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

Explosive_Cornflake

Lorne Malvo wrote: »

Hi, I am moving to England soon. I was thinking of buying a car in the North and driving it over. After the sale, will the DVLA post the V5C to my address in the south and, using the new V5C, will I be able to go back and tax it in the North (with a republic address on the V5C) prior to crossing on the ferry, just to keep thing simple when I arrive in Britain.

I'm not sure what your question is.
The DVLA are easy to deal with though compared to revenue. I'd give them a ring. You legally won't be allowed to own a UK car though whilst you are living in the Republic, assuming you are Irish/citizen of Ireland.
How much of a time frame is there from buying the car in NI to moving to England? If it were me, I'd put my new address in England on the V5C and then pay the tax when the DVLA have processed it. I think it took about a week when I did it 5 months ago.

i.e. buy a NI car,
Drive to the republic,
Pick up belongings,
Drive to Ferry,
Receive updated v5c from DVLA at new address.

You won't be allowed to buy the car and have it registered in IRL without doing a permenant export on the v5c, and when you do this you'd need to pay VRT. You can get the VRT back when you move, minus €500 fee + 2 inspections at the NCT centre (Import and export) at €35 a pop.

Lorne Malvo

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

I'm not sure what your question is.
The DVLA are easy to deal with though compared to revenue. I'd give them a ring. You legally won't be allowed to own a UK car though whilst you are living in the Republic, assuming you are Irish/citizen of Ireland.
How much of a time frame is there from buying the car in NI to moving to England? If it were me, I'd put my new address in England on the V5C and then pay the tax when the DVLA have processed it. I think it took about a week when I did it 5 months ago.

i.e. buy a NI car,
Drive to the republic,
Pick up belongings,
Drive to Ferry,
Receive updated v5c from DVLA at new address.

You won't be allowed to buy the car and have it registered in IRL without doing a permenant export on the v5c, and when you do this you'd need to pay VRT. You can get the VRT back when you move, minus €500 fee + 2 inspections at the NCT centre (Import and export) at €35 a pop.

Hi, Thanks for your response; There will be at least a 30 day window (maybe a few weeks over) before I move over to England and after I buy the car. I live close to the border so a NI reg is not uncommon around here, I wont be re-registering it in the south. Also I will not have an address in England for a few weeks after I arrive there. Hense, I would like the V5C posted to my address in the south, so Ill be able to put tax on it here before I cross the ferry, so it will be legal on arrival in England. I think FBD will insure it here with a NI reg.
When I get an address sorted in England, I can change the address on the log book/V5C to the new address there, and find a new insurer in England.

When I buy the car will the DVLA post the logbook/V5C to an address in the south?

Explosive_Cornflake

Lorne Malvo wrote: »

When I buy the car will the DVLA post the logbook/V5C to an address in the south?

I'd say no, but do call them, the DVLA and see what they say. By the strict letter of the law, you won't be allowed to do it though, that is have a UK reg car in your ownership in IRL. You're supposed to get the ball rolling within 48 hours though.

Supergurrier

Lads, in regards to converting euro to sterling when dealing with cash.

Would i be better off to bring euros over and convert in a UK bank or ?

Going over to look at a car near london on friday or sat.

HPI and MOT history check out.

Was gonna drive car home and park it up for a couple of weeks and then VRT/NCT it (30 day limit is safe enough ?)

My two main concerns atm are

- Getting a mechanical inspection on short notice in london area (get it on a ramp to check for rust/leaks/play in suspension)
- Between now and then sorting myself out with the sterling amount as BOI needs 5 days to process sterling orders and rates are horrible.

Thanks again

bazz26

Car has to be booked in for a VRT inspection within 7 days of entering the country, VRT and registration process have to be completed within 30 days.

How much money are talking about here, it is a private sale or from a dealer? Dealers will only take something like 9k in cash max afaik due to UK money laundering laws. Might be worth looking into using something like transfermate. It's safer and the currency exchange may be more favorable.

Supergurrier

bazz26 wrote: »

Car has to be booked in for a VRT inspection within 7 days of entering the country, VRT and registration process have to be completed within 30 days.

How much money are talking about here, it is a private sale or from a dealer? Dealers will only take something like 9k in cash max afaik due to UK money laundering laws. Might be worth looking into using something like transfermate. It's safer and the currency exchange may be more favorable.

6k euros worth or sterling or so. Private sale.

How does this transfermate craic work ?

iggy

Lads
Thinking of buying a hyundai i40 2012 from the UK.
A mate of mine goes over a couple of times a year to buy cars and said he'll come with me.
Do u think it's worth the hassle for this car.
I'm guessing vrt be around €3k?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201510207994556?page=1&postcode=l41xl&search-target=usedcars&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&radius=1500&keywords=Hyundai%20i40%202012%20&sort=default&logcode=p

MuffinsDa

I'm thinking of buying a car from NI. When I run the basic test through DVLA it says the MOT expired in Aug 2015. However, when I try to get the MOT details through totalcarcheck or DVLA MOT check site, it say no MOT history is recorded for this car!

