Foreign Cars in Ireland

johnnyrotten

I am interesed in everyone opinion on the following?
There are a lot of cars driving around with reg's from Lithuania, Latvia , Poland etc.
A mate of mine bought a car in Armagh and was hassled for a few weeks by the Gardai to have it re-registered here. Why are'nt these migrant workers made do the same. I know of a family that are here about 2 1/2 years and still have the Lithuania Reg.
Also are these cars Insured back home? If so how would the third party be fixed if involved in an accident?

Cheers

JR

Guy:Incognito

I'd say they dont want the hassle (the Gards) . AFAIK its the customs problem anyway.

TBH its easily sorted. The reg should be logged at point of entry (or by the first gard that pulls them over) then if each gard that pulls them, or questions them at a checkpoint logs the reg, if they havnt got it re-registered inside a month, they impound the car till vrt is paid, simple.

Sizzler

Mate, dont get me started on this.

I was so miffed about this very subject I wrote to my local TD and (fair play) he corresponded with The Dept of Justice & Transport AND Environment on my behalf and raised the query....here's the gas part ! The long and short of it is the Gardai dont have any powers to reprimand these guys as theres an assumption that the cars are taxed and insured in another eu state...hence they are allowed to fanny around here in ireland without any reprucussions. Im delighted you raised this as an issue. It doesnt have to become a rant against our eastern european friends but its a fair point....Id love to hear if anybody out there has had any experiences with accidents with punters from these places.....Id say you would have 2 chances in getting your insurance claim paid !....Fair point....if you are caught dossing around in a norti car the cops have you in for duty but if you have a latvian reg bmw with blacked out windows you can do what you want.......EU law at its best eh??

johnnyrotten

Anyone had an accident with one of these cars

BTW - This is not meant as a rascist rant - Its simply a question of the rights of Irish Insured , Tax paying motorists to be adequately covered if an accident occurs

Turner

If it turns out they are not insured your claim will be against the MIBI (Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland).

Same as if you have an accident with an uninsured irish driver.

Sizzler

Yup, its an educated discussion about the rights of irish taxpayers...I dont feel good for pulling my pants down to the exchequeur while these lads can stroll around and apart from paying the vat on petrol they are getting away with all the other things we have to live with as honest motorists.
I have to say I have passed at least 5 accidents on the roads in recent mths where foreign cars where parked up and a lot of head scratching going on.....

Sizzler

Chief--- wrote:

If it turns out they are not insured your claim will be against the MIBI (Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland).

Same as if you have an accident with an uninsured irish driver.

Thats a load of rollox though, why should you have to do that? They are living here and if we have a tip with one of them we're fooked and have to wait 2 yrs to get paid ? Law is a joke !! This REALLY pi55es me off I have to say!

johnnyrotten

Agreed Saddler

rubadub

johnnyrotten wrote:

This is not meant as a rascist rant

Nothing racist about it, most of these people are caucasian just like most Irish.

What you will have is young lads going abroad to pick up a cheap car and insurance, also pick up an immigrant, drive to france, pick up booze, then arrive in port, have the immigrant drive in, you can say he is your mate, better still boyfriend to avoid more questioning, dump the fella and keep the car yourself.
I am sure the immigrant guy would give you a driving licence you could flash at garda with your best pidgen english.

Third_Echelon

Chief--- wrote:

If it turns out they are not insured your claim will be against the MIBI (Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland).

Same as if you have an accident with an uninsured irish driver.

Yup, this is what happened to my uncle. A latvian car hit him from behind. No insurance of course and he had to claim against this fund....

Krook

yeah , well some drunk irish guy in a punto crashed into my dads beemer about 1and a half yrs agor and it turns out his insurance was cancelled 2 days in advance ( due to previous DUI's) and the Guards didnt want hear it or have anything to do with it.
My dad brought it up with MIBI and 1 yr later still no payout so my dad had to pay 7,000E of his own money to fix his car , and the drunk F***KEr didnt even want to contribute anything towards it .

thats what pisses me off not these eastern europeans who are decent drivers and if they would crash into u , im sure they would at least make an effort to recompensate you.
:mad:

xzanti

There are loads of them around where I live... There was a Latvian reg car parked in our communal car park for 3 days.. There was a girl and two men sleeping in the car at night and at the same time mine and other cars were being tampered with so we called the Guards on the 3rd morning that they were out there and when they searched the car we saw one of the Guards pull a huge knife out from under the dash board... Scary...

