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

bazz26

To be fair, it does stink of shilling to be too.

Esel

bazz26 wrote: »

To be fair, it does stink of shilling to be too.

Our stink detectors must be calibrated a bit differently. With mine, I leave the room when someone has obviously shit their pants. A totally revolting fart, ditto. Unless I am enjoying a gig - then I strike two matches at once, and the stink is gone. Old trick my father taught me.

Esel

Esel wrote: »

I honestly cannot understand how you can reasonably think that a user who registered in 2009 (admittedly still with a low post count) has suddenly decided to become a shill for this service.

Unless, of course, there are sleeper accounts on Boards - which there probably are. :eek:

Still not convinced Junco is one, though...

Mc Love

In terms of people saying its a logistical nightmare to get a car from the UK are talking out of their arsehole and have no experience of it whatsoever.

Let me tell whoever is reading, its the biggest piece of pi55 you are ever likely to do. Search online for the car you want, ring the dealer, ask whatever question you need to ask, if happy, pay a deposit and arrange flights to go over and see it and a ferry if you plan to come the same day. Pay for the car, drive home, bring to evaluated etc and bobs your uncle.

Mc-BigE

Mc Love wrote: »

In terms of people saying its a logistical nightmare to get a car from the UK are talking out of their arsehole and have no experience of it whatsoever.

Let me tell whoever is reading, its the biggest piece of pi55 you are ever likely to do. Search online for the car you want, ring the dealer, ask whatever question you need to ask, if happy, pay a deposit and arrange flights to go over and see it and a ferry if you plan to come the same day. Pay for the car, drive home, bring to evaluated etc and bobs your uncle.

what about :
UK road Tax ( if the car has none)

booking flights/boat just to see one car and pay for it all in the one day so you can make it to the ferry on time. and what if the car is not the car you want, what then? book another flight home last minute?

There's a lot to be said for a service like this, ( and no i don't know Matt, never talked to him , don't care!) it just depends how much it cost, and how secure your hard earned cash is with "Magic Matt" ( sorry i couldn't resist). taking a leap of faith is never good when dealing with anyone in the motor trade IMO.

I'm interested in getting a UK car myself, but i would always check here first because there could always be someone private selling a perfectly good car on carzone etc, who is selling a car for just above what an irish dealer's trade-in sh!t price quoted them.

Mc Love

Mc-BigE wrote: »

what about :
UK road Tax ( if the car has none)

booking flights/boat just to see one car and pay for it all in the one day so you can make it to the ferry on time. and what if the car is not the car you want, what then? book another flight home last minute?

There's a lot to be said for a service like this, ( and no i don't know Matt, never talked to him , don't care!) it just depends how much it cost, and how secure your hard earned cash is with "Magic Matt" ( sorry i couldn't resist). taking a leap of faith is never good when dealing with anyone in the motor trade IMO.

I'm interested in getting a UK car myself, but i would always check here first because there could always be someone private selling a perfectly good car on carzone etc, who is selling a car for just above what an irish dealer's trade-in sh!t price quoted them.

Buy the road tax then or arrange for the garage to pay it for you. They get to claim it back anyway.

You know you make sure its the car for you before you book the flights, perhaps do an AA/RAC vehicle check before you head over for the peace of mind, i did and it was very comprehensive.

320 sterling is a lot for delivery when you could go over and collect it yourself for half that.

the trouble with getting a car here is the price, value for money etc. I was lucky i got a great trade in price for my last car and bought from a dealer here but it was an import they had brought in.

Mc-BigE

a ferry and a flight could cost you close to 320 euro plus time off work if its not a saturday/sunday. anyway there a pros and cons to both.

regarding buying a UK imported car verses an Irish car.

I was recently looking at two 1 series bmws in a bmw dealers, same age, UK car was better spec than the irish car, but the uk car was priced higher than the irish car. dealer smiled at me when i asked for a more of a discount off the uk car.

my question is, should you always haggle more for a uk imported car than an irish car in that situation, as you know when it comes to trade-in, they will give you less for the uk car.

P.S. i didnt buy either car, trade-in offer was too low

bazz26

I'm on my second UK imported car and have yet to get a "lower" resale value on than similar Irish cars. In fact I've been offered good money on them because they are higher spec and in generally are in better condition than similar Irish ones. I think this notion of UK cars being worth less is a strategy used by buyers to lower the price on the car they are looking to buy.

Mc-BigE

agreed, unfortunately a lot of dealers use this against you to lower the trade-in price.

I was asked over the phone by one dealer was my reg number starting with "40" last week when i said i wanted to trade-in my car. when i asked "whats that got to do with anything" he replied "id have to give you less for a uk trade-in"

bazz26

I bet the very same dealers have UK imports on their forecourt fresh off the ferry for sale too and they ain't cheaper.

