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

colm_mcm

P_Man wrote: »

I'm in the exact same situation. Cant get an appointment until Jan. It would be great to know if the VRT will apply from date of purchase or date of appointment.

It would usually apply from date of appointment.

deezell

P_Man wrote: »

I'm in the exact same situation. Cant get an appointment until Jan. It would be great to know if the VRT will apply from date of purchase or date of appointment.

Date of appointment is the date the car is a formally registered Irish vehicle. Up to that point you could just drive it back north. The VRTVPD2 form is a purchase declaration form., and you would think VRT would be backdated, but then the reg would need to be backdated. Its ok to own a uk vehicle and not reg it for 30 days I think, after which it leaves the state or you reg it. The rule used to be you could only drive it around for 1 day, then you had to declare it, but I dont know hiw that ever worked. Of course now people would be more than happy to VRT it day of arrival.

P_Man

Thanks all. Certainly seems that I'll have to pay the higher VRT rate due to my appointment being in January.

Does anybody have a link to a 2021 VRT calculator (apologies if this has been asked already).

Thanks

danoriordan1402

P_Man wrote: »

Thanks all. Certainly seems that I'll have to pay the higher VRT rate due to my appointment being in January.

Does anybody have a link to a 2021 VRT calculator (apologies if this has been asked already).

Thanks

VRT appointments do pop up, think it was mentioned again last page or so back. I was on a cancellation list for 3 weeks and from checking the VRT appointments page a few times a day, one appeared for this Friday for me which I grabbed.

Hogzy

They could definitely increase the capacity of VRT appointments id say. When I attended 3 weeks ago I was there a good hour and a half as I turned up early and then had to do a bit of waiting around after I had been in the office. Not one foreign registered car showed up other than mine. That was in Northpoint in Dublin. That might have just been chance but it seemed strange to me.

deezell

P_Man wrote: »

Thanks all. Certainly seems that I'll have to pay the higher VRT rate due to my appointment being in January.

Does anybody have a link to a 2021 VRT calculator (apologies if this has been asked already).

Thanks

Page 15 and 16 for new rates and conversion to WLTP emissions. Just run your car through the current calculator to get OMSP, the apply your new from the table, by manually calculating you new emissions ( unless wltp is already on the v5)
http://budget.gov.ie/Budgets/2021/Documents/Budget/BUDGET%2021_Tax%20Policy%20Changes.pdf

P_Man

Ok - Thanks for the info.

After doing the maths importing it in January will cost an extra €1,200 - so definitely worth trying to get it in before 1st Jan.

Thanks all!

deezell

P_Man wrote: »

Ok - Thanks for the info.

After doing the maths importing it in January will cost an extra €1,200 - so definitely worth trying to get it in before 1st Jan.

Thanks all!

Don't forget Nox goes up, €15/mg from 40mg/0.04g which used to kick in at 60mg/0.06g

Vicxas

Wonder how much more expensive its gonna be to import from the UK if we have a no deal brexit.

Creamy Goodness

Vicxas wrote: »

Wonder how much more expensive its gonna be to import from the UK if we have a no deal brexit.

It'll be like all the recent changes to the VRT structures over the years.

It'll just narrow the pool of cars available to go through the process and still be worth it.

When they went with the recent NOx changes it removed the dirtiest diesels. The WLTP stuff removes other certain cars, and now finally it'll now be for super niche, super high spec cars where buying new in Ireland is either pure extortion or just not available.


*EDIT* The govt. are well aware they need to strike a balance where both of these are true:

a) people still import (so they get VRT/Import duty etc.) and
b) are disincentivized enough that they just buy new in Ireland.

deezell

Vicxas wrote: »

Wonder how much more expensive its gonna be to import from the UK if we have a no deal brexit.

Unknown, but vat at the least, without the option to reclaim UK vat on the majority of cars. CoC required, could cost a few hundred. Duty possibly, especially on non eu sourced cars. All this makes used cars scarcer and expensive, so OMSP rises even before the January WLTP increases have its effect, so its quite possible overall cost of an average import, say 1.8, 3 year old 30k miles, could rise by 30% or more.

davemck

I've just moved my booking on the 23rd dec. There are lots of dates in Carrick on Shannon at the moment for next week. Good luck lads

Cona

Folks
Going to VRT an Audi A6 Sline on Friday. This car has 20inch alloys. Does anyone know if there will be an extra cost associated due to having 20 inch alloys?

My friend has a set of 18 inch alloys that I could use for the VRT assessment, but not sure if it is necessary?

vintagevrs

Cona wrote: »

Folks
Going to VRT an Audi A6 Sline on Friday. This car has 20inch alloys. Does anyone know if there will be an extra cost associated due to having 20 inch alloys?

My friend has a set of 18 inch alloys that I could use for the VRT assessment, but not sure if it is necessary?

What year is the car?

They don't really look at the car or inspect it for options, just check vin and millage. I had an inspection last week and fitted new wheels the day before. It was pitch black and your man used a torch to find the vin and that was all. It could have been on bicycle wheels for all he cared.

The reason I ask the year of the car is that after 4 years all extras are zerod out as fully depreciated anyway so won't make a difference.

