Trade here or in the UK

Darkest Horse · 17-07-2014 8:07am #1

Hi all. Just looking for some advice on a trade in if that's ok. I have an 06 Ford Focus that I have been offered between 3,500 and 4,000 for a trade in which actually surprised me. I'm moving over to the UK in September and was just wondering if it would be cheaper to change the car here or over there. I'm aware motors are cheaper in the UK but I'm not sure would I receive that trade in value over there? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Bigus · 17-07-2014 8:10am

There's a refund of vrt if you export a car worth more than 2000 euro

https://www.ros.ie/evrt-enquiry/vrtenquiry.html?execution=e1s1

Alternatively sell the car for cash here and buy for cash in uk

Darkest Horse · 17-07-2014 8:50am

Bigus wrote: »

There's a refund of vrt if you export a car worth more than 2000 euro

https://www.ros.ie/evrt-enquiry/vrtenquiry.html?execution=e1s1

Alternatively sell the car for cash here and buy for cash in uk

I would do that but I need a car to get all my stuff over there.

Del2005 · 17-07-2014 9:15am

Darkest Horse wrote: »

Hi all. Just looking for some advice on a trade in if that's ok. I have an 06 Ford Focus that I have been offered between 3,500 and 4,000 for a trade in which actually surprised me. I'm moving over to the UK in September and was just wondering if it would be cheaper to change the car here or over there. I'm aware motors are cheaper in the UK but I'm not sure would I receive that trade in value over there? Any help is greatly appreciated.

If the car was a UK import in would be a no brainer. If it wasn't a UK important it can be a time consuming process, and some money, to get it registered. But you have to look at the costs of bringing it back to sell in time as well as money.

Darkest Horse · 17-07-2014 9:21am

So buy here or in the UK?

Del2005 · 17-07-2014 10:18am

Darkest Horse wrote: »

So buy here or in the UK?

See if you can get a UK import here, then when you move it'll be easy to register. How long will your commute be? There are some very nice cars here that no one wants as they are petrol. And you may get a VRT rebate

bazz26 · 17-07-2014 10:32am

If the Focus has kph dials then they would need to be changed to mph if re-registering it in the UK afaik. I'd doubt a UK garage would be interested in taking an Irish reg car in as a trade-in either.

Personally I don't think it would be worth anything more in the UK to be honest, if fact I think it would be worth even less as there are even more of these cars in the UK and they tend to depreciate even harder over there.

Darkest Horse · 17-07-2014 11:04am

Del2005 wrote: »

See if you can get a UK import here, then when you move it'll be easy to register. How long will your commute be? There are some very nice cars here that no one wants as they are petrol. And you may get a VRT rebate

Is registration expensive/difficult?

Darkest Horse · 17-07-2014 11:21am

Ok so a little research and this does indeed seem a costly process. How much? I'm not sure.

No dealers in the north accept trade ins on vehicles from the Republic by any chance?

bazz26 · 17-07-2014 11:43am

Some will if they have a contact down south who they can shift it onto quickly. Again I reckon financially you will not benefit from trading it in either NI or UK due to the resale value being lower and higher supply of similar cars.

BTW is it a saloon or hatchback Focus? Saloon Focus would be hard to sell in NI or UK as they are not that popular there.

Darkest Horse · 17-07-2014 12:56pm

bazz26 wrote: »

Some will if they have a contact down south who they can shift it onto quickly. Again I reckon financially you will not benefit from trading it in either NI or UK due to the resale value being lower and higher supply of similar cars.

BTW is it a saloon or hatchback Focus? Saloon Focus would be hard to sell in NI or UK as they are not that popular there.

Saloon. I'm thinking I should sell here and reregister the new one then.....

Del2005 · 17-07-2014 6:44pm

Darkest Horse wrote: »

Saloon. I'm thinking I should sell here and reregister the new one then.....

Once it was a UK car. I'd forgotten about the stupid km only clock making it worthless in the UK. If your commute isn't too long, less than 15k miles, you can get great value on petrol engined cars here.

bazz26 · 17-07-2014 6:47pm

Don't they require you by law over there to change the dials from kph only to mph though?

Darkest Horse · 17-07-2014 11:01pm

Del2005 wrote: »

Once it was a UK car. I'd forgotten about the stupid km only clock making it worthless in the UK. If your commute isn't too long, less than 15k miles, you can get great value on petrol engined cars here.

Yep. I know a good importer who can probably get me a British reg car. While we're at it lads, any advice on makes/model. My commute will be short and I'm not too fussy. Just need something functional but newer.

