Buying A Boat From The UK - Anyone Done It?

Mark#1

Hi,

I'm a long way off buying a boat, but I do peruse the magazines & websites dreaming.

It strikes me that Paddy is being seriously ripped off (again! :mad:) when it comes to boat price comparisons between ROI & UK.

I don't know enough about boating/boats yet to form my own confident opinion, but when I started looking into sorting myself out with some decent home entertainment gear recently, I did a lot of homework and research and by the time I actually laid down my cash, I confidently bought practically all of it from Northern Ireland.

I know we can do this relatively freely as we're all in the EU, but what's involved when buying a boat?

Imagine I wanted something like a Seaswirl 2301 Walkaround with a sterndrive - where in Ireland could I get one? And for what price?

This link - http://engines.apolloduck.ie/new/detail.phtml?id=2004 - lists a 2301 from www.oysterhavenboats.ie, whose own website does seem to currently list a used Seaswirl 22 (similar to the 2301) for €30,000, but doesn't seem to list the 2301, either new or used, and they haven't answered my e-mail query.

www.rightboat.com currently list a 2301 for £25,000 with a trailer and a heap of electronics and safety gear. It is a petrol which I personally wouldn't buy, but I use it as an example. http://www.rightboat.com/Seaswirl-2301-W-A-I-O/boat-8169771/

When the time came, if I found a deisel equivalent somewhere in the UK, would it simply be a matter of me driving over, flashing my cash, hooking up the trailer, and heading off home with my new (to me) boat?

Hardly, I imagine.

I'm sure my car, licence & insurance would all need to be on order to embark in the first place.

The boat would obviously have to have undergone some sort of approval certification, and be fit for purpose. The seller would obviously have to be reputable. The boat would of course have to be fully legit and kosher - no finance owing/not stolen or damaged/repaired.

But what (if anything) is stopping Paddy buying his boats from the UK if they're more expensive over here? Or are some boaters already buying from the UK?

My uncle bought a smallish (20' or so) bowrider in Wales a few years back. Went over on the ferry as a foot passenger and sailed (drove? ) it back across the Irish sea. He's sailed all his life and knew what he was doing, but that still seems like a bit chancy to me. Anyway, he save loads and now has a nice little summer fun boat for family & mate's days out.

Kind of a rambly post, I know, but I'm really curious about the viability of buying a nice angling boat from the UK and taking it home. My dream will come true some day.


Thanks,

Mark

noby

It's something a fair few people do. You have covered most of the angles there, just make sure the vat has been paid on it ( I think pre-1992 boats are assumed to be vat compliant).

I'm not sure we're being screwed here, just a smaller market creating higher prices.

Mark#1

Thanks for the reply.

noby wrote: »

just make sure the vat has been paid on it

I assume you mean that:

1. If buying a new boat, I would be liable to pay the VAT?

2. If buying a 2nd hand boat, make sure the previous or original owner has paid VAT? And if he has, then I wouldn't be liable to pay VAT?

If anyone has any links to guides or info about doing this, I'd be grateful for any posted.


Thanks again,

Mark

icedtea

Mark#1 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm a long way off buying a boat, but I do peruse the magazines & websites dreaming.

It strikes me that Paddy is being seriously ripped off (again! :mad:) when it comes to boat price comparisons between ROI & UK.

I don't know enough about boating/boats yet to form my own confident opinion, but when I started looking into sorting myself out with some decent home entertainment gear recently, I did a lot of homework and research and by the time I actually laid down my cash, I confidently bought practically all of it from Northern Ireland.

I know we can do this relatively freely as we're all in the EU, but what's involved when buying a boat?

Imagine I wanted something like a Seaswirl 2301 Walkaround with a sterndrive - where in Ireland could I get one? And for what price?

