Driving an Irish car, living in the UK

PrettyBoy

Hi lads, here's my situation - I could possibly be moving to the UK soon for work. If I were to bring my Irish reg'd car over with me would I have to register it in the UK (new plates, tax, etc?) or could I continue driving over there with my Irish plates?

ABajaninCork

Too much like hard work, if you ask me. You're better off selling the car here, and buying another better spec car in the UK. There was a recent thread about the same situation. Have a search for it.

biko

How long will you be there? If the car is taxed and insured here you can drive there for 6 months as a tourist. Any longer and you'll have to jump through hoops to convert it to UK reg.

PrettyBoy

biko wrote: »

How long will you be there? If the car is taxed and insured here you can drive there for 6 months as a tourist. Any longer and you'll have to jump through hoops to convert it to UK reg.

I'll be there for at least 6 months, seems like it's best to just sell it here.

Thanks for the replies lads.

dooroy

I sent an Irish car over to my daughter last year in college .
It didn't cost much to re register it - but the amount of paperwork was incredible ; things like Certificate of Conformity etc etc .
Took ages to get it all sorted - would never try it again .
Much better I'd say to buy a car over there ( or in the North ) and avoid all the hassle .

flyingpete212

Cars in the Uk are scanned continuously with cameras mounted on poles, police cars, DVLA vehicles. Gives a immediate readout of insurance,MOT, and road tax situation. They not been able to read your Irish registered plate would I believe result in you been stopped quite often. If things where found not to be in order they would take the car immediately and leave you to walk home.
Not worth taking your car over.

You will get a better car for much less money in the UK. Less potholes and bad road surfaces over there so bushes etc last longer.

Del2005

Sell your current car and buy nice a big engined UK import here, with enough tax and NCT to keep you legal here, and bring it back when you move. Good bargains to be had for quality cars once it's over 2l or petrol. It's relatively simple to transfer it back to UK plates and the UK tax rates aren't as crazy as ours.

PrettyBoy

Del2005 wrote: »

Sell your current car and buy nice a big engined UK import here, with enough tax and NCT to keep you legal here, and bring it back when you move. Good bargains to be had for quality cars once it's over 2l or petrol. It's relatively simple to transfer it back to UK plates and the UK tax rates aren't as crazy as ours.

Yeah I'm considering a buying a relatively big engined car here (3 litre) before I go, only problem is I'm having trouble finding a good one

YouTookMyName

flyingpete212 wrote: »

Cars in the Uk are scanned continuously with cameras mounted on poles, police cars, DVLA vehicles. Gives a immediate readout of insurance,MOT, and road tax situation. They not been able to read your Irish registered plate would I believe result in you been stopped quite often. If things where found not to be in order they would take the car immediately and leave you to walk home.
Not worth taking your car over.

You will get a better car for much less money in the UK. Less potholes and bad road surfaces over there so bushes etc last longer.

I didn't get stopped once on irish plates in almost 2 years.

Canis Lupus

YouTookMyName wrote: »

I didn't get stopped once on irish plates in almost 2 years.

That's a fair point but if you DID get pulled for any reason I imagine they'll be checking and once you're over the time limit happy to bend you over and fine you. How would such a thing affect insurance assuming you were in a crash?

For me I'd prefer the peace of mind of just being legal.

sunnysoutheast

PrettyBoy wrote: »

Yeah I'm considering a buying a relatively big engined car here (3 litre) before I go, only problem is I'm having trouble finding a good one

Why would you not just buy it in the UK when you get there?

Re-registering the car in the UK is fairly straightforward but time-consuming, and there are complications around getting the CoC, being insured on the chassis number and passing the MoT. I'd only do it again if I knew the history of the car.

sunnysoutheast

YouTookMyName wrote: »

I didn't get stopped once on irish plates in almost 2 years.

I'd say you were lucky. I was stopped at checkpoints twice in 2012, and I was travelling over every other week Mon-Thu in the Irish-reg. car.

Generally you can only use a foreign car if visiting the UK and not resident, for max 6 months in a year. If you were working in the UK/renting a property/paying tax etc. you would probably fall foul of that restriction. Not sure if that would include you?

Also I would not be too comfortable with the insurance position if the address for the policy was no longer the main address.

nogoodnamesleft

YouTookMyName wrote: »

I didn't get stopped once on irish plates in almost 2 years.

+ 1

Had my car on Irish plates for about a year and a half and I was never stopped I also used live relatively close to the local police station. On one occassion I had to ring the local station to report someone had robbed my wing mirrors from the car (whole street was done on one night targeting specific makes and models). Obviously I had to give reg number to make the report no notice was taken.

Scottie99

Don't think it's the police you've to worry about. I'd be more concerned if I had an accident and the insurance company asked how long you'd been in uk. They'd be asking for ferry receipts etc etc

ABajaninCork

One more thing: Is the odometer in k/ph or is it dual (i.e. k/ph and m/ph)? If it's k/ph only, then it'll be illegal in the UK and you'll have to get it changed over.

Like I say. Too much like hard work if you're staying over 6 months. Sell your motor here and buy another (better) one over.