Nissan Leaf UK import

oinkely

I'll let you know later in the week! Just waiting on a bank transfer to appear so I can pay for the damn thing. Forgot about hte two bank holidays when making my plans. Still, all going well I should be picking it up on Thursday.

zoom_cool

OK thanks yea Irish bank transfers to UK do take some time.

sgalvin

zoom_cool wrote: »

OK thanks yea Irish bank transfers to UK do take some time.

I paid for my car by laser card.
The garage had a fee for credit cards of 2.5% but not for debit cards.
It meant I could pick up the car there and had to carry no cash.

As an aside I got a price from a nissan dealer for delivery of a car from North west of England to cork of £350.

If you have already looked over a car and picked one out it mightn't be worth getting it yourself.
Adding up flights ferry sandwiches and your time comes to €500 very quickly particularly if you have to take a day off work.

Best of luck with your new purchase!

zoom_cool

sgalvin wrote:

I paid for my car by laser card. The garage had a fee for credit cards of 2.5% but not for debit cards. It meant I could pick up the car there and had to carry no cash.

sgalvin wrote:

As an aside I got a price from a nissan dealer for delivery of a car from North west of England to cork of £350.

sgalvin wrote:

If you have already looked over a car and picked one out it mightn't be worth getting it yourself. Adding up flights ferry sandwiches and your time comes to €500 very quickly particularly if you have to take a day off work.

sgalvin wrote:

I paid for my car by laser card. The garage had a fee for credit cards of 2.5% but not for debit cards. It meant I could pick up the car there and had to carry no cash.

sgalvin wrote:

As an aside I got a price from a nissan dealer for delivery of a car from North west of England to cork of £350.

sgalvin wrote:

If you have already looked over a car and picked one out it mightn't be worth getting it yourself. Adding up flights ferry sandwiches and your time comes to €500 very quickly particularly if you have to take a day off work.

sgalvin wrote:

Best of luck with your new purchase!

Thanks I will be using transferwise as they gave mid market rate in sterling a lot cheaper than bank I have got a car hauled from UK before it cost 300 sterling to Meath. It is cheaper to collect flight to Newcastle 38 euro and ferry 150euro to Cairnryan and the garage opens on Sunday so no day off work. Thanks for advice do.

oinkely

I looked at the transport option too. Figured i'd like to try the trip myself anyway, and the savings should be around €250 all told. Especially when you factor in free electricity all the way home!

The day off work is not an issue, thankfully.

zoom_cool - with transferwise just make sure you give yourself enough time for the transfer from your account to them, i'm sitting here with fingers crossed that it will all go through in time for me to collect tomorrow. Forgot about feckin bank holidays when i started the payment process.

My bank reckoned it could take up to 5 days for the transfer to transferwise........ I nearly had a fit, especially as they could not give me an idea of when it would get there, the best he could say was....before the end of the week, and then he added, or maybe early next week! I thought a euro transfer was overnight in all cases now! apparently not when tsb are involved.

It will be interesting to see the leaf spy data from the battery.

How many miles are on it again ?

zoom_cool

oinkely wrote: »

I looked at the transport option too. Figured i'd like to try the trip myself anyway, and the savings should be around €250 all told. Especially when you factor in free electricity all the way home!

The day off work is not an issue, thankfully.

zoom_cool - with transferwise just make sure you give yourself enough time for the transfer from your account to them, i'm sitting here with fingers crossed that it will all go through in time for me to collect tomorrow. Forgot about feckin bank holidays when i started the payment process.

My bank reckoned it could take up to 5 days for the transfer to transferwise........ I nearly had a fit, especially as they could not give me an idea of when it would get there, the best he could say was....before the end of the week, and then he added, or maybe early next week! I thought a euro transfer was overnight in all cases now! apparently not when tsb are involved.