It may well have been that they were just broke and had nowhere else to stay and the knife was for protection.. Who knows, but it was a damn big knife..

godtabh

A friend of mine was dropping his girlfriend off in an estate and a lad came around the corner to fast and smashed into his parked car. First he knew about it was when he came out to find his car wrote off and a latvian car abandoned beside it. This was a week after repairing his car after an An Post van ran into him while he was parked in his drive way.

Story goes that the cars are so cheap over in eastern europe that the eastern Europeans come over here. Do a hard days graft save up their money and buy the big cars at home and then bring them into the country. No problem with that but you run your cars on Irish roads you should obey irish law like every one else.

You can re reister your car for free once you spend a cetain period living and working in Ireland (not sure if this only applies to Northen Irish cars do). THen you have x amount of time to reregister and then after that you have to pay.

ven0m

Never mind the insurance thing, they do NOT contribute to road tax in ANY way. The simple solution is to abolish road tax as a single payment, & instead tag it on to petrol.... the more you use, the more road tax you pay - which is a MUCH fairer system than the one we have right now & would also discourage stupid parents buying stupid silly cars just to run little mikey or little jane to school....

This way - ALL foreign vehicles would be contributing on "road tax" with no exemptions. You'd have "hauliers" whinge, but they get to claim the VAT back on their diesel, & they could also "claim" this tax back as well, were it introduced....

This model is employed in the USA in relation to "road tax" & it works very well.....

I find it RIDICULOUS that these cars are on Irish roads 365 days a year when they HAVE to be out of the country back in their country of origin for at least 20 days of the year & they clearly are not.....

plus, I doubt their insurance covers them to drive their cars internationally, especially since some of the countries are NOT in the EU; Romania, Switzerland etc, so technically they are driving ILLEGALLY as they are unlikely to hold International drivign licenses.... EU held licenses permit driving anywhere in the EU, & depending on the laws of the country you're in - you may or may not need an international license.... anyone got any clarification on this????


::: ven0mous :::

Guy:Incognito

Krook wrote:

thats what pisses me off not these eastern europeans who are decent drivers and if they would crash into u , im sure they would at least make an effort to recompensate you.
:mad:

If they are so honourable, why dont they obey the law. Plus if they have Irish insurance, they wont have to worry about having to pay anything out of their own pockets.

Nightwish

my ex boyfriend had an English registered car and although he was living there at the time, whenever he came home (Easter, Christmas etc) he got major hassle off the Gardai. When he moved back to Ireland, within two days he was stopped and warned to take the car off the road or re-register it within 2 weeks. And the cop was acting like he was doing him a favour by not impounding it there and then.

Now, there is an English registered BMW driving around my town for the past 2 years, WTF??? also there are at least 30 Polish/Latvian cars around town:eek: :mad:

Guy:Incognito

Nightwish wrote:

And the cop was acting like he was doing him a favour by not impounding it there and then.
:

He was. He's entitled to (and supposed to)

Stephen

He was doing him a favour really, they only have to give you 7 days to register it before they can seize it.

Still doesn't change the fact that our eastern european friends have been getting away with it for ages though.

5500

Most eastern euro regged cars are insured in there own country and covered to drive here.I think they have a limit of 6months in a different country,most of them dont display discs as there not required to in there country,there tax and insurance details are in a small circle logo on there reg plate.

In saying that ive seen eastern euro regged cars being seized before and you'l find lots of them in any garda pound.

The OP's mate should have had his car declared the day after it entered the country - which your required to do if it was being changed to irish plates.

Main point being that alot of them are insured to drive here

Nightwish

Stekelly wrote:

He was. He's entitled to (and supposed to)

only if the car was back in Ireland for more than 2 weeks and it was in Ireland 2 DAYS.
My point was why are there other foreign cars allowed to drive around for months and years at a time without this happening to them

mike65

This is worth getting some publicity about. Anyone fancy e-mailing
todaypk@rte.ie ? Kenny is always interested in motoring/law enforcement related issues.

Mike.

IDMUD

You are all aware that foreigners may drive their cars here for up to a year, right?

Edit: A country thriving off of foreign workers shouldn't go out of their way too piss them off, or did you like the economic climate of the 80's?

Nightwish

IDMUD wrote:

You are all aware that foreigners may drive their cars here for up to a year, right?

then why did the cops threaten to impound an english car that had been in the country 2 days.

IDMUD

Nightwish wrote:

then why did the cops threaten to impound an english car that had been in the country 2 days.

There can be several reasons:

1. The cops have NO idea of what the law is

2. The driver and owner was an Irish resident

3. The driver wouldn't cooperate

Nightwish

Driver was an Irish citizen who had resided in the UK for 4 years and was returning to Ireland, and had been in the country for 2 days.
Driver was also very cooperative and didnt say anything at all to the cop and did in fact get rid of the car within the week for fear of causing any trouble.

