LHD in Ireland

whomitconcerns

Howdy,

Am currently working in Eastern Europe for work (an assignemnt from an irish branch of a multinational company), and should return in 8-9 months. As I want to drive back and have wanted a nice car for a while, I am looking at getting an A5 Sportsback here, less than 2 yrs old, about 25k euro.

i called teh VRT office last week and they say I would technically be entitled to a VRT exemption but not automatically which came as a shock (6 month rule)

So it seems that my main issue will be using it on Irish roads, as it will be LHD. I have searched a lot of forums and tehre are very mixed messages on the pros and cons of LHD on irish roads, allowing for the obvious, ie toll booths, drive thrus, car parks etc.

So whats other peoples opinions, ideally people that have done or are doing this???

Thanks!

Anan1

Buy a UK car, register it where you are and bring it home to Ireland under a transfer of residence.

whomitconcerns

im in romania at the moment..so quite a distance from Uk. But curious as why it would be a better idea to buy it in UK to drive here and then bring back? (Besides it looks a little cheaper to buy)

munchkin_utd

Anan1 wrote: »

Buy a UK car, register it where you are and bring it home to Ireland under a transfer of residence.

sounds a sensible idea, the reasoning being that you have only a few months of the steering wheel on the "wrong" side whilst in Romania and then you bring a car better suited to driving in Ireland for use over the next years.

Regarding driving a continental car in Ireland, its actually surprisingly ok I found but I think it depends on your circumstances.
I think my benefit was that driving on the left side of the road for me is second nature as I drove for a couple of years in Ireland and the guts of 20 as a passenger.
So when I landed off the ferry in Rosslare in my own car, both car and driving on the left were second nature.
Over 3 weeks at christmas I never felt a problem with having a continental car on irish roads.

on the other hand, if you are driving on the "wrong" side of the road for the first ever time (like a french person in Ireland/ UK for the first time) it would be very hard though I would think.

wonski

Toll booths and car parks are least of your worries. Overtaking is a big one.
As for buying in UK i am not buying it... You are in Romania, so don't think it can be done.

whomitconcerns

Well I am currently driving my girlfriends c3 over here since December so I should have plenty of usage of LHD anyway and had only one minor issue when driving rhd when home a month ago...o hard to say

Driving in bucharest is a nightmare, so its hard to say would 6-8 months of an RHD be worth the risk here..if its not that bad to drive an LHD in ireland anyway?

wonski

Anan1 wrote: »

Buy a UK car, register it where you are and bring it home to Ireland under a transfer of residence.

Don't you need to have a car for 6 months to avail of this. Bringing UK registered car from Romania could raise some questions from VRT crowd...

but43r

It's OK to do it for few weeks while on holidays but to have LHD car in Ireland permanently would probably get annoying.
Also, you will find it very hard to sell it here in Ireland and will probably have to drive to the continent when you decide to sell it.
Registering RHD car in Romania would be a much better idea (if it's possible). Do Romanians allow to register RHD cars in their country?

Anan1

wonski wrote: »

Don't you need to have a car for 6 months to avail of this. Bringing UK registered car from Romania could raise some questions from VRT crowd...

The OP needs to register the UK car in Romania and use it there for six months before returning to Ireland

wonski

If there is no VRT, or anything similiar to pay in Romania, then this sounds like an option... better than bringing LHD back.

Big Nasty

AFAIK there is the equivalent of VRT in Romania and ity's quite high.

Secondly wouldn't you rather put up with 6 months driving a RHD in Romania than 2 years + driving a LHD in Ireland?

Bucharest is not that hard to drive in either.

whomitconcerns

Hmm..

So i would buy a car in uk and then get like a weeks insurance to drive it to Romania from uk (do i not need to be a UK resident to do this). What about UK road Tax?

Once in RO i register it locally (there is a tax to pay, nothing like Irish VRT though) and yes it can be imported and used here.

Own it here for 6 months and then drive it home?

its an idea...concerned as regards the above though

munchkin_utd

wonski wrote: »

If there is no VRT, or anything similiar to pay in Romania, then this sounds like an option... better than bringing LHD back.

as but43r mentions, you also need to make sure that RHD cars can be brought/ imported to Romania. Aparently some countries dont allow this.

alanmc

I had a LHD car here for almost 2 years after I moved home. The most annoying things were the following:

- Overtaking is obvious
- Toll booths and car parks
- Turning left at T-junctions. Because you're on the left side of the car when you're in the proper road position (facing slightly left), your vision to the right is limited (in my car anyway).
- Lights: I had to get a used set of RHD lights on Ebay and swap them over.
- Passengers always trying to get into my seat when giving them a lift.
- I think my insurance was loaded slightly as well.

