Importing from Abu Dhabi

kikel

My Sister has just gone to Abu Dhabi for 2 years with work. She is starting to look for a car and is looking at the possibility of bringing it home in two years time. She has said that she would lease it over there and buy it at the end of the term from the leasing company.
Am I right in thinking that even though she would have the car for 2 years. It would only be hers once she buys it. So would have to pay VRT on it when she returns.

If she bought something straight away would she avoid paying VRT when she brings it back as it would be her personal car.

I'm presuming she has noticed that it will be RHD.

Can you ship a car from there to here? Driving that seems stupid.

Any thing else i'm forgetting, I've asked her about engine size. Just waiting on a reply.

zulfikarMD

kikel wrote: »

My Sister has just gone to Abu Dhabi for 2 years with work. She is starting to look for a car and is looking at the possibility of bringing it home in two years time. She has said that she would lease it over there and buy it at the end of the term from the leasing company.
Am I right in thinking that even though she would have the car for 2 years. It would only be hers once she buys it. So would have to pay VRT on it when she returns.

If she bought something straight away would she avoid paying VRT when she brings it back as it would be her personal car.

I'm presuming she has noticed that it will be RHD.

Can you ship a car from there to here? Driving that seems stupid.

Any thing else i'm forgetting, I've asked her about engine size. Just waiting on a reply.

I've seen AUDI Q7 in Dublin with DUBAI Reg. (near Lower Jervis Street) so I assume you can bring in car from Dubai.

Thank you.

Stevie Dakota

Not sure about the VRT side of things.

You see a lot of cars with UAE regs in the UK, some here. In reality these are mostly linked to Embassies or brought in by UAE locals there with very deep pockets who will take them home with them.

Driving back would be unrealsitic, shipping is possible but expensive. Cars there also tend have beefed up cooling and AC systems plus other technical differences, emissions could vary form EU cars as well. So there may be NCT implications.

A while back a lot of Asian 5 series E39 BMW's were doing the rounds here, I heard stories of some problems with certain parts and was advised to avoid.

Seems potentially fraught with issues.

Master and commander

if you ever needed to do repairs, parts for the car may differ in different markets and irish suppliers might have huge difficulty getting them. Add to the other technical differences.

NCT is a good one, if emissions are different , then you could spend lots shipping the car over to ireland only to find out at the NCT that it cannot be used regd here due to not meeting emission standards - all the money spent would be wasted, and the car can't realistically be sold of any sort of decent money.

Resale value is another - with all theses technical and parts issues, poeple are going to be very wary when it comes to selling it on. Most would not touch it with a barge pole, and those with an interest will only offer a pittance for it.

Bad idea - so many things to go wrong. Leave it, seriously.

_Conrad_

To be honest it sounds absolutely nuts! It'll cost a lot either to drive it back (which is insane, could be great fun but WILL be very difficult and very stressful, not to mention expensive and a LONG way), or ship it back, which will cost a fair bit. It was costing me 1700 (just for the boat) plus a load of charges added on to bring a car from japan so i'd imagine probably even more from there.

Stevie Dakota

_Conrad_ wrote: »

It was costing me 1700 (just for the boat) plus a load of charges added on to bring a car from japan so i'd imagine probably even more from there.

The UAE is a lot closer than Japan.

heate

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

Not sure about the VRT side of things.

You see a lot of cars with UAE regs in the UK, some here. In reality these are mostly linked to Embassies or brought in by UAE locals there with very deep pockets who will take them home with them.

Driving back would be unrealsitic, shipping is possible but expensive. Cars there also tend have beefed up cooling and AC systems plus other technical differences, emissions could vary form EU cars as well. So there may be NCT implications.

A while back a lot of Asian 5 series E39 BMW's were doing the rounds here, I heard stories of some problems with certain parts and was advised to avoid.

Seems potentially fraught with issues.

What he said. Differently specced cars - most with large petrol engines and UAE specific equipment

_Conrad_

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

The UAE is a lot closer than Japan.

