VRT Query - Buying Car in UK before coming home

A

AsBaile

Guest
Hi there
Been over in London now a few years and thinking of buying a car over here and running it for 6 months before coming home with it - this way I avoid paying VRT as you know.

I'm told the range and features of cars over here is better than Ireland.
Any advice on no brainer cars/models that are alot better value over here that would sell well in Ireland even if I did decide to offload in a year.

Previous thread was mentioning an Audi A6?

p.s. don't have a full licence (lazy I know......) - will that scupper things does anyone know or will it just cost me. Will pretty much park it up here before bringing back with me.

Thx in advance
 
Yes, you are correct you will have no VRT to pay if you own the car for at least six months before you leave the UK. My wife brought her car from the North when she moved and it is a relatively painless procedure. The customs and excise people seem to vet you more if the car is worth a considerable amount of money as they are keen to ensure that they are not being deprived of a few euro. A friend was asked for proof of moving, i.e. house purchase or sale, letters from old and new employer etc.
I would disagree that the spec of UK cars is considerably better than Irish cars. It was certainly the case 10-15 years ago but the playing pitch has levelled over the years. And remember people don't pay for a better spec on second hand cars. i.e. A three yr old car with a high spec and and an identical car with a lower spec will probably be only seperated by a very small percentage when they are valued.
I'm sorry but I couldn't recommend one car over the other to you as I'm not familair enough but to the best of my knowledge anything you can buy in the UK can be got here.
Nearly there.... You mention an A6, be careful if you are bringing a relatively expensive car hoping to sell it a year later. If you're hoping to sell privately without taking a trade in then you will find it very difficult to sell as there are not a lot of people that are prepared to shell out a lot of money without selling their current car as part of the deal.
 
have a look at autotrader.ie, audi, vw, passat, golf, toyota, and then ford sell well but at the right price.

noah
 
Look at German, and diesel( under 2 litre is better for road tax)
and because you have no vrt maybe less than 4 years old might be an option

I disagree with Amv8 with regard to specs, you do get more options on Uk cars, things like rear electric windows, Cruise control, rear parking sensors, Leather. Etc.

Yes you can get these options in Irish cars, but because Irish people are being screwed in the first place when buying a new car (21%VAT & VRT on top of that,Road tax etc) we tend to just go for basic models.(unless your filthy rich!)

On the negative side UK car generally have more mileage than Irish equivalent cars. So watch that one.
 
also an MOT in UK will be useless in ireland, you'll have to get it NCT'd here aswell

also another good thing to do is when you find the car your about to buy in the uk
go to https://www.ros.ie:/VRTEnquiryServlet/showCarCalculator

EDITED: put that car into the page and calculate VRT to be paid, the open market selling price is the price of the car in ireland, if the UK asking price of your car (converted to Euro) is lower than this, then its worth buying in the UK.
 
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