Anyone changed a van into a car??

McP2011

Im wondering if anyone has changed a van into a car recently?

Neither customs, motor departmant etc will tell me exactly how much duty I will have to pay, they say I have to go and put seats in and get it stamped by an engineer and send the forms away and then theyll tell me how much, which is complete bull, I have to weld in 9 brackets so it isnt as simple as 'setting a seat in'.

Car in question is a Mk 5 VW Golf 1.9tdi. Anyway the car has been in the south all its life, €3100 vrt was paid when it first came into the country.

They say that I will have to now 'vrt' it as a car as the category of vehicle is changing. The current cost of vrting a golf CAR of the same spec is around €1400.

Im wondering if anyone knows for sure what will have to be paid in order to get it registered as a car?

Thanks.

dgt

VRT of the rrp of the car.
Engineers report.
Tax office inspection.
Issue of new book, readdressed as private and tax based on engine size, co2 etc

My advice is avoid it if you can (unless its a case of I want to do it because I can) because most of the holes for the seats and belts will be welded over. Not worth the hassle imo

McP2011

The vrt calculator's omsp for a golf van is roughly 6500 and for a car it is around 7500.

What is a tax office inspection?

Brackets just need to be welded into place, have all sitting ready but there's no point in doing it if it'll work out dearer than buying a car outright if you get me?

kevin65

Did it may years ago with a ford fiesta I had originally bought as a van. I managed to source most of the required parts second hand and did some of the conversion work myself, but seat brackets had to be welded in. It was the bill to the revenue that was the most sickening part.

You need to do the sums and see if it's worth your while. Think it would be easier to just get an equivalent car unless you have some strong attachment to the van.

McP2011

kevin65 wrote: »

Did it may years ago with a ford fiesta I had originally bought as a van. I managed to source most of the required parts second hand and did some of the conversion work myself, but seat brackets had to be welded in. It was the bill to the revenue that was the most sickening part.

You need to do the sums and see if it's worth your while. Think it would be easier to just get an equivalent car unless you have some strong attachment to the van.

Thats what im trying to find out, I have seats, seatbelts, brackets etc all sorted. I want to know what duty I will have to pay, but sure none of these ones 'working' in the customs, tax office etc etc know!!

kevin65

When I did the conversion (nearly 20 years ago), I just went in to the customs local office and got a written quote from them on the extra taxes payable. It should be straightforward for them to calculate if they got off the ar*se to do it, but it's probably so rare that the ones working there have probably never done it.

Have a look on the revenue.ie website as they have a VRT calculator for importing cars and might have something similar for calculating extra taxes payable on a van conversion.

The most important thing is to get any quote from them in writing.

McP2011

kevin65 wrote: »

When I did the conversion (nearly 20 years ago), I just went in to the customs local office and got a written quote from them on the extra taxes payable. It should be straightforward for them to calculate if they got off the ar*se to do it, but it's probably so rare that the ones working there have probably never done it.

Have a look on the revenue.ie website as they have a VRT calculator for importing cars and might have something similar for calculating extra taxes payable on a van conversion.

The most important thing is to get any quote from them in writing.

Yea I rang the local customs office and they said they didnt know and that I wouldnt be able to know the price until I done all the work got it stamped and sent the form away (stupid or what). I may call into them and make them do something then. Cheers for the help.

kevin65

It could be the case that they are reluctant to give a quote until they can see the converted van and confirm it's spec(model identity) which would influence the duty and VAT owed. If you could determine the spec of the equivalent car, then you could ask them for quote based on this.