# UK import payment?



## iggy (16 Aug 2008)

I am thinking of importing a car from the UK and was wondering if it would be advisable to use credit card to pay for it rather than getting bank draft or changing euro to sterling cash?
I think it would be a lot less bother.


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## z101 (16 Aug 2008)

Maybe, but the exchange rate would not be good with a probable 1.75% fee on top. currency.ie I found to give the best rate whe I done it. Make sure when getting quotes to get overall euro figure for the stg amount including whatever fees or charges. The difference in the rates might sound very little but it could translate into a couple of hundred euro very easily


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## D1983 (16 Aug 2008)

Get a draft and say a thousand cash so you can haggle a bit,just check with the seller that they will accept a draft from your bank.


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## ccraig (16 Aug 2008)

draft: lose 1.5-2% on exchange rate
bring cash: lose up to 4% on exchange rate
You would want to be confident you would get a decent discount to make that worthwhile


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## z101 (17 Aug 2008)

Why cant you do your haggling, pending a full inspection and test upon setting a price? They cant give some cars away over there at the moment and will deal with you if you stipulate this.


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## iggy (17 Aug 2008)

Ceatharlach said:


> Why cant you do your haggling, pending a full inspection and test upon setting a price? They cant give some cars away over there at the moment and will deal with you if you stipulate this.


 But I still have to pay for it!


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## soy (18 Aug 2008)

iggy said:


> I am thinking of importing a car from the UK and was wondering if it would be advisable to use credit card to pay for it rather than getting bank draft or changing euro to sterling cash?
> I think it would be a lot less bother.



Dealer may not accept CC - and even if they do, they will pass on the mechants fees to you


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## z101 (18 Aug 2008)

are you buying private or garage or dealership?


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## iggy (18 Aug 2008)

Ceatharlach said:


> are you buying private or garage or dealership?


 Not sure yet, still looking around.


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## iggy (18 Aug 2008)

soy said:


> Dealer may not accept CC - and even if they do, they will pass on the mechants fees to you


 Thanks Soy...see this is what I want to know, I thought it would just be a question of paying for the car and then transferring funds into credit card account when I got home. I dont know what the final price of the car will be until I see it and finish bargaining etc, thats why I was thinking of the credit card route.(We dont want poor Iggy bashed on the conk for his wad of cash now do we?.............DO WE? )


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## z101 (18 Aug 2008)

And like I said above Iggy you will pay 1.75% charge on exchange rate using CC. I was also trying to point out that when dealing with a reputable garage you can do your haggling first, then agree to pay them using someone like currency.ie (best exchange rate I found) and if you were not happy upon inspection they send the money back to currency.ie and on back to you. I was told by their office that they do this all the time.
OR - if you are able to spend a couple of days in the UK you could set yourself up with someone like currency.ie beforehand and when you are ready to buy you can pay€15 for a same day transfer, you just need the acc + bank of seller then phone it in to them. This must be done before 11am to get there before close of business. You can even haggle money transfer fcompany or a better rate.


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## D1983 (27 Aug 2008)

I am going over in September.
I will be looking at more than one dealer,can you get a blank draft from the bank? So when i have decided which dealer im buying from i can fill it in.(i know you would have to be careful not to loose it etc).
I know theres plenty of people here that have bought in the UK,it would be interesting to hear which route they took.
Thanks


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## mooney76 (2 Sep 2008)

theres no such thing as a blank draft


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## RS2K (2 Sep 2008)

Cash is king.


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## doogo (2 Sep 2008)

You can always leave a deposit with the dealer and sort out the finance via a SWIFT payment once you get back ... most UK dealers that i've looked at want a £100/200 on deposit (credit card should be acceptable) - gives you about 3-5 day hold on car, if you want the deposit extended, they then look for 10% of value up to about 2 weeks (at best) - this should give you enough time to sally up the cash and make an electronic transfer to the dealer's bank A/C - best of luck


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## mooney76 (3 Sep 2008)

thats what most people do, 100 down to hold for a week and then pay the balance and collect it the next week, try the banks and currency.ie and see what rates and fees you can get


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## D1983 (3 Sep 2008)

Id rather go over,buy it and drive back.Defeats the purpose going over twice.


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## iggy (3 Sep 2008)

D1983 said:


> Id rather go over,buy it and drive back.Defeats the purpose going over twice.


 Same here ....will you let us know how you get on?


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## D1983 (4 Sep 2008)

iggy said:


> Same here ....will you let us know how you get on?



I will,no problem,hopefully going over in 2-3 weeks,thinking i might just bring cash now,havn't decided yet.


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## ccraig (4 Sep 2008)

you could also get it checked by aa and pay before leaving or go over and see it, put deposit down and have it transported back.

I know Id prefer to drive it back


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## iggy (4 Sep 2008)

Just saw the car I think I`m going to buy. It`s in Manchester but I`ve just realised my passport is out of date!!! Do I need a passport to enter Britain? I will be flying over and obviously taking the ferry back.


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## CharlieR (4 Sep 2008)

No just photo id


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## CharlieR (4 Sep 2008)

With regards to CC payment, get a card that does not charge abroad and some dealers take CC for the value. I have bought a couple in recent years with CC with values upto £20k sterling.

