importing from the UK - the minimum amount to spend

hertz

Hi All

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I am going with urban legend and pub talk but if you wanted to buy and import a car from the UK should you be willing to spend about 12k euro or more to take advantage of the cheaper cost and import tax?

I.e it's not worth your while financially if your not willing to spend 12k or more in the first place.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

hertz

Henry Ford III

You're wrong.

Anan1

Take the saving you're making, and subtract the cost of getting the car back. If that figure is worth more than your time then it's worth your while.

djimi

Colleague of mine saved a few grand buying a Stilo from the UK which I think cost him less than £4000 sterling. Im sure its not worth it at the very bottom end of the market (ie a grand or less) but for a few grand or more its worth looking into.

listermint

Whats worth your while OP?

Surely getting a car thats has a better service history and condition is the basis rather than saving a few bills.

Plenty of ill looked after cars on our shores.


buy on condition. forget pub chat.

Jimbob 83

Case by case basis tbh, fella in the pub was prolly trying to put you off the idea.

+ As mentioned above it's not just about money, UK cars for the mostpart are better kept(better roads),have better servicing records and higher spec. Also a major factor is how a brand is seen there as opposed to here, toyota is a good example of a brand cheap in the UK but with an inflated price here.

djimi

listermint wrote: »

Surely getting a car thats has a better service history and condition is the basis rather than saving a few bills.

Im not in any way against the idea of buying from the UK but just to counter that if something goes wrong with the then the seller is in another country, a ferry ride away...

Jimbob 83

djimi wrote: »

Im not in any way against the idea of buying from the UK but just to counter that if something goes wrong with the then the seller is in another country, a ferry ride away...

Nothing will go wrong, give the car a once over and you can bring it to people who specialise in this(with owners consent ofc, seems odd but it's a regularly done thing) + you can check the car's history for afew quid, overall brits are alot easier to deal with when buying.

djimi

Jimbob 83 wrote: »

Nothing will go wrong, give the car a once over and you can bring it to people who specialise in this(with owners consent ofc, seems odd but it's a regularly done thing) + you can check the car's history for afew quid, overall brits are alot easier to deal with when buying.

Nothing will go wrong? Seems a bold and very confident statement! Its a car; theres always the possibility that something might go wrong...

Jimbob 83

djimi wrote: »

Nothing will go wrong? Seems a bold and very confident statement! Its a car; theres always the possibility that something might go wrong...

Seems like scaremongering to me, you think if somethin happens to your Irish bought car 6 months after you buy it privately you are more likely to get it sorted ?

Check the car over, know what you are buying/possible faults/things that need to be done (flywheels/timing belts/service history) Most problems can be avoided by being prudent.

djimi

Jimbob 83 wrote: »

Seems like scaremongering to me, you think if somethin happens to your Irish bought car 6 months after you buy it privately you are more likely to get it sorted ?

Check the car over, know what you are buying/possible faults/things that need to be done (flywheels/timing belts/service history) Most problems can be avoided by being prudent.

Im not trying to scaremonger; Im making a legitimate point! If I buy a car in my area and something goes wrong with it then at least I can have it towed back to the garage to get it fixed/argue with them about. If I bought the same car in Bradford it becomes a whole lot more awkward.

Case in point; two weeks after I bought my car the slave cylinder in the clutch went. Car was checked over fully before I bought it but it wasnt noticed (not sure if its the kind of thing that would be seen by a check like that). I towed the car to the bloke I bought it off and he fixed it for me that day free of charge. Had I bought the car in the UK then I wouldnt have been able to bring it back, and would have had to pay someone over here to fix it for me.

Im not saying buying a car in the UK is a bad idea, and its something I would definately consider doing, but there are downsides as well as upsides!