What's the story here? Should this ring alarm bells, or is it a normal issue?

Explosive_Cornflake

How old is the car? Maybe it never had a MOT so by one site saying it's expired might mean it's due it's first one?

My own car on the DVLA sites say

MOT
No details held by DVLA

It's never had a MOT but it's not sue for another 1.5 years.

savagethegoat

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

I'd say no, but do call them, the DVLA and see what they say. By the strict letter of the law, you won't be allowed to do it though, that is have a UK reg car in your ownership in IRL. You're supposed to get the ball rolling within 48 hours though.

No they wont. The rules there state (and it's on the net) that the seller should give you the V5C and write to the DVLA to tell them he has done so.

Pfinn07

Hi All,

I am looking at buying a catD repaired leaf from UK, following some suggestions on here I attempted to get an AA motor check but when I entered car details on site it showed message that AA do not provide check on EV's which I found strange.
I contacted an engineer to inspect car but he was not willing to check car as he had not viewed the damage prior to repair so was not willing to sign off on it.

I have been in contact with seller who seems genuine and has sent me plenty of details including the fact that car has passed MOT with no advisers.
Is the UK MOT a good enough indicator that the car is in good order or should I still be trying to get an engineer to check it out before I travel over there?

Does anyone know if there are any issues I could have here with a repaired car regarding VRT, car insurance etc?

From everything I can see there are no VRT charges for importing an EV am I right or are there other expenses I will have to pay?

All advice appreciated.

Explosive_Cornflake

Pfinn07 wrote: »

Hi All,

I am looking at buying a catD repaired leaf from UK, following some suggestions on here I attempted to get an AA motor check but when I entered car details on site it showed message that AA do not provide check on EV's which I found strange.
I contacted an engineer to inspect car but he was not willing to check car as he had not viewed the damage prior to repair so was not willing to sign off on it.

I have been in contact with seller who seems genuine and has sent me plenty of details including the fact that car has passed MOT with no advisers.
Is the UK MOT a good enough indicator that the car is in good order or should I still be trying to get an engineer to check it out before I travel over there?

Does anyone know if there are any issues I could have here with a repaired car regarding VRT, car insurance etc?

From everything I can see there are no VRT charges for importing an EV am I right or are there other expenses I will have to pay?

All advice appreciated.

If it were me, I wouldn't. Engineers are unwilling to take the risk with an EV, I wouldn't assume I'd no more.
What's the the warranty on the battery pack? I assume the manufacturer will want nothing to do with it as it's a write off. Battery packs are expensive, so unless you're good with the technology yourself, replacing cells, replacing bus bars etc, I think it could be costly in the long run.

Pfinn07

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

If it were me, I wouldn't. Engineers are unwilling to take the risk with an EV, I wouldn't assume I'd no more.
What's the the warranty on the battery pack? I assume the manufacturer will want nothing to do with it as it's a write off. Battery packs are expensive, so unless you're good with the technology yourself, replacing cells, replacing bus bars etc, I think it could be costly in the long run.

I have since sourced an engineer with EV experience who is going to check out the car and I have also contacted both Nissan UK and Ireland to check out warranty situation.

Has anyone had issues with VRT or insuring a repaired vehicle after importing in Ireland?

Pete123456

from what i hear some insurers wont touch cat D repaired cars, or if they will they charge a pretty penny, but im open to correction. Personally i wouldnt. There are a lot of variables involved

Pfinn07

Pete123456 wrote: »

from what i hear some insurers wont touch cat D repaired cars, or if they will they charge a pretty penny, but im open to correction. Personally i wouldnt. There are a lot of variables involved

That is something I did not consider, thanks for the heads up and I better check that out tomorrow first thing.

GarethC90

Hi Folks,

I'm looking to VRT a car I'm just after bringing in from the UK problem is there was no logbook with it, just the new keeper section at the end of the V5C which apparently isn't good enough for the VRT.
So I've sent off the form for a permanent export certificate, anyone know how long it will take to get this roughly?

The other problem is when I moved my insurance onto the car last Friday they said they'd insure the UK reg for 28 days, anyone know if this can be extended with a note from the VRT office if I bring the car in and tell them I'm waiting on the cert?

Appreciate the help.

Thanks,
Gareth

Explosive_Cornflake

GarethC90 wrote: »

Hi Folks,

I'm looking to VRT a car I'm just after bringing in from the UK problem is there was no logbook with it, just the new keeper section at the end of the V5C which apparently isn't good enough for the VRT.
So I've sent off the form for a permanent export certificate, anyone know how long it will take to get this roughly?

It's pretty quick, I'd say less than two weeks, but at this time of year it may take longer.

