stopped by customs

patrickc

a mate of mine has a 03 uk regged vectra, he was stopped by customs last week and told he has 1 week to take in the car.. he has no intention of doing so, what can happen if he does can they seize the car from him?

Owen

Pretty much, yes!

patrickc

can they come and take it from his home address or what way does that work, i suppose they'd need a garda with them would they?

kensutz

I think you're looking for help in doing something illegal whether it's for you or not it's still defeating the principle of boards.

mikemac

It's like the TV licence. Once they have you on the system, they have you forever.

Customs have many wide-ranging powers and certainly don't need a garda to accompany them.

Your friend can expect a visit at his workplace if a PAYE worker. Since Customs are Revenue, that's how they'll know

Edit: I was in Monaghan today and I'd say UK reg cars definitly outnumbered Irish reg cars. That's from what I saw anyway, not a statistic. Seems to be the done thing in the border counties

Owen

They'll probably just get a recovery company to remove it, and impound it. They're clamping down on UK cars on Irish roads at the moment, 2 friends with UK cars have had to get Irish Plates, and I had my UK bike in the country over a week last year (You only get 24 hours to re-register) and got crucified by a Gard, who let me off, provided I went in the next day to sort it out. And that I did!

RoundyMooney

Still a lot of EE cars around here though, mostly Polish.

Most of the LV reg vehicles seem to have been either VRT'ed, returned to Riga etc., or scrapped.

patrickc

kensutz wrote:

I think you're looking for help in doing something illegal whether it's for you or not it's still defeating the principle of boards.

it's not for me most of the regulars here will know i talk about my volvo and ask for help on it loads.

Nevyn

patrickc2006 wrote:

can they come and take it from his home address or what way does that work, i suppose they'd need a garda with them would they?

Customs have more powers and lee way then the garda.
They can just come and take it.

patrickc

thanks all i'll tell him to sort it out asap.

testicle

Was it at a checkpoint?

patrickc

testicle wrote:

Was it at a checkpoint?

yeh it was, they said to him we saw your car parked in castlerea, which he was stopped outside it.

bazz26

Customs afaik do have more powers than the Gardai. They usually have a garda accompany them as a witness to make sure when they seize the vehicle that they do so within the boundries of their powers. The gardai are also there in the event the owner is not too keen on co-operating with Customs.

Afaik they don't even need to knock on your door. I know of someone who had a UK reg car in his drive and they just loaded on the back of the flat bed truck. They didn't knock at the door or anything, he only spotted it when he heard all the noise outside his door. He had been stopped though and warned by them about a month previous to that.

Seth Brundle

I wasn't aware that they could come onto private property and take something!

seamus

bazz26 wrote:

Afaik they don't even need to knock on your door. I know of someone who had a UK reg car in his drive and they just loaded on the back of the flat bed truck. They didn't knock at the door or anything, he only spotted it when he heard all the noise outside his door. He had been stopped though and warned by them about a month previous to that.

They don't need your permission to take it

It probably makes their life easier if they can just take it without any interference from the owner and drop a note in the door or something.

JohnCleary

kbannon wrote:

I wasn't aware that they could come onto private property and take something!

Well you do now!

It's mad in a way, as someone said above, they don't even have to knock on your door. They have more power than the Gardai, don't think they even need a warrant to go onto private property

First time posting on boards but anyway. I cant understand how people get so much hassle driving on uk plates. I have just moved to the uk but I bought a uk reg bmw 5 months before moving over and drove it in ireland. I was stopped twice by the guards and just said I was on holiday from the uk and was told to drive on no problem. Also lots of friends of mine have driven uk cars for ages in Ireland and had no problems atall.

Esel

If the car is seized, your friend will have to pay penalties as well as the VRT to get it back. Otherwise, the car will be sold after a certain time. Your friend should get his finger out. S/he is living in dreamland, tbh.

Stephen

Alicia Faithful Bath wrote:

I cant understand how people get so much hassle driving on uk plates.

Because the law requires that if you are normally resident here you register your car here and pay VRT like the rest of us suckers?

r0nn13

Just wish customs would start to concentrate more on the EE cars which seem to be outnumbering the UK reg'd cars these days...

Once you are in Ireland for 6 months you must get your car VRT'd from what I remember on a post somewhere...

oleras

Alicia Faithful Bath wrote:

I have just moved to the uk but I bought a uk reg bmw 5 months before moving over and drove it in ireland. I was stopped twice by the guards and just said I was on holiday from the uk and was told to drive on no problem.

Did you have an irish tax and insurance disc in the window ?

It had a uk tax disc in the window I didnt put up my Irish insurance disc because its a dead giveaway;) . To be honest at one of the checkpoints I think they were really only looking for drink drivers but at the other the guard looked at my Irish licence and asked the usual questions but still bought the story.

Owen

Alicia Faithful Bath wrote:

It had a uk tax disc in the window I didnt put up my Irish insurance disc because its a dead giveaway;) . To be honest at one of the checkpoints I think they were really only looking for drink drivers but at the other the guard looked at my Irish licence and asked the usual questions but still bought the story.

Then you're a lucky man, but it's only a matter of time before you're caught, and you'll have to VRT it. I'd love to tell you different, but unfortunately, they really are clamping down on this sort of thing

ned78

ned78 wrote:

Then you're a lucky man, but it's only a matter of time before you're caught, and you'll have to VRT it. I'd love to tell you different, but unfortunately, they really are clamping down on this sort of thing

They cant get there paws on any of my money cos im living in the uk now.

MR DAZ

Having read this thread this morning... i was speaking to a friend at dinner time...and by chance he told me of him and GF getting stopped for speeding
at the weekend... her in her Northern reg car...

He said he was gobsmacked when she gave a false name and address ..she gave a northern ireland address made up.

Guards took her details and let her go.


Down the road she admitted that she does this all the time



WTF - Surely the guards wouldnt let her go with out showing her licence be it english or not.

Just for the record... she's from the south born and bred although from a county in Ulster.