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

Debub

So – Dekra check on Tuesday morning, phone call at around 12 and full report by 3pm. On the plane on Wednesday morning, picked up by the dealer at 10:30 and car was being cleaned (final checks) when we reached. A look at the paperwork and coffee and then a short test drive. Final check of the paperwork – dealer did the tax (DD on my Revolut account). I clicked on the pay button on my Revolut app – had another coffee while wee waited for the money to show up on dealer account. In about 7 minutes it showed up on the dealers account and in 8 minutes on my app. Shook hands and was on the road at around 12:30. Unfortunately had booked the 02:40 Pembroke ferry to give me time (and not the earlier 23:00 one from Fishguard) – so had a LOT of time to kill. Landed up spending some more money because of that – some shopping on the way – speakers and headphones and some booze. Uneventful ferry crossing (fairly empty – so had a good snooze lying down on a comfy couch). Exhausting day and a half, but Car is now parked outside the house.
Tried to get a VRT appointment online today – but no available dates are showing up, just a note to try again or ring.

Mynameistom

Shlippery wrote: »

Great day today, met Lexus dealer, royal treatment, Car MOT'd, tax'd, full tank, lil Lexus gift or two, some high quality Lexus water and treats. Revolut bank transfer took couple of mins. Made Ferry in good time. All round straight forward experience.


Trying to lock in VRT appointment now, but can't get anything at all within the '7' days of import window. (well, without leaving Dublin.) Potentially mad busy with October looming or else NCT booking system being a bit unpredictable.

Also, again, couldn't find it with a quick search - but with the plates - how do they determine which county to register the car from? I live in Dub, but from Galway originally. What would I need to swing to get a G reg?

Do you think you saved much ?

Shlippery

Mynameistom wrote: »

Do you think you saved much ?

7 or 8 grand anyways compared to a base spec one in Ireland.

Couldn't find an F-Sport / top spec one over here with low miles (40k) to compare.

aodomhnaill

Shlippery wrote: »

7 or 8 grand anyways compared to a base spec one in Ireland.

Couldn't find an F-Sport / top spec one over here with low miles (40k) to compare.

Up that potentially up to a grand the way sterling is performing. wtf.

colm_mcm

deezell wrote: »

You can also just leave the UK plates on (for 3 days give or take) until you have the tax disk in your hands, so you can park on the street without worry. Stick a print out of online tax receipt in the window. Only a knob would give you a ticket in this case, as he's just wasting everyone's time cancelling it all later.
Back in the day, there was a virtual chap called Reginald, and every January there could be hundreds of new cars, untaxed of course, driving around with cardboard plates festooned with the promise, "FOR REG". Lucky guy, and yet another extinct bit of another Ireland.

Every October onwards in preparation for January as I remember it!

Esel

colm_mcm wrote: »

Every October onwards in preparation for January as I remember it!

Reg who?

Reg Armstrong!

aodomhnaill

Picking up car next Saturday, got VIN from dealer and have a choice of any day for NCT/VRT. Is there any benefit to leaving the NCT/VRT booking for as close to the 30 day limit as possible?

Brenty

"So – Dekra check on Tuesday morning, phone call at around 12 and full report by 3pm. On the plane on Wednesday morning, picked up by the dealer at 10:30 and car was being cleaned (final checks) when we reached. A look at the paperwork and coffee and then a short test drive. Final check of the paperwork – dealer did the tax (DD on my Revolut account). I clicked on the pay button on my Revolut app – had another coffee while wee waited for the money to show up on dealer account. In about 7 minutes it showed up on the dealers account and in 8 minutes on my app. Shook hands and was on the road at around 12:30. Unfortunately had booked the 02:40 Pembroke ferry to give me time (and not the earlier 23:00 one from Fishguard) – so had a LOT of time to kill. Landed up spending some more money because of that – some shopping on the way – speakers and headphones and some booze. Uneventful ferry crossing (fairly empty – so had a good snooze lying down on a comfy couch). Exhausting day and a half, but Car is now parked outside the house.
Tried to get a VRT appointment online today – but no available dates are showing up, just a note to try again or ring."

