Bringing US Prius to Ireland - headlights

martin18

Hello there, wasn't sure which subforum to choose, hope this is the right one (please advise if there's a more appropriate one).

I'm moving back to Ireland and considering bringing my 2010 US Prius back as it's a pretty dire time to be trying to sell a car here obviously. The incremental shipping costs are surprisingly low and so far I've heard from one insurance company back home that there will be no additional charge for a left-hand drive car (also surprising).

However, I know there is an issue with the headlights, which need to be adapted. I'm reading that sometimes that's a minor adjustment, and other times the whole headlight assembly needs to be replaced.

Can anyone shed any light in the specific case of a Prius? Any Toyota experts out there that can help?

Much appreciated....

Eric Cartman

headlights, no EU type approval on glass, tyres etc... , probably tail lights , its an LHD car , shipping, VAT possibly , VRT possibly . and even then it lands here and it would be a 8k car tops.

if you got 5000 dollars for it you'd still be better of financially than bringing it here.

martin18

Thanks a million, Mr C, really appreciate the fast response.

Dealers are offering around 3k for it compared to a private market value of 6-7k. As I'm moving back to Ireland permanently I wouldn't be liable for the VAT or VRT on my personal vehicle.

I'd only heard about the headlights being an issue rather than glass, tyres etc., but that's exactly the kind of thing I need to be looking into.

Any further insight appreciated!

Eric Cartman

martin18 wrote: »

Thanks a million, Mr C, really appreciate the fast response.

Dealers are offering around 3k for it compared to a private market value of 6-7k. As I'm moving back to Ireland permanently I wouldn't be liable for the VAT or VRT on my personal vehicle.

I'd only heard about the headlights being an issue rather than glass, tyres etc., but that's exactly the kind of thing I need to be looking into.

Any further insight appreciated!

Everything needs an E mark on it, its a little circle with E1, E2 , E3 etc... written in it, all glass, mirrors, lights, tyres. Also depending on what state youre in the car may not have been sprayed underneath to withstand the wet.

Tbh id put it on craigslist and you might get 5k , would be a lot more worth it. If you wanted to profit coming in to ireland bring a ford F150 lariat with the 3 litre diesel and register it as commercial here, hard to find newer ones and they make silly money.

martin18

Thanks again Mr C, very helpful.

I like the idea of the Ford but have to have owned for more than 6 months. Too late now!

CharlieCroker

You have to bare in mind that the Prius will be pretty much worthless over here. Take what you get for it in a private sale and start afresh here when you land.

Have a look in the bangernomics thread here to see what you can get for under €2000.

kirving

I think you'd be completely insane to bring it home. Drop your price by whatever the shipping + VRT + NOx charge is, and you'll sell it easier.

I just can't see it being the same insurance either, despite what they've said.

On a precious car of mine, all that had to be done was to open a light and flip a little lever to swap from LHD to RHD. To minimise engineering and supply chain cost, I would guess that a similar mechanism would exist on most if not all cars these days.

Finally, the DOT (US) and ECE (EU) beam patterns differ somewhat. The ECE pattern has more beam divergence vertically than the DOT, so you should still pass an NCT as you'll be with the ECE limits.


However, you still may have different parts, software, etc. on a US model than in the EU, so mechanics may not be interested if something out of the ordinary needs work.

bazz26

You may have to get the turn signals changed too, over here they may need to be amber lens or clear lens with an amber bulb. In the US they are red afaik. Other thing to be wary of is the fuel grade in the US versus here which is Octane 95, you could have to get it re-tuned for Octane 95? I'm not certain which of these apply to you if any but definitely worth investigating further.

Also have you calculated VAT, VRT and import duty taxes on importing a car from outside the EU into Ireland? It could work out quite expensive making it uneconomical to do so. The freight company charges will not include VAT and VRT as they are taxes you have to pay to put the car on Irish plates once landed.

Personally I'd just take the hit on it and sell for whatever you can before you move back as it's not worth the hassle or expense. Plus being LHD it can be a PITA to overtake here or use paying car parks, drive thrus, etc.

CiniO

Everyone seems to discourage OP from bringing his car back to Ireland.

