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.
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.
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.
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.
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
A VAT registered individual or company is entitled to claim VAT back on a company car or commercial vehicle. Details of the various scenario’s are given on the Revenue website. You cannot reclaim VAT on Commerical or used vehicles if not VAT registered. All commercials are ‘VAT Qualifying’ meaning you can reclaim the VAT back you paid, in your VAT returns, as you would for a receipt for Diesel. Some used passanger vehicles are also VAT Qualifying and the VAT registered individual can reclaim the VAT paid on these vehicles if it is to become a company car. For clarity you must first pay the VAT and then reclaim it through your VAT reclaims as you would a Diesel receipt. If you are a VAT registered company or person and plan to purchase a company car and can reclaim the VAT portion of the car then we can help. We can help you identify a VAT Qualifying car on our database and process the sale to provide you with a VAT invoice. You simply reclaim the VAT amount on the invoice we issue through your VAT 3 returns For example, you buy a BMW 520D, through us, for €40,000 of which €7,500 is VAT. You pay €40,000 upfront and then reclaim the €7,500 in your bi-monthly VAT 3 returns. Its that simple!
Manheim and British Car Auctions sell approximately 20,000 cars every 10 days to the retail trade from the UK and Ireland, the vast majority of vehicles are ex-lease vehicles, coming back after 3-5 years on lease to corporate clients. Part of the lease arrangement is the provision of maintenance. This means the cars are maintained to a higher level, many with full main dealer service histories. Ex-rentals will be sold by the rental company which s listed under the auction date, you can simply avoid sales by ‘HERTZ’, ‘AVIS’, – all rental companies – if buying a rental is not for you.
In short yes, as many as 25% of used car sales in the US are conducted online, many through Manheim Car Auctions parent organisation in the US. The ‘Condition’ and ‘Mechanical’ reports provided by BCA and Manheim on our site are unique, no other company provides such transparency, providing more information than a typical buyer would get from seeing the car in person. On top we now can provide the Full MOT history for every vehicle. The MOT is the UK equivalent of the NCT and the history includes a recording of the mileage at each MOT test and the mechanical findings at each test, all maintained on a UK government database. Of course we can provide one of our professional inspectors to provide a further report on the vehicle for €49, so you can have the best of all worlds, a comprehensive vehicle information profile with an inspection by a seasoned professional. You can read a summary from a McKinsey Research report here. Buying with this level of information is not available from anyone else even main dealers and this information is a much better basis to make a decision certainly better than kicking a tyre on a forecourt!
Our guidance to you is the same as we offer all our customers – dealers etc, or take indeed ourselves, pay close attention to the vehicle history. This can be viewed under ‘Equipment’ which sometimes includes the service history eg 3 srv – 3 main dlr – means the car has 3 services all at a main dealer. Service information can be found in the Manheim Condition report where the service history is listed. Carefully review the Condition reports to ensure you have observed all the documented wear and tear. The condition report can be extensive, make sure to read and observe each item, many are unremarkable in the context of viewing the car as a whole. Others are a matter of record and invisible, however, some can be very important, for example while chips on a windscreen are typical, a cracked windscreen should be included in the cost of an overall calculation. Having said that you have to be reasonable, you can’t expect a used car to be blemish free, stone chips on the bonnet, small scratches and dents are to be expected. Pay most attention to the mechanical report – the BCA Mechanical report is completed in conjunction with the AA or through the Manheim Assured check list. Indications of problems with the engine, gearbox or clutch can be expensive, similarly turbo noise will mean a new turbo, all such issues will be part of any mechanical report. My advice is to expect all boxes to be ticked except for the service indicator light , or the presence of a tyre inflation kit, one means the car needs a service and a tyre inflation kit can be bought cheaply on ebay. Next check the thread depth on the tyres, anything above 1mm is legal though you should look for 3mm at least. One tyre below that is not too bad but its a matter of cost, will 2 new tyres be a deal breaker? At these prices I would say not. Since October 2015 the UK government has made the MOT of all UK registered cars available on line. This new level of transparency means the history of the car is available to you to check mileage and test findings, you can complete a search on any of the vehicles on our site for free. By combining the MOT read out, Condition report, Mechanical report with a history check you can rest assured you know everything there is to know
Once we have the deposit in place then we can move immediately to bid on a car. The nature of wholesale is to sell alot of cars efficiently, so cars do not stay on the site for long. We often move to bid with less than a days notice. If the car is due to sell today then its probably too late. For cars due for auction tomorrow then all we need is a screenshot of the electronic transfer of the deposit to proceed.
