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

Mc-BigE

kluivert wrote:

Alrigh Roy,

UK Vat...

If you import a car from the UK that is less than 6 months old or less than 6k miles on the clock you must pay Irish Vat (21%) on the purchase price of the car. (Need to supply purchase invoice).

If you import a car that is less than 3 months old from the UK, you can ask the dealer in the UK not to charge UK Vat, and he will get you to sign a declaration stating the same.

Now if the car is between 3 - 6 months old, you will be caught for UK and Irish Vat, this is a joke as Vat is only chargable once in the EU, welcome to Ireland.

Now, I live in Monaghan - smartest county in Ireland according to Test the Nation, so here's the plan (please note this is not my recommendation)

Import a less than three month old car from the UK, and dont pay UK vat.

Wait till its six months old or has 6k miles on the clock and then regsiter it. You dont pay Irish Vat either. The declaration you signed in the UK is sent to the DVLA, this is to cover the dealer, in case of a Vat inspection.

It has been known for "boys" to go over to England, buy a three month old car as above, but get it clocked upwards to over 6k miles, take a note of the original mileage, get the car VRT'd and then get the clocks changed back to the original mileage and no Vat is paid in the UK or Ireland. Who loses out, the government, who is ripping us of, so am told.

The "boys" where caught last year by customs doing this though and was reported in the Independent Newspaper. All top end cars though

Have you heard of "Operation Viking"?http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2005/06/26/story5954.asp
This was the revenues/VRO attempt to clamp down on some wealthy individuals (or broker of same) doing exactly what your saying on high end cars like Bentley’s, Porsche’s and the likes a year or two ago.

Sounds good until you get caught!

kluivert

Mc-BigE wrote:

Have you heard of "Operation Viking"?http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2005/06/26/story5954.asp
This was the revenues/VRO attempt to clamp down on some wealthy individuals (or broker of same) doing exactly what your saying on high end cars like Bentley’s, Porsche’s and the likes a year or two ago.

Sounds good until you get caught!

Thats why I referred to the waelthy as the "boys".

I follow the VRT subject closely and am aware of the article.

However no one with a Vectra or Mondeo was the list.

5leander5

If you are a student in the UK, are you exempt from VRT if you bring back your car?

FreudianSlippers

sort of curious why you should never buy privately if you're going to import into Ireland?

emmethay

Robert
I have been looking to try import a Lotus elise from UK as i have found some sites with 02 models for as low as £14000. I tried the ros.ie website for details on charges but the lotus make is not listed. Anybody got any imput into this. Any info at all regarding the importing of Lotus into UK would be welcome,
Also any of you guys ever buy from ebay??? I seen a recently sale of a BMW M3 convertable sell for €11,000. Ever with the additional charges that seems to be way too cheap. The car is being shipped from Greece apparently. Any experiences with these shipping companies and any advice would be greatly appreciated
And Robert,, what your website address,

Seth Brundle

There are many cars not listed on the VRT calculator (E30 325i Sport.

Spipov

have a question: my sister in law (brother's wife) wants to give me her fiesta (1996) from uk. its taxed and MOT'ed there. however, she cant add me to her licence (they're getting pretty bad there). i was wondering if i can get it insured from here (either on provisional or international licence) and drive it over here. what should/not be done?i will be returning the car in less than a year as i just need it to get to when i obtain my full driving licence and get a job here (student-graduating soon hopefully).

VFRoss

Hi there,
I'm a british citizen living in Ireland. I bought a bike from the UK in September last year and brought it over here. I had fully intended to register it but when I got my insurance quote I could have died. So I decided to Insure it and keep it registered at my UK address. Now I'm getting a bit worried riding around as I think I'm gonna get caught and impounded and fined. As a result I don't use it as much as I could. Saving the money is just not worth the stress. so I'm going to register it next week.
I have the sailing ticket from when I bought it over last year and all other documents. Are they likely to get funny with me for having it here for six months as the ferry ticket clearly shows?
I wouldn't worry but the woman from the wicklow VRT office sounded like a dragon on the phone. (My apologies if this is somebody readings mother, wife etc. maybe she was just having a bad day)
Thanks

Elessar

So let me get this straight:

Those of you who have successfully bought a car in the UK have:

A) Looked on autotrader.co.uk for a car you like.
Called the dealer by phone and asked about the car - did you negotiate a price at this point? What did you ask?
C) Put down a deposit
D) Arranged an RAC/AA mechanic to come out and check the car (How was this service?)
E) After a thumbs up from the mechanic, booked a flight over and ferry back
F) Got a sterling bank draft
G) Arranged for the dealer to meet with you at the airport? Or did you go straight to the dealership yourself?
H) Drove the car to Hollyhead for the ferry home

Is that it? Did I miss anything?

netwhizkid

Elessar wrote:

So let me get this straight:

Those of you who have successfully bought a car in the UK have:

A) Looked on autotrader.co.uk for a car you like.