And I'm going to be opposite.
AFAIR american flat headlights are accepted for NCT according to NCT manual (unless something changed recently).
Even EU-continatal lights are accepted with beam stickers on them for NCT.
Indicator lights - wouldn't it be enough to fit amber/orange bulbs ?
Tyres - possibly OP already have E mark on them.


Surely when OP changes residence from US to Ireland, then he won't be due VRT, VAT, customs duty, etc...



I moved to Poland over a year ago, and took 3 cars with me from Ireland. I was getting the same response of from friends, on internet forums, etc saying it's pointless and better to sell cars before I go, and buy locally. I didn't listen and really happy with the decision. It's much better to have your own car which you know and had for a while and know it's pros and cons (especially if it's a good car).


And additionally for those saying that LHD prius will be worth very little in Ireland - it's purely not true. Good LHD cars in Ireland can make more money on private sale than RHD equivalents due to interest from the Continent.

Eric Cartman

CiniO wrote: »

Everyone seems to discourage OP from bringing his car back to Ireland.

And I'm going to be opposite.
AFAIR american flat headlights are accepted for NCT according to NCT manual (unless something changed recently).
Even EU-continatal lights are accepted with beam stickers on them for NCT.
Indicator lights - wouldn't it be enough to fit amber/orange bulbs ?
Tyres - possibly OP already have E mark on them.


Surely when OP changes residence from US to Ireland, then he won't be due VRT, VAT, customs duty, etc...


I moved to Poland over a year ago, and took 3 cars with me from Ireland. I was getting the same response of from friends, on internet forums, etc saying it's pointless and better to sell cars before I go, and buy locally. I didn't listen and really happy with the decision. It's much better to have your own car which you know and had for a while and know it's pros and cons (especially if it's a good car).


And additionally for those saying that LHD prius will be worth very little in Ireland - it's purely not true. Good LHD cars in Ireland can make more money on private sale than RHD equivalents due to interest from the Continent.

EU to EU is a lot different. Headlights are a lot more complex assuming the thing has xenons, theres also other things to consider like some remote / keyless fobs are not licence free here but would be in the US. The glass definitely won't be E marked, tyres might be, but thats a 50/50 scenario.

the CAT and map may also be different for our higher RON fuel. No KM gauges either which I don't believe the km symbol is part of the US VFD in those. The radio also won't get the station names with RDS, satnav will require different maps.

I personally can see how it would be worth it if it was something special but a decade old Prius is not rare here in the slightest.

Charles Babbage

bazz26 wrote: »

You may have to get the turn signals changed too, over here they may need to be amber lens or clear lens with an amber bulb. In the US they are red afaik. Other thing to be wary of is the fuel grade in the US versus here which is Octane 95, you could have to get it re-tuned for Octane 95? I'm not certain which of these apply to you if any but definitely worth investigating further.

Also have you calculated VAT, VRT and import duty taxes on importing a car from outside the EU into Ireland? It could work out quite expensive making it uneconomical to do so. The freight company charges will not include VAT and VRT as they are taxes you have to pay to put the car on Irish plates once landed.

Personally I'd just take the hit on it and sell for whatever you can before you move back as it's not worth the hassle or expense. Plus being LHD it can be a PITA to overtake here or use paying car parks, drive thrus, etc.

The OP said he was moving, so why are people talking about VRT and VAT?


I actually saw a AMerican car with Irish plates, and so successfully imported, with red indicators. I can't say that I agreed with that if it was allowed.

H.E. Pennypacker

OP, for your info, here's a link to the National Car Test from 2018. There's been some minor changes since then but most of it is relevant:

https://www.ncts.ie/media/1026/nct_manual_nov_2018.pdf

There's been a few references to E marked glass in previous posts but there's no reference to that in the linked NCTS manual. Perhaps the previous posters can link to their sources of information. What is required is the fitment of safety glass. The link above shows failing glass markings but its worth noting the requirement to prove the fitment of safety glass or provision of certification if the glass isn't marked as safety glass. To the best of my knowledge, that means the fitment of a laminated windscreen and toughened glass to other windows.

