Month: January 2017

Absolutely not, the UK has treated fraud much more seriously over the years than has the Irish government. Knowingly selling a car that is clocked or a write off has been illegal in the UK since the introduction of the new Fraud Act in 2006.

Unlike Ireland the UK authorities implement these laws and there are many examples of car dealers and private individuals that have been prosecuted for selling clocked cars. Cartell draws attention to the difference in attitude to prosecuting car fraud in the UK vs Ireland here. Clocking was legal in Ireland up until Jan 15th 2014! Read the Irish Times here

Despite this no prosecutions have been brought against any dealer in Ireland to date.

In the UK they have the National Mileage Register (NMR) which is owned and run by HPI Ltd, this register contains over 140 million mileages for the UK car stock. Every time a history check is completed on a car the person requesting the history check must input the current mileage on the car, should a lower mileage, for example, be entered for a 3 year old car than was entered a 1 year before by another person buying a history check on that car then a warning is placed on the vehicle and an NMR check is required to remove the warning.

The NMR check will contact the other individuals that have input the different mileages to establish the facts and a report is then produced. This provides unique information to UK car buyers in advance of buying.

No such database exists for Irish cars.

Other methods of checking mileage include MOT and NCT records, in the UK a new car has its first MOT after 3 years, in Ireland the NCT only occurs after 4 years. UK cars appear on the system earlier than Irish cars which means they are easier to check.

It is much easier to clock a car with no records and again the risk in Ireland is mainly for new cars upto 4 years old, because there are no records of them to check against. In general there are much better systems in place to prevent car fraud in the UK than Ireland and the laws they have, are in place for longer and importantly, they are enforced. That doesn’t stop car clocking but it makes it much more difficult to do in the UK than Ireland.

Cartell and Motorcheck have spent a small fortune in marketing trying to scare the Irish public about UK Cars, this focus on UK Cars is groundless and if anything an Irish car provides a much greater risk. Marketing is not about facts but about selling car history checks! They do it very well!

Ask yourself, which system would you prefer to buy from, the Irish or UK system?

We can provide a full HPI history check for €15, HPI are the industry leaders and began the first history checks back in 1946

The Condition and Mechanical reports are extremely reliable, we haven’t had anything significant ever differ, however, for total reassurance we Guarantee the car will arrive as described based on the Condition and/or the Mechanical Report. We also offer a professional inspection service that can help provide pre-purchase details if you have concerns and we also recommend that you take our warranty. Our Inspection Service is ‘on offer’ for €49 from now until the end of 2017. We advise all our clients to protect their investment with our 12 month warranty. Details of our warranty are given on our home page. The Condition & Mechanical reports offer a cost effective insight pre-purchase and we are the only retail platform to do so.

Used UK cars on UK Car Imports are located in the UK. The vehicles are sold across 30 auction centres belonging to British Car Auctions or Manheim Auctions. The used car database is a direct feed from these 2 main car wholesalers in the UK, Manheim Auctions and British Car Auctions. They sell 3,000 quality used UK cars a day, 6 days a week which means you have alot more choice than the 30,000 cars advertised today! Both are multinationals with billions of £’s per year in turnover. Each provides transparent condition and mechanical inspection reports. Visit their sites through the links above, to find out more about their business.

Visit www.ukcarimports.ie for daily additions, UK Car Imports has upto 3,000 new cars added daily. That’s 1 million cars sold every year through BCA and Manheim and every used car is available for purchase through UK Car Imports.

In fact there are more choices per year on www.ukcarimports.ie than on Carzone.ie or Donedeal.

Both BCA and Manheim sell commercial vehicles from vans to pick up trucks. A commercial vehicle will have a ‘VAT’ amount listed under pricing in the database, this is how you will know which vehicles are commercial and which are not. If you or your company are VAT registered we can issue a VAT invoice for a purchased vehicle. This means you can reclaim the VAT paid in your VAT returns against VAT due from sales for instance, as you would with VAT on other purchases. For clarity, we cannot sell a vehicle excluding VAT as we must make our own returns but you can reclaim the VAT paid as described above.

