Car and customs

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

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

customs are very active all over Ireland at minute last week and again today (member of truckers whatapp group about check points ect

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.