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

nice_guy80

I have spotted a beautiful Volvo s40 2.0 diesel R-design 2011 for sale in the UK

any thoughts on those 2.0 litre volvos?

The_Conductor

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I have spotted a beautiful Volvo s40 2.0 diesel R-design 2011 for sale in the UK

any thoughts on those 2.0 litre volvos?

Go for it- lovely car to drive, economical, powerful and something that won't let you down.

I'm a bit biased (seeing as I have one)- but it really is probably the nicest car I've ever had.

I've the full lux pack, with full leather interior in charcoal grey/black- and the winter pack. If you've young children- avoid any models that don't have the leather interior

nice_guy80

The_Conductor wrote: »

Go for it- lovely car to drive, economical, powerful and something that won't let you down.

I'm a bit biased (seeing as I have one)- but it really is probably the nicest car I've ever had.

I've the full lux pack, with full leather interior in charcoal grey/black- and the winter pack. If you've young children- avoid any models that don't have the leather interior

the cabin is a bit boring though


Also, spotted some lovely S60 2.0 litres with the brown leather.

The_Conductor

nice_guy80 wrote: »

the cabin is a bit boring though


Also, spotted some lovely S60 2.0 litres with the brown leather.

Boring isn't necessarily bad.....
Also- the tan leather- shows up dirt a hell of a lot quicker than the charcoal/black combo...... If you have young children (as I do)- its a consideration.

nice_guy80

The_Conductor wrote: »

Boring isn't necessarily bad.....
Also- the tan leather- shows up dirt a hell of a lot quicker than the charcoal/black combo...... If you have young children (as I do)- its a consideration.

I meant red leather

The_Conductor

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I meant red leather

Avoid, avoid, avoid........
Red leather screams 'brothel' to me :pac::pac:

NIMAN

NiceGuy

Would you PM me your link to the S40?

I very nearly got a flight to the UK to buy a 2012 S40 R-Design a month ago, decided against it as I started to look at S60s and prefer these. I was put off the S40 by its design, its basically an 04 design and the shape is starting to look dated.

the 12 S40 was a very good deal too, in case you might be interested?

nice_guy80

The_Conductor wrote: »

Avoid, avoid, avoid........
Red leather screams 'brothel' to me :pac::pac:

really?

nice_guy80

spotted this volvo s60 last night...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201407215976536/sort/default/usedcars/postcode/g403re/radius/1500/model/s60/maximum-age/up_to_2_years_old/page/1/fuel-type/diesel/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/make/volvo?logcode=p
whats the catch?

The_Conductor

nice_guy80 wrote: »

spotted this volvo s60 last night...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201407215976536/sort/default/usedcars/postcode/g403re/radius/1500/model/s60/maximum-age/up_to_2_years_old/page/1/fuel-type/diesel/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/make/volvo?logcode=p
whats the catch?

Get it checked out- but looking at the prices- while its on the lower side of what I'd expect- its still ball-park for a 2 year old, though the mileage is a bit lower than I'd expect.

Could be a lovely car- but you'd need to get it checked out.

nice_guy80

The_Conductor wrote: »

Get it checked out- but looking at the prices- while its on the lower side of what I'd expect- its still ball-park for a 2 year old, though the mileage is a bit lower than I'd expect.

Could be a lovely car- but you'd need to get it checked out.

it mentions it was crashed

The_Conductor

nice_guy80 wrote: »

it mentions it was crashed

It mentions 'Pre-repair pictures available on request'.........
I hadn't noticed it saying it was crashed- though that certainly explains the price.

You'd only have a very basic warranty- and would need to get this checked out- personally, I wouldn't consider it- but it could be a good buy.

peaceboi

61 reg is late 2011 registration ye? Not 2012, correct me if wrong. And crash repaired cars would be Category D which would be mentioned in the V5 normally.

b.gud

peaceboi wrote: »

61 reg is late 2011 registration ye? Not 2012, correct me if wrong. And crash repaired cars would be Category D which would be mentioned in the V5 normally.

61 can be late 2011 or early 2012.
A car with a 11 reg in the UK would have been registered between March 1st and the last day of August 2011. A car with a 61 reg would have been registered between 1st of September 2011 and the last day of February 2012

nice_guy80

Whats the best way to pay for a car in the UK?

peaceboi

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Whats the best way to pay for a car in the UK?

I paid the dealer using Sterling draft from Aib.

nice_guy80

peaceboi wrote: »

I paid the dealer using Sterling draft from Aib.

how much did they charge?
did you get an inter bank rate?

The_Conductor

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Whats the best way to pay for a car in the UK?

EFT.

lillen

I've been looking for cars in Ireland and UK, and I don't understand why people bother importing from the UK - doesn't the cost of VRT and what not make the price even out?
Is it just a matter of a wider range of cars that make people import from UK?

The_Conductor

lillen wrote: »

Is it just a matter of a wider range of cars that make people import from UK?

And some specs/pack combinations that aren't offered over here.
But yes- a lot of the price differential has vanished, esp. when VRT is added into the equation.

Mc Love

But there is a still a bargain to be had. The MOT is certainly a stricter than the NCT so you would be getting a better looked after car

copacetic

The_Conductor wrote: »

And some specs/pack combinations that aren't offered over here.
But yes- a lot of the price differential has vanished, esp. when VRT is added into the equation.

The current exchange rate is the key issue, savings of 3-5k on a 20k car have dissapeared into the rates.

Having said that, importing a car 20k plus will still likely get you a better car for a slightly better price in uk.

peaceboi

nice_guy80 wrote: »

how much did they charge?
did you get an inter bank rate?

