Importing from the UK - definitive guide (Q&A)

bazz26

I'd be hounding them for an update, you are supposed to present the car for VRT appraisal within 7 days of it coming into the country. And they will require the UK registration documentation as part of the VRT process.

Bagenal

bazz26 wrote: »

I'd be hounding them for an update, you are supposed to present the car for VRT appraisal within 7 days of it coming into the country. And they will require the UK registration documentation as part of the VRT process.

I would suggest what I highlighted above is incorrect. You are supposed to make an appointment to have the vehicle inspected within 7 days of it entering the state and complete the process within 30 days.
Most if not all of the required information is here

bazz26

Bagenal wrote: »

I would suggest what I highlighted above is incorrect. You are supposed to make an appointment to have the vehicle inspected within 7 days of it entering the state and complete the process within 30 days.
Most if not all of the required information is here

Yes you are correct, the VRT appraisal appointment has to be made within 7 days of entering the state.

Edgey75

pavelpro wrote: »

Bought car week ago from the dealer up the North, they never show me V5 and promised to send it to home address. So far nothing received. Should i start to worry or this is normal?
As well no NCT cert or whatever is at the north on the car... Could this be that it was never checked or anything else?

did you read through any of this thread before hand?

i would never buy a UK car without having them give me the log book, the vehicle is being exported and the change of address on the dvla log book is null and void as you live outsid eof the UK. DVLA wont send you a log book when you live outside of the uk.
the v5 log book has a tear off strip that the current owner will send off to DVLA saying the car has been exported, they will then give you the rest of the log book.

even the DVLA say this

Buying a used vehicle
• You should not buy a vehicle without a V5C.
• If the vehicle is not registered in the name of the seller, or the seller does not have a V5C, ask why.
• Before you buy a vehicle, check that the seller is entitled to sell it. If you are not sure, you should not buy it. Remember, the V5C is not proof
of ownership.
• If you are buying a vehicle privately, you should expect to be able to see the vehicle at the address shown on the V5C. You should also check that the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) printed on the V5C matches the VIN on the vehicle itself.

the same PDF from DVLA also has this information

What to do if you are selling your vehicle privately to someone that does not have a GB address
You should fill in sections 6 and 10 with the new keeper’s name and address. Both you and the new keeper (buyer) must sign and date the declaration in section 8. Give the whole V5C to the new keeper to aid registration abroad.
You should then send a signed letter to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1AG giving
the vehicle’s registration number, the make and model of the vehicle, the
date of sale or transfer, and the name and address of the new keeper.
Once we know about the change of keeper, you should receive an acknowledgement letter to confirm that you are no longer responsible for
the vehicle. If you do not receive the letter within 4 weeks, please phone
0300 790 6802. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and have access
to a textphone, phone 0300 123 1279 (this number will not respond to
ordinary phones).
4 Telling us about a permanent export
If you are taking your vehicle abroad (including the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands) for more than 12 months, this is considered to be a permanent export. In this situation you must fill in section 11 of the V5C with:
• the date of export, and
• sign and date the declaration.
Note − filling in this section will not produce an export certificate.
The V5C replaces the need for a separate export certificate.
Send section 11 to us at DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BD. Keep sections 1 to 8 of the V5C to take with you when you take the vehicle abroad. You can use these sections to register your vehicle abroad. Get rid of sections 9 and 10 securely.
If you are taking your vehicle to Northern Ireland do not fill in section 11,
as we do not regard this as an export. You must take the whole V5C with you.

I hope you have not got yourself in trouble but having no V5 i would of walked away as this car could be stolen or worse.
Its going to cause you some hassle if they send the log book off to the DVLA.

i bought a land rover from the uk last year, the owner wasnt willing to give the log book to me until i showed him the uk legislation on exporting from the dvla website .gov thing, after that i had no hassle and purchased the landrover and drove it back.

chase the seller up and find out what has gone on.

clogher71

You can download an application form for an export cert yourself for the vehicle from the DVLA website, Fill it ASAP and fax rather than post it as this is quicker, they will send you an export cert for the car so long as all is above above board, down side it can take 5/6 weeks to get , make your vrt appointment online and keep putting the date forward as required, also make sure you re arrange the date a week in advance or the nice nct people will fine you. This option might be quicker than chasing the dealer, he will be in no hurry as car is gone and he is paid for it.

It can be re registered with an export cert without the V5C

corktina

pavelpro wrote: »

Bought car week ago from the dealer up the North, they never show me V5 and promised to send it to home address. So far nothing received. Should i start to worry or this is normal?
As well no NCT cert or whatever is at the north on the car... Could this be that it was never checked or anything else?

you should not have come away without the V5. You have to have this to re-register the car.

pavelpro

Thanx all for advices. the place i bought car from is a large dealer at the north so i hope they not selling some dodgy cars. And when collecting car i was not aware that V5 is missing, they promise me to have all docs ready. I still decide to pick it up as i already travel there.

Last time i called them their excuse was that V5 was not handed to them by seller and they should have it ASAP and send it to me.