I did this here before I left but the cars I had chosen were either not right or sold, I checked again over and found the car I wanted off a private garage.

Called the dealer by phone and asked about the car - did you negotiate a price at this point? What did you ask?

I enquired about its condition and the price (which was listed on the autotrader website) Getting to the garage was my biggest problem but two hours of getting lost around London at 7.30am I eventually found the place. I knocked off £500 that was for a garage warranty that would be no good to me in Ireland.

C) Put down a deposit

I didn't do this.

D) Arranged an RAC/AA mechanic to come out and check the car (How was this service?)

Didn't do this either but went for a test drive and spent ages checking the car and it checked out fine. The Garage did a HPI background Check and this was also fine.

E) After a thumbs up from the mechanic, booked a flight over and ferry back

I flew over first and saw several cars and different show rooms over 3 days of intense searching. I booked a one way flight with Ryanair from Kerry to Stansted for around €75 which wasn't bad as I booked it the day before I flew, had I booked earlier in advance it would've been cheaper. I booked the ferry back after purchasing the car, with Swansea Cork Ferries for about €150. Swansea Cork Ferries are closed for 2007 due to the fact they sold the ferry and couldn't get a new one quickly enough. It was handy for me as I live in Kerry.

F) Got a sterling bank draft

I ran into major trouble with this one, my plan was to go to a Bank of Ireland Branch in the UK and get the Draft there and use it pay the dealer. However the UK BOI no longer have access to Irish BOI Customers accounts and don't issue cash/drafts anymore.

I was in a bit of trouble so instead I rang up my local branch in Kerry (from the UK BOI branch) and gave out stink as they had stupidly advised me of the "get the draft off our UK Branches" plan. Luckily I had my Credit Card and made them extend the Credit Limit enough to buy the car, I keep my limit small for security purposes. They did this and I was able to pay for the car that way but it incurred an UK£85 surcharge which cost me an extra €100+. Best Plan is carry cash or somesort of UK Cheque, but the Cheque must clear before you get the keys.

G) Arranged for the dealer to meet with you at the airport? Or did you go straight to the dealership yourself?

I was lucky as I had relations in London to stay with who put me up for the time I was there and drove me to the dealerships. I owe them big time, still it was nice catching up and was told I must import cars more often < I might just take them up on that offer

H) Drove the car to Hollyhead for the ferry home

Well to Swansea in my case but it is a straight run from London to Wales on the M4 motorway, the motorway just ends somewhere west of Swansea but it should be a clear run to Holyhead easy. My Father drove as I'm only on an Irish Provisional. The motorways are grand only stay in the inside lane and stay out of the overtaking "fast" lane except when overtaking.

Is that it? Did I miss anything?

No that is pretty much it, I got myself a lovely 98 (1997 Irish Plate) BMW 316 AUTO for what worked out at around €7K factoring in VRT and all my expenses, I was been asked between €8K to €12K for a similar vehicle here and the quality and mileage were to a much lower spec to what I got in the UK. Mine had 67,500mls on the clock and is in excellent shape compared to her Irish equivalent of the same year. Plus it has leather seats + climate control aircon such things were very hard to find in the same car here.

Important ↓

One thing to be careful of if you go over is make sure you bring back the log book, I made a hames of my paperwork and left the V5 Registration Certificate (aka Tax Book) after me with the dealer; who subsequently sent it to the DVLA in Swansea, with my name down and address down as the new keeper.

The DVLA will not send on the V5 to new keepers outside the UK. I had to apply for a certificate of permanent export instead and this delayed the whole thing by 10 weeks.

