Where car was originally registered

pamweld

Hi guys,

I have a 2004 car that I have had for 4 years now and when I bought it I knew it came from Northern Ireland at about 11 months old. Thats not the problem though, everytime I try to get a quote from the likes of No Nonsense etc they refuse to quote me saying its an import, I do tell them that yes it came from Northern Ireland but they say that they have no problems with Northern Ireland or England but was imported to Northern Ireland before coming to Ireland. I know for sure its not jap import as no jap stickers and everything is in miles so all the is left is Australia and I can't imagine it came from there before being 11 months old. Is there a way I can find out its first place of registration out of curiosity now?

Eoin

Get the VIN and contact the manufacturer and see if they can tell you. Alternatively, if you know the reg from when it was in NI, you could get a report and see if that tells you.

corktina

could be malta, Cyprus, Channel islands Japan Bermuda and a few others.

Japan most likely I would have thought (stickers can be removed)

kazul

Did you ask the insurance company how they know and where they reckon it came from?
It shouldn't really matter re. insurance, are you just filling in quote forms online? Sometimes they automatically bounce back imports.
You must have it insured already so current insurer should renew no problem.
My car is JDM (Jap Import) and insurance is marginally higher on equivalent Irish model (same car different name).

Technoprisoner

all cars are imports....i wasnt aware of any cars manufacturerd in Ireland!! it should not make a difference between european or japanese import...the only slight difference i can think of is that the jap imports dont be imobilised

Del2005

Shamrock's and DMC's where made in Ireland. There where also a Ford and VW assembly plants here years ago. I had the same issue years ago when I had a JDM car, the person on the phone wasn't happy when I pointed out all cars are imported. They said it was for cars outside of Ireland and the UK

kazul

Technoprisoner wrote: »

the only slight difference i can think of is that the jap imports dont be imobilised

There are sometimes different body panels, lights and windows on JDM cars with same name as european equivalent. This can make crash repairs more costly.
Also, lack of rear fog light as standard equipment on japanese cars is dangerous IMO. My car doesn't have one and I'm paranoid about being rear-ended whenever I'm in heavy fog.
Some turbocharged JDM cars don't have this specified on their documentation.
And, as you mentioned, a lot of them are easier to steal. I could open and start mine very easily with some basic (even improvised) tool.

bazz26

Technoprisoner wrote: »

all cars are imports....i wasnt aware of any cars manufacturerd in Ireland!! it should not make a difference between european or japanese import...the only slight difference i can think of is that the jap imports dont be imobilised

They are referring to what are largely known as "grey" imports, ie the car was not originally intended to be sold in the EU. The EU have specific regulations that car manufacturers have to comply with when selling a new vehicle in a member state. Cars such as Jap imports don't comply with all these regulations as they were never meant to be sold in member states. Generally insurance companies don't have a problem with Jap imports so my guess is that the car could originally have been from Australia, South Africa, Middle East, etc.

OP, as already suggested, contact the manufacturer with the VIN and they will be able to tell you the country of origin.

Owen

Technoprisoner wrote: »

all cars are imports

Most cars are imports, not all. As previously stated, there were lots of cars built here, even Minis.

OP, you could write to the DVLA in Swansea, they might be kind enough to furnish you with a copy of the v5 registration form.

Atlantic Dawn

It says on your logbook the original country of origin.