I will be calling them today again...

clogher71

pavelpro wrote: »

Thanx all for advices. the place i bought car from is a large dealer at the north so i hope they not selling some dodgy cars. And when collecting car i was not aware that V5 is missing, they promise me to have all docs ready. I still decide to pick it up as i already travel there.

Last time i called them their excuse was that V5 was not handed to them by seller and they should have it ASAP and send it to me.

I will be calling them today again...

Don't worry, I had a situation a little like that earlier this year, I took the situation into my own hands and went the route I said in my above post. All worked out fine in the end, we all make mistakes and hindsight is a great thing.

hof1982

I'm weighing up a couple of options in terms of importing or purchasing here and would appreciate some advice. I'm looking at a 09 accord in both the UK and here. Both are private sales, same specs and the cars come with FSH. The Irish car has about 90k miles while the UK car has 55k. The cost differential is c.€1k more for the UK car by the time inspection, flights, boat etc are factored in.

Anyone any thoughts on whether ye think it is worth the extra cost/hassle of going over to the UK just to avail of the lower mileage?

Cheers hof.

bazz26

I'd say you will make that €1k back come resale time. Once it hits the magical 100k over here then Irish buyers form a stigma and assume it is ready to explode.

hof1982

bazz26 wrote: »

I'd say you will make that €1k back come resale time. Once it hits the magical 100k over here then Irish buyers form a stigma and assume it is ready to explode.

Haha, that's true enough. The differential would equate to roughly 2 years driving for me so I guess it would be worth it alright if I decide to change again in a couple of years. As you said, work would be cut out here trying to sell a car with 130-140k miles.

hof1982

Pity FX rates are so poor at the moment though!

The_Conductor

hof1982 wrote: »

Pity FX rates are so poor at the moment though!

Given monetary tightening in the UK and loosening in the Eurozone- the exchange rate is only going to get worse in the short to medium term. Rates are pretty crap at the moment- which is partially why second hand prices here have taken a jump upwards.

NIMAN

Have you looked at CurrencyFair or TransferWise when changing money, much much better deal.

Johnny_Fontane

Interested in getting a UK car imported. Problem is that finance wise, the bank will only send a cheque to a registered Irish dealer.

Are there any importers that will bring in the car I want who are registered with boi?

hof1982

NIMAN wrote: »

Have you looked at CurrencyFair or TransferWise when changing money, much much better deal.

Yes have been looking at currency fair - saving of a few hundred euro with them.

hof1982

Bit of advice needed in terms of the VRT calculator if anyone can help. The Accord's I am looking at will have satnav and there are 3 different versions of DTEC ES GT NAVI 4Dr on the VRT calculator with no differentiation between them. There are 3 different engine capacity's for the Accord. Is it likely that the versions correspond to the engine CC's as they are listed on the calculator (same sequence)? There is a big differential in terms of the cost - c.€800 and I would like to budget as accurately as possible. I know I could of course budget for the highest and take that as a given. I have tried the motorcheck VRT calculator but this is not giving me a value based on the reg numbers.

Thanks.

olewy

If a UK seller/dealer is missing the SORN section of the VRC document will it matter to the VRT office or affect the VRT processing? The rest of the VRC document is present, only the SORN section is missing (unknown why, the vehicle wasn't registered as off the road during its previous ownerships).

Also, if a car is advertised as 1 owner but is actually a 2 owner car would this affect its resale value much (on average). I'm thinking on the grounds of negotiating a discount below asking price. Tks.

Marcusm

olewy wrote: »

If a UK seller/dealer is missing the SORN section of the VRC document will it matter to the VRT office or affect the VRT processing? The rest of the VRC document is present, only the SORN section is missing (unknown why, the vehicle wasn't registered as off the road during its previous ownerships).

Also, if a car is advertised as 1 owner but is actually a 2 owner car would this affect its resale value much (on average). I'm thinking on the grounds of negotiating a discount below asking price. Tks.

There is no SORN section on a v5c. Do you mean the section which a private seller sends to DVLA when he sells it to a dealer/trader? That is section 9 and I would expect it to be detached from most v5cs for cars imported into Ireland.

olewy

Marcusm wrote: »

There is no SORN section on a v5c. Do you mean the section which a private seller sends to DVLA when he sells it to a dealer/trader? That is section 9 and I would expect it to be detached from most v5cs for cars imported into Ireland.

Ok thanks, the SORN section is how the dealer/seller described it. I will need to clarify with him exactly which section number he was referring to.

Does anyone have a link to an example VRC document including the numbering/titling of each of its sections?

pajodublin

Is it OK to buy from Private sellers in UK?
I read in the OP never to buy privately.
I've seen a few cars in my price range that are private sale.

bazz26

Unless you plan to get on the ferry every time there is an issue with the car and bring it back to the UK dealer then any purchase in the UK should technically be treated as a private sale.

On newer cars however you may still have the balance of the manufacturer's warranty, but the length of the manufacturer's warranty can be unique to the country of origin so you need to verify it is valid in Ireland and also note that the manufacturer's warranty will not cover issues where it has been determined that the previous owner was responsible rather than component premature failure.

Marcusm

bazz26 wrote: »

Unless you plan to get on the ferry every time there is an issue with the car and bring it back to the UK dealer then any purchase in the UK should technically be treated as a private sale.