Make Sure you bring back the Registration Certificate and all you have to do is fill in the purple piece see the bottom far right corner "V5c Section 11 - Notification of Permanent Export" and send this to the DVLA, Make sure you bring the rest of the certificate, if your british seller is not happy explain the situation about VRT (Vehicle Registration Tax) here and how the Irish VRT office will need the V5 to register the car in Ireland for you; otherwise threaten to walk away, a person selling a car without a V5 is dodgy and my advise in this instance is walk away as the UK is a buyers market.

The mistake I made was I filled up V5c Section 6- New Keeper in the middle page and my dealer sent this back to the DVLA leaving me only with the new keeper supplement and the section 11 piece Notification of Permanent Export which I should have sent in to the DVLA.

Filling up the "V5c Section 11 - Notification of Permanent Export" won't give you a "Certificate of Permanent Export" but you won't need it if you bring the rest of the V5 C UK Vehicle Registration Certificate with you. I had to fill up a different form to get my Certificate of Permanent Export which the fellas in the VRT office needed to Register my car.

Hope this helps! Happy car hunting!

JohnCleary

Make SURE you have the V5 with you when boarding the Ferry. Customs do spot checks and chances are you won't be getting on the ferry without the V5

The_Conductor

Elessar wrote:

A) Looked on autotrader.co.uk for a car you like.

Yes- far better specc'ed than anything available over here.

Elessar wrote:

Called the dealer by phone and asked about the car - did you negotiate a price at this point? .

Yes. Tried to negotiate on price, was politely told to take it or leave it, that the car in question could easily be sold by lunchtime, as it was a desireable model (Volvo V40, 1.9 TDi Sports/Lux model).

Elessar wrote:

What did you ask?.

Service history, details of previous owner, pictures of engine and interior.

Elessar wrote:

C) Put down a deposit

By credit card

Elessar wrote:

D) Arranged an RAC/AA mechanic to come out and check the car (How was this service?)

My brother actually.

Elessar wrote:

E) After a thumbs up from the mechanic, booked a flight over and ferry back

Booked flight over, no ferry back. I wanted to inspect the car myself before definitively commiting to purchasing.

Elessar wrote:

F) Got a sterling bank draft

Paid by wire transfer, its quicker and simpler (and instantaneous, depending on which bank you use).

Elessar wrote:

G) Arranged for the dealer to meet with you at the airport? Or did you go straight to the dealership yourself?

Had the dealer deliver the car to a convenient location for inspection in central London (from Surrey).

Elessar wrote:

H) Drove the car to Hollyhead for the ferry home?

Detouring by Cambridge and Manchester for reasons I'm not going into here.

Elessar wrote:

Is that it? Did I miss anything?

Having number plates made here in Dublin was the hardest part of transferring it almost....... (it used unusual studs for mounting purposes- even Halfords don't have them).

netwhizkid

JohnCleary wrote:

Make SURE you have the V5 with you when boarding the Ferry. Customs do spot checks and chances are you won't be getting on the ferry without the V5

Yes this is true the British Customs and Police were checking all this at Swansea and singled me out for being Irish driving a UK car onto the Ferry.

I gave them everything I had on the car and they went to their desk just by the car and checked it out. I didn't have the full V5 (my mistake) but I had the new keeper supplement which would've been the normal procedure if I was living in the UK and bought the car to use in the UK.

The Gardaí in Cork also gave me the same questioning and asked to see the paperwork on the car. My Father and I were both asked for our passports at both Swansea and Cork. My passport was out of date as I used my provisional license to fly with Ryanair. I gave them my expired passport and funnily enough they said nothing about it only to "drive on sir".

Receipts of the car are important too, if you buy off a private seller, I'd advise you get them to write you a letter "to whom it concerns Mr. X bought my car off me and paid me in full etc." However it is a better idea to buy off a garage in any case.

yellabelly

Robertr wrote:

(3) You will have to pay VAT on all cars under 6 mths old or less than 6,000kms even if they are from within the EU.