Auction prices vary by their nature, however, each car make & model in the UK has a ‘Book’ valuation, we list this as the ‘Guide Price’. The value is based on the make, model, specification, age, mileage among other values for each car. While most buyers stop bidding once Book value is reached a Condition Grade 1,2 or 3 vehicle will often attract further bids pushing prices above the ‘Book’ or ‘Guide Price’. For that reason we recommend having some flexibility in your budget by including a ‘reserve’ amount to have the leeway to bid a bit higher.
Once the Auction House invoice is issued we will send it directly to you.
The Total price advertised includes the BOOK price (Guide Price) of the car which includes the Auction House fee. Also incluced is the VRT due on importation to Revenue, the Transport fee from the UK to Baldoyle and Our fee. A flexible approach to the budget is key to success at Auction and having a reserve in place can get a result without materially effecting the value on offer.
The only necessary additional charge is our fee of €295, which is taken from the deposit once the car is purchased. Any other charges depend on which services you choose.
Despite our best efforts we have found it very difficult to meet the expectations on price for trade ins. We can’t offer retail prices for trade ins when our fees are structured the way they are. Vehicles over 100,000 miles and more than 8 years old are difficult to insure and place under warranty and are therefore more suited to private sale. Given some time a private sale will yield a better price. Our advice is to sell your own car privately and get the best price possible and then avail of our service to get the best value on offer when buying your new car.
We can provide a 12 month warranty for €295 (Premium Powertrain Warranty), this is your way to guarantee your investment. Details of Warranty’s are given. We also Guarantee the car to arrive as per the description of the car in the ‘Condition’ and/or ‘Mechanical’ reports. So yes there is a guarantee when you purchase using our auction buyer service.
You can read extensively about the individual aspects covered by the Mapfre warranty portfolio here. There are a number of options, the Premium Max covers cars under 100Km’s and less than 6 years old, the Premium Plus covers cars with upto 150,000 kms and less than 8 years old. Policies are available for cars with upto 250,000 km’s and upto 12 years old. Our standard policy is the Premium Powertrain cover. We buy 100’s of warranty’s a year and when you buy with us you will enjoy the flexible approach afforded to a larger customer. We know how the warranty’s work best and we will advise you at every stage in the unlikely event of a problem with your vehicle.
We can provide a full VRT registration service for €99 and separately a NCT submission service for €129 (this includes the €55 NCT fee). A HPI history check is available for €15, and checks mileage, history of outstanding finance, being stolen or written off and for another €5 can include a manufacturers specification check which includes extra’s ordered by the original owner as well as the list of standard equipment for the specific vehicle. We provide a full car valet for €50
Once you have bought, paid for and transported the car back to Ireland, you should VRT the car within 30 days. Completing the VRT registration is not difficult but requires time and alot of documents. We can complete the various forms and advise you on the documents you need for registration, we offer a confirmation calculation of the VRT amount to be paid and book the VRT appointment. We offer very practical advice on how to deal with missing invoices, ferry tickets, UK log books etc. You will need to leave the car with us on the day of the appointment and make arrangements for the VRT amount to be paid to us or as a bank draft in advance of the VRT appointment. Once the VRT is paid we will attach your new Irish number plates and you can collect the car when you are ready.
Each auction house uses an industry standard grading system to provide details to the trade buyer about the general condition of the car, remember many trade buyers buy stock online from all over the UK, so many never see the cars before they arrive on their forecourt. To find out specifics about the grading systems then have a look here for Manheim and here for British Car Auctions . Our experience with the grading system is that the level of grade is affected by the number of logged items. Many items are tiny and invisible but collect to push the grade lower. Grade 1 is nearly new in condition and the most sought after, Grade 1 vehicles always sell above book value. Grade 3 is the average, typically a well kept vehicle in good condition with minor wear and tear, honestly the best value vehicles to buy. Grade 4 are typically OK as well, if a little less loved, I have bought alot of Grade 4 vehicles that were as good as a grade 2 for the reason given above. Grade 5 usually means some significant body work to be done. We dont buy grade 5 and indeed we don’t list them on the site. For traders there is value in a Grade 5 vehicle when you have a mechanic and a bodyshop to add value to such vehicles.
Yes of course, we will review the vehicle based on the site information and offer an informed opinion with price guidance, unlike other car sales platforms, we have no vested interest in a given car, with approximately 20,000 to choose from we want to help you get the best deal. If you are happy you will tell others who might also use our service.
Always keep the registration of the vehicle you have been following. You can search for a car by typing the registration into the search window in the filter section. Remember to type the registration in without spaces eg WL60HDV. However, when a car has gone to auction it is removed from the site. Keep an eye on the auction date which is located beside the car price.
