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

NIMAN

Is your insurance valid with no tax, should you be involved in a crash?

You know what these insurance companies are like, they'll try to wriggle out of any claim, and an untaxed car might just be the excuse they need.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Hire a transporter to drop you off over the border?

DHFrame

You need car tax. You need to display the uk car tax here in Ireland until you get the car sorted for VRT irish car tax. So you can be penalised impounded in the UK for not having car tax and also in Ireland as well. If you are stopped in ROI without the UK car tax you can also get into some trouble. Tax it, bring it home, get it all sorted and go back to Newry and cash in the UK tax disc. It won't cost you that much to do. Just the petrol time and a small loss on the uk tax refund.

Personally I would risk it but that's me, a risk taker.

SteelyDanJalapeno

I think the benefits of the risk and likely hood of getting away with it far exceed the chances of getting caught.

Quite exciting, it would feel like a movie.

Richard

I wonder is it worth printing off and filling in this form http://www.ncts.ie/pdf/VRTFormFinal%20Version.pdf as well show you can clearly show anyone that you're exporting it?

olewy

TiltedBrain wrote: »

Hire a transporter to drop you off over the border?

Thanks but that would cost more than the price of the yearly NI road tax itself.

olewy

DHFrame wrote: »

You need car tax. You need to display the uk car tax here in Ireland until you get the car sorted for VRT irish car tax. So you can be penalised impounded in the UK for not having car tax and also in Ireland as well. If you are stopped in ROI without the UK car tax you can also get into some trouble. Tax it, bring it home, get it all sorted and go back to Newry and cash in the UK tax disc. It won't cost you that much to do. Just the petrol time and a small loss on the uk tax refund.

Personally I would risk it but that's me, a risk taker.

Thanks DHFrame, my concern is not the cost of the NI road tax (it is refundable after all) but more that in order to tax it it will add an additional owner to the car's history (i.e. the garage's name will be added to car's ownership history). That's according to the dealer at least, I can't confirm this but it makes sense. This will to a certain degree devalue the car I would imagine if/when I come to resell it in years to come.

olewy

Richard wrote: »

I wonder is it worth printing off and filling in this form http://www.ncts.ie/pdf/VRTFormFinal%20Version.pdf as well show you can clearly show anyone that you're exporting it?

Thanks Richard, I'll print it off, fill it in & bring it with me anyway. Can't do any harm in having it.

olewy

To make this conundrum simple & to cover myself does anyone know for sure if the NI dealer/seller taxes the vehicle will the car's history (e.g. on a HPI report) definitely increment by one owner? I assume it would but just want to confirm. I assume though that the V5 document itself wouldn't need to be updated with the dealer's details under the previous owners section, right?

DieselPowered

DHFrame wrote: »

You need car tax. You need to display the uk car tax here in Ireland until you get the car sorted for VRT irish car tax. So you can be penalised impounded in the UK for not having car tax and also in Ireland as well. If you are stopped in ROI without the UK car tax you can also get into some trouble. Tax it, bring it home, get it all sorted and go back to Newry and cash in the UK tax disc. It won't cost you that much to do. Just the petrol time and a small loss on the uk tax refund.

Personally I would risk it but that's me, a risk taker.

What horse crap (or tax crap). ROI does not care if a UK Reg'd car is currently taxed or not, its outside their jurisdiction. I didn't have UK tax on my last import, stopped more then one occasion and the Guard(s) didn't pass one bit of notice to it, just asked when I was getting it VRT'd. The best thing you said was risk it....

There are very few things you can risk anymore and get away with it...this is definitely one of them.

Unrealistic

DieselPowered wrote: »

What horse crap (or tax crap). ROI does not care if a UK Reg'd car is currently taxed or not, its outside their jurisdiction. I didn't have UK tax on my last import, stopped more then one occasion and the Guard(s) didn't pass one bit of notice to it, just asked when I was getting it VRT'd. The best thing you said was risk it....

There are very few things you can risk anymore and get away with it...this is definitely one of them.

It's not crap and it's not outside their jurisdiction. What DHFrame posted is completely accurate; that you can be stopped on either side of the border but you are most likely to get away with it even though you are breaching the law.

It's nice for you that the Gardai didn't bother you about not having tax on a UK registered car but that does not mean the weren't entitled to or it is outside their jurisdiction. If a car registered in one EU country is being driven in any EU country then technically it has to display the tax disc of the home country (if the home country requires a tax disc). The Gardai might not be pushed about enforcing that on UK reg cars driving here but their counterparts in the PSNI have made the news for being very enthusiastic when applying it to Irish cars driving in the North even if tax is only a couple of days out of date.
http://www.derryjournal.com/news/local/rage-as-donegal-drivers-targeted-by-car-tax-clampers-1-2142615

Having said all that if I was buying in the North again I'd still do the same as last time and risk it. But it is a risk because you are technically in breach of the law on both sides of the border.

