Bringing Irish reg car to UK

justback83

I'm finding it difficult to get a definitive answer on this...I will be moving to London next year and need a car. I can either sell my car here (2006 BMW ~€4000) and buy something there or I could drive over there (which would help with moving) and register it in the UK. Does anyone have any idea how much it would cost to register it in the UK?

Buona Fortuna

Just looks like the VAT and car tax.

https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/registering-an-imported-vehicle

justback83

Buona Fortuna wrote: »

Just looks like the VAT and car tax.

https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/registering-an-imported-vehicle

Any suggestions on how to figure out how much the VAT would be?!

Buona Fortuna

No idea, or even if its payable on a s/h car at all.

My best shot:

For general queries about NOVA and VAT, please call the HMRC VAT Helpline on Telephone: 0300 200 3700.

ironclaw

You'd be insane to import a car into the UK. The market is much better, prices far more competitive and the spec in general far higher. I'd sell it here and invest in the UK market, if you come home in a year or two you'll be in a better position. The money you gain in a possible VRT rebate will be the loss in the lower selling price you will attract in the UK, not to mention the larger market and harder sale you will have (Unless its a very unique car)

R.O.R

OSI wrote: »

You don't need to pay VAT. The VAT was already paid within another EU country when the car was first registered and so VAT is no longer liable. The only cost involved would be the registration fee which used to be in the region of £50, and an MOT.

2006 BMW will more than likely only have a KM/h speedo, which isn't acceptable in the UK - needs to be MPH & KM/h to be able to register it in the UK, so something would need to be done for that too.

We re-registered a Ford and a Toyota in the UK (NI). Got the speedo's replaced by official dealers, but had to submit documentation from the dealer who did the speedo change to say it was done, so don't know if any cheaper option would be OK with UK authorities.

Still better option to sell here and buy in the UK though.

Victor

justback83 wrote: »

I will be moving to London next year and need a car.

Realise that the cost of motoring in London can be exorbitant.

justback83

R.O.R wrote: »

2006 BMW will more than likely only have a KM/h speedo, which isn't acceptable in the UK - needs to be MPH & KM/h to be able to register it in the UK, so something would need to be done for that too.

We re-registered a Ford and a Toyota in the UK (NI). Got the speedo's replaced by official dealers, but had to submit documentation from the dealer who did the speedo change to say it was done, so don't know if any cheaper option would be OK with UK authorities.

Still better option to sell here and buy in the UK though.

Yes - you're right about the speedometer! Think I'll definitely be selling up and buying over there. Any tips on insurance companies that take Irish ncb years?? Got stung coming back from Australia after 4 years, got a quote for €3000!! I have 15 years driving experience!!!

justback83

Victor wrote: »

Realise that the cost of motoring in London can be exorbitant.

I'll be commuting to Luton so will hopefully be going against traffic. Was shocked at the price of a monthly train ticket - £367!! Surely it's much cheaper to drive?!

Clearlier

justback83 wrote: »

Yes - you're right about the speedometer! Think I'll definitely be selling up and buying over there. Any tips on insurance companies that take Irish ncb years?? Got stung coming back from Australia after 4 years, got a quote for €3000!! I have 15 years driving experience!!!

Absolutely the right thing to do. I imported my car and the whole process was incredibly bureaucratic. My mother in law imported hers a few months later - a Rover 75 - never had anything done to it but they told her that the indicator lights were non-standard and it took a couple of months and the help of the Rover owners club to get them to see sense. There was a different standard applied depending on whether your car was 10 years old or less (easier if it's over) and mine was just over 10 years old which helped but I still wouldn't do it again without very good reason.

For insurance use a broker. I had to use a broker to get insurance because it ran out before I changed it over. It was a little more expensive but a year later I had a certificate which gave me my full no claims history and was recognised by all of the insurance companies.

mickdw

justback83 wrote: »

I'll be commuting to Luton so will hopefully be going against traffic. Was shocked at the price of a monthly train ticket - £367!! Surely it's much cheaper to drive?!

Fuel wise, it will possibly be less than that but total car costs will be substantially more.

justback83

mickdw wrote: »

Fuel wise, it will possibly be less than that but total car costs will be substantially more.

Such as? I've compared the tax costs and it's a bargain in the UK compared to here!

Clearlier

justback83 wrote: »

Such as? I've compared the tax costs and it's a bargain in the UK compared to here!

I think they were saying that commuting would be cheaper than driving.

Driving in the UK is clearly less costly than driving in Ireland.

Stephenc66

You might also want to consider that you can keep your car on Irish plates for 6 months in the UK before you have to either import it or take it out of the country.

If you can be sure that you are correctly insured you then have the option of taking your time in choosing a suitable car in the UK.

Although you will be better of selling the car back in Ireland as no dealer here in the UK will want it as a trade in because of the difficulties importing it

Kev1nDonn

I was quoted £877 in April this year to import my 2014 Nissan Qashqai into the UK.

Google 'mycarimport.co.uk'

justback83

Kev1nDonn wrote: »

I was quoted £877 in April this year to import my 2014 Nissan Qashqai into the UK.

Google 'mycarimport.co.uk'

Great - thanks!

Victor

justback83 wrote: »

I'll be commuting to Luton so will hopefully be going against traffic. Was shocked at the price of a monthly train ticket - £367!! Surely it's much cheaper to drive?!

Is this wishful thinking?

Will you have free parking at both ends? Or will they just take the cost of parking from your salary offer? How much will a parking space in London increase your rent? How much will fuel be?

pavb2

I brought my BMW 2006 over last year and agree with others the process was incredibly beauracratic.

I got insurance £800 with Adrian flux insurance broker as no others would insure me.

£300 to re register and about £200 to put an overlay on the speedo I did get quotes for 1000's to change the speedo complete. You also have to get a garage to sign off on r/h drive and compliant headlights so about another £200 for an MOT. (NCT).

It's one of those things where if you were doing it regular it's worth going through the pain barrier. I had my car from new so was quite attached to it so on balance I don't think I lost out it was just a drawn out process.

Incidentally I did get pulled over by the police who checked as I stood at the roadside ferry records of when I brought the car over. They said if I had gone over the 6 months allowed they would have impounded the car there and then and charged me £35 per day storage.

Theanswers

I've done this process many times from ROI to NI, as I live near the border.

Best way to get the speedo done is to buy a MPH unit on eBay for pennies. Remove the paper insert and put this in your speedo. You only need miles on the Speed, not distance traveled. No need for dealer to certify this. It only a MOT test item.

Book the car for a MOT on the chassis number. Declare the car on UK Revenue website. Amount of VAT due will be 0.

If under ten years old you will need a Certificate of conformity. This is basically what the manufacturer says the car is. Get this from BMW, usually UK distributors are cheaper for this.

Get UK insurance and that is it. Send all in the post along with MOT to DVLA in Swansea. Sorted! It's actually quite easy once you know how.

It easier than playing guess what the VRT will be with doing the reverse here!

rebel.ranter

Great idea about using just part of the instrument cluster component to show the miles. Also within the iDrive menu you can switch units from km to miles for the odometer, trip computer, etc.