Not huge issues and liveable withable, but would I have a LHD in Ireland again? Ummm, no!

BigEejit

alanmc wrote: »

- Lights: I had to get a used set of RHD lights on Ebay and swap them over.
- Passengers always trying to get into my seat when giving them a lift.

I didnt realise the lights were different.

LOL at the passengers getting into the drivers seat

alanmc

BigEejit wrote: »

I didnt realise the lights were different.

Yeah, the lights are angled to shine mostly towards the right on a LHD car ... which would mean they'd be blinding Irish drivers on Irish roads. Nothing you can adjust I'm afraid, it's built into the lense. It's also an NCT fail.

BigEejit wrote: »

LOL at the passengers getting into the drivers seat

Actually, I'm guilty of this myself. When I got my current car (just after getting rid of my RHD), it took me a few months to get used to getting in the other side. Guys at work would see me open my passenger door, look in, shut it again and non-chalantly walk around the car hoping nobody noticed. "Yeah, I meant to do that.!"

whomitconcerns

The VRT in Romania is a very complex issue, and there are some very mixed responses on this, and I cant get a definitive answer, so still trying to resolve that.

As for driving in bucharest..hard was the wrong word..its crazy and you need to be expecting the absolute worst all the time.

To be honest the other factor in all this is that i really want to do a lot of driving in europe over the summer, before I come home, last chance and all that!! So i thought LHD would make that easier and sure I could put up with the LHD if its possible in Ireland. So really just trying to assess how much of a problem that will be..as 99% definitely buying an LHD

As regards the rest of issues mentioned so far.

• I already checked with 123.ie and they dont care one bit whether its LHD or not, its a note on teh policy and has no effect on the price, confirmed by their underwriters, RSA.
• The lights, I am told can be relatively easily fixed/realligned by Audi dealer.
• Easytrip takes care of the toll booths issue and some car parks, others...well thats my tough..can live with it.
• As for passengers getting in my seat, i do that all the time still :P

I am worried about the passing out and the T junction thing (the latter of which I hadnt thought about before!)

Anan1

whomitconcerns wrote: »

To be honest the other factor in all this is that i really want to do a lot of driving in europe over the summer, before I come home, last chance and all that!! So i thought LHD would make that easier and sure I could put up with the LHD if its possible in Ireland. So really just trying to assess how much of a problem that will be..as 99% definitely buying an LHD

It'll be a bit of a PITA, and the car will be worthless at resale.

but43r

Anan1 wrote: »

It'll be a bit of a PITA, and the car will be worthless at resale.

Unless you bring it to the continent and it will be worth more then in equivalent RHD in Ireland.

Anan1

but43r wrote: »

Unless you bring it to the continent and it will be worth more then in equivalent RHD in Ireland.

In theory, perhaps. The reality is that the car will be registered and located in Ireland, and would therefore have to be far cheaper than other cars on the continent to get any interest.

whomitconcerns

or I could go on another roadtrip back to romania and put it on market there! But then if i had received a VRT exemption, i would be liable to pay the vrt bill...oh its a minefield!

carrotcake

OP, I'm living in Romania myself, and generally the done thing when wanting to spend that much cash on a used car is to import from Germany or some other Western European country.

The theory behind that is that the roads in the West are in much better shape (plenty of roads in Romania - including even in Bucharest - that aren't paved, and the ones that are are woeful) and that you can generally believe what's written in the log book. And to top it all off, used cars are more expensive in Romania than they are Germany.

You've probably noticed lots of ads for cars on German export plates, but these will obviously come with a mark-up.

ValerieR

alanmc wrote: »

I had a LHD car here for almost 2 years after I moved home. The most annoying things were the following:

- Overtaking is obvious
- Toll booths and car parks
- Turning left at T-junctions. Because you're on the left side of the car when you're in the proper road position (facing slightly left), your vision to the right is limited (in my car anyway).
- Lights: I had to get a used set of RHD lights on Ebay and swap them over.
- Passengers always trying to get into my seat when giving them a lift.
- I think my insurance was loaded slightly as well.

Not huge issues and liveable withable, but would I have a LHD in Ireland again? Ummm, no!

I drove a LHD in Ireland for 25 years. I have to totally echo what alanmc says.
Our 2nd car is a RHD ; it wouldn't be unusual to see me walking around the car as if I were looking for the steering wheel ! (now we have 2 RHD and I still do it ! LOL)

Driving a LHD in Ireland is feasible but not ideal. As far as toll booths/car parks ... you develop quickly enough a technique to stretch over (though probably more difficult in newer cars with the console in the middle I'm sure).
Overtaking is the problem really. It's ok to overtake a very slow car with a lot of visibility ahead. But, if following a truck/bus ... it's hard and dangerous.
To see better, you keep tight to the left to see ahead of the obstacle and people think you are letting them through ... :mad:

I'd double check the headlight setting though. Same as a previous poster, I had to change my lenses too.

