Bringing our car into Ireland?
 

Hello,

this forum looks nice and friendly so thought I would post my queries here :)

My fiance recently moved to Cork and I will be joining him in July. However we are still in two minds as to whether we should take the car over or leave it in Britain. We are not sure how expensive it would be.

We know it'll cost about 100 to take it over on the ferry, so that's fine. We know we won't have to pay VRT for the car because we have owned it for more than 6 months.
What are the options regarding taking cars over?

Could I take the car over and leave it in British plates ( and say I am living here temporarily)until September when I then tax and insure it and M.O.T it under Irish law (putting on the plates then) since the car would be due it's M.O.T and tax back in Britain anyway.

Would I have to tax the car straight away if coming to Ireland? Do you know how much it costs to tax and M.O.T a car in Ireland? how much are the number plates to put on?

Also we will be living in a paid parking zone - with discs and paid underground parking - does anyone know how much this would cost per month say?

Has anyone done this? Is it worth the hassle? Should we wait and just get one in Ireland?

Apologies for all the questions - it is just very confusing

thanks in advance,

Re: Bringing our car into Ireland?
 

Personally, i would ring them and find out. There's been loads of threads about this and nobody seems to give the definitive answer. They are very hot here on VRT here. Ive just got my taxi badge and was thinking about buying a London Taxi on sale over here. A novelty, and with my London accent it would be quite funny. But of course the price didnt add the VRT. Shame cos it would be nice to drive round in.

Re: Bringing our car into Ireland?
 

Yes thanks for replying. I think I will call them up before I come over with the car.

thanks again for the advice :)

Re: Bringing our car into Ireland?
 

If you've had your car long enough to avoid VRT bring it with you - the £100 cost of the ferry will save you a fortune! Hang onto the ferry ticket though as you will need it to prove what date you entered Ireland with your car!

Forget about hanging on until September when your UK MOT and tax run out though. Your NCT (the Irish MOT) runs from the date your car was first registered, in the UK or anywhere not just in Ireland, not when the last MOT ran out. For example I came over in May and re-registered my car in the September when my UK MOT and tax ran out. I then had to put my car through an NCT test. But then as my car was first registered in the UK in February 02 I then had to have it NCT'd again the following February (5 months after it's previous NCT) and each NCT costs about €50.

As for the cost of plates I ordered mine of the internet from a company in Northern Ireland and they cost about £20, don't go to a garage here and get ripped off.

Tax depends on Engine size and CO2 emissions etc. same as the UK.

On another note there's been talk recently of Garda checkpoints stopping cars that aren't registered in Ireland to see if they should be or if the driver is trying to avoid VRT. I'd say come over and if you're staying reregister your car asap. Legally if your staying for more than 12 months you have to start the process the day after you arrive, but very few do.

Re: Bringing our car into Ireland?
 

Hi

We have just moved over in March and brought our car. We got our plates today 14.99 euro each. We had to give 6 months of bank statements to prove ownership and that we had been using it in the UK. NCT is 50 euro and 28 euro for a retest if you fail. If you go to www.vrt.ie and there is a tax calculator on there. Hope this helps any thing you need to know just ask. We are still filling in paperwork and getting settled.

Re: Bringing our car into Ireland?
 

You may be exempt but you still have to register it.Also doesn't that exemption preclude you from selling it for 12 months ! It will all be to block you from the possibility of engaging in some used car import operation and vrt avoidance.