Went smoothly so!! Did you also pay for the car using your Revolut? Is there a maximum amount you can transfer using your revolut in UK?

deezell

aodomhnaill wrote: »

Picking up car next Saturday, got VIN from dealer and have a choice of any day for NCT/VRT. Is there any benefit to leaving the NCT/VRT booking for as close to the 30 day limit as possible?

Avoid tolls maybe, parking fines. You normally have to pay road tax for the month of the VRT/registration appointment. (you can declare it off road mid month also at this time) I'm not sure if you have to pay the previous month's road tax for the 30 days earlier month of import. Say import on the 3nd, VRT the following month on the 1st, a months free road tax?

bazz26

With the onslaught of importing going on before Oct 31st and demand for VRT appointments being very high as a result, I certainly wouldn't be dithering with waiting until the 30 days are up, just to defer the inevitable VRT bill anyway.

michellie

aodomhnaill wrote: »

Picking up car next Saturday, got VIN from dealer and have a choice of any day for NCT/VRT. Is there any benefit to leaving the NCT/VRT booking for as close to the 30 day limit as possible?

That depends. What make, model & year is it?

Debub

Brenty wrote: »

"So – Dekra check on Tuesday morning, phone call at around 12 and full report by 3pm. On the plane on Wednesday morning, picked up by the dealer at 10:30 and car was being cleaned (final checks) when we reached. A look at the paperwork and coffee and then a short test drive. Final check of the paperwork – dealer did the tax (DD on my Revolut account). I clicked on the pay button on my Revolut app – had another coffee while wee waited for the money to show up on dealer account. In about 7 minutes it showed up on the dealers account and in 8 minutes on my app. Shook hands and was on the road at around 12:30. Unfortunately had booked the 02:40 Pembroke ferry to give me time (and not the earlier 23:00 one from Fishguard) – so had a LOT of time to kill. Landed up spending some more money because of that – some shopping on the way – speakers and headphones and some booze. Uneventful ferry crossing (fairly empty – so had a good snooze lying down on a comfy couch). Exhausting day and a half, but Car is now parked outside the house.
Tried to get a VRT appointment online today – but no available dates are showing up, just a note to try again or ring."

Went smoothly so!! Did you also pay for the car using your Revolut? Is there a maximum amount you can transfer using your revolut in UK?

Yes - used Revolut to pay for the car, transferred money on the APP to the dealers account. No limit (or a very high limit) as far as I know, as it’s a U.K. bank to U.K. bank transfer. There is a limit on converting the Euro to Pound with zero fees though

deezell

Yes - used Revolut to pay for the car, transferred money on the APP to the dealers account. No limit (or a very high limit) as far as I know, as it’s a U.K. bank to U.K. bank transfer. There is a limit on converting the Euro to Pound with zero fees though

You can change €6000 month free, so two exchanges at start and end of two months gets you €12000 fee free, which might be the greater part of your needs. Alternatively pay €6.99 month for a premium account, no fees and other perks added.

aodomhnaill

michellie wrote: »

That depends. What make, model & year is it?

BMW 320D M Sport Touring 2017

limnam

Debub wrote: »

So – Dekra check on Tuesday morning, phone call at around 12 and full report by 3pm. On the plane on Wednesday morning, picked up by the dealer at 10:30 and car was being cleaned (final checks) when we reached. A look at the paperwork and coffee and then a short test drive. Final check of the paperwork – dealer did the tax (DD on my Revolut account). I clicked on the pay button on my Revolut app – had another coffee while wee waited for the money to show up on dealer account. In about 7 minutes it showed up on the dealers account and in 8 minutes on my app. Shook hands and was on the road at around 12:30. Unfortunately had booked the 02:40 Pembroke ferry to give me time (and not the earlier 23:00 one from Fishguard) – so had a LOT of time to kill. Landed up spending some more money because of that – some shopping on the way – speakers and headphones and some booze. Uneventful ferry crossing (fairly empty – so had a good snooze lying down on a comfy couch). Exhausting day and a half, but Car is now parked outside the house.
Tried to get a VRT appointment online today – but no available dates are showing up, just a note to try again or ring.