This can happen and it can be down to currency fluctuations, changes in UK Book prices or UK Auction House fees. The changes are automatically updated and accurate.
We provide automated VRT on the majority of cars listed Search All Auction Vehicles. Once you have decided to bid on a car we can manually confirm the VRT amount ahead of bidding.
Vehicle Registration Tax is calculated based on the CO2 emissions of the vehicle, the higher the CO2 the higher the percent of the car price is paid as tax. Newer cars tend to have lower emissions despite their greater price. View the link for more information.
In a word, no, the Revenue Commissioners keep a database of car prices that they update monthly, each car has an allocated price as determined by them. Its called the Current Open Market Selling Price (COMSP) and its listed in the VRT output.
Payment of the deposit is by electronic transfer only. You can find our bank details on the home page by clicking the green button with ‘Company Bank Details’ under the image for Car Auction Buyer Service – it’s the first image in the first slider –top of the home page. You can view these through this link.
Revenue update their database of car prices regularly and if the car you bought is worth more according to Revenue this month than last month then the amount of VRT to be paid increases. VRT is automatically allocated to most cars on site and this calculation is updated daily by direct reference to Revenue files on VRT. This provides the most upto date estimate of VRT available.
See here. The good news is you choose! If the motor tax for a Mar 2008 registered vehicle is cheaper based on engine size or emissions, its the cheapest of the 2 for any car in that 6 month period Jan-June 2008. Check out the motor tax based on engine size here and emissions here. For an imported vehicle you can choose which amount you want to pay. Like I said, good news!
You need to book a VRT appointment here. You will need to have the VRT amount as a bank draft, your PPSN your passport or driving license and a utility bill to the address you want to register the vehicle. We can do this for you if you wish. Once you have paid the VRT you will receive an Irish registration number in the VRT output the office will give you. You can have plates made up and fitted at any number of locations, FIRST STOP, Halfords etc. Again, don’t forget we offer a professional VRT registration service for €99 including completion of all documentation, delivery of the vehicle to the VRT office and return, plus attachment of plates.
The MOT is the UK equivalent of the NCT, however, having the MOT doesn’t substitute for an NCT. If your import is over 4 years old you will need to submit the vehicle for an NCT. Having an MOT means the car is more than likely at or above NCT standard. Our warranty provides cover in the instance you have an issue passing the NCT.
If you pay for a warranty and in the unlikely event the car fails the NCT, the warranty will cover the work to get the car upto NCT level. We can submit your car for NCT for €129 which includes the €55 NCT fee.
Once the VRT is paid and registration complete you will receive a VRT output page which will contain your new Irish registration and the vehicle VIN. Go to www.motortax.ie and input the new Irish registration and last six digits of the VIN as the PIN and this will allow you access to pay your motor tax online. Just remember allow about 24-48 hours for the new license plate to migrate from the NCTS system to the motor tax system.
Once the VRT is paid and the registration is complete, you should then pay your motor tax as described above. The Irish logbook will follow in the post soon after the tax disk. You will need the logbook before you can complete the NCT.
First of all, congratulations! The car is located at a Manheim or a BCA site in the UK and that information along with the price will all be contained in the invoice. Payment is processed through our account where you pay us a Euro amount equivalen to the sterling amount on the invoice and we transfer sterling to the Auction House account. As we can offer corporate rates of exchange on sterling this is the most cost effective, expedient and secure method of payment. Direct payments to us in sterling are possible. Once payment is complete the car is ready for transport.
Now that the car is paid for you can look forward to getting it home. Our fee is €295 and transport is €450, both of which will come from the deposit. The remainder is subtracted from the balance due on the car. We will send you an email confirming all the details around the deposit and balance due once a purchase is complete.
The process you have gone through will have helped you buy the best quality car on offer. Between the various reports and our excellent inspection team, there will be little to worry about. Having insurance, though, is always helpful and in the incredibly unlikely event of an issue, a warranty will look like great value. We only offer the best warranty’s and MAPFRE are acknowledged as a world leader. Our standard Warranty is the Premium Powertrain policy for €295. Depending on the mileage and year additional cover can be purchased for a further €100. Their policies can be viewed here. Their customer service is excellent and our support is assured. In the case of a claim please follow the claims procedure on page 10 here, of course you can contact us to support you or for more information.
Sterling has weakenend considerably and big savings are to be made again. I have customers that have saved as much as €10,000 on a 2015 Volvo XC60, €7,000 on a 2015 Audi A4, €4,000 on a 2012 BMW 520D, €3,000 on a 2013 Ford Focus, €2,500 on a 2011 high mileage Passat CC GT and so on. Assured quality and huge savings shouldn’t be missed.