My mother who is buying the car is using AIB and it says next business day on transfer to Transferwise account she is doing the transfer tomorrow and I am not collecting it till the 10th April so it should be there in time. You can pay AIB €25 extra to get it transfered same business day into Transferwise account as long as you do it before 11am that day.

KCross

sgalvin wrote: »

I paid for my car by laser card.
The garage had a fee for credit cards of 2.5% but not for debit cards.
It meant I could pick up the car there and had to carry no cash.

As an aside I got a price from a nissan dealer for delivery of a car from North west of England to cork of £350.

If you have already looked over a car and picked one out it mightn't be worth getting it yourself.
Adding up flights ferry sandwiches and your time comes to €500 very quickly particularly if you have to take a day off work.

Best of luck with your new purchase!

You have to watch this method though. Alot of banks have very low daily limit on debit card transactions. I think mine wont allow transactions above €1500 per day so that rules out buying any decent car!

KCross

oinkely wrote: »

I looked at the transport option too. Figured i'd like to try the trip myself anyway, and the savings should be around €250 all told. Especially when you factor in free electricity all the way home!

The day off work is not an issue, thankfully.

zoom_cool - with transferwise just make sure you give yourself enough time for the transfer from your account to them, i'm sitting here with fingers crossed that it will all go through in time for me to collect tomorrow. Forgot about feckin bank holidays when i started the payment process.

My bank reckoned it could take up to 5 days for the transfer to transferwise........ I nearly had a fit, especially as they could not give me an idea of when it would get there, the best he could say was....before the end of the week, and then he added, or maybe early next week! I thought a euro transfer was overnight in all cases now! apparently not when tsb are involved.

TSB told me that it would be 2 working days to any UK bank if you initiate it before 11am!

Maybe they have different rules for transferwise. Might be their way of stopping people using them and taking TSB's commission!

zoom_cool

KCross wrote:

TSB told me that it would be 2 working days to any UK bank if you initiate it before 11am!

KCross wrote:

Maybe they have different rules for transferwise. Might be their way of stopping people using them and taking TSB's commission!

I would say so alright banks I am sure don't like transferwise they were getting it to good for years 😀

zoom_cool

oinkely wrote: »

I'll let you know later in the week! Just waiting on a bank transfer to appear so I can pay for the damn thing. Forgot about hte two bank holidays when making my plans. Still, all going well I should be picking it up on Thursday.

Hi oinkely did you get to pick up the Leaf from Newcastle yesterday hopefully you got back ok.

lovehathi

hi just quick query if a web site says 80w leaf 2012 , 9000 pounds if imported to Ireland how much will it cost like vat or other payment, is it advisable to buy from uk or north ? . Also will it still be cheaper than Ireland.

Also what does 80w means sorry new to electric vehicles

thanks

KCross

lovehathi wrote: »

hi just quick query if a web site says 80w leaf 2012 , 9000 pounds if imported to Ireland how much will it cost like vat or other payment, is it advisable to buy from uk or north ? . Also will it still be cheaper than Ireland.

Also what does 80w means sorry new to electric vehicles

thanks

The price quoted on UK sites should include VAT and you dont pay VAT a 2nd time when you import it.

As long as the calculated VRT is less than €5k it is written off so pretty much any LEAF you buy is VRT exempt. So, the £9000 you buy it for is what it will cost you when you import it.

Buying in the North is no different to buying in the UK except that you have a larger choice in the UK.

It will be several thousand cheaper to buy in the UK than buying in an Irish garage and that includes flights, ferry, meals etc.

You should try to buy the updated model and not the very early models. They changed in 2013 and have better batteries so try to come up a year if you can and make sure that the 2013 one is the new generation and not the last of the old gen.

Dont worry about the 80w thing. They are all the same power. The LEAF, so far, is not like an ICE car where you can buy different size engines. The LEAF does not provide different power options unless you buy a 2016 model where you can now get a larger battery (24kWh vs 30kWh) for longer range but the motor is still the same power AFAIK.

lovehathi

Thanks Kcross , So we should look for 2014 model??
Also i looked on autotrader website it ask for zip code to find the car any way around for this ?