Ubbquittious

Bring it over for the craic and see how you get on if you can afford to take the gamble. There are US imported cars for sale on Donedeal so it is possible and I suspect it is not the nightmare ppl are letting on

You will always get fearmongerers on boards saying don't do this, don't do that, sit on your hole and call the local Dealer and buy a new Skoda on PCP just like everyone else but your life will get very boring if you pay too much heed to them.

I have always driven ""imported"" cars, and the 1 car I bought in Ireland caused me the world of trouble. I think go for it. There might be a bit of hoop jumping to be done but at the end you'll be driving something here that nobody else has. The much coveted "Only one in Ireland" as they say:cool: If they complain about the tyres you can always throw the old ones back on after the NCT

Del2005

Ubbquittious wrote: »

Bring it over for the craic and see how you get on if you can afford to take the gamble. There are US imported cars for sale on Donedeal so it is possible and I suspect it is not the nightmare ppl are letting on

You will always get fearmongerers on boards saying don't do this, don't do that, sit on your hole and call the local Dealer and buy a new Skoda on PCP just like everyone else but your life will get very boring if you pay too much heed to them.

I have always driven ""imported"" cars, and the 1 car I bought in Ireland caused me the world of trouble. I think go for it. There might be a bit of hoop jumping to be done but at the end you'll be driving something here that nobody else has. The much coveted "Only one in Ireland" as they say:cool: If they complain about the tyres you can always throw the old ones back on after the NCT

Every car in Ireland is imported, its just that some are officially imported by the distributor and others privately. There is plenty of people who bought lemons in from other countries just like people buy lemons from Irish sellers.

You see plenty of 10 year old JDM cars floating around but I can't see any market for a 10 years old LHD American market Prius, can it even be registered in another EU country as they do have a car manufacturing industry and have restrictions on what can be registered.

Driving on non E marked tyres will mean that you will have trouble with any insurance claims and a Garda if they check your car.

OP what is the cost of shipping the car? Because if you can get $3k or more in the US for the car and add the cost of shipping, along with the cost of getting it out of Dublin port, you can get a very good car here as soon as you get off the plane. You will be waiting a few weeks at least for the car to be shipped over what are you going to drive while you wait for the car to arrive? Also who knows what will happen with sea freight as containers are getting stuck in ports so you could be waiting months for a container.

kirving

Why wouldn't glass or tyres be certified for both? When you're mass producing any part like that, the sensible thing to do is certify your product for as many regions as possible, since most technical specifications are largely similar.

All glass on my car is certified for EU, China and USA, and the tyres have EU and US certification codes, amongst others.

RF equipment might be problematic should you need a replacement key however.

CiniO

I really don't know where all this scaremongering is coming from...

Private imports from US/Canada are popular in Europe on the Continent.
I see plenty of American imported cars on the roads in Poland nearly everyday. Surely they all didn't have to change all windows/windscreen etc...
Same as Japanese imports are common on Irish roads - and there doesn't seem to be such problems with them as mentioned here.

Only reason for American imported cars being rare in Ireland is fact that they are LHD, same as Japanese imported cars being rare on the Continent due to them being RHD.

zilog_jones

I see several US imports around Cork regularly, mundane stuff too like a Toyota Highlander. I don't think it would be a problem except maybe the tyres if they don't have E marks.

One thing to consider is Toyota Ireland have a Hybrid Battery Extended Care Programme which will extend the battery warranty up to 15 years (with annual checks) - but this is only for Toyota hybrids originally sold in Ireland and the UK, so yours will not be eligible. They may also claim compatibility issues with their diagnostics equipment if you do have trouble with the car, but I don't know the realities of this.

US spec Prius is designed to run on the equivalent of about 90-91 RON petrol, but running it on higher octane petrol should not be a problem at all. All the mechanical stuff and bodywork should be more or less the same except LHD-specific things. They're all built in the same factory in Japan.

I'd also strongly recommend getting the EGR valve and cooler cleaned out or replaced if not already done, as blockages can lead to head gasket failure and this seems more likely to occur in the US than here (possibly because of different fuel used).

selectamatic

CiniO wrote: »

I really don't know where all this scaremongering is coming from...

.

Pointing out it's a pointless exercise isn't scaremongering to be fair. Getting bogged down in E marked nonsense might be but they're valid points.