Does the car place have to have revoult or is that quick from revoult to any bank account or?

Mitch Buchannon

limnam wrote: »

Does the car place have to have revoult or is that quick from revoult to any bank account or?

No they don’t have to have Revolut. I did it on Thursday from my Revolut to a regular UK bank account and it went through in a few minutes.

One thing though... I hadn’t re verified my Revolut account. So I had to do that first before the transfer would go through. If you haven’t done it, do it prior to going over. It will save you time and some panic as to why the transfer isn’t going through.

Edit to add: At 10:49 I got the first email saying transfer has been submitted and at 10:52 I got second email confirming the transfer had been executed.

limnam

Mitch Buchannon wrote: »

No they don’t have to have Revolut. I did it on Thursday from my Revolut to a regular UK bank account and it went through in a few minutes.

One thing though... I hadn’t re verified my Revolut account. So I had to do that first before the transfer would go through. If you haven’t done it, do it prior to going over. It will save you time and some panic as to why the transfer isn’t going through.

Edit to add: At 10:49 I got the first email saying transfer has been submitted and at 10:52 I got second email confirming the transfer had been executed.

Thanks for the advice

by verify you mean verify identity or?

Mitch Buchannon

limnam wrote: »

Thanks for the advice

by verify you mean verify identity or?

Yeah, there is a section in the app where you verify your identity.

From the app:
Go to 'Profile' under the 'Dashboard' section of our app, tap 'Personal details', and verify your identity. You will need to take a picture of a valid government-issued photo ID and a picture of your face.

deezell

Mitch Buchannon wrote: »

limnam wrote: »

Thanks for the advice

by verify you mean verify identity or?

Yeah, there is a section in the app where you verify your identity.

From the app:
Go to 'Profile' under the 'Dashboard' section of our app, tap 'Personal details', and verify your identity. You will need to take a picture of a valid government-issued photo ID and a picture of your face.

I'm not seeing that on my app. There's a little camera icon next to the icon for a photo, but no text with 'verify identity'. The first time I transferred across large funds for car purchase, I had correspondence from them and a message saying my account was temporarily restricted but it was to do with money laundering rules, they wanted scans of payslips and bank statements. Before I could organise that I got a message saying my fund source credentials were verified, and my account was now unrestricted.
On the Revolut community board and Reddit there's blogs where many people are saying they can't get the App to take more than one image of an id card, they're stuck in verify id mode etc. Maybe ask live support first if its absolutely necessary.
There's been a change in ID requirements as Revolut move their banking licence out of Brexit threatened UK to EU, the EU licences requirements are stiffer. What a mess for the Brits.

limnam

deezell wrote: »

I'm not seeing that on my app. There's a little camera icon next to the icon for a photo, but no text with 'verify identity'. The first time I transferred across large funds for car purchase, I had correspondence from them and a message saying my account was temporarily restricted but it was to do with money laundering rules, they wanted scans of payslips and bank statements. Before I could organise that I got a message saying my fund source credentials were verified, and my account was now unrestricted.
On the Revolut community board and Reddit there's blogs where many people are saying they can't get the App to take more than one image of an id card, they're stuck in verify id mode etc. Maybe ask live support first if its absolutely necessary.
There's been a change in ID requirements as Revolut move their banking licence out of Brexit threatened UK to EU, the EU licences requirements are stiffer. What a mess for the Brits.

