Transport Quads From Sweden

goz83

Hi.

I'll be driving a van from Dublin to Sweden in 2 weeks time and will be collecting my brother and his 2 road legal quads. He owns the quads more than 8 months and can prove this, but he has never once driven them, so the mileage is almost zero. Reason is he hasn't got a license yet and bought prematurely.

My question is this: He intends to sell the quads, (one to me) and I wanted to know if VRT is applicable and how I go about putting irish plates on the one i am buying? I heard that VRT will not apply if he registers the bike and then transfers over to me, because he has owned the quads for over 6 months.

Also I will be travelling through the channel tunnel, so is this ok, or will there be any issues? All advice appreciated.

pa990

is he changing residence to ireland ?

goz83

We are Irish. My brother has lived in Sweden for 7 years and got married there. He will be moving back to Ireland with the family and technically has a residence address at my home, which was the family home before I purchased it from my Dad. His Irish bank statements still come here. The bikes will be here in two weeks, but he wont be here until the 1st week in July for good, as he has to fly back to sign off a few things. He will be here for 2 days when we arrive back in Dublin, so i'm hoping to sort out the plates right away.

cantdecide

Would they be considered a commercial vehicle? I think the rule is that he will be able to register them FOC if he has owned them for more than a year but won't be able to sell them for a year after they are registered.

How much would it cost to register them anyway?

Del2005

He can only register one vehicle VRT free. The 2nd will have VAT and VRT as it's less then 6000km. He then can't sell it for 12 months. Not too sure if his wife can register one if she's not down as an owner.

Have you looked at getting insurance for quads here? There have been numerous posts before and it appears to be slightly difficult.

Del2005

goz83 wrote: »

We are Irish. My brother has lived in Sweden for 7 years and got married there. He will be moving back to Ireland with the family and technically has a residence address at my home, which was the family home before I purchased it from my Dad. His Irish bank statements still come here. The bikes will be here in two weeks, but he wont be here until the 1st week in July for good, as he has to fly back to sign off a few things. He will be here for 2 days when we arrive back in Dublin, so i'm hoping to sort out the plates right away.

Has he Swedish residence or Irish? If he's still resident at your family home he may not be able to get the VRT exemption.

KTRIC

I went through this process at Christmas when I brought my ZZR home.

You have to be resident in the country you are moving from for a year and the exemption is a change of residence exemption. You need to provide proof you lived in Sweden with bank statements, payslips and rental / purchase agreement for property.

They are very very strict on this, it took me 3 visits and numerous meetings to get it and that was even after I supplied everything they asked for.

goz83

he is currently a swedish resident,,,,on swedish welfare. this is one of the reasons he is returning, he feels he has more opportunity here in Ireland.

goz83

Del2005 wrote: »

He can only register one vehicle VRT free. The 2nd will have VAT and VRT as it's less then 6000km. He then can't sell it for 12 months. Not too sure if his wife can register one if she's not down as an owner.

Have you looked at getting insurance for quads here? There have been numerous posts before and it appears to be slightly difficult.

I just checked in with my brother and it turns out that his wife is the registered owner of one of the quads, so that's good. I haven't looked into quad insurance, but it's just a matter of shopping around as they are classed as a motorcycle.

One small issue has arisen. One of the bikes was purchased on December 22nd 2009, but wasn't properly registered until February due to postal issues. I reckon we will get off on a technicality as it was owned from December, which can be proven. Anything to the contrary, I would like to hear. I think I will ring the revenue tomorrow about it, because he wants to sell one of the bikes (to me) and may sell the other one to help set up a business here.

Do you reckon there will be any issues coming through the channel tunnel?

rugbyman

if your brother and his wife do TOR(transfer of residence) they can have any number of vehicles(OK OK Not 100 quads)

NEITHER OF THEM CAN SELL YOU A QUAD UNTIL ONE YEAR AFTER the transfer.

But you can borrow it.

Rugbyman

Pkiernan

Del2005 wrote: »

He can only register one vehicle VRT free. The 2nd will have VAT and VRT as it's less then 6000km. He then can't sell it for 12 months. Not too sure if his wife can register one if she's not down as an owner.

Have you looked at getting insurance for quads here? There have been numerous posts before and it appears to be slightly difficult.

Are you sure about this rule, as it contradicts my own experience?

Upon my return from the US I brought a motorbike and 2 quads with me.

Revenue said that I did not own the quads long enough to avoid paying VRT on them, and that they would be VRT'd at motorbike rates.