Mc Love

bazz26 wrote: »

I'm on my second UK imported car and have yet to get a "lower" resale value on than similar Irish cars. In fact I've been offered good money on them because they are higher spec and in generally are in better condition than similar Irish ones. I think this notion of UK cars being worth less is a strategy used by buyers to lower the price on the car they are looking to buy.

Agreed the dealer obviously paid more for mine as it was an import - in fact it was probably the best kept 08 focus zetec in ireland (at least all my friends and family said so)

brownacid

Hi guys, I know it's probably been asked a few times but how accurate is the vrt calculator, looking at importing a new fiesta from the UK. The calculator doesn't seem to have the spec level for the car I want to bring in which is a 1.0 zetec s. When I picked another trike level it gives me a crazy vrt of 4.5k but then offers the chance to recalculate with co2 emissions which brings it down to about 2k. So any real world advice about the accuracy?

bazz26

If it's not on their system then they will need to query it with Revenue who then come back with a figure.

BTW I take it you know that you will be paying VAT on top of VRT on a brand new car.

brownacid

Yes, I but I can claim the vat back on the car from the dealer can I not?

Mc-BigE

brownacid wrote: »

Yes, I but I can claim the vat back on the car from the dealer can I not?

not sure about a private buyer claiming back UK vat, maybe a motor dealer can.

id look for a six month plus car with more than 6000kms to get it VAT free

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vat/leaflets/vat-and-vrt-on-motor-vehicles.html

bazz26

brownacid wrote: »

Yes, I but I can claim the vat back on the car from the dealer can I not?

You would want to be confirming that with the UK dealer first, some of them don't want to deal with that sort of hassle.

metricspaces

Hi folks. I'm buying a car in the UK and wondering what's the most cost effective way to pay for it?

I won't be paying the garage until I arrive in the UK and see the car. I want to go in and out on the same day, so I couldn't wait a few days for the garage to confirm payment has arrived in their account.

I was going to just load the money onto my Euro credit card at pay for it with my card. But I'll be stung twice here in charges - once by my credit card company and then by the garage who charge 2.5% if i use my credit card.

I've seen people recommend http://www.transfermate.com to reduce the currency conversion fee. It looks like I'll need to open Sterling account to get the money transfered into. But this still leaves me with the problem of how do I pay the garage in the UK?

If absolutely necessary I could stay overnight to allow the garage to confirm that funds have transfered. I read that transfermate transfers funds within 2 days, so that doesn't sound like an option.

Ideally I'd like to get a low conversion rate and avoid using my credit card. But avoiding the use of my credit card is my first concern so as to avoid the 2.5% extra that the garage will charge.

MidlandsM

metricspaces wrote: »

Hi folks. I'm buying a car in the UK and wondering what's the most cost effective way to pay for it?

I won't be paying the garage until I arrive in the UK and see the car. I want to go in and out on the same day, so I couldn't wait a few days for the garage to confirm payment has arrived in their account.

I was going to just load the money onto my Euro credit card at pay for it with my card. But I'll be stung twice here in charges - once by my credit card company and then by the garage who charge 2.5% if i use my credit card.

I've seen people recommend http://www.transfermate.com to reduce the currency conversion fee. It looks like I'll need to open Sterling account to get the money transfered into. But this still leaves me with the problem of how do I pay the garage in the UK?

If absolutely necessary I could stay overnight to allow the garage to confirm that funds have transfered. I read that transfermate transfers funds within 2 days, so that doesn't sound like an option.

Ideally I'd like to get a low conversion rate and avoid using my credit card. But avoiding the use of my credit card is my first concern so as to avoid the 2.5% extra that the garage will charge.

Moneycorp will do it for within 1 hr before 3 or 4 pm sameday. Ring them and ask for joe. 01 9015252

MidlandsM

brownacid wrote: »

Yes, I but I can claim the vat back on the car from the dealer can I not?

No, not on private car sale....its treated as margin, and youd need to be vat registered in order to do so anyways.

Esel

MidlandsM wrote: »

No, not on private car sale....its treated as margin, and youd need to be vat registered in order to do so anyways.

I thought it was a given that UK VAT could be reclaimed if obliged to pay VAT here. Is this really not the case?

Marcusm

MidlandsM wrote: »

No, not on private car sale....its treated as margin, and youd need to be vat registered in order to do so anyways.

If the car is a VAT qualifying vehicle then UK VAT can be eliminated or refunded. Equally, Irish VAT would be due on importation

A brand new car would certainly be VAT qualifying unless there was a very high delivery mileage!

MidlandsM

Esel wrote: »

I thought it was a given that UK VAT could be reclaimed if obliged to pay VAT here. Is this really not the case?

Depends on the vendors...they'll specify margin or qualifying.

metricspaces

MidlandsM wrote: »

Moneycorp will do it for within 1 hr before 3 or 4 pm sameday. Ring them and ask for joe. 01 9015252

Thanks. Say I'm going over to the UK on the Tuesday. What do I need to do in advance? Do i need to transfer Euro funds to Moneycorp?

