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

sfwcork

What if the car was taxed for 12 months before you bought it?

The reason for me asking is that I was hoping to delay paying VRT while saving for it

aujopimur

UK road tax is not valid in Ireland, if you go to the Revenue/VRT website it will show exactly what you can and cannot do, and the procedure for importing cars.
Bare in mind if your caught, your car can be confiscated on the spot.

rocky

sfwcork wrote: »

What if the car was taxed for 12 months before you bought it?

The reason for me asking is that I was hoping to delay paying VRT while saving for it

You can't afford it if you can't pay for the VRT
Wait until you saved the money, then buy...

Harcrid

leedslad wrote: »

What's to gain by not registering the import within 30 days? Did i not read somewhere that you have to produce the original bill of sale for the import when presenting for VRT inspection at NCT centre?
So how does it benefit anyone to be driving the car around for 6/9 months and putting an extra 20k on the clock? Ok the car is a year older or whatever and has an extra 20k on the clock, which in theory would make the import cheaper if it wasn't for the fact that the date of purchase has to be proven.
Am i missing something?

Personally I would not even dream of delaying it and when I buy from the UK I make sure I have the money to pay the VRT immediately. Some people delay paying it because they have not got the money yet or else they are waiting as long as they can so they pay less VRT due to the age an mileage increasing.

The proof of purchase required by the NCT centre can often just be a handwritten piece if paper that cant be verified, especially if it was a private sale. So a person could write a receipt themselves and change the sale date to whatever suits them. Now you are supposed to also provide a ferry receipt to back this up but I dont think this is stricly enforced in a lot of NCT centres.

jjmcclure

Celtxx wrote: »

Personally I would not even dream of delaying it and when I buy from the UK I make sure I have the money to pay the VRT immediately. Some people delay paying it because they have not got the money yet or else they are waiting as long as they can so they pay less VRT due to the age an mileage increasing.

The proof of purchase required by the NCT centre can often just be a handwritten piece if paper that cant be verified, especially if it was a private sale. So a person could write a receipt themselves and change the sale date to whatever suits them. Now you are supposed to also provide a ferry receipt to back this up but I dont think this is stricly enforced in a lot of NCT centres.

There is no ferry from NI to the republic! And before some smart arse says it I know there are some short hops from Donegal to Derry etc!

djPSB

What's the best website for finding cars in the UK?

Sobanek

djPSB wrote: »

What's the best website for finding cars in the UK?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk

djPSB

Is anybody familiar with the car ferry routes from the UK to Ireland.

Is it just Holyhead to Dublin?

Is there a Liverpool to Dublin car ferry?

djPSB

http://www.motors.co.uk/vehicledetailsview.aspx?carid=32234923&shortlist=true

If I am using the VRT calculator correctly, it appears that the VRT on a car like this is approx. €2,000 to €2,500.

Meaning you have the car back in Ireland with all expenses paid for €15,000.

Not bad value.

rocky

For a 5 year old diesel golf? no thanks

djPSB

rocky wrote: »

For a 5 year old diesel golf? no thanks

High spec for what you'd get here though.

What would you recommend for €15,000?

rocky

What's high spec about it, still has the basic aircon, no MFSW, sunroof, manual...

for 15k I'd get a petrol. For any money I'd get a petrol...

djPSB

rocky wrote: »

What's high spec about it, still has the basic aircon, no MFSW, sunroof, manual...

for 15k I'd get a petrol. For any money I'd get a petrol...

Most of my driving is motorway driving.

Have to go for a diesel.

rocky

Not the thread for this, but how many km do you do a year? You should be able to get a 2008 GTI for 10k now, lots of fuel in 5k

Marcusm

rocky wrote: »

Not the thread for this, but how many km do you do a year? You should be able to get a 2008 GTI for 10k now, lots of fuel in 5k

The GTI would be a lot more powerful too - that's a 138bhp TDI. GT relates more to spec than engine at that level.

djPSB

Cheers for the advice lads.

Wouldn't know as much about this craic as ye would so much appreciated.

Just stumbled across the Volvo C30.

http://www.motors.co.uk/vehicledetailsview.aspx?carid=32128275&shortlist=true

Have to say, I like the look of it myself but ye might more about it than I do.

2008 GTI in Ireland seems to cost in around €13,000.

I drive about 15,000 miles a year. I hope to keep the car for 4 or 5 years.

I estimate a diesel GT would save me about €4,000 over a petrol GTI on fuel costs over 5 years.

djPSB

When one does decide to buy in the UK for high spec, is there certain things that the car must have before you would buy it?

i.e would you only buy a car if it has built in blue tooth etc.