Cona

its a 2017...Does the 'extras' depreciate every year? I probably wont bother going to the hassle of changing the wheels if thats the case.

vintagevrs

Yes.... They depreciate by 25% each year for the first 4 years. So a 3 year old car with 10k of extras in theory should have 2.5k of extras added to it's omsp. Then you pay your vrt % of that figure. I'm not sure they actually do this though for typical cars. After 4 years doesn't matter how many extras the car had.

deezell

Cona wrote: »

its a 2017...Does the 'extras' depreciate every year? I probably wont bother going to the hassle of changing the wheels if thats the case.

Don't. Car has to have wheels, they may have been retrofitted, not even on the Audi VIN database, thats if they even go to the trouble of calling up the options list, assuming they can, then trying to price them as an option here in 2017. I'd be curious to hear from anyone who had an option pointed out and priced up on their VRT.

ifah

Hey all,

I may be too late to the party but willing to move quickly if i spot the right car.

Thinking about buying an A6 up north - 2016/17 - ideally an ultra sline model - there seems to be some value still around.

Cona - can I ask what you bought and where ? Is there a need to go to Audi main dealer to maintain a warranty or is it very much a buyer beware ?

I haven't any experience buying cars up north - I did get a motorbike from Charles Hurst a few years back - very easy experience at the time.

Thanks.

Cona

I didn't buy from a main dealer, although they were a large and fairly reputable dealer. For me, I would tend to stick to large dealers or main dealers and stay away from the small type garages. No reason other than just personal preference as we all know the risks involved there. Most of the dealers now are just ferrying them in from UK and sticking on 2000 to the price. Seems to work well for them.

I was after a particular colour and spec that I found. It wasn't the best value car available but I was happy based on it was what I wanted. The warranty from Audi is two years I think (or maybe 3) so as my car is 2017 it wouldn't have a main dealer warranty any longer but did have 6 months from the seller. I would say go for it but beware that its getting very difficult to get a VRT assessment in 2020 which means you will be pushed to 2021 which will add a few quid to the VRT. Mine is coming in around 4600. If I waited to 2021 I reckon closer to 5200-5500 but its difficult to know exactly.

Honestly, whatever car you find up north, try to locate the same car (mileage, spec etc) in the South and contact the dealer and negotiate hard. You would be surprised it may not be worth the extra hassle.

daithi7

Did anyone else hear that the ferries are getting very booked and backed up already?

If so, not easy to import a car from now on it appears....

Gatster

davemck wrote: »

I've just moved my booking on the 23rd dec. There are lots of dates in Carrick on Shannon at the moment for next week. Good luck lads

Did you phone up or get it online?

housemurf99

Brought in 2018 A4 Dec 3rd, have Vrt booked in for Saturday. Per calculation on site, 18% rate for emissions of 128. Under new table for 2021 it will fall into 16.5 vrt. Am I right to suggest holding off til Jan.

Atlantic Dawn

daithi7 wrote: »

Did anyone else hear that the ferries are getting very booked and backed up already?

If so, not easy to import a car from now on it appears....

I'd say in the coming weeks if will be near impossible to get a space on any ferry besides those going middle of the night.

vintagevrs

housemurf99 wrote: »

Brought in 2018 A4 Dec 3rd, have Vrt booked in for Saturday. Per calculation on site, 18% rate for emissions of 128. Under new table for 2021 it will fall into 16.5 vrt. Am I right to suggest holding off til Jan.

No.


The 128 needs to go through the formula and will increase....

Read here


https://www.vrt.ie/faq/budget-2021-vehicle-registration-tax/

0lordy

Gatster wrote: »

Did you phone up or get it online?

I phoned up to check about cancellations, but they referred me to the website, so I don't think phoning gives you any more information. They said to keep checking the website for cancellations.

I also asked if the 2021 VRT rates would apply if I couldn't get an appointment till January, the lady said they hadn't been told anything about that, so didn't know.

deezell

housemurf99 wrote: »

Brought in 2018 A4 Dec 3rd, have Vrt booked in for Saturday. Per calculation on site, 18% rate for emissions of 128. Under new table for 2021 it will fall into 16.5 vrt. Am I right to suggest holding off til Jan.

Yes if 128 is the WLTP emissions on the V5 cert, otherwise they convert to (128×1.1405)+12.858. Which is over 158gm, 26% on the new table.

Atlantic Dawn

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I'd say in the coming weeks if will be near impossible to get a space on any ferry besides those going middle of the night.

Actually no, seems like plenty of capacity on Stena weekend after next.

loopymum

Any recommendations on who to use to run a proper car check on UK registration? A good in depth and thorough history.

2 Wheels Good

loopymum wrote: »

Any recommendations on who to use to run a proper car check on UK registration? A good in depth and thorough history.

I had a deposit put on a 1 Series in September.
I had a mechanic check it out from ClickMechanic
I did a MOT/mileage check from VCheck.UK which was very detailed.

Ended up not going for it due to something the mechanic found.

Hogzy

Finally got my text from the NCTS centre, but they didnt include the amount I have to pay. And the text came through at 6pm and the office is closed. So I need to wait until Monday to find out. :rolleyes: