Change of Ownership/Motor tax

techdiver

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a car that was imported from the UK. The dealer has already registered the car in Ireland and paid the VRT.

My question is follows:

Since I can't tax the car until the change of ownership goes through, is it ok to drive the car without tax until this happens? I'm assuming it has to be as I'm sure this is what happens for many people when purchasing a car, especially considering it can take a number of weeks to process in Shannon.

Sorry if it's a dumb question as any car I previously bought was taxed for a while before renewal was required, thus I never ran into this situation.

One more thing. Is there a delay between a car being newly registered in Ireland and appearing on the NCT and cartell systems? I can enter the reg into the motor tax website and the car is recognized, but it is not recognized in the NCT and cartell systems.

Cheers

bazz26

Technically no but in most cases a Garda will use common sense but don't park it in a public place where a traffic warden will issue you a fine for not display of a current tax disc. Just get the dealer to give you a receipt with the date of purchase on it. That's what I did when I bought my UK import recently.

Also once the registered in your name you should be able to tax the car online by using the last 6 digits of the car's VIN as the PIN. A lot of dealers can register it online these days so you don't have to wait until you receive the new registration cert.

aujopimur

As bazz says, use the last 6 vin nos, the VRC won't be issued until it's taxed.

techdiver

aujopimur wrote: »

the VRC won't be issued until it's taxed.

How is that possible though? Is that not a chicken and egg situation?

According to http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/motor_tax_and_insurance/motor_tax_rates.html

Change of vehicle ownership and motor tax

If you sell your vehicle or trade it in for a replacement, you must register the change of ownership. This is done in one of two ways and depends on whether the vehicle was first registered before or after 1 January 1993. You cannot tax your new vehicle until the registration of the change of ownership has gone through. You then renew the motor tax on the vehicle using Form RF100A or online as described below. If the motor tax on your new vehicle has already expired, you are not liable for the arrears period from the expiry of the last tax disc to the end of the month immediately preceding the date you bought it.
It is an offence to drive without paying motor tax, so you should not drive until you have received confirmation that the registration has occurred and you have paid the motor tax. Read more in our document on change of vehicle ownership.

How can you use the vin as pin when no/wrong address would be registered against it until the change of ownership goes through?

bazz26

techdiver wrote: »

How is that possible though? Is that not a chicken and egg situation?

According to http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/motor_tax_and_insurance/motor_tax_rates.html

How can you use the vin as pin when no/wrong address would be registered against it until the change of ownership goes through?

You can if the dealer does the registration online but it may take the system a day or two to be updated. It worked for me when I bought mine back in July.

aujopimur

techdiver wrote: »

How is that possible though? Is that not a chicken and egg situation?

According to http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/motor_tax_and_insurance/motor_tax_rates.html

How can you use the vin as pin when no/wrong address would be registered against it until the change of ownership goes through?

That only applies if the car has already been taxed in ROI.

aujopimur

bazz26 wrote: »

You can if the dealer does the registration online but it may take the system a day or two to be updated. It worked for me when I bought mine back in July.

The dealer is never registered as an owner.

bazz26

aujopimur wrote: »

The dealer is never registered as an owner.

I am aware of that but alot of dealers have the ability to register the car for you or change ownership online rather than the conversional way of sending off a form.

techdiver

Thanks for the replies.

Another question, which car check service is best? Cartell, motorcheck, my wheels, etc? Also do they all give the UK history when you supply the Irish reg?