This link - http://engines.apolloduck.ie/new/detail.phtml?id=2004 - lists a 2301 from www.oysterhavenboats.ie, whose own website does seem to currently list a used Seaswirl 22 (similar to the 2301) for €30,000, but doesn't seem to list the 2301, either new or used, and they haven't answered my e-mail query.

www.rightboat.com currently list a 2301 for £25,000 with a trailer and a heap of electronics and safety gear. It is a petrol which I personally wouldn't buy, but I use it as an example. http://www.rightboat.com/Seaswirl-2301-W-A-I-O/boat-8169771/

When the time came, if I found a deisel equivalent somewhere in the UK, would it simply be a matter of me driving over, flashing my cash, hooking up the trailer, and heading off home with my new (to me) boat?

Hardly, I imagine.

I'm sure my car, licence & insurance would all need to be on order to embark in the first place.

The boat would obviously have to have undergone some sort of approval certification, and be fit for purpose. The seller would obviously have to be reputable. The boat would of course have to be fully legit and kosher - no finance owing/not stolen or damaged/repaired.

But what (if anything) is stopping Paddy buying his boats from the UK if they're more expensive over here? Or are some boaters already buying from the UK?

My uncle bought a smallish (20' or so) bowrider in Wales a few years back. Went over on the ferry as a foot passenger and sailed (drove? ) it back across the Irish sea. He's sailed all his life and knew what he was doing, but that still seems like a bit chancy to me. Anyway, he save loads and now has a nice little summer fun boat for family & mate's days out.

Kind of a rambly post, I know, but I'm really curious about the viability of buying a nice angling boat from the UK and taking it home. My dream will come true some day.


Thanks,

Mark

I bought a sailing dinghy from england, went over on the boat to pick it up,no hassle at all with great savings compared to home.

conolan

Bought our yacht three years ago in Uk. Spend a few days wandering around broker yards in south England after initially narrowing down via web search. We sailed ours home.
Try apolloduck.co.uk, seems to be most comprehensive.
Essential you get surveyor to look at boat, once you've found what you're looking for. Drive a hard bargain, recession is driving prices down.

PjC

When buyin in the uk for cruisers make sure you get a good survey done by a qualified marine engineer. My rents have bought 6 or 7 boats from the uk over the years. Myself have bought my first topper and 2 lasers. Goin back over in a few weeks to collect my new laser.

If you need any tips closer to the time pm me and il ask my dad, he has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to these things

Steve.N

I've bought two boats from the UK in the past year. The 1st was a 20ft cruiser from a private sale - Saw in on 'boatsandoutboards.co.uk'. I've bought numerous motorbikes & cars from UK over the years so used to asking all the correct questions - I was on the phone for an hour with the guy and he e-mailed me dozens of pictures. It was only a few years old, so the only thing I was concerned about was the Safety Cert that's required in UK. I drove over the next night, saw the boat, did the deal, phoned my insurance company to insure the new boat while in transit - I then towed it back over on the ferry the same day. After buying it I sold it (as I realized I wanted something faster) for a healthy profit (as you said the there's a stark contrast in UK to Irish prices - Usual Rip-Off Ireland!! :mad:).
I then bought a rib - again I saw it advertised on a few websites - once again a private sale. The same spec rib over here was nearly DOUBLE the price!
RE: the VAT situation:- as long as you get a receipt from the seller stating the VAT has been paid in the UK then that's all you need - But Who's checking????? You drive on the ferry then drive back off again!! The only time the VAT receipt would be asked for is if you're wanting to sail your boat to France - The foreign customs may require all that documentation.
I launch my boat down south and up north, even took it over to UK last month - sailed into Oban in Scotland with no hassle - why would there be?
My advice - ear mark a few boats in UK to check-out - bargain hard and do a deal (if in doubt get a survey done) - pay the cash - get it insured - drive it home - Launch it and enjoy it!!

mcgratheoin

I bought a boat in the UK this year (30 ft yacht) and sailed it back myself. I definitely got a lot more boat for my money over there. I would recommend it to anyone, depending on what you want. My advice would be cost it all out before you commit to anything - the more expensive the boat, the more likely it is to work out cheaper as the transit costs will be roughly the same. What you don't want is to save a grand that you then spend on one trip over to check out the boat and another to bring it back.
Definitely get a survey, unless it's something very small that you're buying or you have a whole lot of expertise.
In my situation, I bought off a private ad, but the seller had placed the boat with a brokerage as well. By going direct to the seller, we agreed very amicably to drop the asking price by about 10% i.e. what the broker's fee would have been. He got the same as he would had the broker sold it for the asking price, and I got a decent discount. Therefore I would say that you may get a better bargain from private sellers than brokerage firms.


