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

VonLuck

I'm looking for help justifying a reduction in VRT as I feel the OMSP is too high on the car I recently purchased. The problem is that I can't find a similar car for sale anywhere in Ireland.

I purchased a petrol model of a car that is only sold in diesel in Ireland. I could provide information on the OMSP of diesel cars and state that diesels are typically more expensive, but I'm not sure that will fly.

I have a valuation I received from Motorcheck, but I'm not sure if that holds any weight.

Is there any other way of providing a solid argument for reduced VRT without example prices to show for it?

omri

For the VRT do I need to fill, apart from the VRTVPD2, the Declaration For Registration of a New or Used Vehicle/Motorcycle Form ?

Also is there a minimum time I will need to keep the car after the registration, before it can be sold ? Someone mentioned to me 3 months or else I will have to pay tax if I sell it. Would the same rule apply if I decided to trade in the car in the dealership in Dublin ?

bazz26

You can sell the car straight away if you like as long as you didn't get a VRT exemption. You will need to tax it first though to receive the new Irish logbook.

martco

??? NEW VRT RULES 31 July 2018 ???

I've just read the NEW VRT regulations, they came in 31st July & it looks like there are plenty of changes

I was planning to go across to buy myself a 2016 VW Transporter LWB panel van...a normal 3 seats, plylined, straight simple commercial panel van NOT a crewcab/multivan

These new rules seem to suggest that from now on we'll be expected to stump up 13.3% cat B in VRT rather than the €200 flat charge

I'm wondering has anyone been caught out for this yet??

robnet77

Has anyone done PCP on a UK import?

Alternatively, what is the lowest APR I can get to finance such cars, please? I checked an online comparison website and am reading 6.5 to 10% from various banks here in ROI.
Credit Unions may go a bit lower?

Point is, on a new car I can get 0% (VW) or 1.9% (Audi) APR finance if I do a PCP in ROI, this would save me a few grands in the total cost of credit. Any thoughts?

The J Stands for Jay

robnet77 wrote: »

Has anyone done PCP on a UK import?

Alternatively, what is the lowest APR I can get to finance such cars, please? I checked an online comparison website and am reading 6.5 to 10% from various banks here in ROI.
Credit Unions may go a bit lower?

Point is, on a new car I can get 0% (VW) or 1.9% (Audi) APR finance if I do a PCP in ROI, this would save me a few grands in the total cost of credit. Any thoughts?

I was told many years ago that no Irish bank would give a car loan on a UK import.

omri

My mate bought a car recently through an irish garage. The car was an UK import and they arranged car loan for him that was serviced by a bank in the UK but all the repayments are direct debitted in Euros from his account.

bazz26

Nobody is going to offer PCP finance on a car you buy somewhere else, especially if you buy it in another country. Even regular finance is hard enough to get on a UK import unless the car is bought from a VAT registered dealer here. Credit Unions are more flexible but their rates tend to be a bit higher because of the additional risk of the loan going bad.

robnet77

omri wrote: »

My mate bought a car recently through an irish garage. The car was an UK import and they arranged car loan for him that was serviced by a bank in the UK but all the repayments are direct debitted in Euros from his account.

Thanks. Do you know the name of any such garages here in Ireland, please?

bazz26 wrote: »

Nobody is going to offer PCP finance on a car you buy somewhere else, especially if you buy it in another country. Even regular finance is hard enough to get on a UK import unless the car is bought from a VAT registered dealer here. Credit Unions are more flexible but their rates tend to be a bit higher because of the additional risk of the loan going bad.

I was thinking I could do a PCP with the UK dealer, however I'm not sure this would be feasible.

bazz26

Unless you are a UK resident living there then you won't be able to. Think about it, nobody is going to loan money to buy a car who doesn't reside in that country. How would they get their money or the car back if you stopped paying?

Plenty of dealers here sell UK imports here and offer finance packages on them, however PCP is really only suitable on new or nearly new cars. It gets expensive on second hand cars as they have to make the money back over the 3 years you rent the car because it has very little value at the end of the term. I would recommend you do some research on the different finance packages out there and how they work before signing up to anything.

omri

@robnet77 - I wouldn’t know much else than I described

Just to confirm - if I bring the car to VRT outside of Dublin area say Kilkenny or Galway will I still be able to get Dublin reg, is it linked to my home address or the VRT centre’s location?

The J Stands for Jay

omri wrote: »

@robnet77 - I wouldn’t know much else than I described

Just to confirm - if I bring the car to VRT outside of Dublin area say Kilkenny or Galway will I still be able to get Dublin reg, is it linked to my home address or the VRT centre’s location?

It's based on the county shown on your proof of address.

demello

Hi,
The VRTVPD2 form that you must fill in for a used car imported into Ireland asks for the amount of VAT paid.
The receipt I got from dealer in the North did not mention VAT.
Does anyone know what the VAT rate for a used car in the North is, so that I can calculate this from the total amount I paid?
Also, the Revenue website lists a form "Please print and fill out the following Declaration Form for the Registration of a used Vehicle/ Motorcycle" - is this just for motorcycles?
Thanks in advance
G

plu

demello wrote: »

Hi,
The VRTVPD2 form that you must fill in for a used car imported into Ireland asks for the amount of VAT paid.
The receipt I got from dealer in the North did not mention VAT.
Does anyone know what the VAT rate for a used car in the North is, so that I can calculate this from the total amount I paid?
Also, the Revenue website lists a form "Please print and fill out the following Declaration Form for the Registration of a used Vehicle/ Motorcycle" - is this just for motorcycles?
Thanks in advance
G

If no vat on invoice, then zero vat paid.

