Buying in Ireland v Buying in NI/UK + paying VRT

NIMAN

I know that quite a few people buy in the North or the UK and bring cars back, but I have heard some say that you won't really save much doing this.

So can anyone actually give a concrete example of a decent saving they made by buying in NI/UK over a car they had priced in RoI, even after paying VRT?

Would love to hear of any big savings, if people have made them.

biko

Have you tried making comparisons by choosing a car here, another similar there and using the VRT tool to calculate the vrt?
Any particular brand/year you had in mind?

yop

Bought my last 2 cars in the UK.
Audi A4, was fully loaded when I got it, at the time the closest example was about 5k dearer.
The Mondeo ST that I have now, hard to gauge, MAYBE saved 2 or 3k.

Bought a focus 2010 for my sister there about 3 months ago, saved her 3k based on the other garages around.

Got a Galaxy for my other sis about 5 years, it was fully kitted out, closest example I could find was 4k.

Looking at the Octavia VRS over here, they are a better spec than in the UK. Looked also at the Volvo S60 RDesign, saving about 2k.

copacetic

NIMAN wrote: »

I know that quite a few people buy in the North or the UK and bring cars back, but I have heard some say that you won't really save much doing this.

So can anyone actually give a concrete example of a decent saving they made by buying in NI/UK over a car they had priced in RoI, even after paying VRT?

Would love to hear of any big savings, if people have made them.

I know a number of people who made large savings back in 2009 when the euro nearly reached parity with sterling. There was 10-15k to be saved on year old cars that were going for 40k here.

The same savings aren't there now, but depending on the car there is still money to be saved. However In my opinion it isn't really worth it except on newer model cars or for cars that there is not a great selection of here. Can easily save 5-10k with a bit of work on a 15-30k car, although possibly hard work and waiting here can narrow the gap.

It's easily checked and calculated by picking a few models and comparing them price wise with vrt and travel included, just make sure and compare spec and mileage correctly.

NIMAN

biko wrote: »

Have you tried making comparisons by choosing a car here, another similar there and using the VRT tool to calculate the vrt?
Any particular brand/year you had in mind?

Have done that in the past ok, and yeah I did come in with some savings but nothing too major, I guess that maybe the savings would increase as the price of the car increased, and I wouldn't be buying anything too top-of-the-range.

Thought it might be easier to actually hear from people who did it and know for sure what they saved. Thanks for the replies so far, interesting.

One of the reasons I have got interested, is that there seems to be a better range of models and specs in the UK compared to here in Ireland.

bazz26

The exchange rate is alot worse these days, also second hand car prices in the UK on average are alot stronger these days too because good tidy second hand cars especially diesels are also hard to find over there so demand keeps prices high.

The advantages of buying in the UK at present is not to save money on the deal but to actually get a car with the right spec, in top condition and with a full service history. I would be prepared to put the legwork in and pay a bit more for that over an Irish car.

Taylor365

Currently looking at Mercedes C180 07+.

20k+ here.
10k+ (3-4k vrt) UK

Savings between 5-6k or there abouts.

Bigcheeze

bazz26 wrote: »

The exchange rate is alot worse these days

People have short memories about exchange rates. €1.14 to the £ is a very strong Euro rate. I wouldn't be holding my breath for better.

Yes it dipped below 1.10 for a while during the financial crisis but the last year has typically been 1.20 to 1.25 and for most of the pre-crisis era, the rate was above €1.40 to the £.

For those old enough to remember punt-stering exchange rates, today's rate is equivalent of GBP£ 1 = IR£ 0.89p.

RATM

NIMAN wrote: »

Have done that in the past ok, and yeah I did come in with some savings but nothing too major, I guess that maybe the savings would increase as the price of the car increased, and I wouldn't be buying anything too top-of-the-range.

Thought it might be easier to actually hear from people who did it and know for sure what they saved. Thanks for the replies so far, interesting.

One of the reasons I have got interested, is that there seems to be a better range of models and specs in the UK compared to here in Ireland.

That's probably 50% of the reason for buying the UK, the other 50% being the saving you'll make, which aren't as big as they were in 2009 but are still there nonetheless.

UK roads are a lot better than there so cars tend to be in better condition. Also as their import duties are less it means the car manufacturers can sell them better spec cars without pushing what the market will pay too much. Whereas a lot of Irish cars are low spec in comparison, mainly because 60% of an Irish car price goes to the government, which means if a manufacturer puts a high spec on it and then the govt spaps 60% on top of the import price then the final price will end up pricing it out of the grasp of the market of buyers it was initially targetting at.

We really get ridden rotten by our government when it comes to all things motoring- road tax, insurance, petrol, bad state of roads, VRT and lower spec cars than our UK counterparts.

