Importing And Insurance

[Toy40]

If it's over ten years don't need a cert of conformity just notify HMRC first before sending paperwork to Swansea

[jonthetourist]

Took the car for MOT - Fail :( N/S headlamp too low

Beam alignment linked to suspension height control, sounds like it might be expensive :(

ClubLexus supplied a guide to adjusting the height and it took me ten minutes this morning.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls430/395898-how-to-adjust-your-headlights-writeup-w-pix.html

Retest = Pass :)

So now it is paperwork off to DVLA and await a registration. Meanwhile I am away with work for 10 days so will update the saga when I get back.

All I can say at this stage is that Irish owners of large-engined cars are very motivated to sell by the fact that A/ road tax is 1800 euro per annum, and B/ they get a refund of the penalty import tax on the original vehicle if they sell it for export. It is a proportion of the tax based on current market value, but there is an online calculator. My vendor and I worked out he would get 2,300 euro back from the state, so he knocked that off the asking price.

You do need to find a seller you can work with as I had a couple of false starts with people changing prices on me, but I am delighted with the deal I did in the end. Two owner car, mainly Lexus service history, everything works but the front sensors, and the tyre pressure system throws up warnings. alloys are scabby, but I had seen lots of pics before I went over, and he had advised me on the other issues. 2004 car, sub 100k miles, sub £2.5k price.

I am very happy to be aboard the forum as an LS430 owner!

Jon

[WarwickT]

Checked the dvla website, they say "You usually need to pay VAT if you import a vehicle from within the EU." unable to find out if it applies to vehicles over 10 years old? Tarun

[Bluesman]

Checked the dvla website, they say "You usually need to pay VAT if you import a vehicle from within the EU." unable to find out if it applies to vehicles over 10 years old? Tarun

When I was going to do it on a 10 year old LS400 it didn't attract VAT and that was in the last couple of months. Mike

[Toy40]

Just got my paper work back two weeks to the day,reg transferred from my current car (private plate) and new log book for my current car but no log book for the lexus yet. And if over ten years no vat,

[WarwickT]

Just got my paper work back two weeks to the day,reg transferred from my current car (private plate) and new log book for my current car but no log book for the lexus yet. And if over ten years no vat,

Thanks Liam,

I sold my Toyota Avensis this afternoon, if all goes well (fingers crossed) will be going to pick up my Lexus next weekend.

Tarun

[Toy40]

Ive and avensis too but its Er car im replacing A 92 Celica but havnt decided to sell it yet may stick it in a garage somewhere as my Mk2 Gti Is in the garage at the house im running out of room Oh god hate selling my cars,I get too attached

[WarwickT]

My wife was very attached to the avensis and is a bit upset today, hopefully the Lexus will cheer her up! Tarun

[WarwickT]

Hi, everyone,

If importing from Ireland, do we have to change to clocks from km/hr to miles/hr for MOT purposes?

Thanks. Tarun

[Toy40]

Is it not in Miles per hour anyway?

[cruisermark]

well i have looked at pics of ls600h (mr2lad) and ls430 and they have both markings on them

[jonthetourist]

So I promsed some more feedback on the importing process once I was back from India and here I am. Some of this will be a recap as I can't remember everything that was discussed.

Irish owners of cars with engines over 3 litres are motivated sellers. Motivated by an annual road tax of 1800 euro. After a false start with a member of this forum, I found a vendor of a 2004 model, 2nd owner, almost full service history, 95k on the clock. He was looking for 5,500 euro. I pointed out he would get a refund of half his car tax, as it was taxed til October, and he agreed to deduct that from the price.

But there is another twist. Ireland has a punitive tax on new cars. If you export a car, you get a proportion of that back. There is an online calculator of how much you get, which in this case came to 1400 euro. So I suggested he would get his full asking price if he took 3,300 euro off me, and 2,200 off the state, plus there was another 100 in there because they would undoubtedly chare him something for the admin. Vendor agreed, and I flew over with that the agreed price, and about 20 photos in my inbox. I knew the front parking sensors weren't working, there was a scuff on the driver's door, but just before I left I got him to confess that he only had one key, which we agreed to sort out when we met.

Vendor picked me up at Dublin airport and we went for a drive, in which the car seemed fine. We agreed to split the cost of a new key, and went to a dealer, only to learn you can't do it same day. So we called a UK dealer, got quoted a price between £200 and £300, and he knocked 200 euro off the price. So the final price was 3,100 euro. Vendor drove the car to the Dublin docks and I caught the late ferry to Holyhead. Total transport price for buying in Ireland including flight, ferry and fuel, just under £200.

