Shipping cars from USA to Ireland

dazzerb

Hello

I am moving from the USA to Ireland mid 2009 and I own two cars here and am wondering if there is any point shipping them to Ireland to either drive or sell or should I sell them before I leave. Obviously there will be a large shipping cost involved but I will already have one or who large shipping crates for all my other personal stuff (eg furniture) so may have some extra space for one of both of the cars.

2004 VW Touareg, V8, 30k miles
2004 BMW 530i 6-speed, 40k miles

Both are obviously left hand drive and I am sure driving a V8 Touareg in Ireland would be quite expensive!

I can probably get about $50k (EUR35k) for both if I sell in the USA before I leave.

Anyone any advice? Parting with my beemer will be particularly difficult as I am also sure that purchasing an equivalent model in Ireland is also probably quite expensive.

Would bringing the cars back and getting them road ready, taxes paid, registration, VRT and then selling be more hassle than it is worth?

Would love to hear your oppinions.

Thank you
DMB

biggus

Sell them there, both will have almost no resale value here and not only because of LHD.

Danbo!

Sell them and come to Ireland via the UK with your 35k

Max_Damage

If you have owned them for 12 months in the USA and you can prove it, you'd don't have to pay any VRT whatsoever.

They're seems to be quite a good lot of American-spec. cars in this country, mustn't be that much hassle to bring them over.

mumhaabu

The taxes on both here will be absolutly ball crushing both could be €2,000/year to tax depending on the Co2 output, plus with LHD and other costs it could be annoying. The VW Touareg you might be able to convert to Commercial grade with blacked out rear doors and no back seats and taxable for under €300/year. Petrol is around 90 -95cent a litre here now which is far ahead of prices stateside.

I'd sell the BMW and convert the Touareg to commercial if it was, both cars would be worth less in Ireland than in America as noone will buy them because of LHD and no-one is buying cars anyway here. Interesting that you are moving back to begin with as most people would give a kidney and one testicle to get out of Ireland now, I wish you luck as Ireland is hardly the land of oppurtunity now that it once was.

Another option would be to import them and sell them in Europe where you would get good Euro prices.

Tipsy Mac

Id sell them both and go to a dealer in the US and see if they can import a RHD model for you, if you own it for 6 months over there you will not need to pay any VRT on it, then import it here.

therewillbe

Dont come over mate, The country has gone all quiet.

Guy:Incognito

mumhaabu wrote: »

The taxes on both here will be absolutly ball crushing both could be €2,000/year to tax depending on the Co2 output,.

They could both have coal burning power stations in their back boxes and it wouldnt matter to the tax rate seeing as they would be taxed on cc.

The BMW will be €1231 and the VW €1491 to tax.

mumhaabu

Stekelly wrote: »

They could both have coal burning power stations in their back boxes and it wouldnt matter to the tax rate seeing as they would be taxed on cc.

The BMW will be €1231 and the VW €1491 to tax.

Cool, I thought if you imported a car and it was above 22gg C02/km that you got hit with €2,000 Motor tax automatically. Bear in mind Op that if you import the vehicles you will have to pay VAT on them and everything else you bring in your containers from the states. You will be able to escape VRT though providing you can prove you lived in the US for the last 12 months, they go through it with a fine tooth comb I believe. You could also get them converted to RHD but it is tricky, costly and needs to be done properly.

bazz26

Both cars are pretty much saleproof in Ireland - big petrol engines and left hand drive.

If you decide to bring them here be prepared to own them for life.

dazzerb

mumhaabu wrote: »

Bear in mind Op that if you import the vehicles you will have to pay VAT on them and everything else you bring in your containers from the states.

Do I have to pay VAT on stuff I can prove I have owned for a long time? Virtually everything that I am importing is personal items that I have owned for up to 10 years.

BTW: thanks everyone for the car advise/talk. I think selling them in USA is probably the right thing to do and downgrade to some small 4 cylinder hatch back when I get home is the sensible choice!

thanks again

DMB

allthedoyles

dazzerb wrote: »

I think selling them in USA is probably the right thing to do and downgrade to some small 4 cylinder hatch back when I get home is the sensible choice!

thanks again
DMB

You will find that downgrading/ downsizing are the latest trends in modern Ireland 2009

biggus

You won't need to buy/downsize to a four cyl.
V8 and large engined BM's can be bought for half nothing now because there's a lot more about then when you left.

BTW still a great country here don't mind the begrudgers and doomsayers, bit more value around now !

DonJose

biggus wrote: »

BTW still a great country here don't mind the begrudgers and doomsayers, bit more value around now !

The might be more value around but there is A LOT more value in the UK, even with higher VRT rates. I'm bringing in a 2006 Saab 95 Aero for €17k the most basic 2006 Saab 95 starts at €17.5 on Carzone.

Esel

OP, have a look at this http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/leaflets/pn1875.html

@mumhaabu: You have posted wrong information twice.