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

deezell

Some things are seller oversight, e.g. faulty switch not spotted, ad in km's but mileometer in miles (though I once had a dealer swear that the mileometer on an 07 Volvo was kms, even when it was obviously a UK car, no setting to switch to km either. Sadly, NCT had recorded as Kms.)
Some things are outright criminality, like clocking, or taking out lamps on the dash to prevent reading a fault light. Go in with your eyes open.

Liamo_mu

deezell wrote: »

Some things are seller oversight, e.g. faulty switch not spotted, ad in km's but mileometer in miles (though I once had a dealer swear that the mileometer on an 07 Volvo was kms, even when it was obviously a UK car, no setting to switch to km either. Sadly, NCT had recorded as Kms.)
Some things are outright criminality, like clocking, or taking out lamps on the dash to prevent reading a fault light. Go in with your eyes open.

I'd actually be paying to get the car inspected without every having seen it in person myself. Trying to judge if it is worth the risk of losing 100+ euro if they say the car is in bad condition.

Jerry Atrick

Have VRT rates jumped in recent days? Looking to import a petrol BMW and the VRT is a lot more compared to 2 weeks ago?

Debub

Jerry Atrick wrote: »

Have VRT rates jumped in recent days? Looking to import a petrol BMW and the VRT is a lot more compared to 2 weeks ago?

Thanks - I thought that I was the only one who was facing that! It went up for me quite a bit from €2893 to (for the same car) €3289...

ErinGoBrath

I'm planning on travelling to the UK to drive a car home to import.

My current insurance does not have cover for driving other cars, is there any alternative to changing my policy? Temp cover with an insurer?

Buffman

Jerry Atrick wrote: »

Have VRT rates jumped in recent days? Looking to import a petrol BMW and the VRT is a lot more compared to 2 weeks ago?

Yes, a car I brought in back in April is now coming up as over €600 more to VRT than I paid.

Buffman

ErinGoBrath wrote: »

My current insurance does not have cover for driving other cars, is there any alternative to changing my policy?

Your current insurer should let you drive for 30 days on UK plates, do you want to keep your current car on the road?

Debub

Buffman wrote: »

Your current insurer should let you drive for 30 days on UK plates, do you want to keep your current car on the road?

yes - that's what my insurer said as well, that they can move my current insurance to the UK reg for a temp period (max 30 days) and then do a permanent one on the Irish Reg once I get the VRT done

bazz26

Liamo_mu wrote: »

Would you lads even bother/consider getting a car inspected at a dealers with bad/mixed reviews?

I see Fusco have a good deal on a car I'm looking for but there reviews are off-putting. Should I get it inspected or just walk away and look for a better dealer?

Liamo_mu wrote: »

I'd actually be paying to get the car inspected without every having seen it in person myself. Trying to judge if it is worth the risk of losing 100+ euro if they say the car is in bad condition.

If you are buying from a UK dealer then your not going to be heading back to him with issues afterwards so you need to have the car inspected professionally prior to sale so that the things can either be rectified by the time you buy it or that the inspector recommends not buying the car at all. If the dealer reviews give the impression that the dealer is a chancer who doesn't address any customer issues then there is a good chance he will not fix the issues outlined by an inspection and you have just wasted time and money on a wasted venture. It's also worth asking the dealer to send you a personal video of showing around the car, lots of dealers will do this nowadays.

bazz26

ErinGoBrath wrote: »

I'm planning on travelling to the UK to drive a car home to import.

My current insurance does not have cover for driving other cars, is there any alternative to changing my policy? Temp cover with an insurer?

You cannot use the driving other cars feature of your insurance policy on a car you are buying. Driving of other cars only applies to cars you don't own.

You need to do a temporary transfer over from your existing car to the new car you are buying in the UK (you give them the UK reg) and they will cover it for up to 30 days to allow you to pay the VRT and get an Irish registration. Once you have the Irish registration you just ring your insurance company again and give them that.

lordlame

Any fees transferring money from ptsb to revolut bank a/c?

deezell

Should be none euro to euro. Ptsb transfer amount limits are €5000 per day.

Debub

lordlame wrote: »

Any fees transferring money from ptsb to revolut bank a/c?

None - and it’s instant (it took 2 days from BoI to PTSB tho)

Debub

Ok so we have agreed on a price, dealer wants me to pay a £400 refundable deposit to ‘reserve’ the car and take it off the adverts while they do a few minor identified repairs and after that while I get my Dekra/RAC inspection done. How has this worked for you guys? Is there paperwork to document this or do you just send the money across? What happens if there are a few minor issues? Or if there is a major issue? Dealer looks to be reputable, good website with the actual pictures and bios of the folks I spoke to, and good reviews as well

lordlame

deezell wrote: »

Should be none euro to euro. Ptsb transfer amount limits are €5000 per day.

Thanks - is it really €5000 per day? :E

deezell

lordlame wrote: »

deezell wrote: »

Should be none euro to euro. Ptsb transfer amount limits are €5000 per day.