The other problem is when I moved my insurance onto the car last Friday they said they'd insure the UK reg for 28 days, anyone know if this can be extended with a note from the VRT office if I bring the car in and tell them I'm waiting on the cert?

I wouldn't worry about this. I exceeded this before and they didn't mind. YMMV.

What I would worry is revenue fining you for not getting it done within 28 days.
I will expected you'll get fined, but you can appeal the fine and more than likely will be succesful.

Soarer

bazz26 wrote: »

Car has to be booked in for a VRT inspection within 7 days of entering the country, VRT and registration process have to be completed within 30 days.

How much money are talking about here, it is a private sale or from a dealer? Dealers will only take something like 9k in cash max afaik due to UK money laundering laws. Might be worth looking into using something like transfermate. It's safer and the currency exchange may be more favorable.

Hey bazz.

Have you any link to the amount they're allowed accept?

GarethC90

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

It's pretty quick, I'd say less than two weeks, but at this time of year it may take longer.

I wouldn't worry about this. I exceeded this before and they didn't mind. YMMV.

What I would worry is revenue fining you for not getting it done within 28 days.
I will expected you'll get fined, but you can appeal the fine and more than likely will be succesful.

Great thanks for the info, I rang the DVLA and they said they received my application and it should take 2 - 4 weeks so hopefully it doesn't run over the 28 days but if it does I'll appeal the fine like you said!

Really appreciate the help, thanks!

bazz26

Soarer wrote: »

Hey bazz.

Have you any link to the amount they're allowed accept?

Found this:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-high-value-dealer-registration

Bit of a discussion on pistonheads about it too:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=996623

bazz26

Soarer wrote: »

Hey bazz.

Have you any link to the amount they're allowed accept?

Found this:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/money-laundering-regulations-high-value-dealer-registration

Soarer

Cheers fella. Interesting that they talk about euro as opposed to Sterling. I wonder if they actually mean to include the Sterling equivalent, or is it only showing up with euros?

It's irrelevant from my point of view at this stage. The crowd I'm dealing with have a company policy of no more than £5000 cash. So the difference will have to be paid on the card(s).

Heading over Saturday.

bazz26

Maybe look into transferring it electronically through something like Transfermate.

DOC2015

Just wondering if someone could clear something up for me...

Thinking about heading over to the UK next month to buy a car. It'll either be in the southhampton area or plymouth....if I pick it up and get stopped by the police on route back to pembroke to get the ferry, is it a big deal not having stuff displayed?

I thought it wouldnt be a big deal and Id just say that I'm literally after picking the car up. But someone on here in a page way way back was saying they wouldnt chance driving it back for fear of the cops pulling you for not displaying tax etc.

Anyone actually done this, or been stopped by the cops and got on fine?

Thanks!

Pete123456

Funny enough they scrapped the physical tax disc in the UK. See below

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes

It's done through the reg plate now and ANPR as far as I know which makes it much easier to enforce seen as they are advanced with their recognition tech.

In theory you can tax it for the few pounds but I doubt that a policeman would seize the car if you explained that you're going as far as the boat. A good few friends and family members have driven cars home without trouble.

The other side of it is the tax does not carry over with ownership however the DVLA don't have a clue that you have the car yet until they are notified so if the previous owner had it taxed alarm bells would not ring because it's still taxed in their name? Just hypothesising that one though, dunno if it really works like that!

DOC2015

Pete
Cheers for that! Think I'll just chance it and if I get stopped theyll hardly take it off me for driving to the boat.

Marcusm

DOC2015 wrote: »

Pete
Cheers for that! Think I'll just chance it and if I get stopped theyll hardly take it off me for driving to the boat.

What have you sorted out insurance wise as if you are to be stopped as a result of ANPR, it is more likely to be for insurance. It's not unusual for newly purchased cars to flag up as uninsured as the MID (motor insurers database) is updated overnight afaik. If you're caught without adequate proof of insurance, expect to have the car seized.

Marcusm

Pete123456 wrote: »

The other side of it is the tax does not carry over with ownership however the DVLA don't have a clue that you have the car yet until they are notified so if the previous owner had it taxed alarm bells would not ring because it's still taxed in their name? Just hypothesising that one though, dunno if it really works like that!

If the purchase is from a dealer then any previous tax will have been refunded to the prior owner and the car will be flagged off the road. I don't think that there is any serious enforcement for motor tax by the constabulary anymore in any event. Lack of insurance is a different matter.

DOC2015

Oh for insurance, I plan to temporarily add the new car to my policy/ temporarily change my insurance over to the UK reg. Will prob depend on Liberty Direct's policy. Hopefully they'll allow it.

savagethegoat

you are wrong to think that Marcus. They will seize it for no tax if they've a mind to, it is possible they may let you proceed if you have all the right paperwork to show it was just purchased, it has insurance in it's own number ( it's no good relying on third party extension as they can't check Irish policies) and it has an MoT.