Why are imported cars less popular?

Certainly the first point, I have a car and a 4x4, a 2009 and a 2014 and both are absolutely rotten underneath as a result of road salt being used when they were in the UK

We do use salt on our roads.

We use no grit on our roads. Never have unless badly, badly stuck.

Maybe pre 2010 we used less. Not privvy to how the councils dosed.

But nowadays all M roads and most dual N roads are privatized for salting and they lash it out.

Also the councils got to keep their existing fleet when the privatization was done around 2012. And they had bulked up after the mess of 2010.

After working in the area for several years I would contend that we salt just as much as UK (bar snowy Scotland) now.

Or maybe it’s just one of these things that’s said and blindly believed on the forum (about the salt on UK roads v here) because nobody challenged it.

Also parts of Scotland would dose way way more than us. So a poorly maintained highlands Scotish car could be in terrible nick.

But then I doubt the boys inside the M25 get much salt at all

We have been buying and driving Jap imports for years now and have found them very reliable and reasonable price wise. One thing to watch out for is the E stamp on the tyres. No matter how good your tyres are on an import from outside the EU if they dont have the stamp they'll fail the NCT. Had to replace perfectly good tyres before because they failed on this.

Only people who know nothing about cars will tell you to avoid imports

A history check will tell you how many previous owners it's had.

I have my 1st Japanese import and love it, it’s nothing special, not a performance car or the like, but a very high spec and fantastic to drive MB A180. I bought from a indie dealer that regularly imports from Japan so I didn’t directly import it, but will say it’s the best little car I’ve driven in the last 12 years. Have to say I’m really impressed with the after sales support and the overall professionalism dealing with them as well. It’s worth exploring IMO.

Do a UK history check then.

Thats true. If your buying an import from a garage they will tell you all of the positives, but if your trading in they’ll tell you all of the negatives.

Thats fine but dealers/sales people will often try make you feel like the car your trading in is worth less because its an import

No you put the old UK reg in.

To answer your question. When you put the Irish registration into Donedeal it doesn’t show UK owners. Thats why you do a UK and Irish history check. It will tell you everything about the car such as previous accidents and mileages

Every car is different, a bit of surface rust won’t be a problem but if your concerned you should bring a mechanic to do an inspection. UK cars aren’t rust buckets.

There’s no reason to avoid UK imports and both of your claims are mostly false.

Most modern cars are well sealed and painted underneath so rust should not be an issue. My last 3 cars were imports as is my present one and never had problems with rust. It may be more economical to import from the North than UK if you can source a car that was originally registered in NI, it's more complicated and expensive now as UK is no longer in EU Don't, under any circumstances, listen to sales men guff and BS, do you own research and shop around. If you don't have a car to trade consider buying from a private seller and save a few grand in the process.

It's just a pity the NI MOT site doesn't have the same level of detail.

It shows date they passed and dates where no NCT was in place, doesn't show reasons for failures.

That is not true. The old UK reg is listed on the Irish log book.

You get the UK details from the MOT website without having to pay for a history check.

A 3 month warranty generally covers engine and gearbox only and if you read the small print may not be worth the paper it's written on.

With a budget of under say 6 grand, if you have the time and means to travel it's best to buy private. If not mechanically minded bring a mechanic. To avoid the lemons out there, ensure that the car has a recent valid NCT, average mileage, service history, not crashed etc. Generally it's best to deal with an older/ retired seller, they do less mileage and care for their cars, avoid the younger crowd, they tend to keep cars for a short period, over use and abuse them and sell them on. There are loads of decent, genuine cars out there with similar vendors. Most Japanese and German cars are fairly reliable even when over 10 years old with 150K on the clock but getting insurance on a 10 year old vehicle may be a problem (Avoid all French cars, they are cheap for a reason !) Regular service & maintenance is the key to the longevity of any mpv