The_Conductor

djPSB wrote: »

When one does decide to buy in the UK for high spec, is there certain things that the car must have before you would buy it?

i.e would you only buy a car if it has built in blue tooth etc.

Bluetooth? I really couldn't give a toss. A good onboard computer with easy controls, alongside cruise control, a decent climate control/AC system and actual driveability- no point in having some gadget ridden car that is crap to drive. A sports gearbox would be very attractive to me. Bluetooth- definitely not. Some cars suit some people, but not others- I hate the turning arch in Mercedes- and wouldn't drive one if you paid me to, I hate the standard gear box on Renaults and Volvos etc. Once you've driven a few different marques- there are some features that will appeal to you that might not feature anywhere near the top of your list until you've actually had the opportunity to experience them.

Esel

djPSB wrote: »

Is anybody familiar with the car ferry routes from the UK to Ireland.

Is it just Holyhead to Dublin?

Is there a Liverpool to Dublin car ferry?

Holyhead - Dun Laoighre

Liverpool - Dublin

Liverpool - Belfast

Stranraer - Larne

Cairnryan - Larne

Pembroke - Rosslare

You can also double-hop via Isle of Man.

Kotek Besar

Esel wrote: »

Holyhead - Dun Laoighre

Liverpool - Dublin

Liverpool - Belfast

Stranraer - Larne

Cairnryan - Larne

Pembroke - Rosslare

You can also double-hop via Isle of Man.

Half of those are domestic UK journeys.

As a general rule, if you're sailing to Ireland from Southern Britain, look at Fishguard / Pembroke to Rosslare, otherwise Holyhead to Dublin is usually better. From Scotland, however, it may be better to sail domestically to Larne or Belfast and then enter Ireland over land.

NIMAN

What sort of money are you talking about to bring a car back in a ferry?

KD11

NIMAN wrote: »

What sort of money are you talking about to bring a car back in a ferry?

Doing the Holyhead-Dublin route for around 130 euro on Tuesday. It varies day to day and what time you're willing to cross at.

KD11

I'm bringing in a 08 Audi a4 se this week. The vrt is coming to 2577 euro. The car has a couple decent extras though like the bang and olufsen speakers. Does anyone know how much extra it's going to cost? Or do they even care about extras.

michellie

KD11 wrote: »

I'm bringing in a 08 Audi a4 se this week. The vrt is coming to 2577 euro. The car has a couple decent extras though like the bang and olufsen speakers. Does anyone know how much extra it's going to cost? Or do they even care about extras.

Its over 4 years old, so it won't be based on the extras.:D

KD11

michellie wrote: »

Its over 4 years old, so it won't be based on the extras.:D

Nice!
Thanks

Kace

KD11 wrote: »

I'm bringing in a 08 Audi a4 se this week. The vrt is coming to 2577 euro. The car has a couple decent extras though like the bang and olufsen speakers. Does anyone know how much extra it's going to cost? Or do they even care about extras.

The B&O is sweet - enjoy !!

Re the VRT payment. Make sure that if you are getting a bank draft - make it out for a couple of hundred less than the VRT estimate, so that you can pay the difference in cash / credit card.

My bank draft (based upon the online VRT calculator) was €140 odd Euro more than the actual VRT calculated by revenue. The NCT Centre won't accept the draft if it 1c more than the required amount. This little nugget cost me an extra trip to the bank and to the dreaded NCT Centre.

NIMAN

Can you not go to the centre, get them to give you the VRT cost, then go to the bank and get the money?

Unrealistic

NIMAN wrote: »

Can you not go to the centre, get them to give you the VRT cost, then go to the bank and get the money?

Yes, you can, but it's an extra journey.

Esel

djPSB wrote: »

Is anybody familiar with the car ferry routes from the UK to Ireland.

Is it just Holyhead to Dublin?

Is there a Liverpool to Dublin car ferry?

Esel wrote: »

Holyhead - Dun Laoighre

Liverpool - Dublin

Liverpool - Belfast

Stranraer - Larne

Cairnryan - Larne

Pembroke - Rosslare

You can also double-hop via Isle of Man.

Kotek Besar wrote: »

Half of those are domestic UK journeys.

The question asked was UK to Ireland. The answer I gave was accurate.

This is not the Politics forum...

NIMAN

Unrealistic wrote: »

Yes, you can, but it's an extra journey.

True, its just that my NCT centre and bank are about 2 miles apart!

Can I just get something straight, is it the normal NCT centre staff who do the valuation on an import? The guys who test the cars?

I paid VRT on an import approx 3yrs ago but had to do a round trip of approx 150miles to my main tax/revenue office to do it. Since then the NCT took over the process, but I have never read up on it much but assume its just the normal staff who make a decision on the VRT amount?