Del2005 · 18-07-2014 12:18pm

Darkest Horse wrote: »

Yep. I know a good importer who can probably get me a British reg car. While we're at it lads, any advice on makes/model. My commute will be short and I'm not too fussy. Just need something functional but newer.

Don't buy a UK registered car here, they'll have to put it on Irish plates and you'll loose out. Either buy a UK import already on Irish plates or go to the UK and buy yourself, get a return ferry ticket from the UK. If you're going to get a UK registered car you have to get it out of the country within 7 days of arrival, so only get one the week your moving. With a previous import you can drive it here and easily swap to UK plates.

Lemming · 18-07-2014 12:45pm

bazz26 wrote: »

Don't they require you by law over there to change the dials from kph only to mph though?

The DVLA requires that your vehicle must - at a minimum - display mph before they will register it with a UK plate. That means a trip to a garage + certifications to show the DVLA if you don't already meet that criteria. What you need done would dictate how expensive it could be; but generally speaking it's not overly costly; but it is yet another cost to add on top of everything else.

Obviously dual kph/mph is acceptable.

Mc Love · 18-07-2014 12:49pm

Sell here - got a bit over 4k extra for my own by trading it in here compared with over in the UK

Enright · 18-07-2014 1:04pm

Is it a 5 door and what milage? might be interested

mgbgt1978 · 18-07-2014 3:07pm

He said it's a saloon....

Darkest Horse · 18-07-2014 4:08pm

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

He said it's a saloon....

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm getting a clearer picture now. Yes as mgbgt1978 said it is a saloon with 170,000 KM on the clock so 120,000 Miles?

siobhan08 · 18-07-2014 6:36pm

would you not find a garage up north who would take as a trade in against another car. you would not have to re register a car brought in Northern Ireland when you take it to the mainland . I looked into to the whole re registering my irish car when i moved over last september, it was far too much hassle with changing the dials etc. my insurance quotes were much higher as well as the car would be classed as an import

Darkest Horse · 18-07-2014 11:06pm

siobhan08 wrote: »

would you not find a garage up north who would take as a trade in against another car. you would not have to re register a car brought in Northern Ireland when you take it to the mainland . I looked into to the whole re registering my irish car when i moved over last september, it was far too much hassle with changing the dials etc. my insurance quotes were much higher as well as the car would be classed as an import

Hi Siobhan, yes that's exactly what I'm now considering and is probably the option with the least hassle.

Darkest Horse · 05-08-2014 2:52pm

Darkest Horse wrote: »

Hi Siobhan, yes that's exactly what I'm now considering and is probably the option with the least hassle.

Hi guys. OP here. I'm getting closer to buying a car and my dealer is bringing one in from the UK. I'm considering getting the car checked before I get it over. Any recommendations?

Marcusm · 05-08-2014 3:16pm

Darkest Horse wrote: »

Hi guys. OP here. I'm getting closer to buying a car and my dealer is bringing one in from the UK. I'm considering getting the car checked before I get it over. Any recommendations?

How does this make sense? You're going to have to pay VRT on the import and at best you'll get that back less €500 when you move. Would it not be more sensible to line up a buyer for your own, use it temporarily to transfer your stuff over then bring it back, sell it and buy in the UK and not have to VRT, NCT, rereg etc only to have to do MOT and re reg a short time later.

Darkest Horse · 05-08-2014 3:21pm

Marcusm wrote: »

How does this make sense? You're going to have to pay VRT on the import and at best you'll get that back less €500 when you move. Would it not be more sensible to line up a buyer for your own, use it temporarily to transfer your stuff over then bring it back, sell it and buy in the UK and not have to VRT, NCT, rereg etc only to have to do MOT and re reg a short time later.

Possibly not because it will be registered to a UK address. VRT doesn't even come into the equation. The trips over and back cost time and money too.

Marcusm · 05-08-2014 3:34pm

Darkest Horse wrote: »

Possibly not because it will be registered to a UK address. VRT doesn't even come into the equation. The trips over and back cost time and money too.

If you're buying it before you move over, what UK address will it be registered to? You may be unfamiliar with the paperwork but if an Irish dealer buys a UK car, he will have to convince the UK seller to give him the full V5C and the seller will have to send a letter to the DVLA to notify them that it has been sold to a person resident abroad. That's the first step in a UK deregistration process which is completed when the car is reregistered in Ireland. More importantly, it will mean that the car can't subsequently be taxed (and difficult to insure) in the UK until the register is reupdated with your details. Depending on how long this takes, you may find it difficult to use the car on UK roads. It will ping ANPRs if you are using it to travel over and/or commute until you have obtained the new V5C.

Trade here or in the UK

Comments