Bigcheeze

Browsing some 2010 BMW 520D's

Back of the napkin figures:

Typical low mileage Auto from BMW main dealer: £20,000

Assume cash price £19,000

In Euro 21,850
VRT 5,500
Travel 300
Total 27,650

Asking price Irish dealer avg. €33,000.
Assume cash price €31,500

Saving approx 3.5 - 4k.

hertz

Apart from saving money on the cost of the car from the UK you will get a car that is of a higher spec and in better condition. A big plus is the UK cars have way lower mileage than their counterparts in Eire. Not all of the time but most of the time.

ofcork

Do they get the OMSP wrong at times,was looking at a 2012 1.8 petrol avensis manual which isnt sold here at 15650 sterling and the omsp came in at 16387 with vrt of 3769 a mistake surely.

RedorDead

Taylor365 wrote: »

Currently looking at Mercedes C180 07+.

20k+ here.
10k+ (3-4k vrt) UK

Savings between 5-6k or there abouts.

I didnt even pick the cheapest. Way cheaper there than this and cars from 12K

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/C-Class/STUNNING/33913614679672930/advert?channel=CARS

Stealthirl

I'v been looking at facelift A6 avants in the UK recently as im hopeing to get one next year. Auto TDi ones
Was looking at a 59 plate [post sep 09] one with 87K miles and Le Mans spec
came in at €16K + VRT €5570 so say €22K OTR here

Base spec SE's are going for that here

I would buy here but auto avants are thin on the ground here and diesel cause the petrol is €1200 a year for tax as its 195g/km

NIMAN

Is the plummeting value of sterling going to affect number of UK cars bought by Irish residents?

galwaytt

NIMAN wrote: »

Is the plummeting value of sterling going to affect number of UK cars bought by Irish residents?

In short, I don't think so. Value is so often more 'perceived' more than actual.........

Recently, I was toying with the same issue, and here's what I came up with:

2010 Citroen C4 Auto - €11500, here. Main franchised dealer.

In the UK, that car cost the dealer GBP£6750 (I know this for a fact... ), which is €7584 and with €1899 VRT and €250 delivery, comes to a grand total of his cost = € 9733.

Which means he's working off 15% on this car. This both a lot.........and not a lot. Personally, in retail terms, it's not a lot.

So, could I do better, personally ?

I don't think I'd have got it for his buying price, so maybe add €250 there. There's no way you'd fly to UK, get to garage, buy the car, fuel it up, drive and Ferry back, and then to Galway,for his price of €250. For a start, I'd have to add a day off work. And food. I likes food If you don't want to go on your own, you'd want to throw your companion a few €€ for his tickets too. I'm going to suggest €500 is a better all-in figure to work off, for calculation purposes. If however, you want to walk there, and die of starvation/malnutrition and/or sleep deprivation, to save €200 - knock yourself out (sic)

And there's warranty. At €11.5k here, the car comes with a 1 yr manufacturers warranty (not a dealer warranty), and a 2nd year is haggle-able f.o.c.

Which means, private 'numbers' would look more like : €7865 + €1899 + €500 = €10264.

Which is indeed a 'saving' of €1235. It is not to be sneezed at. But if you bought it privately, and paid for a Mapfre warranty, it would cost you about €450 for 2 years warranty, which makes the saving... €785. Keep the car for 4 years and, thats €196 a year or €3.77 a week you've saved.

So - can you save money ? Yes you can. Is it worth it ? I dunno - that €3.77 didn't even cover the cost of a Rock Shandy yesterday.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Seems to me that its only worth it if buying a large powerful car for over €13k with loads of gadgets. You're probably not going to save much if youre going over to buy a Corsa for 7 grand

copacetic

NIMAN wrote: »

Is the plummeting value of sterling going to affect number of UK cars bought by Irish residents?

Of course it will, if as predicted euro hits parity by end of year then you would be saving €3-4k on a £20k car. Which is obviously a big saving. It would potentially double the current likely 10-20% saving.

If buying a relatively expensive car savings could become very large. Would lead to an explosion in imports of 1 and 2 year old audis, BMWs and merc. Which there are already plenty of happening.

In theory that would also drive the OMSPs down, but that's a dodgy system anyway so possibly not.

Mc Love

You could make savings on some of the lower end of the market too, I saved myself a good few grand from buying the same car in the UK then the ones here! And even looking this morning, you could save probably 2-3k on a focus

Max Power1

hertz wrote: »

Apart from saving money on the cost of the car from the UK you will get a car that is of a higher spec and in better condition. A big plus is the UK cars have way lower mileage than their counterparts in Eire. Not all of the time but most of the time.

Surely you meant this the other way round no?

mickman

whats the situation with insurance when you buy from the uk and driving to the ferry ?

I mean do you just transfer your insurance the way you do every car when you buy it ? When you change the plates do you have to change again ?

djPSB

Is anyone familiar with the car ferry routes from the UK.

Is Holyhead-Dublin the only route or is there one from Liverpool?

Marcusm

djPSB wrote: »

Is anyone familiar with the car ferry routes from the UK.

