Bring a nice US car back to Ireland

kwikksilva

Hi All,

I am being transferred to Boston for 1 year.. before the end of 2008.

As an example..... A 2004 BMW 645i can be picked up for about €21000, when they are about 50k over here. Same goes for almost every other make....

I can ship it back for about €1500, so is there any downside?

Do i have to pay VRT?

Any other hidden costs?

Comments?

Kwikk.

L1011

You'll need to prove to Revenue you were resident there - this can be somewhat fun. If you can, no VRT just a fairly small registration fee.

It'll be LHD - have fun overtaking.

It may be mapped to US pisstrol and not like RON95 but I'm sure the dealers can fix this

It'll be very hard to sell it on here due to being LHD

Scottie99

Not only VRT but VAT also because its outside European Union:eek:

kwikksilva

Good points man, thanks!

alias no.9

Vat of 21% and Common Customs Tarrif (CCT) of 10% will have to be paid on the landed costs i.e. purchace price and all shipping and associated costs .

L1011

alias no.9 wrote: »

Vat of 21% and Common Customs Tarrif (CCT) of 10% will have to be paid on the landed costs i.e. purchace price and all shipping and associated costs .

Knew I'd forgotten something important...

That said, what is the VAT/CCT worked on, OMSP or what you paid in the States?

shortys94

We brought back a Ford Explorer in 2001, was great and not really that expensive. But as gas prices went up, with the engine size like it was, it wasn't worth it. The insurance is also higher because of LHD.

kwikksilva

Should be no problem proving US residency as its an L1 Inter-company transfer VISA.

So..... No VRT, then roughly.....

€21,000
+ €2,000 Shipping
+ €1,000 Misc Costs

---

€24,000
+ 5,040 VAT
+ 2,400 Customs

---

€31,440

On Carzone, a 2004 BMW 645 goes from €49,500 to €60,000

So, on that particular car, i would still be saving at least about €20,000 on the Irish Equivalent...

So, for that particular "test case" it would still be worth it i reckon...

Rowley Birkin QC

kwikksilva wrote: »

So, on that particular car, i would still be saving at least about €20,000 on the Irish Equivalent...

Still have the steering wheel where the missus should be sitting though, definitely going to subtract significant value from the car.

RobAMerc

some sniifing about the UK should find a co to do a conversion to RHD for you.

but I reckon the value of older large CC premium cars is going to take a savage drop here in the future - people seem to be scared sh*tless of paying for fuel

kwikksilva

RobAMerc wrote: »

some sniifing about the UK should find a co to do a conversion to RHD for you.

but I reckon the value of older large CC premium cars is going to take a savage drop here in the future - people seem to be scared sh*tless of paying for fuel

Totally agree, i doubt i would go for anything over a 2.0, but there is definite savings to be made.....

If i could trade in a LHD for some nice RHD car before i left, now that would be sweeeeeeet.

lynchie

Would it also make sense bringing it into the UK first and paying 17.5% VAT instead of 21%. Also, the customs charges in the UK may be lower. Once paid, I assume you can bring it into Ireland without paying VAT again on proof of paying it in the UK?

alias no.9

lynchie wrote: »

Would it also make sense bringing it into the UK first and paying 17.5% VAT instead of 21%. Also, the customs charges in the UK may be lower. Once paid, I assume you can bring it into Ireland without paying VAT again on proof of paying it in the UK?

CCT is standard across the EU, hence the Common part of Common Customs Tarrif.

--amadeus--

lynchie wrote: »

Would it also make sense bringing it into the UK first and paying 17.5% VAT instead of 21%. Also, the customs charges in the UK may be lower. Once paid, I assume you can bring it into Ireland without paying VAT again on proof of paying it in the UK?

You'd also then be stung for the VRT unless you had been living in England.

Another option might be a classic car. A nice 60's Mustang for example would be dirt cheap over there and - as a specialist car - the LHD thing won't matter when it comes to selling it.

Eoin

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Another option might be a classic car. A nice 60's Mustang for example would be dirt cheap over there and - as a specialist car - the LHD thing won't matter when it comes to selling it.