When I'm over in the UK, if all is fine with the car how do I get Moneycorp to transfer the Sterling funds to the garage selling the car? Do I phone up Moneycorp and just provide the account number of the garage? The garage then need to contact their bank (or possibly view online) to verify funds have been transferred?

What happens if i decide not to buy the car? Do i now have Sterling sitting with Moneycorp that I'll need to convert back to Euro to put back into my bank account (i don't have a Sterling account).

Is there any risk with Moneycorp or they provide the exact same level of protection as if I gave my money to an Irish bank to transfer?

PaulKK

Old diesel wrote: »

:eek: Not sure how hed think mentioning the N47 timing chain issue would mean you were winding him up.

Youd think if he knew his BMWs - that hed be well aware of this issue - and be thus understanding that a customer may wish to avoid cars that potentially have the issue.

Weird :eek:

He claimed that his engineer said there was no problems with them and they know because 'they are the trade'.

Red flags for me were:
- Absolutely no estimate of cost provided
- No willingness to discuss details until committing to buy
- Suggesting all money be transferred before purchase even takes place
- For someone who claims to sell such a high number of cars replied personally within minutes to my emails

Old diesel

PaulKK wrote: »

He claimed that his engineer said there was no problems with them and they know because 'they are the trade'.

Red flags for me were:
- Absolutely no estimate of cost provided
- No willingness to discuss details until committing to buy
- Suggesting all money be transferred before purchase even takes place
- For someone who claims to sell such a high number of cars replied personally within minutes to my emails

not good

pocgoc

Hi just a query for pros and cons of a car im thinking of buying
Right i need to find out something before i hand cash over.
Car was first registered in UK September 1985.
I can't find a date of manufacture on the V5.
Is the it 30 years mark next January 2015 or September 2015, in regards with the vintage tax and vrt?

bazz26

I think it goes on the date of original registration.

MidlandsM

metricspaces wrote: »

Thanks. Say I'm going over to the UK on the Tuesday. What do I need to do in advance? Do i need to transfer Euro funds to Moneycorp?

When I'm over in the UK, if all is fine with the car how do I get Moneycorp to transfer the Sterling funds to the garage selling the car? Do I phone up Moneycorp and just provide the account number of the garage? The garage then need to contact their bank (or possibly view online) to verify funds have been transferred?

What happens if i decide not to buy the car? Do i now have Sterling sitting with Moneycorp that I'll need to convert back to Euro to put back into my bank account (i don't have a Sterling account).

Is there any risk with Moneycorp or they provide the exact same level of protection as if I gave my money to an Irish bank to transfer?

No risk using money corp, they do thousands and thousands of transactions every day from individuals to other big corps.
In short, moneycorp have an a/c in london. You wire the cash to their a/c the day prior. Then, when you are in the uk and happy with your purchase, ring joe and instruct him to pay the vendor. You willhave already given joe the vendors bank a/c details prior.
Then bam...they are paid within 1 hour, usually 10 mins or so.

If you dont buy, you transfer the cash back to your a/c.

BnB

Mc Love wrote: »

In terms of people saying its a logistical nightmare to get a car from the UK are talking out of their arsehole and have no experience of it whatsoever.

Let me tell whoever is reading, its the biggest piece of pi55 you are ever likely to do. Search online for the car you want, ring the dealer, ask whatever question you need to ask, if happy, pay a deposit and arrange flights to go over and see it and a ferry if you plan to come the same day. Pay for the car, drive home, bring to evaluated etc and bobs your uncle.

I'd agree with you to a large extent. I have done it 5 or 6 times over the years and there is no way I would pay anyone else to do it. I love it myself. The chance to go off and pick up your new car followed by a couple of hundred miles driving to get to know it.

But then, that's not for everyone. To some people a car is just a machine to get you from A to B and essintially they just want a nice shiney looking one. And if they can pay someone else a few hundred quid to do the leg work for them, they'll do it.

Road-Hog

I'm in process of importing car but don't really have the time to do the fly over and drive back this time, I used a co called NVD in past but they no longer offer their services to private individuals only trade. Can anyone recommend any alternatives to NVD or should I just book the flight to Birmingham (Car in Coventry), and ferry back to Dublin/Rosslaire.........flight to Birmingham with Ryan air for next Tuesday would be €53 (6am departure), ferry from Holly head to Dublin (8pm sailing) about €120, cost of Birmingham to Holyhead = €50, misc cost such as food, trip to Dublin another €50 so in total looking at roughly €273, and this is assuming I will be able to get my insurance transferred and then is there a risk of driving the 160 odd miles from Birmingham to Holyhead that if I were pulled over by the UK cops I'd be in trouble for not having a valid tax or insurance disc displayed?? I think NVD were something like €300 plus VAT last time I used them................can anyone advise me of any other car transporters and their rough costs?