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

michellie

Mynameistom wrote: »

When you say 1% decrease is this on whatever they charge for VRT ?

And how much should the OMSP drop by ?

Thanks

In January 2019 there was an increase of 1% for diesel cars on the co2 scale. This is now going to be removed and will be back to 2018 percentages.

Its impossible to say what the OMSP can drop by. I've seen it increase by hundreds in the space of a day unfortunately, it can go up or down, your guess is as good as mine!

michellie

mickdw wrote: »

Whats the delay in getting an appointment now for vrt in general?

Is the phev rebate as it stands disappearing in January?

Definitely quietening down. You should be finding it easier to get appointments soon

Higgins5473

michellie wrote: »

Definitely quietening down. You should be finding it easier to get appointments soon

can't help but think that is because of the exchange rate. you've got wonder about all of the future brexit speculation. GBP is reaching a two year high against EUR. If i was a dealer or an individual buying a high end car, not a huge amount of saving at the moment.

Truckermal

Just a heads up on Eirtrans I used them last week, they provide a fantastic stress free service for collecting a Car!

IdHidden

mickdw wrote: »

Whats the delay in getting an appointment now for vrt in general?

I applied today in Dublin and got an appointment next week.

deezell

Higgins5473 wrote: »

can't help but think that is because of the exchange rate. you've got wonder about all of the future brexit speculation. GBP is reaching a two year high against EUR. If i was a dealer or an individual buying a high end car, not a huge amount of saving at the moment.

Agreed. You can add 17% right now to the sterling price, thats €23,400 for a £20,000 car. €400 expenses and €xxxx VRT, there's little saving except perhaps on the 5+ year old Nox challenged cars, but the clock is ticking on those.

rodge123

Have VRT appointment this Saturday morning, will they supply and fit license plate? Would I be better off getting elsewhere?

Have a mixture of white/black/yellow screw caps on it currently due to UK plate at back.

Sexual Chocolate

rodge123 wrote: »

Have VRT appointment this Saturday morning, will they supply and fit license plate? Would I be better off getting elsewhere?

Have a mixture of white/black/yellow screw caps on it currently due to UK plate at back.

They do supply but you can get your own done as well within 3 days.

deezell

rodge123 wrote: »

Have VRT appointment this Saturday morning, will they supply and fit license plate? Would I be better off getting elsewhere?

Have a mixture of white/black/yellow screw caps on it currently due to UK plate at back.

They will sell you a pair for €25 Afaik, they'll give you double sided tape to stick it on yourself. If you want it screwed on and don't fancy the job, some autoparts shops will oblige, maybe for a nominal fee. Halfords will supply and fit, if there's a branch near you. Look up your local autoparts shop, and call in, always the best option.

rodge123

deezell wrote: »

They will sell you a pair for €25 Afaik, they'll give you double sided tape to stick it on yourself. If you want it screwed on and don't fancy the job, some autoparts shops will oblige, maybe for a nominal fee. Halfords will supply and fit, if there's a branch near you. Look up your local autoparts shop, and call in, always the best option.

Cheers deezell....think I seen someone mentioned plastic vs metal ones here somewhere, can't find the post. Any difference looks / wear wise?

deezell

rodge123 wrote: »

Cheers deezell....think I seen someone mentioned plastic vs metal ones here somewhere, can't find the post. Any difference looks / wear wise?

Some people like the old look metal pressed plates. You can order them online. Very popular especially on German imports, with the Germanic fonts, you know the ones with the split 0, and the open 9. About €39 a pair from Eireplates and others. Wear wise, they dinge easily, especially with a tap of someone's towbar ball, leaving you with a nice round indent. Also the Black can wear through on the numerals depending on the quality of the paint and the severity of the car wash brushes you subject the car to. Looks well though on a black beamer it has to said.
I paid only €20 for a pair of acrylic plates at Clane autoparts in Kildare, including new screws. If you want to diy fit, take off old plate, Tape it to the new one, use the old plate holes to guide your drill bit, about 4-5mm. Your new plate will now use the same holes as the old. I'd advise this especially if the old plate was fitted using the factory threaded mounting posts for the number plates, usually on the rear boot door. If the screws were just threaded into the bumper plastic, then its no big deal if you create new holes in a different position on your new plate.
As an example, Mercedes come with four slightly raised threaded posts in the corners of the rear plate space. If you just drill two spaced hole in the centre of your new plate, then screw them through the metal of the boot lid, apart from exposing bare metal and possible future corrosion, when you tighten down the two screws the plate will turn out at the ends as its stitting on the raised posts. So check whats under the old plate first, metal or plastic, threaded factory posts, or just self tapped holes.

madds

Well I paid a VRT amount of 3,256 euro a few weeks back on a June 2018 530e with MSport Plus and reversing camera as the only additional options, and now want to appeal that figure. Why? Well a mate of mine also brought in a 530e which was first registered in Jan 2019 and has a list of options as long as my arm - heated steering wheel, HUD and enhanced Bluetooth with wireless charging to name but three.

He was charged VRT of 2,817 euro despite his car being newer and having a lot more options. All in all, Revenue valued his options at 8,700 euro. He bought his from a dealer in London for 32k sterling.

I purchased my car for 28,980 sterling in October. How do I go about calculating what I am owed (hopefully) by way of a VRT refund?

Thanks,
Madds

deezell

madds wrote: »

Well I paid a VRT amount of 3,256 euro a few weeks back on a June 2018 530e with MSport Plus and reversing camera as the only additional options, and now want to appeal that figure. Why? Well a mate of mine also brought in a 530e which was first registered in Jan 2019 and has a list of options as long as my arm - heated steering wheel, HUD and enhanced Bluetooth with wireless charging to name but three.