DHFrame

DieselPowered wrote: »

What horse crap (or tax crap). ROI does not care if a UK Reg'd car is currently taxed or not, its outside their jurisdiction. I didn't have UK tax on my last import, stopped more then one occasion and the Guard(s) didn't pass one bit of notice to it, just asked when I was getting it VRT'd. The best thing you said was risk it....

There are very few things you can risk anymore and get away with it...this is definitely one of them.

Bull****. 1 persons experience now becomes fact. yada yada yada.

olewy

Re VRT inspection and what documents are required, per http://www.ncts.ie/vq3.html

4. Documentation verifying the new registered owner’s name and address (Utility Bill, Bank Statement, please note original documentation will only be accepted and must be no older than 6 months)

I don't have any hard copy original bank statements or Utility Bills, only online bank eStatements & a Eflow eStatements which I can print showing my name & address.

I phoned the VRT booking line on 1890 927 787 & after checking they said eStatements won't be accepted. They advised me to check with Revenue & gave me a phone number for Revenue which turned out to be the VRT Exemptions phone number & is a callback service only.

Has anyone had any issues presenting printed Bank or Utility Bill electronic statements (eStatements) for the VRT inspection before? Tks.

olewy

olewy wrote: »

.....I phoned the VRT booking line on 1890 927 787 & after checking they said eStatements won't be accepted. They advised me to check with Revenue & gave me a phone number for Revenue which turned out to be the VRT Exemptions phone number & is a callback service only....

Update for anyone who is interested;

• After VRT Inspection Bookings fobbed me off by just blankly saying that printed eStatements can't be accepted but not saying why & advising me to phone Revenue by giving me the number for VRT Exemptions (nothing to do with my query, they just gave me a random number to get me off the line).

• Revenue's VRT section nor Revenue's head office in Rosslare couldn't get their head around what an Electronic Statement was, even after dumbing it down & spelling it out for them numerous times :eek: (all done politely of course). So they asked me to phone Revenue's VRT Administration section on 01-6475000.

• Of course 01-6475000 is not Revenue's VRT Administration section so I was transferred to my county's Customs department who of course don't deal with VRT, particularly given that the VRT process was outsourced to NCTS over 3 years ago. Anyway, Custom's opinion was that NCTS shouldn't have fobbed me off or referred me to Revenue given that NCTS are responsible for the VRT Inspection process & that NCTS will just have to accept a printed eStatement (as was my original assumption but which I just needed to confirm in advance to avoid any issues on the day). So that's what I'll do (bring printed eStatements). Phew!

It's amazing how many people in Ireland, particularly in public service bodies, don't understand what an Electronic Statement is, the concept of one, that they can magically be printed or that printing it would somehow result in a hard copy of the eStatement (i.e. on paper).

fishingmad

Hi, I am looking to import a BMW from the UK (from a dealer), how do I go about getting a vehicle check done or is this necessary ? is this organised by dealer and paid for by me ? do i arrange it to be done while I am over there for the day ? , any help would be greatly appreciated, hope to travel in the next week or so.

Unrealistic

fishingmad wrote: »

Hi, I am looking to import a BMW from the UK (from a dealer), how do I go about getting a vehicle check done or is this necessary ? is this organised by dealer and paid for by me ? do i arrange it to be done while I am over there for the day ? , any help would be greatly appreciated, hope to travel in the next week or so.

FWIW I didn't bother when importing a nearly new Ford from a Belfast dealer. It had already had been inspected as part of their FordDirect programme and had a longer remaining warranty period than a new Ford would have if I had bought it here (UK Fords get three years and Irish Fords only get two years and this UK car was less than one year old). BMW has a similar used car approval programme so if the car you are interested in is covered by that you might want to consider relying on it. Otherwise my first port of call would be the AA. I believe you can pay them online and they will send someone around to inspect the car and email a report to you.

Harcrid

Do you mean a car history check or a physical vehicle inspection? I would have both done before travel so that its not a wasted trip. Also any small defects found can be used in the negotiations over the phone before you get there. If you try and haggle when you get there you will get very little off as they know you have already travelled so are unlikely to walk away at that stage.

fishingmad

Thanks Celtxx for your reply, I was going to get a physical vehicle inspection, do you know do I arrange this through dealer ? is it RAC who does this ?

fishingmad

Thanks Realistic, yes there is a long warrenty on it untill Sept of this year, I have never imported before so trying to make sure I have all angles covered.

Bigcheeze

fishingmad wrote: »

Thanks Realistic, yes there is a long warrenty on it untill Sept of this year, I have never imported before so trying to make sure I have all angles covered.

That's not a long warranty. That's the absolute minimum warranty. On a car less than 5 years old, I'd expect 6 months warranty, assuming the manufacturer warranty had expired.

If buying used from a BMW dealer, I wouldn't bother with the history check.

