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

mgn

€79 for 3 days,that was a bit steep.

doogie!

Another piece of advice is to do with warranty. I took a 3 month RAC warranty from the Garage in Bristol. This is under the premise that if anything went wrong it would be covered as long as I brought it to a VAT registered garage in the North. Low and behold I had a whistle from the engine which I eventually discovered was the blower motor. i brought it to a garage in Newry got it replaced and paid the 255 pounds but when I contacted the RAC they kicked up that I had a southern address on my warranty . My advice is take the RAC warranty but give a northern address. I have since got the address changed and it has been accepted. It is peace of mind more than anything that if the car uncovers any major issues like clutch, flywheel, timing belt as long as you get it up the north you will be covered.

bonkers67

Will a dealer in the UK give you the cars VIN number?

Negative_G

michellie wrote: »

To be fair, it's very clear what documents are required. It's all there on the website.

Agreed.

There is a clear list of what is needed.

I've been through the process and it was very straightforward and was in and out in less than 15 minutes, including getting plates made.

doogie!

michellie wrote: »

To be fair, it's very clear what documents are required. It's all there on the website.

Thanks Michelle. I mean I really need this comment now after all I went through.

As I said I hold my hands up..... no arguments. I am trying to make sure others don't make the same mistakes.

I don't need an ''I told you so right now''

michellie

doogie! wrote: »

As I said I hold my hands up..... no arguments. I am trying to make sure others don't make the same mistakes.

I don't need an ''I told you so right now''

certainly not saying I told you so. No matter what you do there will still be people show up missing paperwork unfortunately. You were probably one of a line of them in northpoint that day. So as you can imagine the girls there deal with it day in day out.

michellie

bazz26 wrote: »

The NCT go with the VRT figure on Revenue's database, they don't add or subtract from those figures at their own discretion. They are only there to facilitate the registration process, paperwork and take payment. Revenue call the shots around VRT valuations. If the car's VIN is not in their database then the NCT have to send a request off to Revenue for a valuation.

It's not about the VIN being in the database at the NCT centre. It's sent to Revenue if there is no Stat code for the car in the Revenue system. Revenue will then assign a stat code from the information sent through from the NCT centre and the information revenue find through the VIN.

The Stat code will be allocated an OMSP and thats what will determine the VRT. Some vehicles will have extras added depending on the make, model& year.

EGriff

They had no stat code for the car I brought in in December (3 door Leon 2.0 diesel) even though it was on the vrt calc on their website.

Ended up paying €500 less than the figure from the website, nice little bonus coming up to Xmas.

JMR

bonkers67 wrote: »

Has anyone been stopped by the police for no tax?

Imported the car yesterday. Didn't bother with taxing it in the end. I drove from Liverpool to Holyhead with no issue.
Not saying that this will be everybody's experience but just wanted to share.

JonnyM

What are the documents that must be given to you by the dealer in the UK that you need to VRT your car here?

JMR

JonnyM wrote: »

What are the documents that must be given to you by the dealer in the UK that you need to VRT your car here?

See this link for everything you need.
https://www.ncts.ie/1155

The seller should give you the log book and invoice

Fann Linn

JMR wrote: »

Imported the car yesterday. Didn't bother with taxing it in the end. I drove from Liverpool to Holyhead with no issue.
Not saying that this will be everybody's experience but just wanted to share.

Good luck. Just enquiring however, had you much contact with the garage prior to travelling and did you get the AA to check out your purchase prior to going over?

JMR

Fann Linn wrote: »

Good luck. Just enquiring however, had you much contact with the garage prior to travelling and did you get the AA to check out your purchase prior to going over?

Yes, I spoke to the garage quite a few times.
Paid a deposit to hold the car.

Had the AA check done which is very worthwhile in my opinion. They provide quite a detailed report including pictures of the car and detailed shots of any problem areas. You also get a call from the inspector that carried out the inspection so you can bounce questions off him etc.
It meant that the deal was effectively done before I travelled

Fann Linn

Thanks for that Jm. I'm hoping to buy over the next few months and I think I'll do it as you did.

JMR

Fann Linn wrote: »

Thanks for that Jm. I'm hoping to buy over the next few months and I think I'll do it as you did.

I would also recommend Transfer Mate for payment. Totally hassle free compared to my bank at least (AIB).
I paid the deposit of £500 via my own bank, electronic fund transfer and it took 5 business days.
I paid the balance via Transfer Mate, got a better exchange rate, payment took a matter of hours and the dealer received an email to notify him that payment was sent.

Any other questions, shout

bonkers67

I noticed you came back through Holyhead. Just wondering why you didn’t get the ferry in Liverpool?

JMR

bonkers67 wrote: »

I noticed you came back through Holyhead. Just wondering why you didn’t get the ferry in Liverpool?