I don't think the insurance is any more expensive on a LHD.

The resale value of the car will be minimum when the day comes to change it (who wants to buy a classic LHD? I have one ).

In your position OP, I would purchase a RHD and bring it over there as you're only planning to stay there for a few months.

Hope this helps.
V

whomitconcerns

carrotcake wrote: »

OP, I'm living in Romania myself, and generally the done thing when wanting to spend that much cash on a used car is to import from Germany or some other Western European country.

The theory behind that is that the roads in the West are in much better shape (plenty of roads in Romania - including even in Bucharest - that aren't paved, and the ones that are are woeful) and that you can generally believe what's written in the log book. And to top it all off, used cars are more expensive in Romania than they are Germany.

You've probably noticed lots of ads for cars on German export plates, but these will obviously come with a mark-up.

Well I am actually going to have a look at 2 this weekend, one is a german import with about 11k on it from a small dealer and one is a local one from a Main dealer aprox 20k on it).

I appreciate all the advice given, I think I will give the LHD a blast, as indications from everyone seem to be, not a major problem, just a pain in the provervbial... and worst comes to worset, i drive back to ro put the ro plates back on and ask the gf's brother to help me sell it there...

Anan1

whomitconcerns wrote: »

Well I am actually going to have a look at 2 this weekend, one is a german import with about 11k on it from a small dealer and one is a local one from a Main dealer aprox 20k on it).

I appreciate all the advice given, I think I will give the LHD a blast, as indications from everyone seem to be, not a major problem, just a pain in the provervbial... and worst comes to worset, i drive back to ro put the ro plates back on and ask the gf's brother to help me sell it there...

I don't understand how you're prepared to put up with years of LHD when you come home but not months of RHD over there?:)

Mar4ix

wouldnt be easer and cheaper get long term car rent for 6 months (LHD cars more expensive than RHD cars, also no worries about servicing or brake downs) in Romania, and when come back to Ireland, buy RHD car . Or buy there cheap car, and when leave, sell it. .. just my 2 cents.

ardmacha

Am currently working in Eastern Europe for work (an assignemnt from an irish branch of a multinational company),

If you are on an assignment of fixed duration, then your normal residence might be considered to remain in Ireland and you wouldn't be entitled to bring back a car in any case, since you never really moved. So the location of the steering wheel would be moot.

The Revenue webpage seems to mention one year, but I'd be careful if it was always envisaged that you would return and work for the same company.

whomitconcerns

ardmacha wrote: »

If you are on an assignment of fixed duration, then your normal residence will remain in Ireland and you wouldn't be entitled to bring back a car in any case, since you never really moved. So the location of the steering wheel is moot.

now that is a worry......as the VRT would be 7k.....ok I need to talk to the tax office again...

alanmc

whomitconcerns wrote: »

now that is a worry......as the VRT would be 7k.....ok I need to talk to the tax office again...

I brought my LHD in to Ireland on a VRT exemption in 2008. The VRO office required the following from me:

- Bill of sale of the car
- Proof I had been resident in the country of origin for > 6months. Employment contract and a few household bills.
- Proof I had been actively using the car for > 6 months in the country of origin (Insurance sufficed here)
- Proof that I was moving to Ireland for > 6 months. Because I was Irish and moving "home" this was kind of moot.

Even at that, all of this stuff had to be sent off for examination and it took nearly 3 weeks for notification with my new reg to come back. Then I got my log book with an endorsement on it saying that I couldn't sell the car within two years of registration in Ireland or I'd be liable for the full VRT amount.

I'm not sure if it's still the same criteria though.

whomitconcerns

so you had to pay the VRT in advance? ie within 24hrs and then wait on a refund?? Also its 12 months now.

And what if you were going to be transferred out of ireland again within 6 months?

alanmc

whomitconcerns wrote: »

so you had to pay the VRT in advance? ie within 24hrs and then wait on a refund?? Also its 12 months now.

And what if you were going to be transferred out of ireland again within 6 months?

No, I didn't have to pay up front. I had to apply for VRT exemption within 24 hours of arriving in Ireland. They're not hugely strict on this. But if my application had failed, I would have been liable for full VRT.

Not sure what would happen if I was transferred out of the state again. It would be speculation on my behalf to suggest anything.