcm

An 06 Vectra traded into a non Opel garage will be bought in for peanuts, nobody wants them.

bazz26

I would agree with Colm regarding the Vectra. I had a 1999 Opel Vectra a few years ago and when I got shot of it I lost a fortune on it. I was offered silly money for it as a trade-in wherever I went. From my experience the Vectra is one of the biggest depreciators in it's class.

PauloMN

Yes, they do depreciate a lot, hence they make a pretty good 2nd hand purchase. They depreciate up north as well!!

My point is you can still save a couple of grand on a nearly new one compared with buying here.

colm_mcm

Yes, but you'll still end up with a Vectra.

PauloMN

colm_mcm wrote:

Yes, but you'll still end up with a Vectra.

I know, I wasn't recommending it as a purchase, just listing it as one of a number of cars that make financial sense to import from the UK rather than buying here. (I do think they are under-rated though - the CDTi with a decent trim level is as good a family car as any).

OKenora

I reckon if you intend to buy cars to sell on for profit you have to do 2 things...

1: Buy as cheaply as possible which means auctions and for that it's necessary to have both funds and more importantly a good knowledge of cars so you can sort the muck from the gems.

2: A good knowledge of the car market and what sells. You can buy buckets of Rovers up here cheaper than in the Republic, but lets be honest, who will buy them ? Avensis, Golfs and Passats sell well in the Republic, but they sell well here and the difference in price is small due to the (artificially) high OMSP quoted in the Republic and high residuals here.

It's a minefield tbh. Buy for yourself and save a few quid is a great idea, but doing it for profit rarely works out as planned on a small scale.

A better way to make money is to bring brand new cars from South to North to order. Yes sounds wrong with car prices higher in the South but it does work, honestly...(well I not done it for a few years, so unless they have legislated it out it should work just fine)

smash

I wouldn't buy a car to sell it on again, you need room to bargain and I've sold loads of cars and in the end didn't make much on them because the hassle wasn't worth it IMO.

You could also have the car for a long time before it's sold and then you could make like 500 on it and at that stage you could have had to have it serviced, you've paid VRT, petrol and the headache of "sh1t, it's not selling"

If you are going to do it, get a car that sells fast and is in demand.

Sports cars always take a long time to sell too.

R.O.R

OKenora wrote:

A better way to make money is to bring brand new cars from South to North to order. Yes sounds wrong with car prices higher in the South but it does work, honestly...(well I not done it for a few years, so unless they have legislated it out it should work just fine)

You just need to find a friendly dealer who'll order cars with an MPH clock in the Republic, and someone who doesn't mind waiting the 8-16 weeks for a fresh build factory order!

While it's not been regulated out, it's much more difficult to do now as the speedo's in ROI cars are KM only (no mph on the dial) and that won't pass UK MOT's.