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

michaelheno

Looking at purchasing a second hand mobility vehicle Mercedes Sprinter van does anyone know of a reliable company that can import it for me

Karen23

bfa1509 wrote: »

I'd check with the dealer to make sure this is ok. Although transferwise is quicker than doing a direct transfer, it will still take ~24 hours before the dealer will see the money in their account.

I used it to pay a deposit, they received it straight away. It gives different options to send the funds and tells you how long each one will take so you can choose from there.

kcopsspock

Hi there all,
As above picking up a classic car in UK on Wednesday 1st of August, car will be 30 years old on the 24th of August. My understanding is 7 days to book appointment and 30 to register from date of entry if i'm correct, wanting to avoid paying €720 vrt and pay €200, 30 year old car.
My ? is the cars vrt rate based on day of entry, the 7 day mark to book appointment or the day you bring it in to register it, in other words if i book registration day after 24th August say 25/26th August, am i good to get the flat rate of €200, thanks for any info.

Also i've just seen some info here about taxing the car, didn't realise system is different than here. In my research (if i'm right) i can go to post office over there and i need the V5 and current mot to tax the car. My ? is, do i have to fill out a part of the V5 doc for this, is there a section on V5 for new owners name and address and if so what do i do in that situation having no UK address ?

I have my insurance sorted with AXA and the car has current mot but the road tax thing is new to me and i'd very much like to have peace of mind while traveling to Holyhead, so any help would be very much appreciated, thanks.

kcopsspock

I've seen people mention road tax and that car could even be seized for no tax (new to me)

I've checked every where i can for info, been on gov.uk to pay for tax at the end wouldn't accept payment (Irish bank account). I now know it can be done at post office it says bring v5 and mot (no problem) but there's no info i can find regards what they do, i have no UK address, dont know if they take v5 and then send to dvla or if they take a section of the v5 doc. I've been looking for the car i'm buying for along time and all of a sudden i'm gone from buzz'n and looking forward to the trip, to more or less now thinking of cutting my losses and pull out all because of road tax, i just want peace of mind and to be legal so i can enjoy the trip, i've no issue paying the road tax, but i do know i need the v5 coming home with me for the vrt process. please can you help anyone who paid the tax at post office in UK or knows the process, heading Tuesday so haven't much time, thanks.

bonkers67

kcopsspock wrote: »

I've seen people mention road tax and that car could even be seized for no tax (new to me)

I've checked every where i can for info, been on gov.uk to pay for tax at the end wouldn't accept payment (Irish bank account). I now know it can be done at post office it says bring v5 and mot (no problem) but there's no info i can find regards what they do, i have no UK address, dont know if they take v5 and then send to dvla or if they take a section of the v5 doc. I've been looking for the car i'm buying for along time and all of a sudden i'm gone from buzz'n and looking forward to the trip, to more or less now thinking of cutting my losses and pull out all because of road tax, i just want peace of mind and to be legal so i can enjoy the trip, i've no issue paying the road tax, but i do know i need the v5 coming home with me for the vrt process. please can you help anyone who paid the tax at post office in UK or knows the process, heading Tuesday so haven't much time, thanks.

As far as I know most garages will do it for you.

kcopsspock

bonkers67 wrote: »

As far as I know most garages will do it for you.

I'm buying the car privately, do you mean a dealer, thanks for the quick reply

bonkers67

kcopsspock wrote: »

I'm buying the car privately, do you mean a dealer, thanks for the quick reply

Yes. A dealer. Maybe the person you’re buying it from could do it online for you.

kcopsspock

bonkers67 wrote: »

Yes. A dealer. Maybe the person you’re buying it from could do it online for you.

Yes the person i'm buying the car from can tax it , but that would be in there name, as soon as i buy the car from him it has to be taxed in my name.

So i can walk into the nearest dealer with the v5 and get them to tax the car in my name and pay them for the tax ?

Karen23

Can anyone tell me paperwork I definitely have to get from the dealership when I collect a car on Wednesday in the UK.

He said he'll tax it for £30 before we leave.

kcopsspock

Karen23 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me paperwork I definitely have to get from the dealership when I collect a car on Wednesday in the UK.

He said he'll tax it for £30 before we leave.

V5 and an invoice

liam7831

Karen23 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me paperwork I definitely have to get from the dealership when I collect a car on Wednesday in the UK.

He said he'll tax it for £30 before we leave.

The logbook or V5 as it's called in the UK. On the second page down the bottom their is a section for exporting the car, the dealer rips that off section only and keeps it, you take the rest of it

Karen23

Thanks for the replies.

omri

Hi, would this calculation be realistic. I am looking at 2018 5 series Touring M Sport from the UK. With the VRT based on the online calculation I would be saving around €12000, that's before any discounts both from Irish/UK dealers. Or is it most likely that the VRT will be higher than what is being calculated ? The car is over 6 months old and has over 10000 miles on the clock.

dos29

WORD OF WARNING IMPORTING AUDI
If this is mentioned already, apologies, I missed it.
I found this thread very helpful when importing at the start of this year. Found a nice A6 Avant for myself with a tasty saving compared to Irish prices. Targeted a 152 reg for VRT reasons, and thought I had a safety net of 9 months remaining warranty.
I do have, but only if I bring to a UK garage.
Audi UK have a different warranty than Audi Ireland. First 2 years are Euro wide, but 3rd year is UK only, so anything which should be covered by warranty sorted in an Irish Audi dealership will cost you. I've only had a faulty warning light go wrong, which cost me a surprise €100, but been lucky nothing more serious.
Possibly not as big an issue the closer you are to the border, (for now), but a PITA in West Cork.