Sales are slow over here at the moment so haggle well.


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## steph1 (4 Sep 2008)

iggy said:


> Just saw the car I think I`m going to buy. It`s in Manchester but I`ve just realised my passport is out of date!!! Do I need a passport to enter Britain? I will be flying over and obviously taking the ferry back.



Use passport express at the post office.  It takes ten days but I got mine back the last time in less than this.  That's if you can wait that long!!


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## mooney76 (4 Sep 2008)

credit card exchange rates is not good
call your banks, xe and currency.ie and you'll get a better rate, you will lose over 200 pounds using a ccard


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## iggy (11 Sep 2008)

Here`s the latest idea guys...what do you think?
I`ve seen a car I like in UK.
I will go to my bank with a cheque made out to myself and cash it in euros, fly to UK and inspect car ( I`ve already HPI checked it etc and all is as described),agree price for car and go to sellers bank with them and lodge euro equivalent to their account, drive to ferry and get straight on here tellin` ya`ll how fab my new wheels are!!
Does anyone see any problems in paying like this apart from the obvious one regarding carrying a large amount of cash? 
Will it cost a lot more to lodge euro to his sterling account? I`m talking around 10k sterling....thanks guys.


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## RS2K (11 Sep 2008)

iggy said:


> Here`s the latest idea guys...what do you think?
> I`ve seen a car I like in UK.
> I will go to my bank with a cheque made out to myself and cash it in euros, fly to UK and inspect car ( I`ve already HPI checked it etc and all is as described),agree price for car and go to sellers bank with them and lodge euro equivalent to their account, drive to ferry and get straight on here tellin` ya`ll how fab my new wheels are!!
> Does anyone see any problems in paying like this apart from the obvious one regarding carrying a large amount of cash?
> Will it cost a lot more to lodge euro to his sterling account? I`m talking around 10k sterling....thanks guys.



Why not just withdraw STG£ cash here?


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## bertson (11 Sep 2008)

Or a sterling bank draft?


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## iggy (11 Sep 2008)

RS2K said:


> Why not just withdraw STG£ cash here?


 I went to the bank but they wouldn`t have that amount of sterling cash `till tuesday...they have £4k! I wanted to go over on Saturday but will have to wait `till next weekend now.


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## iggy (11 Sep 2008)

bertson said:


> Or a sterling bank draft?


 Apparently bank drafts take a while to clear into the recipient`s account. 
Also I haven`t seen the car yet ( seen photos on the `net)so I might find something wrong with it and not want it, so a bank draft wouldn`t help me there.
Jeez..I don`t think I`m meant to buy a car now everything is going wrong!
hehe.


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## mooney76 (11 Sep 2008)

sometimes they dont accept bank drafts. Even if they do bank will give poor sterling rates.

Try the guys in currency.ie
I rang around and have brought 2 cars in through them, after ringing my bank to make sure their rate was better


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## doogo (12 Sep 2008)

Have to recommend transfermate (currency.ie) - very good quick service - better rate than offered by any of the main banks, and the €15 charge for same day transfer of funds was worth the piece of mind to ensure that the money had got to the dealer before i did! 

I have no affiliation to the company - just a satisfied customer!


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## D1983 (12 Sep 2008)

If you use currency.ie how long approximately does it take to transfer money from the irish account to UK one...compared to a bank draft?


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## mooney76 (12 Sep 2008)

bank drafts arent transferred, you pick up the draft, and hand it to the dealer, the issue is the exchange rate you get and the fact that some dealers wont take them as the draft takes a while to cash.

currency.ie, once you transfer before 12am I think, dealer has it that evening


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## roadrunner (24 Sep 2008)

Weighing up option of Currency.ie or Sterling bank draft.
If money is tranferred in advance what is to stop the dealer just keeping the money if you don`t want to go through with deal? Or would there be any way of cancelling the transaction?


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## mooney76 (26 Sep 2008)

just ask the dealer if he'll accept a refund if you dont like it. get it in writing
It'll work fine


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## jwestave (2 Mar 2009)

i would also agree with the above!!


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## sse (3 Mar 2009)

You may want to check that the seller will be able to accept a significant amount of cash to their bank account. There are strict money laundering regulations governing cash transactions, plus there's also the risk of a search at the airport. The EUR you bring will be converted according to the dealer's bank's buy rate so you have no scope for negotiation.

The simplest, and zero-risk, way to to this is by a same day bank transfer, any dealer should be used to this. This can be done over the phone. The last significant purchase we made (not a car) we got a quote from currency.ie and our bank matched it, apart from the 4th decimal point so it was even easier.

Good luck with the car.

SSE


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## kceire (3 Mar 2009)

just so you know, some garages will not accept cash either!
i bought my avensis in Birmingham last march for 7.5k and the dealer took 200 from my credit card as deposit and told me that he would not accept the rest in cash.

told him i will pay by draft and i had to give him the details of the bank before i went over to confirm that AIB was on the list of acceptable banks in his company.

may be worth checking before you go over.


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