It is, but also a lot less frequently imported from in terms of cars, i have a feeling shipping companies coudl pretty much charge what they like

pcardin

_Conrad_ wrote: »

It is, but also a lot less frequently imported from in terms of cars, i have a feeling shipping companies coudl pretty much charge what they like

Exactly! And it depends also in how many ports your container will be unloaded/uploaded. mad idea unless a Veyron can be bought for 10k there.

Do-more

Best to make some enquiries with the shipping agents near the docks, I'm pretty sure that some of the big RO-RO ferries bringing cars from Korea and Japan may stop off in the Gulf on the way here, so you might be able to get a good deal on shipping with one.

ianobrien

Can right hand drive cars be ordered there?

Bear in mind that ALL cars in UAE are petrol. Most petrol stations in Abu Dhabi only sell petrol to keep the "dirty" trucks out of town. Also, as petrol is so cheap, big petrol engines result, with no diesel cars on the road.

OP, to sum up, the car will be a large petrol engined Left Hand Drive machine, that will have different specs to European ones and different servicing requirements. Itll probably be an automatic as well. I'd tell her to forget it and go after a three or four year old machine over there.

Guy:Incognito

ianobrien wrote: »

.

Itll probably be an automatic as well..

That almost outweighs all the bad points.

Hiace.

kikel wrote: »

Driving that seems stupid.

Not really, It's about 4000 miles, about 2-3 fairly leisurely weeks would do it, and it would be a bit of an adventure, but granted it would not be for everyone.

heate

Hiace. wrote: »

Not really, It's about 4000 miles, about 2-3 fairly leisurely weeks would do it, and it would be a bit of an adventure, but granted it would not be for everyone.

Slight issue with visa's it has been done - it costs a small fortune and some parts are quite dangerous to you and your car!

Jim Rogers - George Soros Quantum Hedge Fund partner drove this way with his Wife - Bloody nightmare trying to get permits and such to drive a foreign vehicle beyond borders.

2angelsdh

OP, I'm ex motor trade and there are loads of issues with this.

1. very often the engine outputs are different and as such consumption etc isnt factored , more desert reliability, and staying cool during a breakdown etc. I'm 99 per cent sure this car wont be considered road worthy in the EU.

All vehicles in the EU since 1999 carry a certificate of conformity ( COC ) provided from the original vehicle manufacturer, this states weights / capacities, power and emission outputs etc. Its impossible to register a vehicle in the EU without this info supplied on and original document.

2. Even if the COC is available, there will most likely only be one Cat converter on the vehicle or maybe not at all , meaning the car will need extensive mechanical work here to be considered roadworthy.

Its really a mine field and each manufacturer has a different approach to dry state cars i.e - some manufacturers only rust proof cars for 'wet' countries etc.

If they really want to avoid the VRT, my advice is to buy an Irish car new for Export ( Tax free and on ZZ plates ) this will save a decent sum and they can re-import it back in in two years without penalty if its legitimitely registered overseas. Remember, we have a high tax rate so it should be good value.

galwaytt

2angelsdh wrote: »

OP, I'm ex motor trade and there are loads of issues with this.

1. very often the engine outputs are different and as such consumption etc isnt factored , more desert reliability, and staying cool during a breakdown etc. I'm 99 per cent sure this car wont be considered road worthy in the EU.

All vehicles in the EU since 1999 carry a certificate of conformity ( COC ) provided from the original vehicle manufacturer, this states weights / capacities, power and emission outputs etc. Its impossible to register a vehicle in the EU without this info supplied on and original document.

2. Even if the COC is available, there will most likely only be one Cat converter on the vehicle or maybe not at all , meaning the car will need extensive mechanical work here to be considered roadworthy.

Its really a mine field and each manufacturer has a different approach to dry state cars i.e - some manufacturers only rust proof cars for 'wet' countries etc.

If they really want to avoid the VRT, my advice is to buy an Irish car new for Export ( Tax free and on ZZ plates ) this will save a decent sum and they can re-import it back in in two years without penalty if its legitimitely registered overseas. Remember, we have a high tax rate so it should be good value.

I think the export and re-import is a good idea.

The alternative practical alternative is to buy a full Paddy spec, in Abu-Dhabi. I'm quite sure that where money can buy you anything, that Paddy spec won't be a problem.