Buying UK import

chancer12

HI, looking to spend approx 7k with my 05 Corolla trade-in and finding it challenging. However, found a Hyundai i20 today with 61k miles and the garage is looking for 6750 with mine. Seems like a lovely car and the reviews are good. However, its a UK import and I'm a bit freaked after last week's Prime Time on UK/Australian imports. I know these were category B cars and the guy says that this has a full service history. I'm just a bit concerned about it being an import. It will come NCT'd and registered here. Any advice appreciated

biko

Is it still on UK plates?
Did you do a HPI check?

chancer12

No, it has Dublin plates. I don't know what a HPI check is.

JIdontknow

To start with try find the UK Reg of the car (If the garage / car is genuine they might tell you the UK Reg), and pop it into the links below to maybe get some details for example to cross check the mileage and previous MOT details,

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status
https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

chancer12

thanks, will do that, v helpful

biko

chancer12 wrote: »

No, it has Dublin plates. I don't know what a HPI check is.

http://www.perrys.co.uk/car-news/buyers-guides/what-is-an-hpi-check/
It's a car check for UK - stolen, written off, financed etc.

chancer12

thanks for that. thinking of going for an Irish Opel Astra now, bit iffy about the Hyundai because the garage is a one-man operation beside a scrapyard, maybe an unfortunate location but kinda hearing alarm bells!

chancer12

So, I've tried inputting the reg no into the link above and its telling me that I haven't entered it in the correct format. The reg no I have is 7 letters. It does contain II and 00 and I've tried every combination of letter versus numeral and its still not giving me a result. Think I will abandon it now.

Could I ask one final question? I'm now trying to decide between a 2010 Fiesta with 84k and a 2010 Astra with 43k. They are both looking for 6750 with my Corolla. I really love the Fiesta but am concerned about the mileage. However, it had only one previous owner. Also my daughter has to learn to drive in this over the summer and I'm not sure which is the better option for a learner

Sorry to be such a dope but I know very little about cars and can only rely on the reviews. Thanks

colm_mcm

LLNNLLL

Letters/numbers.

chancer12

So when I look for the History it tells me that there is no vehicle found and when I look at the MOT it says the reg is not valid

colm_mcm

What's the reg

chancer12

YDII00V

crusha101

I've always found when buying cars if you are not 100% sure about who you are buying it off then don't buy it , I
bought a jaguar xf recently and it was a UK import nothing sinister to it ,was still on uk plates when i bought.
Use one off the cross border checks or if you find out its English plate use a website like perrys.

R.O.R

chancer12 wrote: »

YDII00V

YD11 OOV
Hyundai i20 Comfort 5dr

MOT history of this vehicle
Test date 3 March 2015
Expiry date 3 March 2016
Test Result Pass
Odometer reading 30,797 miles
MOT test number 7890 5286 5053

Test date 3 March 2014
Expiry date 3 March 2015
Test Result Pass
Odometer reading 22,497 miles
MOT test number 4157 9296 4009

Atlantic Dawn

chancer12 wrote: »

YDII00V

Reg is YD11OOV

MOT history check shows it had 30k miles on it when tested in March 2015, I'd still run a full history check if your buying it, could have been written off in the meantime.

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

chancer12

TBH, I think I'll go with one of either the Fiesta or Astra. They're both 2010, Irish registered and coming in at more or less the same price. After the Prime Time programme my instinct is not to go for it but thanks everyone for your help. Any opinion on either of the other cars much appreciated. Fiesta has 83k and the Astra has 43k. Astra has aircon but the Fiesta not.

colm_mcm

If prime time did a programme about the amount of clocked and written off Irish cars for sale (and they are!) what would you do?
The only reason they haven't is that they're too lazy to do real journalism (as evidenced by this and the nct reports) and just resort to scaremongering to get your attention.
The fact is that uk cars are more likely to have a proper service history, are generally in better condition, and if they have an accident, it's more likely to be recorded.
With any car, you should be doing a history check, UK reg not. The fact is, with an Irish car you could do the check, it could come back clear but the car could still be a ball.

chancer12

Now, that's even more depressing. I'm not in the business, don't buy cars very often and may be naive in thinking that there has to be an element of trust once you have done some research and try and compare like with like.

colm_mcm

what sort of places are you looking to buy from?

what is the element of trust? between you and the seller?

chancer12

I had a look at a garage in Sandyford today and they seemed v. nice. The cars were all in very good condition, he gave me the keys to do a test drive and didn't come the 'hard sell'. That was the Astra. I drove the Fiesta last week and it was a guy in Bray who has a small sales setup, he seemed v nice also. There is what looks like a very good value (7950) Fiesta somewhere in the Western Indus Estate but the guy was vague when I phoned on Saturday, would need an hour to get the car from another location etc. He's had the car advertised for about 3 weeks now. Seemed a bit dodge but the advert on 'CarsIreland' says they've been in business for 35 years (don't suppose I can put the name on this?)

chancer12

Sorry, didn't answer second part of the question, Yes, trust between me and the Seller. I'd like to think that if I'm paying for something that its been sold in good faith and not a bit of a patchwork quilt! So far I've always been lucky, have never bought new so I'm hopeful but at the same time don't have the funds to deal with being sold something that's going to fall apart