Buying used Merc from Belfast maindealer

[Stuart O]

Looking to fly from Inverness to check out a used car there, I've done a bit of googling but still worried incase there's any vat or customs costs involved these days when I register it in Inverness - anyone done this recently ??

Cheers

 

[rf065]

Belfast, N Ireland, surely is just part of the UK?

 

[Stuart O]

That's what I thought but just have a niggle there might be some BS on fallout from Brexit ..probably worrying about nothing !

 

[Doodle]

Nothing to worry about in terms of VAT or import duty. Just the grief of re-registering it because apparently despite being the 21st century, Swansea and Coleraine still can't talk to each other

 

[rf065]

Biggest expense will probably be the ferry. I bought a CLK years ago on NI plates and transferred a private reg onto it, quick and easy.

 

[Stuart O]

Thanks all, never thought about the DVLA side being an issue though, every day's a school day eh ..

 

[DSM10000]

That's what I thought but just have a niggle there might be some BS on fallout from Brexit ..probably worrying about nothing !

Brexit has no impact on buying a car in the UK.

Belfast is in the UK.

 

[l5foye]

There will be no problems. In fact the NI reg might be worth money.

 

[Cabb]

No problem at all I bought one of my Vans from VW Main Dealer in Dungannon on Irish Plates still after 10 years

 

[D2028]

Can't see a problem, I bought my clk in Scotland, took the bus and ferry from NI to Scotland , bought the car(on UK plates) , drove back, (ferry again obviously), re registered it on NI plates with DVLA( free , gratis and no charge!)

 

[daveenty]

Another one here not seeing an issue with this.

I bought a Jeep from a main dealer on a N Irish plate. When I registered it in my name I put a private plate on it and, when I came to sell it, took the private one off and it reverted back to the N Irish one so the DVLA were obviously OK with it.

 

[MD5]

I've bought a couple of cars from Belfast, both new from MB Belfast, and 2nd hand from Charles Hurst, with no issues. One thing though, the NI equivalent of the MOT (NCT?), whilst more stringent than the mainland mot, isn't recognised on the DVLA mot check website. It therefore shows a gap on my car's mot history, and I often wondered if I would get pulled or notified as a result of ANPR cameras, which didn't happen.

 

[D2028]

I've bought a couple of cars from Belfast, both new from MB Belfast, and 2nd hand from Charles Hurst, with no issues. One thing though, the NI equivalent of the MOT (NCT?), whilst more stringent than the mainland mot, isn't recognised on the DVLA mot check website. It therefore shows a gap on my car's mot history, and I often wondered if I would get pulled or notified as a result of ANPR cameras, which didn't happen.

NCT is the republic of Ireland equivalent of the MOT so not relevant to Northern Ireland which has DVLA recognised MOT's. Only difference between an NI mot and mainland UK mot is the NI one is tested at government funded test centres unlike the tests done at private garages on the mainland. So no problem with MOT .

 

[MD5]

NCT is the republic of Ireland equivalent of the MOT so not relevant to Northern Ireland which has DVLA recognised MOT's. Only difference between an NI mot and mainland UK mot is the NI one is tested at government funded test centres unlike the tests done at private garages on the mainland. So no problem with MOT .

I knew it was something like that, and thanks for clarifying. I belong to another forum with a number of Irish (both NI and ROI) members, who often refer to NCTs, but my NI mot certificate has a DVA logo, so my memory isn't what it used to be!

Either way, my DVA test never showed up on the Gov.uk mot checker website, even though it was legally valid. The car was already mot'd when I bought it, but I asked for a new mot on collection. The original mot showed on the Gov. website, not the new one, so when the original ran out I had about a 6 month period of having no mot showing on the Gov.uk website. Maybe it was one of those anomalies, or maybe it's changed since 2017, when I bought the car.

 

[Mactech]

My only qualm about buying a car from 'Nord Eyrland' is that if your new car speaks quickly you may not understand it....

 

[markjay]

Just a word of caution about buying a car from a trader far away.

This may cause issues during the first 30 days/ 6 months / 1 year, in the event that you need to invoke your statuary warranty.

Of course, some dealers are decent falk and will agree for any repairs to be made during the statuary warranty period at a garage local to you, at their expense. But others might insist that you bring the car back to them.

Having said that, it is not a reason not to buy a car from far away, just something to factor-in when considering the deal.

And of course, if it's a private seller (not trade) then the statuary warranty does not apply anyway.

 

[D2028]

My only qualm about buying a car from 'Nord Eyrland' is that if your new car speaks quickly you may not understand it....

 

[Chrishazle]

My only qualm about buying a car from 'Nord Eyrland' is that if your new car speaks quickly you may not understand it....

You're correct there Machtech - my wife is Irish (Cork born and raised) but has relatives from the West. We visitied her Father's family a few times, and I could not understand a word they were saying. Even my wife, whose accent has mellowed over many decades of living in England, if she ever returns to Ireland then within a couple of days she's back into full Cork mode and becoming even more incomprehensible than normal!!

The Irish call it "culshy", which is their term for country folk with different ways/accents, and some consider it an insult!

 

[chic0821]

if she ever returns to Ireland then within a couple of days she's back into full Cork mode

I can relate to that. My wife was born in Glasgow, but moved when she was 3 years old. However, when we go to Glasgow, she's in full Glaswegian mode. I keep telling her about it then it's " no I'm not, yes you are, no I'm not, yes you are" etc, etc

 

[st13phil]

My only qualm about buying a car from 'Nord Eyrland' is that if your new car speaks quickly you may not understand it....

Haha

The company I worked for used to have a manufacturing facility in Londonderry (or Derry, depending upon your preference ) that I used to visit. My liaison there was the Technical Manager, Hugh, who was a Brit who had lived in the locale for around 20 years and was completely attuned to the accent. I asked him to set up a meeting for me with the Head of Quality in the facility and he advised that he would sit in on it "because Jim's from Strabane, and you may have difficulty understanding his accent". That was a massive understatement.

In the meeting, I'd ask Jim a question and he would give a completely incomprehensible - to me, anyway - answer at breakneck pace. Hugh, ever the diplomat, would then interject with, "Well, I think what Jim's saying is..." and then give an "English" translation. It worked brilliantly

Jim sounded very like this rather famous chap:

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