He was charged VRT of 2,817 euro despite his car being newer and having a lot more options. All in all, Revenue valued his options at 8,700 euro. He bought his from a dealer in London for 32k sterling.

I purchased my car for 28,980 sterling in October. How do I go about calculating what I am owed (hopefully) by way of a VRT refund?

Thanks,
Madds

Seems to be 2 OMSP on the site for same car. One with 46 emissions, the other 49. The 49 has OMSP of 52k, the other 62k, theres most of your difference

rodge123

So there is two options in vrt caculator for my car. 500 In the difference.

S Line 40 204PS 4DR AUTO
S Line 40 204PS S-A 4DR AUTO

I’ve no idea what the S-A stands for?
It’s the 500 dearer one!

madds

Thanks Deezell, you're always responsive to queries in this thread. When building my case for the Appeal Officer, is it enough for me to basically say what you have said below and refer them to the UK reg cert where it clearly states CO2 is 46 G/km? Thanks again.

deezell

madds wrote: »

Thanks Deezell, you're always responsive to queries in this thread. When building my case for the Appeal Officer, is it enough for me to basically say what you have said below and refer them to the UK reg cert where it clearly states CO2 is 46 G/km? Thanks again.

The problem is the e530 m sport with the lower 46 emissions is the one coming up with the OMSP of around 10,000 more. At 38% depreciation and 14% VRT this is 10,000 x 0.62 x 0.14 equals a higher VRT of €868.

madds

I see, so the difference I'm seeing between the VRT I've paid and that paid by my mate can be explained by higher OMSP caused by the lower emissions in my car. Fair enough, no point appealing so. Thanks again.

bazz26

I'd say the difference in Co2 figures could be the alloy wheel size. The basic wheel size on the 530e SE would be 17", and 18" on the M Sport version. If the car had larger wheels then it could push the Co2 figure into a higher VRT bracket.

deezell

bazz26 wrote: »

I'd say the difference in Co2 figures could be the alloy wheel size. The basic wheel size on the 530e SE would be 17", and 18" on the M Sport version. If the car had larger wheels then it could push the Co2 figure into a higher VRT bracket.

Except VRT and depreciation are the same for both, it's the OMSP of one is €10k greater than the other, indicating some higher spec of some sort on the 46 emissions model.

mickdw

bazz26 wrote: »

I'd say the difference in Co2 figures could be the alloy wheel size. The basic wheel size on the 530e SE would be 17", and 18" on the M Sport version. If the car had larger wheels then it could push the Co2 figure into a higher VRT bracket.

I think it 19s on msport with 20s on the plus.

mickdw

What is the story with UK dealers.
Are they willing to talk on price at all?
I think I insulted one with an offer 1k under asking.

karl1973

Just a quick note to say thanks to all the contributors on this forum,big thanks to Deezell who answered my questions!

This forum makes importing a lot easier

I ended up buying in the north,there was no moving on the advertised price!

With the exchange rate at the minute and the cost of flights,boat etc i figured i saved a few quid.

Found the vrt calculator good on revenue which was spot on when my wife went to the register the car,she found the whole experience straight forward at greenhills,just arm yourself with ID

Used transferwise which i found excellent.

Biggest thing to remember is to get the V5 and invoice when leaving the garage..

Good luck to all who go down the importing road.

Thanks Again

Buffman

mickdw wrote: »

What is the story with UK dealers.
Are they willing to talk on price at all?
I think I insulted one with an offer 1k under asking.

In my experience of 'car supermarkets' anyway they don't negotiate at all, some of them even charge an 'admin' fee which they don't advertise on Autotrader. Might have a chance with a one-man band type operation.

mickdw

Bmw main dealer.
It's kind of wrong to just give them what they ask. I fully expected an email saying he couldn't do it but would look at a few hundred or something like that.
I rang them, had a chat about car. Got him to send on spec and some other info. I then politely followed with an offer 1k under with deposit immediately subject to travelling early next week. No reply.

Marcusm

mickdw wrote: »

Bmw main dealer.
It's kind of wrong to just give them what they ask. I fully expected an email saying he couldn't do it but would look at a few hundred or something like that.
I rang them, had a chat about car. Got him to send on spec and some other info. I then politely followed with an offer 1k under with deposit immediately subject to travelling early next week. No reply.

Car supermarkets generally price at their price with no movement. Main dealers generally have scope for max movement of 500 or so unless you can show it’s way off market price. U.K. market is different to here, lots of dealer chains, lots of people willing to buy at distance. If you price away from the real price you get no interest whatsoever.

rodge123

mickdw wrote: »

What is the story with UK dealers.
Are they willing to talk on price at all?
I think I insulted one with an offer 1k under asking.

I haggled £750 off an A6 from Audi main dealer recently, still cost me £31k though!
It was hard work!

bazz26

Very hard to get any money off UK dealers unless it's something undesirable. They don't have as much fat built into their asking prices as Irish dealers do as it's expected that you will haggle on the price over here. I know you have no interest in one but the ironic thing is that the dealer would probably listen to your offer more if it were a diesel you were interested in as they are not fashionable in the UK at present so harder to shift. If it's a 530e your interested in then they they will play hardball all day. Might be worth holding tight until closer to the new reg change in March over there where values might drop a bit with PCP and leased cars being traded back in. Of course the flip side is the introduction of the NOx charge here. Plus are they removing the hybrid VRT rebate from January?

mickdw

Ya I'd need to be buying this week coming due to the vrt rebate changes and getting appointment for vrt etc.

User1998

bazz26 wrote: »

are they removing the hybrid VRT rebate from January?

January 2021

mickdw

User1998 wrote: »

January 2021

I'm working on the assumption that it's gone from January on the model I'm.looking at which doesn't have the 50km range as per budget announcement.