Is Holyhead-Dublin the only route or is there one from Liverpool?

LIverpool-Dublin is run by Norfolk lines. Holyhead-Dublin by Irish Ferries (cruise & swift) and Stena (Cruise), Holyhead-Dun LAoghaire by Stena (Swift, seasonal) and Fishguard/Pembroke-Rosslare by Irish Ferries. LIverpool-Dublin is a fairly long route by comparison.

Marcusm

mickman wrote: »

whats the situation with insurance when you buy from the uk and driving to the ferry ?

I mean do you just transfer your insurance the way you do every car when you buy it ? When you change the plates do you have to change again ?

YOu need to read the thread entitled 'Definitive Guide to importing...." for info on insurance and tax.

Mr Chuckles

I think dealers are importing cars from the UK. I've seen a few transporters with UK registered Audis on the M7.

Max Power1

Mr Chuckles wrote: »

I think dealers are importing cars from the UK. I've seen a few transporters with UK registered Audis on the M7.

I'd agree

I recently got the Holyhead-Dublin ferry and all I could see being loaded on in the truck aisle were car transporters by the dozen!

chewed

Hi there, is the VRT more for Automatic cars? I'm noticing a sharp increase when I search a similar car / age / mileage for both manual and automatic cars.

bazz26

It totally depends on the make and model of car. Traditionally automatics used a bit more fuel so had slightly higher co2 on which the rate of VRT is dependent. Also a lot of manufacturers charged a premium for an automatic over a manual which impacted the car's value the same as optional extras.

readytosnap

What am i doing wrong? was looking ( for family member) at a 2010 accord there doesnt seem to be any saving, am i looking in the wrong places? where is best?
or is the car too old to be saving money?

Gazzmonkey

yop wrote: »

Bought my last 2 cars in the UK.
Audi A4, was fully loaded when I got it, at the time the closest example was about 5k dearer.

Done the same, saved about €2,000 but lost it a month later when I got the dreaded DMF issues.

veetwin

Been looking seriously at a 2012 A6 avant in the UK recently. A well specced low mileage one will cost around €35k cleared from a main dealer. Not a whole lot cheaper than the main dealers here though there is much more choice obviously over there. I last imported a 2009 520d touring in 2010 and easily saved €8k but that kind of saving doesn't appear to be there anymore.

chewed

I haven't done much research, but from what I've read it's cheaper to buy on the UK mainland than it is in Northern Ireland. Is this true? Is it worth hopping on the ferry?

NIMAN

chewed wrote: »

I haven't done much research, but from what I've read it's cheaper to buy on the UK mainland than it is in Northern Ireland. Is this true? Is it worth hopping on the ferry?

Again its a bit of a mixture.

I am looking to buy at present and have been comparing some NI cars with UK ones.

Some are more or less the same prices, some slightly cheaper in UK mainland and the odd one a lot cheaper.

Depends on makes and models. Some of the savings are not worth the hassle of flights/ferries/hotel stays etc imho, some might be.
Plus if anything goes wrong, might be easier to get an NI dealer to stand over the car than a UK based one.

chewed

NIMAN wrote: »

Again its a bit of a mixture.

I am looking to buy at present and have been comparing some NI cars with UK ones.

Some are more or less the same prices, some slightly cheaper in UK mainland and the odd one a lot cheaper.

Depends on makes and models. Some of the savings are not worth the hassle of flights/ferries/hotel stays etc imho, some might be.
Plus if anything goes wrong, might be easier to get an NI dealer to stand over the car than a UK based one.

yeah, this was my thinking too! It's much easier to drive 1.5 hours up the road if there's any problems or even just to check out a car.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

My current 2005 focus 1.6tdci ghia full spec cost 2k sterling

Vrt 500 euro
Flight 100 euro
Ferry back 120 sterling
Fuel 50 sterling (which lasted days after I came back !)

To get the spec here is not possible

Closet car on donedeal at the time was similar but not as good at all and was asking 6500 euro

chewed

out of curiosity, what's the easiest way to pay for a car from the UK?

kc66

readytosnap wrote: »

What am i doing wrong? was looking ( for family member) at a 2010 accord there doesnt seem to be any saving, am i looking in the wrong places? where is best?
or is the car too old to be saving money?

I bought a 2008 Accord from the North in November saving around €2800+. Not sure if I can say which dealer I bought from. Just checked and he doesn't have any Accords at the moment anyway.

readytosnap

dont see why you cant name them

Mr Chuckles

chewed wrote: »

I haven't done much research, but from what I've read it's cheaper to buy on the UK mainland than it is in Northern Ireland. Is this true? Is it worth hopping on the ferry?

If you buy from a main dealer, then the warranty should cover the UK. I imported a car from NI last year, and got the spec/colour I wanted. I was after a 1 owner 2 year old car, with mileage under 20K miles. The asking price was the same for similar cars with the same spec in England.