I'm looking at nearly new cars in the UK and would like a clarification on the VAT rule.
At what point should a car be over 6,000kms and 6 months to be exempt from VAT.
Is it, a) point of sale b) entry into Ireland c)VRO registration
Thanks,

The_Conductor

yellabelly wrote:

I'm looking at nearly new cars in the UK and would like a clarification on the VAT rule.
At what point should a car be over 6,000kms and 6 months to be exempt from VAT.
Is it, a) point of sale b) entry into Ireland c)VRO registration
Thanks,

Normally point of VRO inspection.

pedropumpalot

Hi all,

I am bring down a VW Golf 1.9 TDI Sport (105bhp) from the north next week. I was trying to spot the difference between the sport version and any other golf and the only differnece i could see was the few extras like alloys and adjustable rear view mirrors and sport seats (not bucket seats). There is no acual difference between the bhp's in the cars they are all 105 bhp. So for VRT purposes should this be registered as a sport or a regular TDI? There is a difference of e400 when registering as a sport. Also will they check for these extras at the VRT place?

The_Conductor

FYI- the sports version has a hardened suspension (and some of them have lowered suspensions too). It can be a bit bumpy particularly over speed bumps/potholes, but is an excellent driving experience.

yayamark

hi all
some very informative threads here.
am going to england hoping to buy 03/04 audi a4 1.8t/1.8 quattro next week.

have lots of info now hopefully i will remember when i'm over there

i will write back to let u know how i get on

snowy666

I've read through as much as I can and I'm wondering what happens when the Garda pull you when you're driving on UK plates. Do they automatically impound the car, do you get a fine/warning and if they do impound the car can you then pay the required vrt and get the car back or is it goodbye wheels?

The_Conductor

snowy666 wrote:

I've read through as much as I can and I'm wondering what happens when the Garda pull you when you're driving on UK plates. Do they automatically impound the car, do you get a fine/warning and if they do impound the car can you then pay the required vrt and get the car back or is it goodbye wheels?

Goodbye wheels. No fine/warning. Car automatically impounded. Note: not having insurance is also an automatic impounding offence. Along with the impounding of the vehicle, the penalties attached, along with a criminal conviction, can be far worse than paying the VRT/Insurance would ever have been......

snowy666

smccarrick wrote:

Goodbye wheels. No fine/warning. Car automatically impounded. Note: not having insurance is also an automatic impounding offence. Along with the impounding of the vehicle, the penalties attached, along with a criminal conviction, can be far worse than paying the VRT/Insurance would ever have been......

Many thanks

MR DAZ

BUMP!!!

Great thread - collecting my new wheels on sat and this thread helped alot!!:)

Tipsy Mac

MR DAZ wrote:

BUMP!!!

Great thread - collecting my new wheels on sat and this thread helped alot!!:)

Best of luck, tell us how you get on.

Altreab

Hello all
Can anyone tell me if the Trade prices on Autotrader include VAT or are they plus Vat?

gary the great

I'll be mvoing to the UK soon. Dop i have to own a car in the UK for 6months to be able to avoid VRT? And then one year back in Ireland?

I have about5-6k sterling to spend, which car would be the best to be to take advantage of having to pay no VRT ie which would be worth most on irish plates? It seems BMW 320D would be the best option?

Mc-BigE

gary the great wrote:

I'll be mvoing to the UK soon. Dop i have to own a car in the UK for 6months to be able to avoid VRT? And then one year back in Ireland?

I have about5-6k sterling to spend, which car would be the best to be to take advantage of having to pay no VRT ie which would be worth most on irish plates? It seems BMW 320D would be the best option?

Good choice, also look at the Audi A4 and merc C-class.

basically, when you move to UK, buy the car you want (might even start looking before moving on the web) it must be registered in your name and at your new address, its important to keep onto all receipts for your rent/telephone/electricity bills etc in the UK. The VRO will go through everything, so the more documentation you have the better.

Make sure the car is older than 6 months old and 6000Kms and over, otherwise you'll be charged irish VAT, but for 5-6k 320d your looking at either high mileage car or the pre-facelift model. regarding the 320d, do a search on here or www.bmwland.co.uk for "turbo problems" there were problems with the first of the facelift 320d in 2002/3

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/cars_search.jsp?searchform=&modelexact=1&lid=search_used_cars_full&photo=1&state=block&sort=3&hassearched=Y&make=BMW&min_pr=5000&source=0&model=3+SERIES&max_pr=7000&miles=1500&agerange=&mileage=&postcode=sw19+3rq&variant=320d&bodyid=0&trim=&fuelid=0&colour=&transmissionid=0&keywords=&ukcarsearch_full.x=50&ukcarsearch_full.y=10&ukcarsearch_full=SEARCH

gary the great

Mc-BigE wrote:

Good choice, also look at the Audi A4 and merc C-class.

basically, when you move to UK, buy the car you want (might even start looking before moving on the web) it must be registered in your name and at your new address, its important to keep onto all receipts for your rent/telephone/electricity bills etc in the UK. The VRO will go through everything, so the more documentation you have the better.