Buyingcar2012

I've paid the VRT and just wondering what do I need to do to get the Irish Log Book?

mgn

When you tax the car the will send you the log book.It should come a day or two after tax.

liam7831

dos29 wrote:

WORD OF WARNING IMPORTING AUDI If this is mentioned already, apologies, I missed it. I found this thread very helpful when importing at the start of this year. Found a nice A6 Avant for myself with a tasty saving compared to Irish prices. Targeted a 152 reg for VRT reasons, and thought I had a safety net of 9 months remaining warranty. I do have, but only if I bring to a UK garage. Audi UK have a different warranty than Audi Ireland. First 2 years are Euro wide, but 3rd year is UK only, so anything which should be covered by warranty sorted in an Irish Audi dealership will cost you. I've only had a faulty warning light go wrong, which cost me a surprise €100, but been lucky nothing more serious. Possibly not as big an issue the closer you are to the border, (for now), but a PITA in West Cork.

Can you just go up to N.I. ?

spuddy

Quick one, does anyone know should an invoice for a second hand car from a dealership show VAT? (Car was previously in private ownership)

dos29

liam7831 wrote: »

Can you just go up to N.I. ?

As I said, not such a big deal for people closer to the border maybe, but West Cork means a bit of inconvenience. For something serious, it'd obviously be the only option, but I'm out of pocket even getting it sorted under warranty up there, once you factor in travel and time. Don't want to even imagine potential tow charges!!!

masit

omri wrote: »

Hi, would this calculation be realistic. I am looking at 2018 5 series Touring M Sport from the UK. With the VRT based on the online calculation I would be saving around €12000, that's before any discounts both from Irish/UK dealers. Or is it most likely that the VRT will be higher than what is being calculated ? The car is over 6 months old and has over 10000 miles on the clock.

On a car like yours it would be realistic. I was up north last year buying a car and called into a garage in a town near the border. Got chatting to the owner and he was just back from the UK with a BMW, forget the model. Cost up on €80k here, got it for under €60k in the UK, VRT, flights and ferry included.

cpoh1

Guys what are the best sites for checking car histories in the U.K. these days? Am I better off getting a separate hpi check and history check? Been a couple of years since my last import.

spuddy

cpoh1 wrote: »

Guys what are the best sites for checking car histories in the U.K. these days? Am I better off getting a separate hpi check and history check? Been a couple of years since my last import.

I used Carveto recently, thought it was good.

Karen23

Well, we got back late last night, delay with the ferry due to an accident just outside the port but apart from that everything went like clock work.

We flew into Standstead yesterday morning and got a train from the airport to Cambridge, £5 in a taxi from there to EMG motor group. Spent about an hour there buying the car and headed out on to the motorway for Holyhead.

We got an absolute bargain , the travelling was fine, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice here and especially to bfa1509 who suggested Transfer wise as a way to pay. This was what we used and we got a better rate and less charges.

Old diesel

Karen23 wrote: »

Well, we got back late last night, delay with the ferry due to an accident just outside the port but apart from that everything went like clock work.

We flew into Standstead yesterday morning and got a train from the airport to Cambridge, £5 in a taxi from there to EMG motor group. Spent about an hour there buying the car and headed out on to the motorway for Holyhead.

We got an absolute bargain , the travelling was fine, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice here and especially to bfa1509 who suggested Transfer wise as a way to pay. This was what we used and we got a better rate and less charges.

What kind of car is it????

oodles19

Karen23 wrote: »

Well, we got back late last night, delay with the ferry due to an accident just outside the port but apart from that everything went like clock work.

We flew into Standstead yesterday morning and got a train from the airport to Cambridge, £5 in a taxi from there to EMG motor group. Spent about an hour there buying the car and headed out on to the motorway for Holyhead.

We got an absolute bargain , the travelling was fine, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice here and especially to bfa1509 who suggested Transfer wise as a way to pay. This was what we used and we got a better rate and less charges.

How long did the TransferWise payment take? Did you make the transfer on the day?

Karen23

Old diesel wrote: »

What kind of car is it????

2016 Hyundai i40, 161 reg, top spec €13500 including the price estimated for VRT, a years road tax and all travel expenses.

Karen23

oodles19 wrote: »

How long did the TransferWise payment take? Did you make the transfer on the day?

I did the transfer using two bank cards through transfer wise, on the day sitting at his desk and it went through straight away.

kcopsspock

Karen23 wrote: »

Well, we got back late last night, delay with the ferry due to an accident just outside the port but apart from that everything went like clock work.

We flew into Standstead yesterday morning and got a train from the airport to Cambridge, £5 in a taxi from there to EMG motor group. Spent about an hour there buying the car and headed out on to the motorway for Holyhead.

We got an absolute bargain , the travelling was fine, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice here and especially to bfa1509 who suggested Transfer wise as a way to pay. This was what we used and we got a better rate and less charges.

Very good Karen glad to hear all went well for ya, i was on the same ferry.
Everything went well for me too, the car i bought was sorned (declared off the road) the guys wife had died a few months ago, but he re-taxed the car for me, i think £140 he said and he'll cancel that in a few days and get rebated for 11 months tax. It was peace of mind for me not to have to drive a car declared off the road, best of luck with the car

robfitz987

Looking for some advice that I'm sure is covered here but I can't seem to find it. On the NCTS site point 9 says that if you are buying off a Motor Dealer they are obliged to pay the VRT before delivering the vehicle, is this true or can you book in yourself?

https://www.ncts.ie/1155

bazz26

A legitimate Republic of Ireland motor dealer is obliged under law to include the VRT price in their selling price. Does this dealer have a business premises or operating out of a supermarket car park?