Thanks - is it really €5000 per day? :E

Probably not if you go to a branch, but I it applies to online transfers. If ptsb is your nominated debit card lodgement source on Revolut it will be €5000 In a day (same as AIB). I think this is all transfers online. I don't know if you can make a swift/iban transfer also like aib using code card reader etc. With aib it's €10k limit using tedious code card as well as the €5k using the direct debit card top up on Revolut, so €15k in a day.
I moved €700 from Ptsb to Aib using Open24 app recently, it took over 12 hours! If you were importing for over €16000 say, you could be 4 days moving it across online.

Batesout

deezell wrote: »

Probably not if you go to a branch, but I it applies to online transfers. If ptsb is your nominated debit card lodgement source on Revolut it will be €5000 In a day (same as AIB). I think this is all transfers online. I don't know if you can make a swift/iban transfer also like aib using code card reader etc. With aib it's €10k limit using tedious code card as well as the €5k using the direct debit card top up on Revolut, so €15k in a day.
I moved €700 from Ptsb to Aib using Open24 app recently, it took over 12 hours! If you were importing for over €16000 say, you could be 4 days moving it across online.

I used Transfer mate for €11000, real easy to use transferred to Transfer mates account ,who then transferred to the Dealers account.

Debub

for PTSB - I was told that I can do a total of €10,000 in a day (€5,000 online and €5,000 by ringing them to transfer). BoI was able to transfer more than €15,000 if I paid a fee of €25 otherwise limited to only €10,000 per day.

Debub

Ok so we have agreed on a price, dealer wants me to pay a £400 refundable deposit to ‘reserve’ the car and take it off the adverts while they do a few minor identified repairs and after that while I get my Dekra/RAC inspection done. How has this worked for you guys? Is there paperwork to document this or do you just send the money across? What happens if there are a few minor issues? Or if there is a major issue? Dealer looks to be reputable, good website with the actual pictures and bios of the folks I spoke to, and good reviews as well

Seamu$

Hi folks, similar query to Debub, am purchasing in the UK, need to pay a £300 deposit to secure the car, garage doesn't accept credit card payment, BOI tell me it will take a day - is there a quicker way to transfer funds e.g Revolut? Thanks

Debub

Seamu$ wrote: »

Hi folks, similar query to Debub, am purchasing in the UK, need to pay a £300 deposit to secure the car, garage doesn't accept credit card payment, BOI tell me it will take a day - is there a quicker way to transfer funds e.g Revolut? Thanks

Yes Revolt is good. You can first transfer from € to £ in your internal Revolut account - then either pay by the using the Revolut card or doing a transfer on the APP

Debub

Seamus - the £300 i guess is a refundable deposit - right? Is the dealer giving that in writing -how are you working that out? What is the next step incase the inspection throws up issues that you have agreed with the dealer?
thanks

Seamu$

Debub wrote: »

Seamus - the £300 i guess is a refundable deposit - right? Is the dealer giving that in writing -how are you working that out? What is the next step incase the inspection throws up issues that you have agreed with the dealer?
thanks

Hi Debub. RAC inspection was done on Monday & was ok, just a few minor issues noted so we agreed a lower price. Just paying a deposit to secure the car now.
Thanks

Seamu$

Debub wrote: »

Yes Revolt is good. You can first transfer from € to £ in your internal Revolut account - then either pay by the using the Revolut card or doing a transfer on the APP

Great, thanks. How long does that process take? i.e. when will funds appear in the Revolut account & then when in the beneficiary account?

Debub

I have PTSB as my main account linked to Revolut.
PTSB to Revolut is instant, subject to a Max of €5000 per day
Revolut € to £ is also instant
£ Revolut to beneficiary account online on the APP is also very quick (as per earlier posts - I have yet to do that myself)
refer - #7921 / #7925 / #7926 / #7957

stargazer 68

Can I use the Revolut to pay my VRT? Car is paid for an in the country - VRT appointment next week. TSB is max 1500 on the debit card so Revolut would work

keane2097

I understand the process with bringing in a car is normally that I would change my current insurance policy to the new car for up to 30 days, and once I have the VRT paid and Irish plates obtained that I then transfer the policy permanently to the new car.

I am not trading my current car in however, so I would like to maintain cover to drive both cars for a couple of weeks so I can move the current car around as necessary, and allow people to test drive it as I intend to put it up for private sale.

I presume 'temporary transfer' of insurance implies that I would be covered to drive the new car and not the current one, but I presume there is a solution to this situation which must occur regularly. Is it simply a case of paying the insurance company a chunk to cover the extra car or anyone know what the usual thing is?

bazz26

The only one who can answer that is your insurance company, some might allow it while some might not.

keane2097

bazz26 wrote: »

The only one who can answer that is your insurance company, some might allow it while some might not.

Yeah I've emailed them, they'll probably ring me back in the morning - it must be a fairly common request so hopefully they'll have some easy solution. I'll post back after in case it's of use to anyone else in future.

Conchy

Just wondering will there be any problem starting a new insurance policy with a car with a UK reg?