buying a foreign reg'd car in Ireland

trevorbrady

What's the dealio? I have the possibility of buying a German car that's been in Ireland for years but never registered here. I.e. it's still on German plates. Neither I nor the seller have an idea of how long it's been here, he didn't import it, he bought it from a German gentleman living here but keeping the car on the German system by going back every year. The car is older than 30 years old.

Is it possible to have it registered here at all? If so, obviously the €200 VRT would have to be paid, are there other penalties? I've been told there is some paperwork with the car but being from Germany, what would be required? What if the right paperwork isn't present?

As it stands as an illegal immigrant, is this car only good as a parts donor?

thanks in advance

rugbyman

I am sure you will get better advice shortly but for the moment,,, a second hand German car should have no number plates, the number has to be returned to Germany by the owner. I presume you mean the German owner kept it registered in Germany, though the car was in Ireland,, he is not now the vendor.. bit strange.... though in any case you` ll get it in at the classic rate, you just need to prove the age...

Anan1

Does the seller have the Fahrzeugbrief?

trevorbrady

ooh! sounds nasty, I hope he doesn't. Is it curable?


















I don't know if he has the Fahrzeugbrief, I'd never heard of it til now so didn't know to ask on the phone.

@rugbyman, there was mention that the plates were gone alright. I thought they might have been kept as wall souvenirs but your post makes me think that maybe there's a legal requirement to return them?

iverjohnston

don't know how the authorities here Will treat it when you arrive at the counter.
To export it properly you would have had to get assigned a set of export plates with an export number, valid for either two or four weeks. only possible to get these if car is currently taxed and tested. Without some paperwork, your in trouble.

Anan1

trevorbrady wrote: »

ooh! sounds nasty, I hope he doesn't. Is it curable?



I don't know if he has the Fahrzeugbrief, I'd never heard of it til now so didn't know to ask on the phone.

@rugbyman, there was mention that the plates were gone alright. I thought they might have been kept as wall souvenirs but your post makes me think that maybe there's a legal requirement to return them?

It's the German registration document - up until recently that, the car, and the money would have been all you needed. I don't know whether things have changed with the new NCTS rules, I haven't imported anything since.

Kenny Logins

iverjohnston wrote: »

don't know how the authorities here Will treat it when you arrive at the counter.
To export it properly you would have had to get assigned a set of export plates with an export number, valid for either two or four weeks. only possible to get these if car is currently taxed and tested. Without some paperwork, your in trouble.

He's importing it though. :pac:

I reckon you could rock up with some paperwork and a hand-written sales receipt and register it. I registered my last import with an old reg document, and I didn't get the actual the V5 until weeks later.

...but I'd let the seller do this, before a deal is negotiated.

Kenny Logins

..oh, and I had the wrong reg number on the form.

Not a single f##k was given that day.

aujopimur

You will need the following,
Reg docs.
Photo ID.
PPS No..on payslip etc.
Purchase receipt, you can write this yourself.
MOT, in its absense NCT/VRT will do a basic roadworthines check.
Ferry or shipping receipt.
Proof of address, utility bill etc..
Car.
€200

Kenny Logins

aujopimur wrote: »

You will need the following,
Reg docs.
Photo ID.
PPS No..on payslip etc.
Purchase receipt, you can write this yourself.
MOT, in its absense NCT/VRT will do a basic roadworthines check.
Ferry or shipping receipt.
Proof of address, utility bill etc..
Car.
€200

You don't need an MOT or roadworthiness check.

w124man

As its been said already, you will need the export docs from Germany but to get them you need to get the export plates and to do that the car needs to be in Germany. As soon as the car is sold the the vendor must remove the plates and return them to the authorities. Its a messy one and there are no real ways around it and an Irish solution to a German problem wont work. I have brought five cars back from Germany over the last few years, one on a trailer and even it had to have an export doc which was issued after it was inspected

Whats the car?

Red Kev

OP, check the plate of the car, if it's original German, it might have had a sticker scratched off it, after the first letter or letters.

If this is the case then the car has been deregistered in Germany, the last owner might have kept the plates as a souvenir, or he deregistered the car and drove it over the border before midnight the same day. You do not have to hand the plates in, the sticker just has to be scratched off by the authorities, you get the plates back if you want.

If the car has a red rectangle in the corner with a date on it, it's been exported properly, if it has a yellow one, it's been deregisterd in Germany.

Find out what paperwork is there. There should be a folded bit of paper, a bit bigger than A4 called a "Fahrzeugbrief", this is the log book.

There might also be a green sheet of A5 paper with "Abmeldebescheinigung" on it, this means the car has been definitely deregistered in Germany, either permanently or temporarily.

What you need if the "Fahrzeugbrief", though of all the cars I've ever exported from Germany the Irish don't really care about the others, and it's not your problem if the German gentleman didn't do it properly.

Your biggest issue will be the fact that you've no proof of when the car was imported, they tend to want to see a receipt from the ferry, though in your case they may make an exception, but I'd clarify this before buying the car or rolling up to them in it. Go into your local office and have a chat with them, tell them you're thinking of buying the car and see what they say.


Pics here: first one is a "scratched sticker" on an original German plate, see how the bottom sticker has been scratched off.



This is the log book: "Fahrzeugbrief"






This is the green A5 deregiistration document.

aujopimur

Kenny Logins wrote: »

You don't need an MOT or roadworthiness check.

It depends on who you deal with, in my case, moving it back and forth on the transported was good enough.

trevorbrady

so I bought the car, the Fahrzeugbrief was present but not the other "deregistration" document.

Now, how do the NCTS/Revenue get their brains around the lack of a shipping receipt if I bought the car from Northern Ireland and towed it home myself? Obviously I would have no way of proving the date of entry into the state like if I ferried it from Europe/UK...

rugbyman

Trevor,
I dont think the date of import will be an issue, but more for my interest, whats the yoke.?

trevorbrady

this:



thanks to everyone for their advice

timmy4u2

Buy it in Northern Ireland. I am sure someone there will sell it to you. Make an appointment with ncts within seven days and have it cleared within 30 days.