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

yannakis

Oh forgot to mention that they don't send an insurance disc not an email/letter confirmation. In their words "if you get stopped, Garda will give you a few days to present proof. In that case we will provide a letter".

Sync

Recently done this - had to change insurance and got a great quote from AA - went to proceed with it and he told me they won't cover UK plates - needs to be an Irish plate. It was a Friday evening I was going ahead with it, wonder was the guy finishing his shift and couldn't have been arsed?

He told me to check with other quotes I had got, as they might have the same rules. Every other insurance company said they would give 21/30 days to sort it.

Went with AIG in the end and got the same price.

bazz26

Sync wrote: »

Recently done this - had to change insurance and got a great quote from AA - went to proceed with it and he told me they won't cover UK plates - needs to be an Irish plate. It was a Friday evening I was going ahead with it, wonder was the guy finishing his shift and couldn't have been arsed?

He told me to check with other quotes I had got, as they might have the same rules. Every other insurance company said they would give 21/30 days to sort it.

Went with AIG in the end and got the same price.

I think the logic there is that you didn't up to that point have insurance on an Irish car. If I'm correct you were taking out a new policy and putting it on a UK reg car? That is different from having an existing policy and you were transferring it over to a UK reg car until you VRT'd it.

Maybe that's where insurance companies have an issue.

Pacifico

bazz26 wrote: »

Afaik UK dealers are not allowed let a sold car leave their premises now without it being taxed so they should be able to tax it for you.

Regarding insurance, check with Cargiant as their 5 day cover may not cover you to drive the car over here. It could a case of once you board the ferry to Ireland it becomes null and void. If you currently have insurance here it's simpler to just transfer it over to the UK plate of the new car when you are collecting it. Most insurance companies here will cover the car on UK plates for a certain length of time until the VRT process is completed and it's transferred to Irish plates.

Thanks, yeah it was more for insurance from car giant to the ferry i was looking for and i see they can arrange for 5 day insurance...just wondering if anyone had bought it?!

We're insured with 25plus.ie and its a bit of a pain to make any changes on a policy and i'm fairly sure they wont cover a UK reg car...

Marcusm

Pacifico wrote: »

Thanks, yeah it was more for insurance from car giant to the ferry i was looking for and i see they can arrange for 5 day insurance...just wondering if anyone had bought it?!

We're insured with 25plus.ie and its a bit of a pain to make any changes on a policy and i'm fairly sure they wont cover a UK reg car...

I lived in the UK until April. I have never seen a drive away insurance product which was available to non UK residents. Over there, you would generally see the car a few days prior to pick up, they provide you with a code for the driveaway insurer's website (which might carry their branding but is always an insurance company website). Companies have varying restrictions - certain exclude specified occupations - but everyone I saw always required to the applicant to be a UK resident.

Solberg2005

I'm looking for some information regarding the purchase of a nearly new car in the UK as there is no second hand models available here at the moment. A couple of queries I have are as follows:
• V5C Form. Is this a requirement when registering car over here?
• Who is the best car assessor in the UK to get to carry out an inspection of the car?
• Safest way of money payment?
• Warranty cover in Ireland.

HeadWrecked93

Solberg2005 wrote: »

I'm looking for some information regarding the purchase of a nearly new car in the UK as there is no second hand models available here at the moment. A couple of queries I have are as follows:
• V5C Form. Is this a requirement when registering car over here?
• Who is the best car assessor in the UK to get to carry out an inspection of the car?
• Safest way of money payment?
• Warranty cover in Ireland.

1) yes full v5c needed
2) dekra, rac, aa
3) transfermate, currencyfair, visa debit
4) depends

prettyboy81

HeadWrecked93 wrote: »

1) yes full v5c needed
2) dekra, rac, aa
3) transfermate, currencyfair, visa debit
4) depends

That wasn't you in the black CC this morning in Glasnevin??? A lovely black Passat CC with english plates still on it drove by me at the bus stop.

theaaao

Timmaay wrote: »

Anyone know fast will currencyfair transfer out stg? If I head over to the UK the late morning and say do a deal at 1pm and fire in the sellers bank account details, will it definitely have transferred within a few hrs? My alternative at the min is to bring cash, which is expensive to get here, and obv risky to carry over.

