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

HJL

Was there a new rule introduced last week where you have to NCT the car before you can tax it?
Is that in now or after Jan?

copacetic

HJL wrote: »

Was there a new rule introduced last week where you have to NCT the car before you can tax it?
Is that in now or after Jan?

it's for 2010.

lafors

Lads, whats your opinions on garages that have RAC/HPI/Mileage checks performed already, eg....... this one?

patrickc

quick question, do you have to present the car at the vrt office? even if it's not a high spec car? if you had the logbook and said you wanted to get the plates to collect the car up north would that work?

The_Conductor

patrickc wrote: »

quick question, do you have to present the car at the vrt office? even if it's not a high spec car? if you had the logbook and said you wanted to get the plates to collect the car up north would that work?

It has to be available to be inspected. It doesn't mean they will inspect it- but you will probably be asked can they view it- and if you say yes, they may simply ask you to point at it- whereas if you say no- I guess they will most probably want to see it.......

cooper38

UK car import money saving tips

FREE RAC
You can get your car dealer to throw in a free RAC which is worth asking for as otherwise it would cost approx 200 pounds.

Currency
shop around banks and contact www.currency.ie for the best exchange rate.

VRT
If the vrt you pay is more than you think you should have paid walk back into the vrt office with a print out of what the car is selling for on carzone and they will refund you.

oddone

cooper38 wrote: »

UK car import money saving tips

VRT
If the vrt you pay is more than you think you should have paid walk back into the vrt office with a print out of what the car is selling for on carzone and they will refund you.

Carzone, really!

I heard the opposite that simple print outs of carsites would not be acceptable.

They might be willing to take a look at a quote from a registered dealership alright, that's what I have been informed.

Would be great if someone could clarify this, cheers.

Esel

cooper38 wrote: »

UK car import money saving tips

FREE RAC
You can get your car dealer to throw in a free RAC which is worth asking for as otherwise it would cost approx 200 pounds.

Currency
shop around banks and contact www.currency.ie for the best exchange rate.

VRT
If the vrt you pay is more than you think you should have paid walk back into the vrt office with a print out of what the car is selling for on carzone and they will refund you.

I am intrigued by your post and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. :pac:

You can only appeal the VRT amount after paying it.

lafors

cooper38 wrote: »

UK car import money saving tips

FREE RAC
You can get your car dealer to throw in a free RAC which is worth asking for as otherwise it would cost approx 200 pounds.

Currency
shop around banks and contact www.currency.ie for the best exchange rate.

VRT
If the vrt you pay is more than you think you should have paid walk back into the vrt office with a print out of what the car is selling for on carzone and they will refund you.

Have you been talking to your "mates down the pub"??
First 2, fair enough I'd agree, the last, no way Jose!

trabpc

We just bought a new 2005 accord up north, 2.2 exec.

I believe if I wait till Jan ill get vrt for €3666

Or do it now for €4163

If I wait till Jan Will they look for proof of date I bought the car up North?

If We can save €500 ill park it for 3 weeks.

She does not mind waiting till Jan before she drives it.

niceirishfella

trabpc wrote: »

We just bought a new 2005 accord up north, 2.2 exec.

I believe if I wait till Jan ill get vrt for €3666

Or do it now for €4163

If I wait till Jan Will they look for proof of date I bought the car up North?

If We can save €500 ill park it for 3 weeks.

She does not mind waiting till Jan before she drives it.

keep it off the public highway till jan.
declare it then and enjoy the savings.:)

cooper38

Hi Lafors
No, this came from the horses mouth at the vrt office when we were in a few weeks ago. She said that was the way to do it and that it is done all the time.

way too complicated for the pub

lafors

I've been using AutoTrader UK with a postcode of M11AA and searching national. I've found a few cars I'm interested in but would like to check other places too.
Anyone have recommendations on which sites to look for cars in the UK?

niceirishfella

exchangeandmart.co.uk

lafors

cooper38 wrote: »

Hi Lafors
No, this came from the horses mouth at the vrt office when we were in a few weeks ago. She said that was the way to do it and that it is done all the time.

way too complicated for the pub

I'm not saying I don't believe you but from doing my research on importing (which I'm hopefully doing soon), there is an official appeals process which can onlybe applied for after paying the VRT and needs official prices from dealers.

Did you manage to appeal successfully? Get anything off?
For the cars I've been looking at the VRT/OMSP seems close enough to what it should be, though I'll be checking constantly until I get it. There doesn't seem to be many of the car I want on carzone here, so will have to go visit some dealers.

Kotek Besar

lafors wrote: »

Anyone have recommendations on which sites to look for cars in the UK?

Depends what you're looking for. If you're looking for new/nearly new, I'd highly recommend Motorpoint, where I recently paid over £1500 less for my 1 month old Corsa than other dealerships were asking.

There's a Motorpoint in Newport, South Wales. You can be over and back in a day.

yellabelly

I bought here http://www.thecarpeople.co.uk/ and found them very good

Farls

cooper38 wrote: »

UK car import money saving tips

VRT
If the vrt you pay is more than you think you should have paid walk back into the vrt office with a print out of what the car is selling for on carzone and they will refund you.

Has anybody here actually challenged this?? I imported a vehicle in April of this year which was written off in an accident soon after (drunk driver!! :mad: )

My story is that the OMSP for the vehicle is 37k on the revenue website but I have a statement from the insurance companies accessor placing the vehicle at 24k!!!

How would I go about challenging this?

hefty_langer

trabpc wrote: »

We just bought a new 2005 accord up north, 2.2 exec.

I believe if I wait till Jan ill get vrt for €3666

Or do it now for €4163

If I wait till Jan Will they look for proof of date I bought the car up North?