On newer cars however you may still have the balance of the manufacturer's warranty, but the length of the manufacturer's warranty can be unique to the country of origin so you need to verify it is valid in Ireland and also note that the manufacturer's warranty will not cover issues where it has been determined that the previous owner was responsible rather than component premature failure.

UK main dealers will sell approved used cars with manufacturers warranties.

Most smaller and independent dealers will outsource warranties to companies such as Mapfre and The AA; in those cases the warranty work would not be undertaken by the dealer but an acceptable repair shop. Experience with these warranties is mixed although I recall CiniO having an easy time getting work done under warranty on a car he got at CarGiant; work done local to him I mean.

All taken together, I think it's a bit over simplistic to suggest buying at a UK dealer is the same as private seller warranty wise.

Old diesel

bazz26 wrote: »

Unless you plan to get on the ferry every time there is an issue with the car and bring it back to the UK dealer then any purchase in the UK should technically be treated as a private sale.

On newer cars however you may still have the balance of the manufacturer's warranty, but the length of the manufacturer's warranty can be unique to the country of origin so you need to verify it is valid in Ireland and also note that the manufacturer's warranty will not cover issues where it has been determined that the previous owner was responsible rather than component premature failure.

If its an Approved used car under the manufacturers approved used scheme - is it worth checking to see if they will honour any issues under warranty IF the work is done by a main dealer for that make in Ireland.

Ie - VW approved used in UK - repairs done by VW dealer in Ireland.

Im guessing the answer is no

Btw when I say warranty - I mean the warranty under the approved used scheme rather then the warranty the car came with from new

bazz26

Marcusm wrote: »

UK main dealers will sell approved used cars with manufacturers warranties.

Most smaller and independent dealers will outsource warranties to companies such as Mapfre and The AA; in those cases the warranty work would not be undertaken by the dealer but an acceptable repair shop. Experience with these warranties is mixed although I recall CiniO having an easy time getting work done under warranty on a car he got at CarGiant; work done local to him I mean.

All taken together, I think it's a bit over simplistic to suggest buying at a UK dealer is the same as private seller warranty wise.

Old diesel wrote: »

If its an Approved used car under the manufacturers approved used scheme - is it worth checking to see if they will honour any issues under warranty IF the work is done by a main dealer for that make in Ireland.

Ie - VW approved used in UK - repairs done by VW dealer in Ireland.

Im guessing the answer is no

Btw when I say warranty - I mean the warranty under the approved used scheme rather then the warranty the car came with from new

It totally depends on the terms of the warranty and the manufacturer in question. From personal experience my VW came with a 3 year warranty in the UK while over here you got a 2 year warranty at the time. I had to get my car fixed by a dealer up in NI because VW Ireland would not recognize the 3rd year of the VW warranty as it was exclusive to the UK.

Used assured dealer warranties are the same, they tend to be an agreement between the main dealers and their distributors. Again it depends who is who. BMW Ireland and BMW UK are the same company so any assured used BMW bought from the BMW dealer network over in the UK will be honored over here. Other manufacturers may not have such an agreement in place. So my point is don't automatically take it for granted that it is.

peaceboi

Ye....same for Peugeot UK, warranty covered here by Peugeot Ireland dealers.

recipio

I'm thinking of getting a Subaru Forrester from NI in the new year. There should be a slight drop in price on the '14 registrations ?. I'd prefer a garage but is it in order to haggle with them. ? The mileometer will obviously be in miles - is it a possible to get it converted to Kms. ?

The_Conductor

recipio wrote: »

I'm thinking of getting a Subaru Forrester from NI in the new year. There should be a slight drop in price on the '14 registrations ?. I'd prefer a garage but is it in order to haggle with them. ? The mileometer will obviously be in miles - is it a possible to get it converted to Kms. ?

Normally its a dual odometer- with the KMs in smaller writing around the rim- which is perfectly acceptable. The onboard computer can be set to either miles or KMs.

As for a slight drop in the price on 14 registrations- you may get a minor drop- its not going to be big though. If you could get one with 10-15-20k on the clock- you'd be looking at a nice discount......... (and examples like this do turn up- there is a cohort who like to change their car once a year, come hell or high water).

Note- from NI (or the UK)- you won't necessarily see an increase in supply in Jan- July actually sees a bump........

recipio

The_Conductor wrote: »

Normally its a dual odometer- with the KMs in smaller writing around the rim- which is perfectly acceptable. The onboard computer can be set to either miles or KMs.

As for a slight drop in the price on 14 registrations- you may get a minor drop- its not going to be big though. If you could get one with 10-15-20k on the clock- you'd be looking at a nice discount......... (and examples like this do turn up- there is a cohort who like to change their car once a year, come hell or high water).

Note- from NI (or the UK)- you won't necessarily see an increase in supply in Jan- July actually sees a bump........

Thanks for the prompt reply.
I'm presuming dealers expect a little haggle - I'd take anything I can get. ?
Incidentally if I did this in January will the registration show a 2015 numberplate. ?

aujopimur

The reg. no. will reflect the original UK year of registration.