I thought loads of people encouraged a few regular posters on here to bring cars with them from Ireland when they were returning to their home countries on the continent as it actually made monetary sense.

I'm nearly certain I commented on your threads cini0 or maybe it was bear1s but the point stands bringing cars from Ireland to Poland etc. makes sense in many cases.

Bringing a prius from the US to Ireland doesn't make sense at all.

CiniO

selectamatic wrote: »

Pointing out it's a pointless exercise isn't scaremongering to be fair. Getting bogged down in E marked nonsense might be but they're valid points.

I thought loads of people encouraged a few regular posters on here to bring cars with them from Ireland when they were returning to their home countries on the continent as it actually made monetary sense.

I'm nearly certain I commented on your threads cini0 or maybe it was bear1s but the point stands bringing cars from Ireland to Poland etc. makes sense in many cases.

Bringing a prius from the US to Ireland doesn't make sense at all.

Well if we're talking about financial sense, then in majority of cases bringing car from Ireland to Poland or other EU countries doesn't make sense.
Same as very likely bringing 10 year old Prius from US to Ireland doesn't make sense.

But financial side of things is not the only factor, and while financially something might not have sense, it might have sense in other ways (ie. bringing car with you when moving countries, just because you want to keep it).

selectamatic

CiniO wrote: »

Well if we're talking about financial sense, then in majority of cases bringing car from Ireland to Poland or other EU countries doesn't make sense.
Same as very likely bringing 10 year old Prius from US to Ireland doesn't make sense.

But financial side of things is not the only factor, and while financially something might not have sense, it might have sense in other ways (ie. bringing car with you when moving countries, just because you want to keep it).

That's fair enough. And I'd well believe many of the cars exported don't make full sense from a desirability or monetary perspective.

For me unless sentimentality comes into it no one should be heading east with anything less than the finest luxobarge donedeal has to offer or at least something that'll be in high demand on the continent yet cheap to buy here.

And likewise coming from the US with something that'd be highly desirable here in Ireland would make a great deal of sense.

But ya I appreciate if making a big move ensuring things make sense from a monetary persepective isn't always seen as important or necessary.

CiniO

selectamatic wrote: »

That's fair enough. And I'd well believe many of the cars exported don't make full sense from a desirability or monetary perspective.

For me unless sentimentality comes into it no one should be heading east with anything less than the finest luxobarge donedeal has to offer or at least something that'll be in high demand on the continent yet cheap to buy here.

And likewise coming from the US with something that'd be highly desirable here in Ireland would make a great deal of sense.

But ya I appreciate if making a big move ensuring things make sense from a monetary persepective isn't always seen as important or necessary.

Well currently you'll need about €7500 to buy a reasonable 2010 Prius privately on the Continent (LHD)
You could probably buy one for €5000 in Ireland (RHD).

If OP is saying that he can get only $3000 (€2700), then even with all costs he's going to incur, it's still not going to cost him more than buying locally in Ireland.

Additionally, if he decides to sell it, he can easily ask for €6000 for it in Ireland, and it will very likely go considering similar one (LHD) on the Continent is €7500.


Either way surely it's not a way to make money or bargain of his life, but he's not going to be out of pocket either.

Del2005

CiniO wrote: »

Well currently you'll need about €7500 to buy a reasonable 2010 Prius privately on the Continent (LHD)
You could probably buy one for €5000 in Ireland (RHD).

If OP is saying that he can get only $3000 (€2700), then even with all costs he's going to incur, it's still not going to cost him more than buying locally in Ireland.

Additionally, if he decides to sell it, he can easily ask for €6000 for it in Ireland, and it will very likely go considering similar one (LHD) on the Continent is €7500.


Either way surely it's not a way to make money or bargain of his life, but he's not going to be out of pocket either.

If the OP sold the car in the US and added the money for getting it shipped to Ireland and collected from the port they wouldn't be far off €5k, they were getting $3k from a dealer selling private would get them more, which will get them an Irish car as soon as they land instead of having to wait several weeks for the car from the USA.

If the OP brings the car over they are stuck with it for a year, that's a long time to deal with the inconvenience of driving a LHD car in a RHD country, and then they'll have to find a person in Ireland who wants a LHD 11 year old US spec Prius.

Mongfinder General

Is there a ship that sails directly from the U.S. to Ireland?

un5byh7sqpd2x0

Mongfinder General wrote: »

Is there a ship that sails directly from the U.S. to Ireland?

Does there need to be?

Mongfinder General

Bishop Tiny Teeth wrote: »

Does there need to be?

Well I'd imagine the cost of shipping is lower if it's delivered here directly.

CiniO

LIGHTNING wrote: »

You wont get 6k for a 10 year old LHD Prius, not a hope. You could get a RHD one for that price

I think you could.
Many LHD cars in Ireland can actually go for more than RHD, purely due to interest from Continent where prices are even higher.

Marcusm

Mongfinder General wrote: »

Well I'd imagine the cost of shipping is lower if it's delivered here directly.

Not necessarily. Generally cheaper if it’s containerised and then loaded on cheapest route to Euro port whee there is easy interchange for Ireland. Will often go to Rotterdam, a U.K. port or similar before being transhipped to Ireland on another vessel’s regular route.

JustARandomGuy

Eric Cartman wrote: »

headlights, no EU type approval on glass, tyres etc... , probably tail lights , its an LHD car , shipping, VAT possibly , VRT possibly . and even then it lands here and it would be a 8k car tops.

if you got 5000 dollars for it you'd still be better of financially than bringing it here.

US Spec cars usually have EU approval, however the beam has to be adjusted to European standards. Usually it's just easier to replace the headlights rather than adjust them.

Taillights are identical as the EU version, however they don't come with rear fog lights (not required) so new wiring and possibly coding will be required.

If he owned the car for longer than 6 months, he's not liable to VAT or VRT.

Shipping cost port to port will be between $1000-1600 depending on where it's shipped from.

zilog_jones

JustARandomGuy wrote: »

Taillights are identical as the EU version, however they don't come with rear fog lights (not required) so new wiring and possibly coding will be required.

I bet no one in Ireland has ever been done for not having rear fog lights. The large majority of Japanese imports do not have them fitted here. They're not required for the NCT (they're only tested "if fitted"). As to whether they're a useful thing is up to you, but they are not "required".

Del2005

zilog_jones wrote: »

I bet no one in Ireland has ever been done for not having rear fog lights. The large majority of Japanese imports do not have them fitted here. They're not required for the NCT (they're only tested "if fitted"). As to whether they're a useful thing is up to you, but they are not "required".

As you said they aren't required if not originally fitted in Ireland, the NCT can only test what's legally required, unlike the UK where they are required and you often see terrible installations.

Henry Ford III

Wouldn't bother OP.

Sell it off privately in the US. Discount it if needs be.

Buy something nice here.

LHD is a pain in Ireland.

martin18

Thought I'd update given the time you all took to kindly give me your opinions. I decided to sell the Prius in the end - put it on Craigslist for $5,500 and there was a complete feeding frenzy so I ended up getting $1k more than that, so I was pretty happy! I think I'll be looking for a Prius of similar vintage now I'm back in Ireland! A little confused as to why the Prius is not more popular in Ireland given our fuel prices, though....

zilog_jones

martin18 wrote: »

A little confused as to why the Prius is not more popular in Ireland given our fuel prices, though....

It's expensive to buy new here, and our government (wrongly IMO) favoured diesel cars for the past 12 years or so, and diesel fuel remains cheaper for no reason other than tax. Compared to the market in the US it is mainly competing with diesels of similar efficiency, not big petrol V6's.

You'd probably have better luck finding a used Prius in the UK or Japan.

hoodie6029

Just don't go for a gen 2 prius, the catalytic converters are being stolen off them everywhere. Mine was done a few weeks ago.

Plenty of Prius on Donedeal, just be wary of 2009 and 2010 models as a lot of these are ex-taxis. Taxis can't be older than 10 years old here.

On the popularity front, they were expensive cars when new and most people took a Passat or 3 series at similiar money as they were better known. Also Top Gear did an awful number on them years ago by flooring around the test track all day and then saying 'Look, it's not fuel efficient.'

biko

Thanks for the update OP.
Have a look around Electric and Hybrids forum for assistance in choosing a Prius.