Living in Belgium , returning in Sept.

pjq

I have afriend living in Belgium , she will return in September , she hates the idea of major hassle involved in buying a RHD car there and regestering , reregestering etc etc .
Questions ;
Is there a major saving ?
Any tips on where to begin , is it worth buying a RHD here and driving it over there?
PJQ

Anan1

Assuming that she will have been living in Belgium for a year, the answer is yes. Her two best choices are either to buy a new RHD car there or to buy a used RHD car in the UK. Either way, the car will have to have been registered to and in use by her on Belgian plates for 6 months prior to her return. It will be hassle, but it will be worth it.

rebel.ranter

A friend of herself was working in the EU offices for two years & before she came home (I think it was about 6 or 7 months she bought a brand new right hand drive Mercedes 180E Coupe. She reckoned she saved a fortune avoiding the VRT. Wouldn't be my choice of car but she liked them.

Mc-BigE

pjq wrote:

I have afriend living in Belgium , she will return in September , she hates the idea of major hassle involved in buying a RHD car there and regestering , reregestering etc etc .
Questions ;
Is there a major saving ?
Any tips on where to begin , is it worth buying a RHD here and driving it over there?
PJQ

The "buying a s/h UK reg car" is the way to go, buy the car and drive it to belgium, you need to prove to irish VRO that you are the owner of the car for 6 months before importing it, so that means making it road legal in belgium, insure it, then drive it home, once home, cant sell it for 12 months.

Make sure its more than 6 months old and more than 6000Km in the clock before importing.

pjq

Thanks a million , mention of a Mercedes coupe did light up her eyes . I see that there is a 22 page long thread re: UK Imports , but what are the key issues when deciding between
1. new RHD bought here , ship to BE
2. new RHD bought in BE
3. s/h UK car + ship to BE
please don't tell me its the colour !!

PJQ

Mc-BigE

pjq wrote:

Thanks a million , mention of a Mercedes coupe did light up her eyes . I see that there is a 22 page long thread re: UK Imports , but what are the key issues when deciding between
1. new RHD bought here , ship to BE
2. new RHD bought in BE
3. s/h UK car + ship to BE
please don't tell me its the colour !!

PJQ

main issue is new, if your car is newer than 6 months old and/or 6000Km's ALL you saving will be wiped out because you'll have to pay Irish VAT 21% of purchase price (including Belgium or UK VAT!) when importing to Ireland.
You also have to be out of ireland 6 months from date of purchase, so if your friend is coming home in sep07 he/she should be buying in Feb07 to meet the 6months thing, also will he/she have 6000kms done by then?

If it was me, id book a cheap flight to UK and start looking at www.autotrader.co.uk www.ebay.co.uk www.cargiant.co.uk for a 1 or 2 year old Merc coupe with all the extras, leather, electric everything and drive it to Belgium. a big slice of deprication is already done and no 6months/6000kms issues.