VRT on UK import - Worth the hassle anymore ?

homer90

So, I'm shopping around for an Audi avant / similar, at the moment , these are very thin on the ground here for my budget.

So I'm looking across the pond for one. AFAIK it needs to be vrt'd within 7 days, but with the crazy waiting times for an NCT and recent rule changes... The whole thing seems like a pointless venture ......

Anyone been through the process recently ??

CiniO

homer90 wrote: »

So, I'm shopping around for an Audi avant / similar, at the moment , these are very thin on the ground here for my budget.

So I'm looking across the pond for one. AFAIK it needs to be vrt'd within 7 days, but with the crazy waiting times for an NCT and recent rule changes... The whole thing seems like a pointless venture ......

Anyone been through the process recently ??

You need to VRT a car within 30 days, not 7 as you say.
7 day applies to time limit in which you need to book an appointment for VRT inspection.

NCT waiting times have absolutely nothing to do with VRT inspections.


Only thing though, if you buy a car which is older than 4 years, it will be due NCT straight away on day when you register it (pay VRT), and you can't legally drive it until you have NCT done.
Considering you can only book NCT few days after you register, and waiting times in many places are over a month or more, this makes a problem in theory if you wanted to obey the law.

homer90

CiniO wrote: »

You need to VRT a car within 30 days, not 7 as you say.
7 day applies to time limit in which you need to book an appointment for VRT inspection.

NCT waiting times have absolutely nothing to do with VRT inspections.


Only thing though, if you buy a car which is older than 4 years, it will be due NCT straight away on day when you register it (pay VRT), and you can't legally drive it until you have NCT done.
Considering you can only book NCT few days after you register, and waiting times in many places are over a month or more, this makes a problem in theory if you wanted to obey the law.

Yes that's what I was getting at... Seems it may be a non runner !

corktina

If you go looking fro an appointment as recomended on this forum you probably will get one within a few days.

crackcrack30

Looked into the cost's involved recently and with


-exchange rates
-vrt.
-Travel expenses, diesel/ Flights/ ferries.
-Days off work.
-Accommodation.
-no Guarantee.
-hassle
-No guarantee of purchase...


I Decided against.

CiniO

crackcrack30 wrote: »

Looked into the cost's involved recently and with


-exchange rates
-vrt.
-Travel expenses, diesel/ Flights/ ferries.
-Days off work.
-Accommodation.
-no Guarantee.
-hassle
-No guarantee of purchase...


I Decided against.

Except from exchange rate which is fairly poor at the moment, nothing else from your list changed comparing few years ago.

BTW - when buying in Ireland most of this apply anyway, maybe except from flights/ferries.

crackcrack30

"BTW - when buying in Ireland most of this apply anyway, maybe except from flights/ferries."


VRT
Exchange rates
Accomadation
Guarantee
Travel expences
Days off work


???

FrontDoor

I've been over a few times.

Travel costs never exceeded 300 quid + half a tank of diesel.

In one case, I had superior warranty cover and the car was repaired FOC (1k bill). This would not have been covered on an Irish car. Another car had a European warranty and was repaired in the local main dealer, FOC.

On each trip, I've managed to buy a car from a main dealer and save 2500 - 5000, based on a similar car from local second hand dealers.

Usually I price ex-UK cars here on second hand yards. Invariably, they are at least 3k more expensive. Feck that.

ShaunieVW

It depends, Is it worth going for a run of the mill car that are plentiful here? probably not. Looking for something with a decent engine or a decent spec then its definitely worth it. We did it last year, the process was painless enough save for the whole payment thing of 500 max in cash and daily limits on debit cards! Bank transfer is the way to go for those with no credit card like myself.

Bitten & Hisses

EUR/GBP Exchange rate by itself would rule it out at present.

Elessar

Don't forget up north. Only an hour and a half drive from Dublin. I bought my BMW there from a main dealer. Much better spec car than I could find in the republic. And I saved about 3-4k even after VRT.

ShaunieVW

Thats true about the north, I went up with a mate to buy a b5 a4 1.8t quattro sport in nogaro blue. Find one of them here:cool:

FrontDoor

Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show there were 46,581 second-hand cars imported to Ireland in the first 11 months of 2013 -- and that figure has soared by 33pc since the same time last year.

Hundreds of small dealers around the country base their entire business model on buying cars at auctions in the UK and importing them to Ireland.

As sterling increased in value, all that has happened is used car prices have increased too.