DHFrame

fishingmad wrote: »

Hi, I am looking to import a BMW from the UK (from a dealer), how do I go about getting a vehicle check done or is this necessary ? is this organised by dealer and paid for by me ? do i arrange it to be done while I am over there for the day ? , any help would be greatly appreciated, hope to travel in the next week or so.

For me, it would depend how old it is. And whether its coming from a bmw dealer or not. If it's a 5 year old car and not BMW I would definitely arrange an inspection. You don't have to be there, but put a deposit down on the car first subject to report results. It would be paid by you. You can ask RAC, or whoever you get to ring you and give you an idea. Then you can make arrangements to go over, with a bankers draft for 85 - 90% of the value and the rest cash for negotiation.

Do a cartell (others available in uk) check on the vehicle first, when I was looking I found 3 with issues. 2 were previously written off and one had finance on it.

Hope I helped.

Also, and there is a broad opinion on this but, for some peace of mind, I took my imported 2008 118i into BMW in Kildare and got a full service and used car warranty on it.

fishingmad

All great replies, the BMW is 2010, so would originally have had a 3 yrs manufacture warranty, so would have a 5-7 month warranty left , I am looking at buying it from a Fleet shop with a full BMW service history, I will also get a Cartell check done on the car, still not sure if an inspection is advisable ?

DieselPowered

fishingmad wrote: »

All great replies, the BMW is 2010, so would originally have had a 3 yrs manufacture warranty, so would have a 5-7 month warranty left , I am looking at buying it from a Fleet shop with a full BMW service history, I will also get a Cartell check done on the car, still not sure if an inspection is advisable ?

If its a BMW from a dealer they will usually include a uk equivelent Cartell for free so no real need to pay double for it. You can confirm this with them over the phone. Their second hand used car standards are very high and don't usually need inspections, but pls feel free to have it checked anyway.

What model is the 2010?
Just as a side note you need to be aware of diesel models which have N47 diesel engines between 2008 and 2010.Timing chain issues that wont show up on a cartell report.Google it.

fishingmad

Hi DieselPowered, it is the new shape F10 model , 181 bhp and 1,995cc , regarding the vehicle check , they have sent me a Experian Auto check for the car which shows all clear for no ABI cond / not stolen / not scrapped / original plate etc.

DieselPowered

fishingmad wrote: »

Hi DieselPowered, it is the new shape F10 model , 181 bhp and 1,995cc , regarding the vehicle check , they have sent me a Experian Auto check for the car which shows all clear for no ABI cond / not stolen / not scrapped / original plate etc.

Nice car. Brought one in before.
New shape F10 does not currently have any known N47 timing chain issues so you should be good to go. The dealers auto checks will be the same as the ones you would pay for yourself, but like I said, if you feel happier to get someone else to provide you similar confirmation go ahead. I have used the garage supplied auto checks all the time and never bought extra ones myself.

Thanks.

Altreab

DieselPowered wrote: »

What model is the 2010?
Just as a side note you need to be aware of diesel models which have N47 diesel engines between 2008 and 2010.Timing chain issues that wont show up on a cartell report.Google it.

Do you know If replacing the Timing Chain fixes the problem and there is unlikely to be a re occurance of the problem? I think i read somewhere that when the timing chain is changed that the new parts (as used in the F10) are used.

Somone mentioned that a UAC from BMW Uk will be delivered to a local garage by them... Is this the case?
Altreab

DieselPowered

Altreab wrote: »

Do you know If replacing the Timing Chain fixes the problem and there is unlikely to be a re occurance of the problem? I think i read somewhere that when the timing chain is changed that the new parts (as used in the F10) are used.

Somone mentioned that a UAC from BMW Uk will be delivered to a local garage by them... Is this the case?
Altreab

The replacement timing chains are not in the cars long enough to know if there will be any future damage caused by them. Who knows? They may well be using F10 parts as the engines are very similar in the new models.

UAC ~(Used Approved Cars?) are not normally delivered to a local Irish Garage unless its a local Irish Garage that purchases it for you. Most UK sales from garages are by private individuals. Why would you pay the middle man (garage) extra unless you have a car that you are trading in against it here?

Saying that, I know that some UK dealers will put your car on the ferry, say in Hollyhead and you just have to pick it up from the boat in Dublin, however driving it home from the UK and onto the boat yourself is a wonderful experience :cool:

Thanks.

discombobulate

What are the ferry options for coming back from the UK? I know theres Fishguard and Holyhead. Is there anywhere else in the UK a ferry can be got?

Kotek Besar

discombobulate wrote: »

Is there anywhere else in the UK a ferry can be got?

Liverpool, Fleetwood, Stranraer, Belfast, Larne, Swansea..

Esel

Kotek Besar wrote: »

Liverpool, Fleetwood, Stranraer, Belfast, Larne, Swansea..

You won't be coming back from the UK on a ferry from Belfast or Larne....