IDMUD

Nightwish wrote:

Driver was an Irish citizen who had resided in the UK for 4 years and was returning to Ireland, and had been in the country for 2 days.
Driver was also very cooperative and didnt say anything at all to the cop and did in fact get rid of the car within the week for fear of causing any trouble.

Irish citizens may not drive foreign vehicles (with a few exceptions)

Nightwish

ok thanks for clearing that part up, but as far as I was aware if an Irish citizen was driving a foreign car, in Ireland, that they could do so for a number of weeks before having to re-register the car in Ireland OR by declaring that the car is off the road.

still doesnt explain why the Eastern European cars are allowed to drive around the country for years.

sharkman

IDMUD wrote:

You are all aware that foreigners may drive their cars here for up to a year, right?

Please elaborate on this , where did you get your information . By foreigners do you include people from abroad who are resident in this country ?

IDMUD

sharkman wrote:

Please elaborate on this , where did you get your information . By foreigners do you include people from abroad who are resident in this country ?

If you are here on a temporary basis you are allowed to use your car for one year. This is according to the VRO:

http://www.revenue.ie/leaflets/vrt2.htm

cournioni

While we are on this subject, I've just bought a nordie reg car and I am looking to have it dutied. Does anyone know if there is an online calculator to see how much the duty will cost for the car?

CrowdedHouse

^^ https://www.ros.ie/VRTEnquiryServlet/ShowVRT

cournioni

Good man. Cheers.

*edit - Ouch, €2100 to duty the car...*

johnnyrotten

eireal wrote:

Main point being that alot of them are insured to drive here

How do you know that?

Guy:Incognito

IDMUD wrote:

Edit: A country thriving off of foreign workers shouldn't go out of their way too piss them off, or did you like the economic climate of the 80's?

Or maybe the foreign people working here because they get A LOT more money than they do at home, should obey the law. They're not over here to do us a favour you know.

Plus my point in another thread about this was that my concern is less to do with the couple of million the government will earn and more to do with traceability in the event of a crime. Say someone in a foreign reg'd car is involved in a hit and run. Even if soemone got the reg the gards could'nt trace them.

johnnyrotten

^^
Good Point

IDMUD

Stekelly wrote:

Or maybe the foreign people working here because they get A LOT more money than they do at home, should obey the law. They're not over here to do us a favour you know. .

In what way are they breaking the law by using their car in Ireland? I've already stated that foreigners may drive their car here for one year.

And don't fool yourself, it's foreign companies who turned your economy around. Why do you think you've seen a sudden increase in foreign workers? It's because YOU can not perform the jobs being moved here from other countries.

Devon

That's not what happened to me, nor is it what I was told when I approached them directly when I was hit by a hit and run driver. MIBI will only pay you medical costs if you have been injured as a result of being hit by an unknown/uninsured driver.

I had to go through my insurance and lost my bonus. MIBI didn't pay a cent towards the damage to the car, nor had they any intentions of... and they weren't behind the door about saying so!

Chief--- wrote:

If it turns out they are not insured your claim will be against the MIBI (Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland).

Same as if you have an accident with an uninsured irish driver.

godtabh

IDMUD wrote:

In what way are they breaking the law by using their car in Ireland? I've already stated that foreigners may drive their car here for one year.

Every person resident in Ireland who drives a car needs to have tax and insurance to do so. Not sure what residence means but I think if you spend more than six months of the year you are resident.

IDMUD wrote:

And don't fool yourself, it's foreign companies who turned your economy around. Why do you think you've seen a sudden increase in foreign workers? .

Many of the foregin works here come form countries where the opertunities arent as good as in there home country.

IDMUD wrote:

It's because YOU can not perform the jobs being moved here from other countries.

Thats crazy talk. Anything to back it up. It is a well known fact that Ireland has a highly skilled workforce from many sectors including IT, Engineering and Science.

Why would they move here if they had to hire people from other countries? Doesnt make sense.

But this has gone way off topic

Hagar

Don't be too quick to condemn drivers of foreign registered cars in Ireland. It is wrong to assume that they are all breaking the law.
Personally I drive an Irish registered car in France and I have French motor insurance, no road tax here so that's not an issue. What I'm doing is perfectly legal but you can't tell that as I pass you by in traffic.

One thing I would mention though is a lot of those foreign drivers don't seem to have headlamp adjusters fitted. This is a legal requirement as vehicles with lights adjusted for driving on the right are directing their beams into oncoming traffic when driving on the left. Of course thay may have replaced the headlamp units.