Now you are legal to drive an imported vehicle to a pre-booked MOT if you insure it on the VIN, but when I went to my regular garage to get a letter confirming an appointment, they said "here, take these" and gave me a pair of trade plates. I drove the four hours home with a very brief stop for coffee, enjoying the calm of an LS430 cabin. Only issue was the tyre pressure warning coming on, which the vendor had warned me it would. I need to reinitialise the sensor.

Mot was a fail, but only on n/s headlamp alignment, which turned out to a five minute job once I found instructions on the Lexus forum. So now the documents are off to Swansea, and the car is sitting on the drive waiting for a UK registration.

Photos to follow.

Jon

[jonthetourist]

Briarwood Pearl, in case you are wondering.

[Malc]

A local car dealer might be able to arrange for you to have the car on his trade plates for the time .... and then be at least Road Traffic Act insured

Malc

hmm ............ he might well have allowed you to insure thru' his business protem too !!! and used his trade plates more fully.

Malc

[messi]

That's a nice colour. I like it. What year is it?

[steve2006]

Looks like a nice example, perhaps the paint damage on the door will buff out with the help of a decent bodyshop.

Some good information in your post, I was certainly was unaware of the tax refund.

Another plus is that the £ - Euro is good presently so saving you even more than it would a few months ago.

[Bluesman]

Great looking car, well done lots of happy smiles of motoring ahead. Mike.

[jonthetourist]

Some more stuff, in the hope that it may help others.

You need to advise HMRC online, but no tax was due in my case. You have to pay £55 first reg fee on top of the £285 for a 12 month disc. The car needs to be MOT'd and insured in order for the DVLA to issue the registration.

The weak euro is certainly helpful, and my purchase price of £2,300 is excellent value. Everything works bar the front sensors, which I believe is a common failing. The steering column retracts, the bonnet and boot struts work,as does the door closing. The toolkit appears untouched. I think it is sitting a bit high at the front, but I plan to have a specialist give it a good going over while fixing the sensors and programming a new key. I have a quote from my local bodyshop to polish out the scuff, repaint both bumpers, and refurb the alloys.

The timing belt is still to do, but I will use the check-up to find out what else needs doing at the same time. All the fluids look clean, but I don't know how to check the trans fluid.

Cheers

Jon

[Ruud]

RE sitting high at the front. I think my 430 sits a bit high at the front as well compared to the rear. Maybe it's normal?

[cruisermark]

second that - mine sits marginally high at the front

[bilmac]

So I promsed some more feedback on the importing process once I was back from India and here I am. Some of this will be a recap as I can't remember everything that was discussed.

Irish owners of cars with engines over 3 litres are motivated sellers. Motivated by an annual road tax of 1800 euro. After a false start with a member of this forum, I found a vendor of a 2004 model, 2nd owner, almost full service history, 95k on the clock. He was looking for 5,500 euro. I pointed out he would get a refund of half his car tax, as it was taxed til October, and he agreed to deduct that from the price.

But there is another twist. Ireland has a punitive tax on new cars. If you export a car, you get a proportion of that back. There is an online calculator of how much you get, which in this case came to 1400 euro. So I suggested he would get his full asking price if he took 3,300 euro off me, and 2,200 off the state, plus there was another 100 in there because they would undoubtedly chare him something for the admin. Vendor agreed, and I flew over with that the agreed price, and about 20 photos in my inbox. I knew the front parking sensors weren't working, there was a scuff on the driver's door, but just before I left I got him to confess that he only had one key, which we agreed to sort out when we met.

Vendor picked me up at Dublin airport and we went for a drive, in which the car seemed fine. We agreed to split the cost of a new key, and went to a dealer, only to learn you can't do it same day. So we called a UK dealer, got quoted a price between £200 and £300, and he knocked 200 euro off the price. So the final price was 3,100 euro. Vendor drove the car to the Dublin docks and I caught the late ferry to Holyhead. Total transport price for buying in Ireland including flight, ferry and fuel, just under £200.

Now you are legal to drive an imported vehicle to a pre-booked MOT if you insure it on the VIN, but when I went to my regular garage to get a letter confirming an appointment, they said "here, take these" and gave me a pair of trade plates. I drove the four hours home with a very brief stop for coffee, enjoying the calm of an LS430 cabin. Only issue was the tyre pressure warning coming on, which the vendor had warned me it would. I need to reinitialise the sensor.

Mot was a fail, but only on n/s headlamp alignment, which turned out to a five minute job once I found instructions on the Lexus forum. So now the documents are off to Swansea, and the car is sitting on the drive waiting for a UK registration.

Photos to follow.