If car is over 6 months old & has over 6k km on clock, you won’t be liable to Irish VAT

robnet77

Does anyone know any car dealers in the Dublin area who will sell UK imports of BMW or Audi cars, possibly registered in 2017?

For example, I'd like to buy a 5 series or an X1 from 2017, as they come much cheaper than newer ones from 2018.
Or I'd buy an Audi A4 or a Q3 from 2017 as well.

Or alternatively, any company here who will take care of importing the car for you, maybe giving you some warranty, etc., please?

terrydel

Do uk dealers generally knock a decent amount off for Irish buyers given that any warranty offered wont realistically apply to Irish buyers, particularly on lower value cars (as unless its a serious issue, you wont bother going back to the uk to deal with it)?

bazz26

No, they tend to price their cars very close to what they want for them. You will do well to get anything off the asking price. And warranties can sometimes be sold as an add on service depending on the dealer.

ELM327

If you're buying from a large retailer in the UK generally you won't get a discount at all, or something like £100 max.
It's not like here.

The J Stands for Jay

terrydel wrote: »

Do uk dealers generally knock a decent amount off for Irish buyers given that any warranty offered wont realistically apply to Irish buyers, particularly on lower value cars (as unless its a serious issue, you wont bother going back to the uk to deal with it)?

Having agreed a price, the dealer in NI told me there'd be a warranty on the car. I told him not to bother. He said it was Europe wide and would cover warranty repairs in a local garage, as long as I contacted him first to sort it. I'd say like most second hand warranties, it's one dealers buy from a warranty company.

agfasfos

McGaggs wrote: »

Having agreed a price, the dealer in NI told me there'd be a warranty on the car. I told him not to bother. He said it was Europe wide and would cover warranty repairs in a local garage, as long as I contacted him first to sort it. I'd say like most second hand warranties, it's one dealers buy from a warranty company.

Are those warranties good, I think a lot of garages now offer 12 month guarantees which they purchase from a third party. These companies sometimes contact the owner a year later & offer to extend the warranty.

bazz26

agfasfos wrote: »

Are those warranties good, I think a lot of garages now offer 12 month guarantees which they purchase from a third party. These companies sometimes contact the owner a year later & offer to extend the warranty.

Not really, they have lots of exclusions and have you jumping through hoops at your expense before eventually agreeing to the repair. They are more an insurance policy against certain mechanical failures at best and a get out of jail card for dealers so they don't have to deal with customers who come back to them with a problem.

agfasfos

bazz26 wrote: »

Not really, they have lots of exclusions and have you jumping through hoops at your expense before eventually agreeing to the repair. They are more an insurance policy against certain mechanical failures at best and a get out of jail card for dealers so they don't have to deal with customers who come back to them with a problem.

I imagine the small print is extremely small.

garv123

Been a while since I VRT'd a car, can anyone let me know if im missing anything, I read through a few bits on the thread but just making sure.

Driving Licence

Invoice showing date car was purchased in NI. (will the UK mainland reg cause any issues?)

VC5 form

Proof of address (Utility bill or bank statement?)

Proof of PPS (Payslip)

VRTVPD2 Declaration


Am I missing anything?
thanks

omri

garv123 wrote: »

Been a while since I VRT'd a car, can anyone let me know if im missing anything, I read through a few bits on the thread but just making sure.

Driving Licence

Invoice showing date car was purchased in NI. (will the UK mainland reg cause any issues?)

VC5 form

Proof of address (Utility bill or bank statement?)

Proof of PPS (Payslip)

VRTVPD2 Declaration


Am I missing anything?
thanks

They also list another form on vrt faq page which I filled but guy said its only really the vrtvpd2 they need.

There are no NI reg as far as I know just the UK reg.

garv123

Does VRT have to be paid on the day on inspection? Or can you pay it at a later date still within the 30days?

bazz26

Answered lots of times in this thread - you have 30 days from the date the car came into the country to complete VRT registration process.

omri

bazz26 wrote: »

Answered lots of times in this thread - you have 30 days from the date the car came into the country to complete VRT registration process.

That seems to be true yet on my VRT inspection the guy told me to pay right now at the window, before the IT system crashed and he didn't get to the amount page

bazz26

You could easily have just came back though.

Grumpypants

How do you go about insuring the car you buy over? I'm having awful issues.

From being told we don't insure cars with UK regs, we can't insure you until you own it to call us on the day, to you can't have two cars insured at the same time (there will be a few weeks while my existing car is still insured while I try to sell it) and you can't have your no claims bonus on two cars.

All seems bonkers, it's not like I can drive two cars at the same time so the risk surely is the same.

omri

Grumpypants wrote: »

How do you go about insuring the car you buy over? I'm having awful issues.

From being told we don't insure cars with UK regs, we can't insure you until you own it to call us on the day, to you can't have two cars insured at the same time (there will be a few weeks while my existing car is still insured while I try to sell it) and you can't have your no claims bonus on two cars.

All seems bonkers, it's not like I can drive two cars at the same time so the risk surely is the same.

I called my insurer and told them to put english reg car on the policy. They will do it for around 30 days.

I sold my old car before buying the new one and they didnt make any problems.