When I went in to pay the VRT I was told that since the quads were for off-road use only they were not considered liable for VRT. I was quite shocked, and asked another inspector to verify this, who agreed.
End result, no VRT due on the quad bikes.

The motorbike itself was exempt - owned it for 10 years before coming back to Ireland.

Pkiernan

Also, are you allowed to drive these quad bikes on the roads here?

To the best of my knowledge you will not be able to tax or insure the quads here for road use.

Del2005

There are only 4 companies that insure bikes here. Would it not be an idea to call them all and find out if they will insure quads? Before you end up with 2 over here. Other posters have had issues getting quads insured.

KamiKazi

I've seen quads insured on the road before.

MikeC101

Pkiernan wrote: »

Also, are you allowed to drive these quad bikes on the roads here?

To the best of my knowledge you will not be able to tax or insure the quads here for road use.

Mate of mine had that exact problem - not sure if it was with taxing the quad though, think it was only the insurance. He said the insurance companies weren't interested - but maybe if you get refusals from them you can go to the ombudsman and they'll be obliged to insure you - price could be huge though?

Any of the people I know who have quads insured to drive on the road have it as part of a farm insurance policy - tractors, machinery etc, and got the quad covered under that.

Hopefully it's doable, just might be a bit of hassle.

Now that I think about it, I remember him saying that was the way to do it. Get letters from the insurance companies refusing to quote you on the quad (you might need them from all four), show them to the insurance ombudsman's office - they give you a letter directing that you have to be offered insurance, and off you go. I think it was pretty pricey though.

goz83

This is really a tricky subject. From one side I am hearing that they are not allowed on the road, and elsewhere I hear it is ok. I have seen Quads on the road here with Irish plates, so surely they can be insured (although they may not be listed on the insurance companies list of bikes).

I was getting quotes for a Mazda Bongo today. It is a jam import camper van and not listed on the insurance system. It delayed some companies a little, but I was still able to get reasonable quotes.

It is pretty ridiculous that they cannot be sold for 12 months.

goz83

Wow...it is amazing as to how backward this country is. You can buy road legal quads (lights, plates, indicators and tax it etc etc) but not one insurance could tell me if a quad was classed as a bike or a car. Not one insurance could provide me with a quote (with the exception of FBD if I had been a farmer). Not one insurance company could provide me with any information whatsoever on the subject. What a F'king joke.

What I did manage to find out was that I would have to submit a complaint to the insurance ombudsman with proof of refusal from insurance companies in order to get a quote. In any other country, you can ring up and get insured on the spot. I think I will just take the crooked route and get insured through a swedish address. I wonder if the leaders of this country will ever take their heads out of their arses!!!

PS- a quad is classed as a car in most other countries unless it has 3 wheels...its classed as a trike and the 2 wheelers are motorcycles. The M License is used here by farmers when its registered as an agricultural vehicle. What a joke.

KamiKazi

Welcome to Ireland.

Del2005

goz83 wrote: »

Wow...it is amazing as to how backward this country is. You can buy road legal quads (lights, plates, indicators and tax it etc etc) but not one insurance could tell me if a quad was classed as a bike or a car. Not one insurance could provide me with a quote (with the exception of FBD if I had been a farmer). Not one insurance company could provide me with any information whatsoever on the subject. What a F'king joke.

What I did manage to find out was that I would have to submit a complaint to the insurance ombudsman with proof of refusal from insurance companies in order to get a quote. In any other country, you can ring up and get insured on the spot. I think I will just take the crooked route and get insured through a swedish address. I wonder if the leaders of this country will ever take their heads out of their arses!!!

That's unfortunately why I kept telling you to check the insurance before bringing them over.

I don't think a Swedish company can insure an Irish registered vehicle in Ireland and if they did I don't think it would actually be valid as they need a licence to operate in Ireland.

PS- a quad is classed as a car in most other countries unless it has 3 wheels...its classed as a trike and the 2 wheelers are motorcycles. The M License is used here by farmers when its registered as an agricultural vehicle. What a joke.

Licences are standardised across the whole EU. M licences are mopeds, not above 49cc or exceeding 45km/h, the farmers are driving on W.

KTRIC

I would happily go out and buy a Yamaha Raptor if someone could tell me what license i need to drive it with

galwaytt

KTRIC wrote: »

I would happily go out and buy a Yamaha Raptor if someone could tell me what license i need to drive it with

...there's a loon around here driving one on a W licence..........ahem........mad, Ted...........