KCross

lovehathi wrote: »

Thanks Kcross , So we should look for 2014 model??
Also i looked on autotrader website it ask for zip code to find the car any way around for this ?

Ideally 2014 or later. You should be safe with that.

Just put in any valid post code you like. I used the post code of the airport or ferry terminal I planned on using. Just google heathrow airport post code and you will get a valid postcode to use.

lovehathi

Thanks KCross , sorry one last question what is max mileage should we look for 2014 model

KCross

lovehathi wrote: »

Thanks KCross , sorry one last question what is max mileage should we look for 2014 model

No idea, thats your own call. Obviously lower the mileage the better but then the price will probably be higher. Its a balance between what you can afford and what mileage you are comfortable with.

DrPhilG

Just make sure it is over 6000 km which I think is around 3800 miles. Otherwise you will be stung for vat.

Not too many 14 reg with that low a mileage though.

lovehathi

its a big decision and very confusing also.

DrPhilG

You won't regret it.

I bought a 141 in Leeds last year. Loving it.

Also the 141 Leaf is guaranteed to have the much improved battery !

k123456

The Warranty I guess is EU wide,

when importing UK leaf, do you need to inform Nissan Ireland the car is Ireland now , or is there nothing to do re the warranty

No you only need to contact Nissan for the yearly inspection.

lovehathi

just as for opinion before i take a step, we have a Nissan qashqai diesel , planed leaf would be second one for my wife . she will be using only for school runs and some small shopping here and there. i bought my qashqai 2011 still on 38000km , so u can see how much we drive . thus putting that much money in leaf will be ok. I saw on Nissan website in Ireland they are selling second hand sve demo for 22000 with 5000 miles approx is that a good deal.

lovehathi

lovehathi wrote: »

just as for opinion before i take a step, we have a Nissan qashqai diesel , planed leaf would be second one for my wife . she will be using only for school runs and some small shopping here and there. i bought my qashqai 2011 still on 38000km , so u can see how much we drive . thus putting that much money in leaf will be ok. I saw on Nissan website in Ireland they are selling second hand sve demo for 22000 with 5000 miles approx is that a good deal.

I think they've reduced the price again, I paid 28,500 for the SVE last Jan with the optional 6.6 kw charger, it's advertised for 26,500 now probably excluding delivery charges etc. But it does look like the price is dropped.

If you can save 4-5 k then why not ? I would do my best to find a Leaf with the 6.6 Kw charger because even though most of your charging will be done at home over night and is plenty of time for the 3.3 kw charger the 6.6 is really convenient when you take longer trips and can find a normal street charge point even after an hour or two you might find it has enough range to make the return trip or greatly reduce the time needed at a fast charger.

I guarantee, after you get confident enough with the car you'll want to drive it a lot more.

oinkely

zoom_cool wrote: »

Hi oinkely did you get to pick up the Leaf from Newcastle yesterday hopefully you got back ok.

I did indeed Zoom_cool. Delighted with it.

Trip home was a lot more difficult than i had thought it would be. Entirely due to not having a chargeyourcar access card. The ecotricity one on its own is next to useless for the trip from newcastle to Cairnyran. It is only usable at one chargepoint. For all the others that are on the route you need the chargeyourcar card.

Flew into Newcastle and took a taxi to the dealer (Lookers in Gateshead). Got there about 11.30. Took about an hour to complete the paperwork and check the car over. Their description was accurate and no hidden surprises. Immaculate condition with lots of stars on the battery report. Freshly valeted and ready to go.

Planned to stop at the following rapid chargers for about half an hour at a time, or less if not needed to get to the next one.

32 miles
1) Hexham, Waitrose carpark - NE463PD
48 miles
2) M6 Motorway - CA64HA
32 miles
3) Dumfries - Public carpark in the middle of town (just passed lidl) DG12LA
48 miles
4) Newton Stewart - in front of the library - DG86ER
then 28 odd miles to Cairnryan.

