Importing from the UK

Jimmy Bottlehead

Hey all.

Just with regards importing cars from the UK, it seems that even if it works out the same price, there are better specs for the money. Also a bigger selection... so what are the downsides? Any and all advice would be terrific

Thanks!

EPM

Not always a better spec. Plus there's been close on 15% shift in sterling since start of the year too eliminating a lot of the savings. Price things up properly here before committing

Jimmy Bottlehead

EPM wrote: »

Not always a better spec. Plus there's been close on 15% shift in sterling since start of the year too eliminating a lot of the savings. Price things up properly here before committing

Just realised too, the new CO2 emissions thing applies to imports now, doesnt' it?

EPM

On vrt yes, but only on roadtax from 08 onwards

Jimmy Bottlehead

EPM wrote: »

On vrt yes, but only on roadtax from 08 onwards

So if I were buying a UK regg'd 2007 car and registered it here, I'd be paying the road tax based on the engine size?

MetzgerMeister

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

So if I were buying a UK regg'd 2007 car and registered it here, I'd be paying the road tax based on the engine size?

YES

Henry Ford III

MPH speedo.

Tragedy

EPM wrote: »

Not always a better spec. Plus there's been close on 15% shift in sterling since start of the year too eliminating a lot of the savings. Price things up properly here before committing

Sterling against the Euro peaked at 0.91p per €1 this year. It's currently somewhere between 0.87 and 0.88.

15% of what? Even at it's peak over the last 5 years, it was 0.95p(for about 1 day). 0.95 > 0.87 is 8% give or take.

MetzgerMeister

Henry Ford III wrote: »

MPH speedo.

In the car he's looking to import, you can switch between mph and kmph at the push of a button

opinion guy

EPM wrote: »

Not always a better spec. Plus there's been close on 15% shift in sterling since start of the year too eliminating a lot of the savings. Price things up properly here before committing

You obviously haven't been paying attention to the currency markets. There has been a large shift in the past week or two since the government bonds sale. There are now large savings to be made up North at the current rate

Owen

Don't forget now that if you're importing from the UK, the better spec cars will not be the same price as the bog basic cars you're looking at here. Now, the NCT Nazis will be inspecting the car for every single extra and charging accordingly for them. No longer are the days when you could VRT a car with Sunroofs, Climate, Cruise, Leather, etc as standard cars.

Jimmy Bottlehead

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Don't forget now that if you're importing from the UK, the better spec cars will not be the same price as the bog basic cars you're looking at here. Now, the NCT Nazis will be inspecting the car for every single extra and charging accordingly for them. No longer are the days when you could VRT a car with Sunroofs, Climate, Cruise, Leather, etc as standard cars.

Aye I see in the VRT calculator (is that still used or out of date btw?) you've to select which extras. So can you even get an accurate estimate before you bring the car in?

EPM

opinion guy wrote: »

You obviously haven't been paying attention to the currency markets. There has been a large shift in the past week or two since the government bonds sale. There are now large savings to be made up North at the current rate

Well I've been on holidays the last week or two. As someone who works in UK and gets paid in euro ive felt the pinch. I find I'm getting around 10-15% less on my transfers. That includes bank charges in fairness but this would be a similar situation for the OP if transferring/paying by card

Owen

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Aye I see in the VRT calculator (is that still used or out of date btw?) you've to select which extras. So can you even get an accurate estimate before you bring the car in?

With VRT, there is no such thing as an accurate estimate :pac:

-Corkie-

Does the car mileage make a difference now. I have been playing around putting in different mileage and the price varies. I know it didnt make a differ before. It just gave me an idea...:)

opinion guy

EPM wrote: »

Well I've been on holidays the last week or two. As someone who works in UK and gets paid in euro ive felt the pinch. I find I'm getting around 10-15% less on my transfers. That includes bank charges in fairness but this would be a similar situation for the OP if transferring/paying by card

Using the bank is expensive. Have you tried Transfermate ? I've used to to transfer cash to garage up North and had no probs and found them cheaper than the bank.
http://www.transfermate.com/

MetzgerMeister

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Aye I see in the VRT calculator (is that still used or out of date btw?) you've to select which extras. So can you even get an accurate estimate before you bring the car in?

Also, try not to use this calculator too often as from what I've read on here, each time the same car is calculated, the VRT goes up. Effectively, the more people are interested in a car, the higher the VRT on that is.

I don't know how accurate this is but that's what I've read

Jimmy Bottlehead

Seems to be little difference at the moment between a UK and an Irish 2007 Mazda RX-8...

opinion guy

einheisserschre wrote: »

Also, try not to use this calculator too often as from what I've read on here, each time the same car is calculated, the VRT goes up. Effectively, the more people are interested in a car, the higher the VRT on that is.

I don't know how accurate this is but that's what I've read

I seriously seriously doubt this is true

Jimmy Bottlehead

Out of curiosity, as a warrenty given by a UK garage would be hard to use, is it possible to get a dealer in Northern Ireland to source out a particular car and bring it in? Just, it would be easier to get up to Newry/Belfast/Armagh or whatever than over to England if something DID go wrong.

opinion guy

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Out of curiosity, as a warrenty given by a UK garage would be hard to use, is it possible to get a dealer in Northern Ireland to source out a particular car and bring it in? Just, it would be easier to get up to Newry/Belfast/Armagh or whatever than over to England if something DID go wrong.

Yeah they can do that - some of them anyhow if they have branches in the UK also.
Also I tihnk the warranties are international - no need to go back there

Jimmy Bottlehead

opinion guy wrote: »

Yeah they can do that - some of them anyhow if they have branches in the UK also.
Also I tihnk the warranties are international - no need to go back there

Excellent... would anybody be able to recommend dealers or franchises, if there are any?

opinion guy

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Excellent... would anybody be able to recommend dealers or franchises, if there are any?

What make car ?

Jimmy Bottlehead

Mazda RX-8, preferably 2007, the 231bhp version, in red, blue, or grey.

opinion guy

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Mazda RX-8, preferably 2007, the 231bhp version, in red, blue, or grey.

Ah dunno I'm afriad. I know a good Audi crowd allright but not mazda. But I'm sure someone on here does. I would check on the international warranty thing - might vary per manufacturer. The other problem is irish garages might not want to know you even if there is an international warranty (given their generally abismal attitude to customer service)