Tha Gopher

kearnsr wrote:

Story goes that the cars are so cheap over in eastern europe that the eastern Europeans come over here. Do a hard days graft save up their money and buy the big cars at home and then bring them into the country.

Ah, so thats why so many of them drive beamers. In cocaine induced paranoia my mate was convinced they were all Russian mafia.
Tbh I did have to wonder myself exactly where they got them.

Still, the inequality thing with Irish drivers is bollix.

robinph

IDMUD wrote:

Irish citizens may not drive foreign vehicles (with a few exceptions)

Surely you mean Irish resident.

If you normally live within Ireland then what it says on the front of your passport is irrelavent when it comes to the vehicle you drive having to be registered, taxed and insured. But there is nothing to stop an Irish citizen from driving a foriegn registered car anywhere they like, just if it is permanetly brought into the state then it needs to be re-registered here which is the same whatever the drivers nationality.

fischerspooner

Would you blame these people for not taxing/insuring their cars in ireland? Most of them work minimum wage jobs and why on earth would they pay what is probably the highest road tax and insurance in Europe when they have a way around it? I envy them, if I had that option I'd drive. But as long as road tax and insurance is extortionate I will never drive in Ireland.

Third_Echelon

fischerspooner wrote:

Would you blame these people for not taxing/insuring their cars in ireland? Most of them work minimum wage jobs and why on earth would they pay what is probably the highest road tax and insurance in Europe when they have a way around it? I envy them, if I had that option I'd drive. But as long as road tax and insurance is extortionate I will never drive in Ireland.

Irish people on minimum wage who have a car have to... why not foreigners?

Lousy excuse to be honest.

fischerspooner

well I'm sure if they had a way around it they'd take it. I've been considering buying a car in france and registering it at my ma's place down there, then I could tax/insure it in france for peanuts. Why the hell not?

MorningStar

fischerspooner wrote:

well I'm sure if they had a way around it they'd take it. I've been considering buying a car in france and registering it at my ma's place down there, then I could tax/insure it in france for peanuts. Why the hell not?

Well many people in Dublin do this. Practically everybody I know from the country claims they are still living at home to get cheaper insurance. Of course the insurance companies can refuse to pay out if they find out when an accident occurs.

ON the foreign cars I can tell you that they do get caught. I workedin East Point where a lot of call centre are and thus people outside of Ireland. THey swoop on the place and take cars at least once a year. They take the cars in some cases.

If you are bothered by the fact somebody doesn't have road tax report them. A neighbour of mine had 2 cars without tax and insurance and I didn't want to report them. They then crashed a car into 4 parked cars on the road after a night of partying. I was lucky nobody died or I would have felt real guilt.

fischerspooner

oh come on, reporting people for not paying road tax? Whatever next...

Big Dee

What about the NCT. What use is it having a test to ensure all Irish cars are roadworthy when no such checks are performed on the large number of foreign vehicles. Last weekend, I came round a corner to find a LT reged car "parked" sideways accross the road. As the roadway was blocked and obviously extremely dangerous, I got out to see what was wrong. Cutting a long story short, I located the owner, who casually told me the handbrake didn't work and it had rolled down the drive and out on the road!

Siogfinsceal

tis a joke all right my car was from england and i was hassled and these foreigners get treated like royalty

fischerspooner

Siogfinsceal wrote:

tis a joke all right my car was from england and i was hassled and these foreigners get treated like royalty

yeah I'm sure they get red carpet treatment :rolleyes:

godtabh

Its simple.

All foreign reg cars be it French people over for a holiday or Polish people here to work are recorded at the point of entry.

When they leave they are recorded again.

This will give you a database of foreign cars in Ireland. If they are here for more than six months then they are assumed to be resident. At this point the powers to be should be trying to track down these people like they would for Irish people who don’t pay txt and/or insurance.

If they are on minimum wage and cant afford the tax and/or insurance get public transport.

A car is a privilege not a right. And responsibilities come with that privilege.

whippet

I wish people would get there facts straight here.

Nightstar ... should you be bringing your own car with you when you are transfering residence to ireland you must declare your car by the end of the next full working day from when you entered the state . failure to do so could mean seizure of the car by customs.

If you have owned & taxed & insured the car while you were resident outside the state for 6 months previously you only have to pay about 50 quid to re-register the car. (this is subject to a stringent set of checklists)

I don't know where you are getting the two weeks thing. I know this as my missus went through the procedure to bring her car home.

With regards the insurance of non-national cars .. check out this court report from the Meath Chronicle this week ...

http://www.unison.ie/meath_chronicle/stories.php3?ca=48&si=1515804&issue_id=13339

hopefully the outcome of this case may bring some clarity to the case.