I can't remember the exact charges, wasn't too bad, it was in Mar 2012. The exchange rates were much better than now. So worked out a good deal for a nearly new car.

billy few mates

Apologies for asking, I know the answer is probably in here on one of the +240 pages but I can't scroll through all of them on this little screen in case I miss something that might have changed. But could somebody please advise in a few short points on things to ensure when you buy a car in the UK or NI?
I bought one myself a few years back but I can't remember what I did at the time.
I read somewhere that you MUST obtain the logbook when you get the car even though the seller will try to retain it to post to DVLA, so things like this or any other advice regarding best ways to pay etc would be great.
My son is thinking about heading North to buy a car and I don't want to see him getting caught out.

Thanks.

Harcrid

The first post has all the info you will need.

billy few mates

Thanks, I wasn't sure if it was still current as it's over ten years old.
Nothing about making sure the dealer gives you the log book to take with you, I thought I read somewhere that the DVLA won't send the paperwork to an address outside the UK...?

Esel

You have to get the full VLC. It states on the DVLA website that the seller should write to them stating that the vehicle has been sold for export.

olewy

I have a car on hold at a well established/recognised dealer in the UK & I just ran an AA Car Data Check online which came back with the following;

"Data currently held on the National Mileage Register (NMR) indicates that there may be a mileage discrepancy on this vehicle."

Alert Details
National Mileage Register
Data currently held on the National Mileage Register (NMR) indicates that there may be a mileage discrepancy on this vehicle.
Mileages as recorded by the National Mileage Register

Date recorded Recorded by Mileage reading Total
20-Jan-2011 Trade Association 28,222 28,222
28-Feb-2011 Trade Association 16,921 16,921
29-May-2014 DVLA 55,000 55,000

So naturally it has set off alarm bells with me & I'm holding off placing a deposit on the car until I look into it further & can find some kind of an explanation as to why a lower mileage of ~12k miles was recorded 1 month after the previous record.

I got the car's MOT history details from http://motinfo.direct.gov.uk/internet/servlet/ECHIDDispatcher and the details there match what the MOT details that the dealer also gave me over the phone & via scanned/emailed copy. But none of the MOT history matches the dates or mileage recorded by NMR above (first MOT recorded 22/11/2012 at approx 42,000 miles).

The car has 3 service history stamps with dates, mileage etc recorded on each stamp;
Service Stamp 1
Date; 3/4/2011
Mileage; 18,728 miles

Service Stamp 2
Date; 13/9/12
Mileage; 39,221 miles

Service Stamp 3
Date; 17/9/2013
Mileage; 50,254

I've phoned the garages to verify the same details & the work carried out. Again none of those dates & mileage readings match the NMR-recorded details above though. Per above there is one service stamp for 2011 (3rd April 2011) at 18,728 miles. I'm assuming that that service stamp's details are correct (the garage sounded legit & are registered etc). So the emphasis is still on the first two NMR records (particularly the 2nd one).
20-Jan-2011 Trade Association 28,222 28,222
28-Feb-2011 Trade Association 16,921 16,921

The dealer is a main dealer for a premium brand car & during the time of the discrepancy the car was owned by a leasing company, so I'm not suspecting anything from the dealer's side (who in fairness at least sound genuine & have been genuine so far). I've contacted the leasing company & they've confirmed the dates of ownership that are on the records, number of clients it was leased to (1) etc but as they can't give their client's name of who it was leased to contacting the actual end user of the car at the time of the discrepancy is impossible.

Per the AA helpline, 'Trade Association' would tend to signify a car garage (beit a dealer, repairer etc remains to be seen).

Per AA's advice I'm going to email a soft copy of the car's service history & MOT documents to mileage@hpi.co.uk who will cross reference the details with the NMR details to try to see if the car is likely to have been clocked or anything. The dealer has agreed to email me these records. Watch this space.

According to the dealer the full V5C document is present with the exception of section 9 which was most likely retained by the previous owner before he sold it to the current dealer. This would be normal practice per page 8 of this document.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@motor/documents/digitalasset/dg_065264.pdf

I've phoned the DVLA to confirm if the car was every SORN'd (declared off the road) and they don't keep or give historical SORN records, only current status.

I think the likelihood is that either;
a) the car was clocked at least once in 2011 between 20/1/11 and 28/2/11, assuming the date entries are correct (hope it's not clocked as I like the car & I've agreed in principal on a competitive price).
b) and/or the car was serviced or damage repaired by a garage/repairer in 2011 AND the details were not logged in the service book (this I could understand) AND a date and/or mileage typo was made (this is a lot less likely as if the date entry of 20/1/11 is correct then it would mean a double typo in the mileage record (28,xxx).

Any advice here or possible explanations for the NMR mileage discrepancies from experience? The chances of multiple typos in the details uploaded to NMR are very low (the mileage, dates etc would each have to be incorrect with a potential for 3 typos..very unlikely).

corktina

if you buy the car you will have trouble re-selling it with a question mark over the mileage. AFAIK it is now illegal to sell a clocked car.

olewy

corktina wrote: »

if you buy the car you will have trouble re-selling it with a question mark over the mileage. AFAIK it is now illegal to sell a clocked car.

That was my thinking also. Even if it is a genuine data entry mistake there's no way to amend it now so any savings I make in buying it will be lost when I go to sell it on in future. Shame. The dealer really should have ran their own check before buying it off the previous seller.

This helps to explain why the car hasn't sold yet (if it's too good to be true, it probably is). I'm walking away from this one. HPI are currently looking into the discrepency but all they can do is the same checks as I can (i.e. phone the dealers that are on record & cross reference details).