Jon

So now that you are back from INDIA. OF COURSE, I KNOW YOU MEANT IRELAND, YOU JUST MADE A MISTAKE, THE SAME AS I DID.

any normal person would have seen that you could not buy a car like mine for only 4000 euro.

Also at no time did I agree to sell my car to you, at any price.

Anyway you seem to have came out alright with the car you bought, unlike the seller who allowed himself to be bullied by you into agreeing to allow the VRT refund. This refund is subject to rules, one is that the car must be presented for inspection to Irish revenue before export. the sum you mentioned is correct however there is a fee of 500 euro deducted which leaves 900 euro. This is money that the buyer will not get now. and he won't get the motor tax refund unless he is the owner in the log book and he can show car is exported.

I am happy I did not do business with you as your abuse to me on learning that you were not getting my car at the ridiculous low price you thought was quite upsetting for me. and all because I made a mistake in a post. JUST AS YOU HAVE. William

[jonthetourist]

I tend to abide by the rule in life that if you can't say something nice about people, say nothing. Which is why I referred to a false start with a member without giving detail. But since I have just been called "abusive", and this being the internet, no-one knows the caracters concerned, I feel the need to set the record straight.

1. On March 5th, just after bringing my car back from Ireland, I wrote (post #27) that I was away with work for 10 days and would update when I got back. That trip was to India.

2. In my correspondence with Bilmac, discussing how to conclude the sale I wrote on Feb 20th: "I have to go to India on the 6th, so otherwise it would have to wait til late March."

3. My vendor did not "allow himself to be bullied" as Bilmac so charmingly puts it. He was about to start a new job 3,000 miles from Ireland and was delighted to conclude the sale as his car had not attracted any enquiries in Ireland until my interest. He did present the car for export inspection and calculated his entitlements from the state. In fact he was a pleasure to deal with.

4. Below is the full text of my email to Bilmac

I didn't reply last night because I was so angry, and that is never great for writing emails. However I am no happier this morning.

"The error was pointed out", you say. But you didn't call or write to me and apologise for an error - you just presented me with a demand for more money without any explanation. That is rude and dishonest.

But it wasn't an error, in any case. When you put the car for sale on the forum you said 4,000 euro was "just about half what the car stands me". When i read that I went through what you had spent as follows: car 5,000 euro, service 800 euro, tyres 800 euro, wrap 1400 euro = total 8,000 euro. So even though the wrap has no value to me, as I would rather be able to see the paintwork, I could see how you calculated you had spent 8,000 euro on the car. The point being, writing 4,000 euro wasn't a mistake - it was the price you had decided to charge, and you explained the calculation. As I did my research, I could see that selling it to a UK forum member, which allows you to claim close to 2,000 euro VRT refund, meant it wasn't as bad as it looked for over a year's comfortable motoring.

So again, I think you have been dishonest in now claiming you meant £4,000 instead of 4,000 euro.

You're right, there are quite a few on donedeal. That's mainly because they are not selling. After close to 3 months with your car listed on the forum at 4,000 euro, you found one buyer - me. Now you want to try and sell it for 5,400 euro. Do you really think that putting the price up will produce more buyers for you? And even if you sell it to an Irish buyer for that price, you will end up with less because you don't get the export refund.

I generally think the best of people until such time as they let me down, and after investing many hours in researching your car, how to register it and get it home etc. I am very disappointed and disillusioned that you turned out to be dishonest.

Members reading this can form their own conclusion as to how abusive I was, but bear in mind the context was a discussion of which flight I was taking to buy the vehicle.

5. I wasn't planning to prejudice Bilmac's ability to sell the car to anyone else, but in the circumstances I am revealing that an Irish Cartell report reveals that the vehicle was originally silver, then black. It is now wrapped in blue plastic. So buyers have no scope to determine the current quality of the paintwork under the wrap, but it is not original. The report also states it is running on a Hackney license.

6 I believe the member to whom Bilmac sold his LS400 was very happy with the car. He also inspected a car for a fellow member. So clearly he is not a bad person. But I believe I am now the third member of this forum he has chosen to antagonise or insult, and frankly, life is too short.

I hope this clarifies my position.

Jon

[Bluesman]

Please please gentleman lets keep it friendly. Mike

[Ruud]

The third member indeed. First he felt it necessary to start with Ambermarine out of the blue. Then he called me a fool and now its Jon !

In my opinion the forum would be a better place without mr Bilmac so, by all means, feel free to leave!!

[bilmac]

The third member indeed. First he felt it necessary to start with Ambermarine out of the blue. Then he called me a fool and now its Jon !

In my opinion the forum would be a better place without mr Bilmac so, by all means, feel free to leave!!

Another unhelpful post, troublemaking even