If We can save €500 ill park it for 3 weeks.

She does not mind waiting till Jan before she drives it.

I'm picking up a new car next week and was wondering the same, if I leave it parked up over christmas does the VRT really come down that much? Did you get that from the Revenue site?

Cheers

trabpc

Well I used the VRT website accesed on DEC 2 2008 and

picked dec 04 car came in around €3600 (4yr old car)

Picked Jan 05 car came in around €4100 (3yr old car)

Picked Dec 05 car also €4100 (still 3yr old car)

So according to my calculations it does not matter what month. It's the calender year that counts. In jan our new Accord will be 4 yrs old so vrt €3600 insted of €4100 if i pay now. thats €500 towards the tax.

copacetic

trabpc wrote: »

Well I used the VRT website accesed on DEC 2 2008 and

picked dec 04 car came in around €3600 (4yr old car)

Picked Jan 05 car came in around €4100 (3yr old car)

Picked Dec 05 car also €4100 (still 3yr old car)

So according to my calculations it does not matter what month. It's the calender year that counts. In jan our new Accord will be 4 yrs old so vrt €3600 insted of €4100 if i pay now. thats €500 towards the tax.

That doesn't make any sense, on a certain fixed date, you checked different age cars, of course they will vary depending on year car was first regged. i.e an 04 car is worth much less than an 05.

Your car isn't changing year in January, it will only be a month older.

trabpc

copacetic wrote: »

That doesn't make any sense, on a certain fixed date, you checked different age cars, of course they will vary depending on year car was first regged. i.e an 04 car is worth much less than an 05.

Your car isn't changing year in January, it will only be a month older.

do it your self revenue web site pick an exec accord. make sure to pick same car different year same as what i did each time and see what results you get?

copacetic

trabpc wrote: »

do it your self revenue web site pick an exec accord. make sure to pick same car different year same as what i did each time and see what results you get?

but thats my point, your car isn't changing years next month. i.e if your car is an 05 it is still an 05 in Jan, it isn't morphing into an 04, so your check is worthless imo

It'll be worth a little less, just not as much less as you think

trabpc

DATE: 05 December 2008 TIME: 13:59
________________________________________
STATISTICAL CODE: 41286356
MAKE: HONDA
MODEL: ACCORD 2.2I (Sept. 2003 - Dec. 2005)
VERSION: CTDI EXECUTIVE 04DR / SALOON / MANUAL / DIESEL /
CO2 EMISSIONS: 143
MILEAGE: 40000 MILES
DATE OF FIRST REGISTRATION: FEBRUARY 2005
________________________________________
OPEN MARKET SELLING PRICE: €20818
RATE OF TAX: 20%
VEHICLE REGISTRATION TAX:
(payable on enquiry date) €4163







DATE: 05 December 2008 TIME: 14:01
________________________________________
STATISTICAL CODE: 41286356
MAKE: HONDA
MODEL: ACCORD 2.2I (Sept. 2003 - Dec. 2005)
VERSION: CTDI EXECUTIVE 04DR / SALOON / MANUAL / DIESEL /
CO2 EMISSIONS: 143
MILEAGE: 40000 MILES
DATE OF FIRST REGISTRATION: DECEMBER 2005
________________________________________
OPEN MARKET SELLING PRICE: €20818
RATE OF TAX: 20%
VEHICLE REGISTRATION TAX:
(payable on enquiry date) €4163








DATE: 05 December 2008 TIME: 14:02
________________________________________
STATISTICAL CODE: 41286356
MAKE: HONDA
MODEL: ACCORD 2.2I (Sept. 2003 - Dec. 2005)
VERSION: CTDI EXECUTIVE 04DR / SALOON / MANUAL / DIESEL /
CO2 EMISSIONS: 143
MILEAGE: 40000 MILES
DATE OF FIRST REGISTRATION: DECEMBER 2004
________________________________________
OPEN MARKET SELLING PRICE: €18332
RATE OF TAX: 20%
VEHICLE REGISTRATION TAX:
(payable on enquiry date) €3666

copacetic

ok, i give up. you are comparing different age cars, i.e different dates of first registration. Your cars first registration date isn't changing in Jan.

The_Conductor

The example given also has the incorrect OMSP in Revenue's online calculator.

trabpc

From where I am standin today 5 dec 2008 an accord with a dec 2004 date of reg gets €3666 rate

the same car in with a Feb 2005 date 3ys old gets €4163 vrt even though there is only 2 months between them

to prove the point a Dec 2005 still 3yrs old still gets €4163 enen though there is 11 month between this and last car its still the same rate. only when you select the year does it matter.

We are not going to VRT honda till Jan 09 so therefore it will be 4 yrs old when i access the revenue site and it will be €3666 in Jan as opposed to 4163 now.

By the way the honda we are buying is a feb 2005 model


€497 saving for waiting 3 weeks ( or am I missing something) I don't think I am

trabpc

smccarrick wrote: »

The example given also has the incorrect OMSP in Revenue's online calculator.

what does this mean Do I get revenue to change there OMSP.

I though these were fixed!

trabpc

copacetic wrote: »

ok, i give up. you are comparing different age cars, i.e different dates of first registration. Your cars first registration date isn't changing in Jan.

No but im proving the point that in Jan 09 my accord will be 4yrs old. If I vrt it now it will be 3yrs old.does not take into account the months

Im only using different age cars to prove the point that from Dec one year to Jan the next year there is a big Difference in price. in my case €497 wheras as within the one year Jan-Dec it stays the same!

coghlac3

Am going to London on Saturday to complete the purchase of my car. What documentation should the seller be giving me when everything is done and dusted. I want to email him in advance to tell him what I am expecting.

Cheers,
C