Make sure the car is older than 6 months old and 6000Kms and over, otherwise you'll be charged irish VAT, but for 5-6k 320d your looking at either high mileage car or the pre-facelift model. regarding the 320d, do a search on here or www.bmwland.co.uk for "turbo problems" there were problems with the first of the facelift 320d in 2002/3

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/cars_search.jsp?searchform=&modelexact=1&lid=search_used_cars_full&photo=1&state=block&sort=3&hassearched=Y&make=BMW&min_pr=5000&source=0&model=3+SERIES&max_pr=7000&miles=1500&agerange=&mileage=&postcode=sw19+3rq&variant=320d&bodyid=0&trim=&fuelid=0&colour=&transmissionid=0&keywords=&ukcarsearch_full.x=50&ukcarsearch_full.y=10&ukcarsearch_full=SEARCH

Brilliant thanks a million. A lot of them seem to have the high mileage, i presume they do a lot of miles up and down the motoways so its not to bad.
It will be the prefacelift model.

How long do i have to own the car in ireland before I can sell it on (i might keep it for years but just out of intrest!)

These have caught my intrest:
http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/cars_search.jsp?page=1&searchform=&modelexact=1&lid=search_used_cars_full&photo=1&state=block&sort=3&hassearched=Y&make=BMW&min_pr=4000&source=0&model=3+SERIES&max_pr=6000&miles=1500&agerange=&mileage=&postcode=sw19+3rq&bodyid=0&fuelid=2&colour=&transmissionid=0&ukcarsearch_full.x=25&ukcarsearch_full.y=7

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/CARS_popup.jsp?searchform=&modelexact=1&lid=search_used_cars_full&photo=1&state=block&sort=3&hassearched=Y&make=BMW&min_pr=4000&source=0&model=3+SERIES&max_pr=6000&miles=1500&agerange=&mileage=&postcode=sw19+3rq&bodyid=0&fuelid=2&colour=&transmissionid=0&ukcarsearch_full.x=25&ukcarsearch_full.y=7&start=4&distance=153&adcategory=CARS&channel=CARS&id=200709273623606

And maybe a petrol:
http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/CARS_popup.jsp?searchform=&modelexact=1&lid=search_used_cars_full&photo=1&state=block&sort=3&hassearched=Y&make=BMW&min_pr=4000&source=0&model=3+SERIES&max_pr=6000&miles=1500&agerange=&mileage=&postcode=sw19+3rq&bodyid=0&fuelid=1&colour=&transmissionid=0&ukcarsearch_full.x=17&ukcarsearch_full.y=3&start=6&distance=14&adcategory=CARS&channel=CARS&id=200711274715873

Mc-BigE

gary the great wrote:

Brilliant thanks a million. A lot of them seem to have the high mileage, i presume they do a lot of miles up and down the motoways so its not to bad.
It will be the prefacelift model.

How long do i have to own the car in ireland before I can sell it on (i might keep it for years but just out of intrest!)

12 months from date of registration in Ireland.

Chaz

Looking at bring a car in sometime next week or so.

I have seen from one of the posters in the thread that 'extra's can be charged for. This is also noted on the VRT page. Does anyone know how they work this value out? As it stands now, the vehicles VRT (BMW which seems to be 'targeted') is just a tad over €7000. It has Sat Nav, TV, Leather etc - how much more could I expect? Any ideas - even rough guidelines will help.

Thanks

netwhizkid

I myself am also off to the United Kingdom (south East) in the next month, I am aiming to bring in a VW Golf (for my sister) around 2002 to 2004 year and will prob spend between £5,000 and £7,500 depending on what's available.

Golfs are over priced in Ireland for what you are getting; essentially a stylish run-around with good with some nifty German engineering. Will probably go for either a 1.9TDI or 1.4 Petrol. Alot of Golfs in the UK come with good specs unlike the poverty specifications here due to VRT. Some of the 1.9TDI have 6 gears and are nice and nippy. I won't be driving it but it will make a nice car for my sister. I will let the board know how I get on with my London Auto Adventure Mk II.