Importing Classic/Old Cars

TheLedge

Hi Guys,

I've been thinking about bringing a motor back from the UK where I'm currently living. I'm fairly clued up about VRT and not having to pay it if the car is over 10 yrs old, so thats why I thought of bringing in a car, say a Porsche 944 or something I know would sell. Obviously if the car is rare I'd have a better chance of selling it in Ireland.

Can anyone give me a quick low-down on the pros/cons of this. Any advice?

I've never done anything like this before and have little experience of Classic cars in general. the main idea would be to find someone who's looking for a particular car, source it and bring it back.

Cheers

ds20prefecture

TheLedge wrote:

Hi Guys,I've been thinking about bringing a motor back from the UK where I'm currently living. I'm fairly clued up about VRT and not having to pay it if the car is over 10 yrs old, so thats why I thought of bringing in a car, say a Porsche 944 or something I know would sell. Obviously if the car is rare I'd have a better chance of selling it in Ireland.
Can anyone give me a quick low-down on the pros/cons of this. Any advice?
I've never done anything like this before and have little experience of Classic cars in general. the main idea would be to find someone who's looking for a particular car, source it and bring it back.
Cheers

Hi -

No cars are VRT exempt. Cars over 30 years old have a fixed VRT of €50. All other cars are judged on a sliding scale percentage of their fair market value.

If you're not too well up on classics, and what to look for when buying a classic, then you probably should be careful about selling your services in that field. People who are into classics would generally buy in the UK themselves, as they prefer to see/touch/inspect what they buy before ponying up the cash.

Buying something rare in the hope of selling it on for a profit is quite risky. You're tying up your capital in an unknown quantity indefinitely. A car is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it. Price guides on classics are next to useless. You could spend €50,000 on a clean e-type and not be able to shift it here for more than 25, because demand is low. Conversely you could spend €2000 on a clean Dolomite Sprint and sell it here for €3000 because this car is beginning to emerge as a classic. Either way, bear in mind you're always competing in price with vendors on the continent and the UK. These vendors tend to know their stuff, and can offer things like warranties, guarantees, etc. that you may not be able to.

If on the other hand you wanted to buy yourself a classic, then this is a good time to do so in the UK. Prices on cars from 1973 to 1975 are tumbling because the UK government abolished the rolling 30year tax break. Ireland did not. Therefore you could buy a nice '75 Rover 3500 V8, or a Jag XJ over there for low money, while availing of low VRT and road tax here when you bring it in.

You really should get familiar with the common pitfalls of buying a classic before doing so. My advice would be
Pick your ideal classic.
Learn as much about that car as possible. Buy a book, join newsgroups on the web, join the local clubs for that marque/model and get to know experts on that car. Spend at least 3 months learning as much as you possibly can about the car, while keeping your eyes and ears open for good ones coming on the market.
Set your budget, and bear in mind that any money you "save" in buying will probably be spent threefold in repairs/restoration.
For your first car, buy from a club member - they have their identity in that community to lose if they sell you a dud, unlike a dealer or agent.

Hope this helps.

TheLedge

Wow, thats some fairly excellent advice there.

Cheers for your comments, i really appreciate it mate. Based on your advice it would probably be a better idea for me buy a classic car as a project, rather than to see it as a money making opportunity.

It's just living in the UK, i see some unbelievable bargains with cars it's hard not to think about making money off it somehow!

Thanks again

ds20prefecture

TheLedge wrote:

Based on your advice it would probably be a better idea for me buy a classic car as a project, rather than to see it as a money making opportunity.

For your first classic, you'd be better off buying an excellent "daily driver" level of car instead of a project, IMO. You can pour thousands into a project just to get it running, and the chances are it will still be worth what you originally paid.

Have someone else do the work before you buy - you just enjoy the car. There'll be plenty of opportunities for you to spend money on it once you have it, believe me

Dades

Yeah - buy a car you would be happy to keep for yourself. Enthusiasm counts for everything in this game.

If you find you can sell it on at a profit - well and good.
But as someone mentioned recently here - if it was easy - we'd all be at it

PaulK_CCI

TheLedge wrote:

I'm fairly clued up about VRT and not having to pay it if the car is over 10 yrs old

As ds20prefecture was already mentioning, you were misinformed about the VRT: a car is not exempt from VRT when it reaches 10 years, but only when it reaches THIRTY years. So as per today only cars from April 1975 are exempt from VRT duties and annual road tax.

By the way ds, according to the revenue office, cars over 30 years are strictly speaking exempt from VRT: the 50 euro's charged is in fact an "Admin fee".

kyote00

Also bear in mind the actual cost of getting the car to Ireland - this includes ferry cost, current currency exchange rate, petrol etc.

If you are spending 50k, then these costs are small but if its a 2k car then these costs will very quickly kill off any resale profit in Ireland.

In line with all the other advice, its likely to be a very difficult business plan to justify -- unless its just a hobby ........

I think legally, the importer of the car must register it here within a day of entering the country (or so I was told by the revenue folks in Tallaght recently.)....this means all those English reg classics we all see each summer have just arrived off the boat

Dades

kyote00 wrote:

I think legally, the importer of the car must register it here within a day of entering the country (or so I was told by the revenue folks in Tallaght recently.)....this means all those English reg classics we all see each summer have just arrived off the boat

I just registered mine today, after enjoying nearly a week in it...
Hey it's tough to get there during working hours

Besides the guy never even asked me what day it arrived. (Oh and beware - they don't take cheques).

Redrocket

The Atheist wrote:

I just registered mine today, after enjoying nearly a week in it...
Hey it's tough to get there during working hours

Besides the guy never even asked me what day it arrived. (Oh and beware - they don't take cheques).

you registered your recently imported car?
do you mind me asking how much you paid for car and registration?

Dades

stevenk wrote:

you registered your recently imported car?
do you mind me asking how much you paid for car and registration?

It's a "classic" vehicle, so as DS mentioned above the VRT was €50.
Lucky I had it in cash on me - they don't take cheques.

See my earlier thread for more info:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=250402

G'luck

Redrocket

heh sorry i read that thread already, nice car!!