Your car breaks down and take a week to get it fixed, you get lend of English reg car for that term from friend, how does this go if stopped by customs officals
Not well.
Can you explain ...... so if car was in for repair in northern Ireland garage and you got courtesy car then is that the same, its only for week or two
It doesn't matter. You are not allowed to drive a foreign registered car on an Irish licence. It's up to you whether you want to take the chance.
Is that definite?? Before Brexit I lived and worked in the UK for a while, as it was a short term thing <1 year I didn't change my licence and was told I had 11 months grace to exchange. I was stopped a few times both here and there and never a problem in an English vehicle.
This is untrue. You have 30 days to register a foreign vehicle, it can be driven here for the 30 days, and you can even get your own Irish insurance. To the OP, Garda have no real interest in UK registered cars. I’ve been waved through many checkpoints etc. I have never seen a customs checkpoint but it’s likely they might have a different view on it.
As stated, the Gardai are not bothered in general, unless you had some other offence. The Customs could have seized your car.
You have some grace to register a car, but that would imply that you had bought it and were going to register it. Using someone else's car would not fall under that condition. I think cross-border journeys might be in a different category, so a loaner car from a NI garage might escape if you just drove home and drove back. Unlikely they would give you a car though and risk it being seized.
No, but this most certainly is untrue and would compound the original offence by adding fraud to the mix!
Well yeah, its not exactly ‘grace’. Its covered in the legislation. The poster I responded to posted a blanket statement that you can’t drive a UK registered car on an Irish license which is completely false. But I agree that using someone else’s car that won’t be registered here is definitely a grey area.
Idiot. What I said is 100% true. When did I suggest that OP should commit fraud?🤣
I was responding to a blanket statement that its illegal to drive a UK registered car on an Irish license.
The issue is nothing to do with what licence you have. Section 139 (3) of the Finance Act 1992 makes it an offence to be in possession, by a resident, of a vehicle not registered in the State
https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1992/act/9/section/139/enacted/en/html#sec139 So if you were unfortunate enough to meet into Customs or Garda in a pissy mood they are entitled to detain the car. With regards to VRT; you must make an appointment within 7 days of bringing the car into the State & it must be registered within 30 days.
https://www.revenue.ie/en/vrt/vehicle-registration-tax/vrt-and-registration.aspx
Im talking here about maybe getting a lend of a car from the garage until ours is fixed, it's only for a week, we be leaving it back when ours is fixed
A foreign-registered car which enters the State on a temporary exemption from registration (including VRT, obviously) may not be hired or lent to an Irish resident. A car which is acquired abroad by an Irish resident and brought here to be registered benefits from a 30 day grace period.
Two completely different things, if the former is detected and enforced, the car is seized in theory pending release and deportation by a non-resident.
Well you have 7 days grace here It seems so if stopped all should be ok, they cant impound the car If you say you just bought it and they then give you 7 days to get that appointment and then just return it
IIt's not just the impound but isnt there a fine too?
How can they prove how you had the car anyway
Seems you’ve made up your mind already. I’ve owned and driven UK cars for months on end here. I’m sure you’ll be fine for a week.
I have not really and just putting it out there for others here that know alot than me
Drive on…ffs
Is this a new rule? Or something you have made up?
There is no issue driving a UK car with an Irish license. If you are driving it in Ireland, you need to be ordinarily resident in the UK and driving it here for a max of 12 months unless studying in an Irish university.
In addition, gardai have zero interest once you are insured.
As you are not a UK resident, customs could stop you and ask for details. They tend to be reasonable people.
I work with someone who lives locally and has been driving a UK reg for as many years as I've been working with them.
They don't seem willing or able to rereg.
Obviously not legal or even moral but they don't seem concerned.
A large number of ROI residents in border counties are driving round in NI/UK regs for years, and don't seem to have been caught.
You'll be grand.
Thing is customs everywhere now in our area
Does it really matter if they catch you? Surely its the garage owners problem not yours
Edit: First you mention a friend, then a garage. Which one is it?
Which is why they probably won't lend a car. But if they do lend a car you are supposed to bring it back, otherwise they can keep your car.
However, it would be an especially officious customs person that would seize a car from someone who owned a compliant car that was in the garage.
Well it does if the car is lifted or I'm fined
That’s certainly untrue. I broke down in Belfast and hired a car there. Brought it back South for a week before returning it. I didn’t have any problems nor did I expect any.
Aye I've had a loan of my dad's northern reg car and driven it for a week or so down here before when I've been stuck. Went through Garda checkpoint in it too and they had no issue
Guards don't care, sure they see Northern regs all the time.
They genuinely can’t be bothered with UK reg cars. Theres no real checks they can even do on them. And VRT isn’t a a Garda issue its a Revenue issue
well, there’s a Peugeot SUV type car in my estate at least 6 months now on UK plates and it’s caused the owner little issue it appears.
I just don’t see anyone giving you an ounce of trouble over this OP while I suppose you could run into a customs checkpoint I mean when’s the last time you did and how like are you to in a week driving it- and even if you DO I don’t really imagine they’ll care a whole lot.
I personally have never driven through a customs checkpoint.
customs are very active all over Ireland at minute last week and again today (member of truckers whatapp group about check points ect
Unless you piss them off
https://x.com/GardaTraffic/status/1903440998643950032
Yes, it's 100% correct. An Irish resident cannot drive a foreign registered vehicle here. Car could be seized from you at the side of the road.