Hi I'm in the same boat. Signed up for currencyfair and hadn't heard of the other one transfermate. But there both more or less the same service just apply the fees differently. I read somewhere here that someone used transfermate before 1pm and the funds had transferred by close of business same day. Going on that basis I am presuming currencyfair will be similar. But I've booked an overnight just in case.

Esel

Solberg2005 wrote: »

I'm looking for some information regarding the purchase of a nearly new car in the UK as there is no second hand models available here at the moment. A couple of queries I have are as follows:
• V5C Form. Is this a requirement when registering car over here?
• Who is the best car assessor in the UK to get to carry out an inspection of the car?
• Safest way of money payment?
• Warranty cover in Ireland.

Be aware that if the car is less than 6 months old OR has done less than 6,000 km, you will have to pay VAT here. You can reclaim the UK VAT.

HeadWrecked93

prettyboy81 wrote:

That wasn't you in the black CC this morning in Glasnevin??? A lovely black Passat CC with english plates still on it drove by me at the bus stop.

It wasn't mine was in Offaly this morning

theaaao

Lads I've posted this in the other thread as well but someone else may see it here and be able to answer my queries below.

If the car shows up on the MOT website as having valid road tax does it mean that a SORD has not been carried out? Im buying from a main dealer and car looks to still have valid road tax on MOT website.

If i do have to pay for the road tax (hoping the dealer might cover the expense), how can you get a refund? In the other thread it was mentioned about leaving a letter with the dealer to send to Swansea with the export part of the V5C. Would I just put my address on this and patiently wait for a cheque to come in the post!?

Also, do you need to fill out anything on the V5C form before you leave the dealers? Do they need to sign anything on it or should it all be filled out? Should I be checking for anything specifically?

Marcusm

theaaao wrote: »

Lads I've posted this in the other thread as well but someone else may see it here and be able to answer my queries below.

If the car shows up on the MOT website as having valid road tax does it mean that a SORD has not been carried out? Im buying from a main dealer and car looks to still have valid road tax on MOT website.

If i do have to pay for the road tax (hoping the dealer might cover the expense), how can you get a refund? In the other thread it was mentioned about leaving a letter with the dealer to send to Swansea with the export part of the V5C. Would I just put my address on this and patiently wait for a cheque to come in the post!?

Also, do you need to fill out anything on the V5C form before you leave the dealers? Do they need to sign anything on it or should it all be filled out? Should I be checking for anything specifically?

You need to read the v5c guide again; the export part does not get sent to Swansea as the registered keeper, the guy who traded it to the dealer, is not the one exporting it.

theaaao

Marcusm wrote: »

You need to read the v5c guide again; the export part does not get sent to Swansea as the registered keeper, the guy who traded it to the dealer, is not the one exporting it.

I'm not sure I'm reding your reply correct. At the moment the car is with the dealer so no export piece has been filled out yet.
From the gov.uk website it says;

If you’re taking a UK-registered vehicle out of the country for 12 months or more (also known as permanent export) you need to:

1. Tell DVLA before you leave by filling in the V5C/4 ‘notification of permanent export’ section of your V5C registration certificate (logbook).

Do I need to do this or does the dealer do it?

2. Send it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BD. Include a letter if you’ve moved abroad and want your vehicle tax refund sent to your new address.

Will this work for refund for Irish resident if I'm forced to pay the road tX before I leave the main dealer?

Marcusm

theaaao wrote: »

I'm not sure I'm reding your reply correct. At the moment the car is with the dealer so no export piece has been filled out yet.
From the gov.uk website it says;

If you’re taking a UK-registered vehicle out of the country for 12 months or more (also known as permanent export) you need to:

1. Tell DVLA before you leave by filling in the V5C/4 ‘notification of permanent export’ section of your V5C registration certificate (logbook).

Do I need to do this or does the dealer do it?

2. Send it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BD. Include a letter if you’ve moved abroad and want your vehicle tax refund sent to your new address.

Will this work for refund for Irish resident if I'm forced to pay the road tX before I leave the main dealer?