I was about to post the very same thing (same car and all).

quarryman

RobAMerc wrote: »

some sniifing about the UK should find a co to do a conversion to RHD for you.

but I reckon the value of older large CC premium cars is going to take a savage drop here in the future - people seem to be scared sh*tless of paying for fuel

How much would that set you back? Is is not major car surgery thereby increasing the possilbity of problems down the road? (Forgive the pun).

Henry Ford III

RHD conversion is a big job, and may well be prohibitvely expensive.

--amadeus--

A$6,000 (€3,500) to convert a classic Mustag, according to this and this site says it's "very expensive" If the people selling it say that, it's a scary number!

Esel

Duty and VAT will not be payable http://www.revenue.ie/index.htm?/leaflets/pn1875.htm

cancan

Correct - no VAT, no VRT, provided you meet the residence requirments.
LHD isn't as big a deal as most people make out, and converting is expensive and not worth it.

mumhaabu

How about bring back a car and sell it in Europe (where they drive LHD) and use the money to buy a RHD in either UK or IRL?

Esel

^ You cannot sell the car for 12 months if brought in under TOR. Don't know how that would be policed if you sell it outside the country though. The country of the purchaser would probably want to see the EC tax-paid status of the car.

RedorDead

kwikksilva wrote: »

Totally agree, i doubt i would go for anything over a 2.0, but there is definite savings to be made.....

If i could trade in a LHD for some nice RHD car before i left, now that would be sweeeeeeet.

You may have trouble even finding anything under 2.0 given the yanks love of all things big. V6 or V8 seems to be the norm over there.

Esel

kwikksilva wrote: »

If i could trade in a LHD for some nice RHD car before i left, now that would be sweeeeeeet.

Wouldn't work - you have to have owned and used the car you're importing for at least six months.

I vaguely recall some other things that may need to be sorted.

Arn't the lights on the car built to American standard. Orange daytime running lights and red indicators might be an NCT fail?

Teh Russ

ronoc wrote: »

I vaguely recall some other things that may need to be sorted.

Arn't the lights on the car built to American standard. Orange daytime running lights and red indicators might be an NCT fail?

Daytime running lights aren't an issue (a lot of new BMWs have them, for instance, and I know new Volvos will have them - Volvos already have that thing where the front lights are permanently on), but yep, red rear indicators are a big no-no. Also, a lot of American cars don't bother with side repeaters or rear fog lights, so you'd have to factor in getting those fitted, as well as getting the front lights re-aligned, as the required headlight pitch in the US is different. You might also need to change the tyres, again, as the safety specifications for US tyres are different to the European norm.

I was considering bringing back my Dodge Intrepid when I come back from the US, but I'm starting to go off the idea. The shipping's not expensive, and, since I've owned it longer than 6 months, there's no VAT or VRT to pay, it's just the left-hand-drive thing, and the fact that it's got a 3.5 V6... it'll cost a fortune in fuel and even more to tax.

pa990

i dont think rear fogs are a legal necesity in this country

all the second hand jap imports dont have rear fog lights

Teh Russ

pa990 wrote: »

i dont think rear fogs are a legal necesity in this country

all the second hand jap imports dont have rear fog lights

I know they're a requirement for the UK SVA test, so I guess I assumed it's the same for Ireland... maybe it's not. Most of the Jap imports I've seen around seem to have a single rear fog light fitted, just screwed to the bumper.

Max_Damage

I say go for it.

You'll have to get the headlights realigned, and the amber/red side lights may have to be disconnected. Well, the amber ones anyway.

Max_Damage

pa990 wrote: »

i dont think rear fogs are a legal necesity in this country

That is true. I think we're the only country in the EU that doesn't have rear fog lights compulsory on cars.

DJ Hafez

I saw someone in the UK doing RHD conversions for 7k sterling. Took a week I think. They specialised in Mustangs and Hummers methinks but did others aswell. Can't remember where i saw it but it wasn't too long ago.

Max_Damage

You could do a cheap homemade conversion like this :

kwikksilva

Would love something like this............. ;-)

Terrontress

Not all cars in the US have red rear indicators although strangely enough a good few European cars have them such as the new model Jetta and 3 Series. On the Jetta the rear light operation seems quite complicated, using the same lights for brakes and indicators, so I don't know why they didn't stick to the amber bulb like all the Japanese cars seem to have.