Buying a car in northern ireland

gorfield

Hi,
Im close to buying a car up in Belfast, however ive never done this before so I have a few questions and would be delighted if someone clued in could give me some help?

many thanks

1: How long can I legally drive the car until I vrt it (I would need about 3-4wks till payday to have funds)

2:Do I have to book nct when I vrt it or straight away?

3:Is there a good inexpensive car history checker for NI cars?

thanks in advance

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Legally, you should bring your car to make an appointment to pay your VRT within 7 days of the car entering the state, and VRT should be paid within 30 days of the car entering the state. If you go over the 30 day period, an additional penalty of 0.1% of the VRT amount is applied to each day that the car was in the state from the date of entry.

I think Motorcheck.ie do a full check for €35 or thereabouts.

corktina

NCT is effectively due on importation. I think you would have to wait until re-registration is complete, but then it has to be done straight away.

corktina

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater wrote: »

Legally, the car should be registered within 7 days of the car entering the state, and VRT should be paid within 30 days of the car entering the state. If you go over the 30 day period, an additional penalty of 0.1% of the VRT amount is applied to each day that the car was in the state from the date of entry.

I think Motorcheck.ie do a full check for €35 or thereabouts.

actually it is appointment made to VRT it within 7 days.

CiniO

gorfield wrote: »

Hi,
Im close to buying a car up in Belfast, however ive never done this before so I have a few questions and would be delighted if someone clued in could give me some help?

many thanks

1: How long can I legally drive the car until I vrt it (I would need about 3-4wks till payday to have funds)

You need to book your VRT appointment within 7 days of bringing car to Ireland, but your appointment might be up to 30 days from date of bringing the car. So answer is yes - you can drive it for 3-4 weeks legally.

2:Do I have to book nct when I vrt it or straight away?

If car is older then 4 years on the day when it's VRTed, then it becomes due NCT straight away (on that day).
However it is impossible to make it straight away, as you can only book your NCT appointment few days after VRT is paid (and car details become available on their system), and even after that usually NCT waiting times are few weeks or few months, you you won't be able to have it NCT as legally required.

CiniO

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater wrote: »

Legally, the car should be registered within 7 days of the car entering the state, and VRT should be paid within 30 days of the car entering the state.

Registering and paying VRT is equivalent here. You do both at the same time and you have 30 days to do so from time vehicle enters the state.
7 days is the limit for booking your VRT appointment.

djPSB

CiniO wrote: »

Registering and paying VRT is equivalent here. You do both at the same time and you have 30 days to do so from time vehicle enters the state.
7 days is the limit for booking your VRT appointment.

Do you pay the VRT at the VRT inspection?

timmy4u2

There is a fairly comprehensive thread on this subject already any you will get all the answers here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=176389

CiniO

djPSB wrote: »

Do you pay the VRT at the VRT inspection?

Yes

timmy4u2

djPSB wrote: »

Do you pay the VRT at the VRT inspection?

You have to inform the VRT office within seven days of arriving in the Republic and the process has to be completed within thirty days of arrival in the public.

You will be able to get a very very close estimate , if not a totally accurate estimate of the cost of clearing the car at the revenue calculator at ros.ie.
Note that they will not accept cheques or cash over €200 or is it €250, I forget.
Best is to have a bank draft and a few euro cash just in case.
Of course you can go through the system and return with the correct amount once it is within the thirty days.
Read the thread as I indicated previously and you will get all the information you require
ROS link
https://www.ros.ie/evrt-enquiry/vrtenquiry.html?execution=e1s1

corktina

CiniO wrote: »

Yes

if they are able to give a price, otherwise you might have to wait for Revenue to think of an amount and double it

djPSB

timmy4u2 wrote: »

You have to inform the VRT office within seven days of arriving in the Republic and the process has to be completed within thirty days of arrival in the public.

You will be able to get a very very close estimate , if not a totally accurate estimate of the cost of clearing the car at the revenue calculator at ros.ie.
Note that they will not accept cheques or cash over €200 or is it €250, I forget.
Best is to have a bank draft and a few euro cash just in case.
Of course you can go through the system and return with the correct amount once it is within the thirty days.
Read the thread as I indicated previously and you will get all the information you require
ROS link
https://www.ros.ie/evrt-enquiry/vrtenquiry.html?execution=e1s1

Cheers.

I've a date got for my inspection. It's just I've read in places that Revenue ring you with the VRT price a few days after and others say it's paid on the day of the inspection.

timmy4u2

djPSB wrote: »

Cheers.

I've a date got for my inspection. It's just I've read in places that Revenue ring you with the VRT price a few days after and others say it's paid on the day of the inspection.

Normally they can give you the price there and then.
If there is a problem regarding the exact details of the car in that it does not totally fit in with their code you will get a call back from their HQ in Dublin.
In those circumstances you will not be penalised if you go over the thirty day limit.

Otherwise the sensible thing is to pay on the day as it saves you a second journey, but you have the option of dragging out the payment longer.
Dont forget that within three days of completing the transaction you are obliged to fit the identification number.

Make sure you know where the chassis number is and cross reference it with the V5.
For your own records make a copy of the V5

kryptonmight

I imported my car about 5 years ago from the north. From what i remember, this is what i did.

1. Went to the calculator on the revenue website, and got a quote for my cars VRT. I didn't try to fudge the details to get a cheaper quote, but some people do. I don't recommend this as they will just calculate the tax themselves anyway on the day. Printed out the quote and brought it with me.

2. Went to the nearest place that i could register it which was some revenue vrt office, i think there are only certain places you can do that. It will say on the revenue website. I brought the printout of the quote and filled in a form, brought the registration document and wrote them the cheque for the amount. I think he tried to charge me slightly more than what i was expecting but i just showed them the quote and he went with that. So defo bring the quote with you. One guy there had been told weeks earlier that his quote was X but they were charging him more but he had no proof.

3. On the way back, stopped by a garage and got the new reg printed on plates and fitted to the car.

4. Got back to the house and got the insurance transferred to the new reg (they just cancelled the old policy and opened a new one straight away).

5. I taxed the car online I think. I cant remember if i was able to do this straight away or not. But i did it as soon as possible. I might have had to wait for some registration certificate or something. I can't quite remember, but you can't tax it till you get your reg and you don't get that until you pay the vrt. I remember keeping some documents or receipts with me in the car for the first while incase i got stopped by the cops. I cant remember if i did that because of there being some sort of delay before being able to tax the car.

6. Booked the car in for its first NCT.

Hope this helps.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

corktina wrote: »

actually it is appointment made to VRT it within 7 days.

That's what I meant, I just typed it arseways :pac:

Post edited to reflect same.