You're not the registered keeper so none of that applies. You need to read the part where it explains to a UK person what they have to do when they sell the car to a person who lives abroad! In that case they provide you with the entire v5c and simply send a letter to Swansea commenting on the sale to an overseas person. Neither the prior owner nor the dealer is exporting the car.

theaaao

Marcusm wrote: »

You're not the registered keeper so none of that applies. You need to read the part where it explains to a UK person what they have to do when they sell the car to a person who lives abroad! In that case they provide you with the entire v5c and simply send a letter to Swansea commenting on the sale to an overseas person. Neither the prior owner nor the dealer is exporting the car.

Thanks for clarifying this.

Bringithome

Hi looking at a few 2011 3 series BMW. Does it make any sense to hang on until January as in will the price of these drop as they will be a year older, and would the VRT drop being a year older?

bazz26

UK registrations do not change by calendar year, they change in March and then again in September so buying in January has very little bearing on used prices there. Also Revenue have been known to keep VRT prices high in January as they known people think prices will drop.

j4vier

I just saw this post below and it got me wondering about the so called pre-inspections from the various RAC, AA, Dekra.

Did anyone here buy a car which was found to be all good and well from the mechanics from these companies but then turned out that things weren't as reported?

http://www.hotukdeals.com/ask/returning-2nd-hand-car-advice-needed-2537594

Apparently the issue involved the conditions of the breaking discs which were described as in good conditions from RAC

qm1bv4p8i92aoj

Hey guys where is the best place to change euro to sterling before heading over? What did most of ye do? Cheers.

MightyMunster

You can use Visa Debit to pay in the UK. Gives a better exchange rate than changing cash, cheaper than credit card or bank draft.
AIB have a 5000 euro per card limit, think boi is more.
Worked perfectly for me a few weeks ago, split over a few cards between various accounts.

theaaao

Porter Few Ram wrote: »

Hey guys where is the best place to change euro to sterling before heading over? What did most of ye do? Cheers.

I used currencyfair, which is similar to Transfermate which a good few people here have mentioned using it.

Straight forward to sign up. Took about a day to lodge euros into my account with them.
Once the euro was in, exchanged this into sterling using the account. Then I had sterling in my account to spend on a new motor.
I put a payment through last Monday about 1pm at the dealership. Funds went though by 12 the next day. I was expecting this to happen same day but I think the bank holiday in Ireland may have delayed it a bit even though there was no bank holiday in England.
Saved a nice chunk on charges and got a great exchange rate also.

MightyMunster

Advantage of visa debit is it goes through instantly, chip and pin same as at home. Means less time required in the UK and easier to back out if you're not happy with the car on arrival. Appreciate that won't suit someone spending 15000+ unless you have lots of different accounts!

pokerface92

Hi guys, planning on buying a car in the north myself

Just want to clarify however what documents is needed when it comes down here:

The logbook aka V5
and the CoC

is that it?


Also regarding the CoC will the person selling it have that document already or is it something they will have to apply for?

Im buying privately a golf 2010

bazz26

You don't need a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) with a used car from NI or mainland UK. As long as it has been previously registered in the other country then it's not needed. The CoC only applies to brand new cars when it's been registered for the first time.

Tigerandahalf

Hi

If I am buying a car up north for under €5,000 what vrt would I pay on top? Engine around 1.6.

Thanks

Pete123456

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Hi

If I am buying a car up north for under €5,000 what vrt would I pay on top? Engine around 1.6.

Thanks

https://www.ros.ie/evrt-enquiry/vrtenquiry.html?execution=e1s1

Use this link. Click vehicle calculation and out in your details. The VRT can vary wildly based on make model mileage value etc. No point in putting a figure until you get a calculation

theaaao

Pete123456 wrote: »

https://www.ros.ie/evrt-enquiry/vrtenquiry.html?execution=e1s1

Use this link. Click vehicle calculation and out in your details. The VRT can vary wildly based on make model mileage value etc. No point in putting a figure until you get a calculation

To add to Petes post, if there are extras in the car you might pay more on the day of inspection unless the exact model was on the Revenue site.

Tigerandahalf

Quick question.

If a car was a Categoey D writeoff in the UK.

Brought into Ire and repaired is it then ok for insurance purposes in Ireland?

Thanks

bazz26

You need to check with your insurance company, some are very sticky around that subject and may refuse cover on it. Also down the road while a Cat D is the lowest write off category you could have trouble selling it on as soon as people hear "write off" they will assume the worst and run away from things they don't fully understand.