Turns out the only one of the 4 I could access with the ecotricity card was number 2.

At 1) i rang the helpline number on the unit when the ecotricity card would not activate it. They said to set up an account online, authorise a credit card and they could then remote start it for me. Grand, luckily there was wifi so started to that on my phone. A nice man came along in a leaf and parked beside me, and he offered to connect me using his card after I explained my situation. Charging underway, i went off to find lunch, and finish setting up the chargeyourcar stuff. Got back to the car but could not release the cable without the card that started the session, luckily his car was still beside me so sat tight and by the time he got back it was up to 96 per cent or so.

I thanked him profusely and set off for stop 2) the M6 motorway one. Found the charger in the carpark behind the coffee shop, plugged in gave it the half hour. No issues at this one and after a toilet stop and a hot chocolate I headed off again, back up around 95%.

Got to the dumfries one and phoned chargeyourcar again, as they had advised me to do. After a few minutes off trying to start it remotely they had to ring the manufacturer, as they could not get a connection to the unit. They rang me back after about half an hour and said there was nothing they could do, it would be the next day before an engineer could get to the unit. Fcuk says I!

The GOM was giving me about 53 miles, and the next available rapid was 48 miles away at Newton Stewart Library. I had no type 2 cable so no other options. Started off and drove like a very sedate sunday driver, with a severe case of speeditis. I developed an absolute loathing of uphills and an uncontrollable love for downhills in the next 48 miles. Thank you Nissan for B mode and eco mode. Turned off the heater, the aircon and the lights, just for good measure. Crawled into Newton Stewart and located the library with 5% left and four fully grown trees on the display. Relieved was not the right word, downright exhiliration was more like it.

Called up the out of hours service for chargeyourcar and they even knew my name at this stage. A few minutes later she was charging again and I was scoffing pizza in a lovely little eatery in the town.

I had realised earlier i had no chance of making my 7.30 ferry so rang up stena and they changed me to the 11.30. Got an upgrade to the 1st class lounge as they could not refund the price difference in the two ferries as i used tesco vouchers for some of the cost. No problem, i was just delighted that it was so easy to change.

Drove nice and handy to Cairnryan as I was in no major rush, and rolled into the stena port at 9.30.

Had a rest, boarded at 10.45 and enjoyed complimentary soft drinks and baked goods and fruit in the comfy chairs of first class. Slept for about an hour and then headed for the car when they said it was time.

Stopped for a charge at Barbican Centre on the A1, BT324ET. It was a bit eerie as it was about half 3 or 4 in the morning and the service station was in pitch darkness, the only light in the place was from the screen of the charge point.
Gave it about 45 minutes there as I needed a bit more sleep.

Stopped next at the applegreen at castlebellingham for half an hour and the again at the applegreen in lusk. this time for 45 minutes or so as I dozed off.

That gave me enough juice to head straight home to Kilcoole without any more stops. Arrived home at 6.30 Am with about 19 percent charge left.

In hindsight, should have sorted the chargeyourcar card as had been mentioned to me by another boardsie. Aside from that, delighted to have done it and equally delighted with my bargain Leaf.

Kind of dreading getting back into my van tomorrow! no cruise control and no silence ;-(

Congrats and well done on the trip !

Keep us updated.

BoatMad

Epic journey , and not too bad in general , I've often have ice trips that went pear shaped worse then that .

I personally limit my ferry journeys to overnight to France and hence a half decent bed !

I have a feeling I may be the first boardsie ( or fool) to venture with the leaf to France, I need to drive from Cherbourg to nice , sure it's a short hop !! ( done it four times in a rangie , gearbox fell out on the last run !! )

zoom_cool

Great post oinkley I hope the chargeyourcar app does the job for me. I will let you know how I get on also.

Jesus BoatMad you're turning into a real EV freak !