The Liverpool ferry was something daft like an 8 hour journey

tea and coffee

I'm almost decided to buy a Toyota from a Toyota main dealer just outside London. I'm saving only about 1500 but the car has much higher spec. The flight is 20 euro. Car tax is £15. Ferry is €100.
The dealer will give me their account number so I can pay before I go. The car has 2 years left on Toyota 5 year uk cover but apparently transferring this to Ireland means it moves to 3 year Toyota European warranty (pointless as car is 2015). However, in the initial post here it states that EU wide the warranty must be respected so intend to leave it as UK warranty until it runs out/Brexit happens- will this work?

I don't intend doing an AA inspection but will do Motorcheck. Is this wise? Justifications: Main dealer. In warranty. Car is 3 years with 35k. Car costing 10k sterling.

I have my bank statement, ferry ticket, p60 (thos is printed from my employer rather than "original" )

Am I missing anything?

Fann Linn

tea and coffee wrote: »

I'm almost decided to buy a Toyota from a Toyota main dealer just outside London. I'm saving only about 1500 but the car has much higher spec. The flight is 20 euro. Car tax is £15. Ferry is €100.
The dealer will give me their account number so I can pay before I go. The car has 2 years left on Toyota 5 year uk cover but apparently transferring this to Ireland means it moves to 3 year Toyota European warranty (pointless as car is 2015). However, in the initial post here it states that EU wide the warranty must be respected so intend to leave it as UK warranty until it runs out/Brexit happens- will this work?

I don't intend doing an AA inspection but will do Motorcheck. Is this wise? Justifications: Main dealer. In warranty. Car is 3 years with 35k. Car costing 10k sterling.

I have my bank statement, ferry ticket, p60 (thos is printed from my employer rather than "original" )

Am I missing anything?

I hope to do the same as yourself but I intend to get a check done from the RAC. I'm not mechanically minded so paying out between €100 and €250 on a complete test plus up to 20 mile test run is worth it in my opinion.

If I was buying in Dublin, Cork or even the north I'd be prepared to take a chance. Buying in Britain however would be too much of a risk for me.

flanzer

Anyone finding that the ROS VRT calculation site is currently down??

mgn

Yes still down and yesterday too.

bonkers67

Is the motor check.ie vrt calculator accurate?

rob316

tea and coffee wrote: »

I'm almost decided to buy a Toyota from a Toyota main dealer just outside London. I'm saving only about 1500 but the car has much higher spec. The flight is 20 euro. Car tax is £15. Ferry is €100.
The dealer will give me their account number so I can pay before I go. The car has 2 years left on Toyota 5 year uk cover but apparently transferring this to Ireland means it moves to 3 year Toyota European warranty (pointless as car is 2015). However, in the initial post here it states that EU wide the warranty must be respected so intend to leave it as UK warranty until it runs out/Brexit happens- will this work?

I don't intend doing an AA inspection but will do Motorcheck. Is this wise? Justifications: Main dealer. In warranty. Car is 3 years with 35k. Car costing 10k sterling.

I have my bank statement, ferry ticket, p60 (thos is printed from my employer rather than "original" )

Am I missing anything?

Get Dekra to check it over, on £10k spend it would be foolish not to.

colm_mcm

tea and coffee wrote: »

I'm almost decided to buy a Toyota from a Toyota main dealer just outside London. I'm saving only about 1500 but the car has much higher spec. The flight is 20 euro. Car tax is £15. Ferry is €100.
The dealer will give me their account number so I can pay before I go. The car has 2 years left on Toyota 5 year uk cover but apparently transferring this to Ireland means it moves to 3 year Toyota European warranty (pointless as car is 2015). However, in the initial post here it states that EU wide the warranty must be respected so intend to leave it as UK warranty until it runs out/Brexit happens- will this work?

I don't intend doing an AA inspection but will do Motorcheck. Is this wise? Justifications: Main dealer. In warranty. Car is 3 years with 35k. Car costing 10k sterling.

I have my bank statement, ferry ticket, p60 (thos is printed from my employer rather than "original" )

Am I missing anything?

I’ve never heard of the 5 year warranty not transferring.

shakedown

Anyone have the link to a working VRT calculator? The one's I have tried are dead or redirect to the ROS login.

Edit: Sorry just read above posts, it appears to be down.

JonnyM

rob316 wrote: »

Get Dekra to check it over, on £10k spend it would be foolish not to.

How much approx do they charge for vehicle check?

bazz26

JonnyM wrote: »

How much approx do they charge for vehicle check?

You can get a quote from their website:
https://www.dekra-expert.co.uk/vehicle.inspections/book.a.vehicle.inspection

JMR

JonnyM wrote: »

How much approx do they charge for vehicle check?

I paid £160 to The AA for a vehicle inspection and considered it value for money

rob316

Go direct to Dekra for the inspection, RAC and AA use Dekra so you are cutting out the middle man. It might save ya £30 - £50 only but screw it your spending enough.

So let me get it right, car giant will be happy to hold the car while you get it inspected prior to purchase if you pay a deposit?

Y/N/roll eyes