If you are not VAT registered then you cannot reclaim VAT.

If you are VAT registered and have identified a commercial vehicle you wish to purchase, please send it on to us by clicking on ‘Buy This Car’ and stating that you are VAT registered.

Finally, to give an example to help you decide, if you bid at auction and buy a Ford Transit for €10,000 and VAT is a further €2,000 then you will pay €12,000 plus our fees, transport etc. We will issue you with a VAT invoice and then you can claim back the VAT through your normal VAT 3 returns process.

Buying used UK auction cars with UK Car Imports is easy. First, pick a UK used car going to auction from the 30,000 cars listed  Search All Auction Vehicles. UK Car Imports lists 1 million quality used UK cars per year so finding what you want will not take long. Let us know the car you want to buy by clicking on ‘Buy this Car’.

buying used UK auction cars with UK Car Imports: Pricing

Pricing is listed in four parts.  ‘Guide Price’ which is the book price, VRT estimate, Transport and Our Fee. VRT on every UK used car on UK Car Imports is automatically listed. Our VRT algorithm is unique and no other site lists VRT on UK used cars. The price list provides full transparency on the cost of buying a UK car import. The Auction Guide Price is not a fixed price therefore you need a flexible budget. The best cars on UK Car Imports have are condition graded 1,2 or 3 with a clear mechanical report and a full service history. Furthermore, all used UK cars over 3 years old have an MOT in place. Bidders will pay more than Guide Price for the best cars and therefore many cars we buy go 10% over guide price. For the best quality vehicles you need to have a maximum budget of Guide Price +10%.

buying used UK auction cars with UK Car Imports: Choosing

Pick the used UK car, on UK Car Imports, you want to bid on and then send it to us by clicking on ‘Buy this Car’. We review the MOT history, Condition & Mechanical inspection reports and service history. We also check the VRT amount is correct and in addition we propose a maximum budget. Next the deposit is made. The deposit amount depends on the price of the vehicle. Ranging from €1,000 for a vehicle up to €20,000 in price to €3,000 for a vehicle over €30,000 in value. The deposit is returned in full in the event of an unsuccessful bid.

buying used UK auction cars with UK Car Imports: Bidding

With the deposit in place and a maximum budget set we can then bid. We bid online on your behalf. Bidding prices start low and go higher with each bid much as any other item at auction. The number of bidders depends on the quality of the car therefore the better the quality the more bidders and the more they will pay. It’s common sense. We will bid up to the maximum budget + £100 in order to secure a car. This strategy reflects previous experience with unsuccessful bids and buyer disappointment losing a car over £100. Using this approach our success rate at auction is 95% therefore we recommend following this advice.

buying used UK auction cars with UK Car Imports: Payment

The Auction House Invoice is forwarded for your information and for transparency as a result if your new car sells for less then you keep the difference. The deposit is subtracted from the balance due on the auction house invoice. The rest of the balance must be paid within 3 days of the successful auction purchase consequently we book transport.

buying used UK auction cars with UK Car Imports: Delivery

The delivery ‘window’ is 10-14 days following the date of payment. Transport is by car transporter and is fully insured hence protecting your investment. Notification by our transporter company is on the day of delivery consequently we will notify you directly. Collection is by appointment at our premises in Baldoyle. We provide flexible collection times and a collection service from Sutton Dart Station or Dublin Airport during working hours. In addition late evening or weekend collections from our premises are arranged to suit. Free short term storage for up to 2 weeks after delivery is available.

buying used UK auction cars with UK Car Imports: VRT Processing

We offer to complete registration of the car with new Irish registration plates. The VRT appointment is booked on the day of the car purchase in your name and address. The documents required to complete registration of a UK used car/UK Car Import are very specific and we list the Revenue approved documents for you for a quick and simple process. Our fee is €99 for vehicle registration and this includes the attachment of your new Irish registration plate.