With regards to the VAT, the non-VAT situation would be something like a boat built and bought in Turkey and sailed around the Med - if you bring it into the EU then you have to pay VAT on it (same as importing anything from outside the EU). What can happen sometimes is that the first person to import it doesn't pay VAT or register the boat (think along lines of UK registered cars in Ireland) and then whoever buys it from them can get stung for VAT.
As a practical matter, if your boat has been in the EU since 92 (taking noby's word for the date) it is assumed to be tax compliant.
Regarding new boats, if you buy a new boat in an EU country then you will pay the VAT as part of the purchase price - same as buying any goods in the EU. There is no VRT equivalent for boats so a new boat from the UK will be completely tax compliant in the EU and you won't have to pay anything else.

In Summary:

Mark#1 wrote:

When the time came, if I found a deisel equivalent somewhere in the UK, would it simply be a matter of me driving over, flashing my cash, hooking up the trailer, and heading off home with my new (to me) boat?

Yes - it is essentially this simple

Mark#1 wrote:

I'm sure my car, licence & insurance would all need to be on order to embark in the first place.

Yes, but this is nothing to do with buying a boat really - you need these in order to drive abroad anyway

Mark#1 wrote:

The boat would obviously have to have undergone some sort of approval certification, and be fit for purpose. The seller would obviously have to be reputable. The boat would of course have to be fully legit and kosher - no finance owing/not stolen or damaged/repaired.

All a matter for your own peace of mind really - if the seller is reputable then the rest will fall into place.

Mark#1 wrote:

My uncle bought a smallish (20' or so) bowrider in Wales a few years back. Went over on the ferry as a foot passenger and sailed (drove? ) it back across the Irish sea. He's sailed all his life and knew what he was doing, but that still seems like a bit chancy to me.

The limiting factor of any boat is the crew - if you're not experienced, then don't even think about it. On a good day it's like a lake, but it's a 60nm trip from Holyhead and you're a long way out if something goes wrong in a boat like that.

Mark#1

mcgratheoin wrote: »

The limiting factor of any boat is the crew - if you're not experienced, then don't even think about it. On a good day it's like a lake, but it's a 60nm trip from Holyhead and you're a long way out if something goes wrong in a boat like that.

When the time comes for me, it'll be the largest trailable angling boat I can afford, something like the Karnic 2260 or Seaswirl 2301 WA I mentioned - under 24' or so. I'd definitely be towing it back on a ferry.


Thanks for the replies folks,

Mark

ValerieR

Pretty much the same story as some above: we brought back our cruiser from the UK. Previous posts and their advice are spot on. Make sure your car insurance includes provisions for a trailer, get a boat insurance to cover it for transit. Also, make sure the trailer is road worthy with light board and that it's working ok.
Take some grease with you, just in case the trailer hitch needs it (in our case, we asked the seller to get the ball bearings checked/greased by a mechanic too).
Happy shopping.
ValerieR

Silverado

I'm in the process of negotiating a boat purchase in the UK and have mentioned the dreaded VAT word to my seller. Its a private sale and he says that of course the VAT is paid and that he has a receipt. So far I haven't seen it because the sale is still under discussion.

I looked up the VAT situation on boats in Ireland and it appears that when a boat is more than 7.5m (which this one is) it must have some type of VAT receipt from the UK Revenue, not just from the dealer. Has anyone seen one of these? I'm a little wary because of dire warnings of customs checks on arrival in Ireland with the boat and since the boat was built in 2000 it has no derogation.

Is there anyone out there who has a UK Revenue VAT receipt for a boat and would it be possible for me to see a copy of it? At least if I know what it looks like I'll know what to look for.

Ferris

Be aware that boats from the channel Islands generally do not have VAT paid on them.