Buying a car in U.K. and bringing to Northern Ireland

Car_54

zagubov said:

Do you have to change the registration plate after a time there?

No, but for a long time it was considered a sensible move. A GB registration number stood out and could draw the attention of the guys in balaclavas.

sheramber

It is due to the dog's breakfast of the Northern Ireland Protocol 

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/two-tier-system-applies-for-post-brexit-vehicle-imports-from-north-and-britain-1.4455376

UK tax authority HMRC confirmed individuals and motor dealers in Northern Ireland would have to pay VAT on second-hand cars imported from Britain. The move will also add thousands of euro to the price of second hand cars imported into Northern Ireland from Britain.

A spokesman for HMRC told The Irish Times the UK government “is aiming to minimise disruption for Northern Ireland traders and is continuing to explore options for addressing the impacts”.

 and just to confuse matters

   https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-vat-will-apply-to-goods-moving-between-great-britain-and-northern-ireland#if-you-travel-with-goods-by-air-or-sea-between-great-britain-and-northern-ireland

If you travel with goods by air or sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland

If you carry goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland by commercial sea or air transports, in most cases, no VAT will be due.

When you’ll have to account for import VAT

You’ll need to account for import VAT on goods, including personal possessions, that:

• did not incur VAT of an equivalent value at the original point of purchase
• total more than £390 in value

Further guidance on this will be available shortly.

zagubov

AdrianC said:

zagubov said:

Do you have to change the registration plate after a time there?

No.

You can choose to change a GB for NI plate (or vice-versa), but you don't have to. GB and NI vehicles are all registered at Swansea now - the separate NI registry closed nearly a decade ago.

I get it. I knew someone decades who had a NI lodger who got a driving offence and it got really complicated because GB and NI had totally different systems (for licenses as well as plates). Still have different pharmacy societies and so on.

dark_knight_2

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but i'm having trouble getting car dealers on the mainland to deal with me.  I'm perfectly happy to purchase a car there and drive it back to NI myself, but i'm having dealers tell me they can only register a car to a mainland UK address.  Is this correct?  Is there any way round this?

AdrianC

dark_knight_2 said:

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but i'm having trouble getting car dealers on the mainland to deal with me.  I'm perfectly happy to purchase a car there and drive it back to NI myself, but i'm having dealers tell me they can only register a car to a mainland UK address.  Is this correct?  Is there any way round this?

They're idiots who don't know the difference between NI and RoI.

They just put the NI address on the V5C keeper change, exactly the same as any other UK address.

motorguy

dark_knight_2 said:

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but i'm having trouble getting car dealers on the mainland to deal with me.  I'm perfectly happy to purchase a car there and drive it back to NI myself, but i'm having dealers tell me they can only register a car to a mainland UK address.  Is this correct?  Is there any way round this?

As far as i'm aware, thats incorrect.  There should be no issue doing this.  I suspect they dont want the (perceived) "hassle".

Have you tried going through a broker?  Broadspeed.com, Drivethedeal etc?  I've dealt with them in the past and theres been no issues getting a car from the mainland.

dark_knight_2

motorguy said:

dark_knight_2 said:

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but i'm having trouble getting car dealers on the mainland to deal with me.  I'm perfectly happy to purchase a car there and drive it back to NI myself, but i'm having dealers tell me they can only register a car to a mainland UK address.  Is this correct?  Is there any way round this?

As far as i'm aware, thats incorrect.  There should be no issue doing this.  I suspect they dont want the (perceived) "hassle".

Have you tried going through a broker?  Broadspeed.com, Drivethedeal etc?  I've dealt with them in the past and theres been no issues getting a car from the mainland.

Yeah i'm contacting via Carwow, and had one dealer tell me this morning that they couldn't do it due to 'VAT implications'.  Are there any particular brokers to recommend? I actually have a Focus on order but it's been delayed twice now so hoping to grab something in stock.

dark_knight_2

Been told now that the car has suddenly been sold!

AdrianC

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Does it matter much?

Simple answer is that they think your business is more hassle than it's worth.

Such is, of course, their prerogative, whether it's based on reality or a total misconception.

Flight3287462

Car_54 said:

zagubov said:

Do you have to change the registration plate after a time there?

No, but for a long time it was considered a sensible move. A GB registration number stood out and could draw the attention of the guys in balaclavas.

Loads of UK reg cars in NI these days was over last weekend and was surprised by the number of them.