Not sure exactly how I got into it. But I verified with pic of passport and a selfie. I think it popped up during the signing up stage

Debub

limnam wrote: »

Not sure exactly how I got into it. But I verified with pic of passport and a selfie. I think it popped up during the signing up stage

I had to do this when I was opening my account, this is to verify that you are you

limnam

Debub wrote: »

I had to do this when I was opening my account, this is to verify that you are you

Sure. The question is. Is there anymore to account verification as mentioned above.





e.g. if someone who's done this can then go ahead and xfer 50k without any "blocks"

stargazer 68

Slightly off topic but I went through the M50 toll yesterday. Car is going for VRT appointment next week. I assume I just enter the UK reg into the flow site to pay the toll?

Batesout

Dovies wrote: »

Slightly off topic but I went through the M50 toll yesterday. Car is going for VRT appointment next week. I assume I just enter the UK reg into the flow site to pay the toll?

Yes

Debub

limnam wrote: »

Sure. The question is. Is there anymore to account verification as mentioned above.





e.g. if someone who's done this can then go ahead and xfer 50k without any "blocks"

I am a newbie to Revolut, but I had no trouble transferring about 12k (GBP) in one go to the sellers U.K. account - took about 7/8 minutes

lordlame

Vrt came in €1500 / €1600 less than what cartell.ie’s vrt calculation advised

I was excited when I seen the difference and said that’s grand it was coming in higher online; she went through the V5 etc again but thankfully it stuck

deezell

lordlame wrote: »

Vrt came in €1500 / €1600 less than what cartell.ie’s vrt calculation advised

I was excited when I seen the difference and said that’s grand it was coming in higher online; she went through the V5 etc again but thankfully it stuck

You would have been sick as a parrot if it was €1600 the other way. And you PAID cartell for a figure they plucked out of their arse.
A warning to all. Use the FREE revenue VRT calculator, and make sure your data is accurate. If in doubt about model spec, ring UK garage and ask for emissions (or use DVLA site free for this and date of reg), and exact model name as recorded on the V5C. This is the only one that counts. There is no point insisting to revenue that your model is an SE say as on the UK ad, when the V5C says Sport plus or something, with an extra 5 grand OMSP.

Shlippery

Quick one for ye..

Did the VRT today. Feel like I've overpaid based on the VRT Calc online and considering appealing. Is there much rate of success?

It's a Lexus CT200h, F Sport .

They charged €1622; (Statistical Code; 40387336)
Make: Lexus
Model: CT
Version: 200H F Sport CVT 5DR AUTO

but I'd been expecting something like this ..41887336 (€1,169)

Make: Lexus
Model: CT200h
Version: 1.8 F-SPORT E-CVT (136BHP) 5DR

-

It's still cheaper than last car I imported for sure, just a bit peeved seeing the two different options in the Calculator for the _same_ car.

Any grounds to appeal for the sake of €500 and differences in their OSMP or let it slide?


V5 says 'CT200h F Sport CVT'

deezell

You've nothing to lose. Unless there's an E-CVT version out there on a V5C form, which might explain it.

at9qu5vp0wcix7

Shlippery wrote: »

Quick one for ye..

Did the VRT today. Feel like I've overpaid based on the VRT Calc online and considering appealing. Is there much rate of success?

It's a Lexus CT200h, F Sport .

They charged €1622; (Statistical Code; 40387336)
Make: Lexus
Model: CT
Version: 200H F Sport CVT 5DR AUTO

but I'd been expecting something like this ..41887336 (€1,169)

Make: Lexus
Model: CT200h
Version: 1.8 F-SPORT E-CVT (136BHP) 5DR

-

It's still cheaper than last car I imported for sure, just a bit peeved seeing the two different options in the Calculator for the _same_ car.

Any grounds to appeal for the sake of €500 and differences in their OSMP or let it slide?


V5 says 'CT200h F Sport CVT'

What are the emissions they claim your car has Vs what is on the V5?