# Best way of paying for car in the UK



## onekeano (31 Aug 2005)

Thinking of going to the UK next week to buy a car for c.€20k. Just wondering what is the best way to do this as I am not sure exactly where I am goin to buy and definitely not sure of the exact amount - so looks like a sterling draft is out of the question.

Any suggestions?

PS. if anyone has done this I'd also be interested to know how you arrange insurance and ferry bookings on the basis that it's not finalised until you get there.

Thanks
Roy


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## Eurofan (1 Sep 2005)

Could you make out a draft for circa €17k and maybe make up the balance in cash? Am heading over in a few weeks myself to collect one in Glasgow but for a much smaller amount (GBP£4500, 10% deposit already paid by draft, balance will be cash). If you buy from a dealer see if credit card would be acceptable but be wary of the currency change rate.

Insurance shouldn't be a problem, I just arranged with FBD and explained the whole scenario inc the actual British reg. Booked one-way flights with Aer Lingus and then used http://www.mapquest.co.uk for driving direction to the nearest port. Consulted the ferry times, bought a one-way home and will be back in Dublin well in time for dinner!


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## CCOVICH (1 Sep 2005)

Eurofan said:
			
		

> If you buy from a dealer see if credit card would be acceptable but be wary of the currency change rate.


 
Credit card forex rates are better than cash and what you get at the bank.


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## asdfg (1 Sep 2005)

Be careful, 

Eddie Hobbs tried to do this (from NI) on the show last Monday. Can't remember if the car was new or second hand. The figures did not work out for him. How are you managing to do it???


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## Niallymac (1 Sep 2005)

Eddie Hobbs thinks he has an answer for everything. Buying a second hand car in UK and importing it to Ireland, will almost always result in a cost saving v the price of same second hand car in ireland. I only ever buy my own/wifes/family's second hand cars in UK. Of course, you need to make sure you aren't being ripped off on the price in the UK, but a quick trip to www.autotrader.co.uk will give you the price range in which you should be trading. 

In my case, I have a sterling account which I have maintained from my time in the UK, so I can just transfer the money electronically in advance, getting a best negotiated rate from my bank. I would avoid using a credit card at all costs, you will get clipped for about 4% off the interbank rate. With current cheap flights, you can afford to travel twice, leave a deposit, and return with draft if necessary. If you want the best deal however, go as a cash buyer if you are comfortable carrying that amount of cash. Best negotiating position, you can discount all sorts of things as you aren't interested in their warrantees etc, which all dealers will have built into the price. 

You can travel to one of the big second hand dealers in London who have thousands of cars, you're sure to find what you want, and you can have the draft made out in advance, with maybe a couple of grand in cash to make up the negotiating elements.


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## CCOVICH (1 Sep 2005)

Niallymac said:
			
		

> I would avoid using a credit card at all costs, you will get clipped for about 4% off the interbank rate.


 
Maybe that depends on the bank, but I have found that both AIB and BoI offer better rates on forex purchases via credit card versus actually changing cash.

I would agree on the point about Eddie, as he only looked at one car, in one dealer.  I've heard plenty of instances of people saving money by buying in the UK/NI.


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## onekeano (1 Sep 2005)

Thanks lads, plenty to think about there. Don't really have a problem taking quite a lot of cash with me for the trip - is there any danger they might have a problem accepting a load of cash eg. whiff of laundering etc?

Roy


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## onekeano (1 Sep 2005)

Actually Nially - you wouldn't have a couple of names for those 2nd dealers in London would you?

Roy


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## Niallymac (1 Sep 2005)

Main one to look at is www.cargiant.co.uk, based in White City, Northwest London. They have literally thousands of cars. 

If you know what you are after, look on www.autotrader.co.uk, you can inevitably find a good selection within a 10 mile radius of any point in UK, ranging from main dealers who will most likely have a hatful of same models for sale, to indivduals with only the one for sale. If you find a dealer with a few of the same model for sale, give him a ring, negotiate over the phone, tell him your not going to waste time travelling to UK without knowing what his bottom line is, and then maybe even give him a credit card deposit of £100 to hold a couple for viewing in a couple of days time on basis that one of them is going to be what your after. 

The dealerships will do this for you, the cargiant type won't be as flexible. Good luck


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## asdfg (1 Sep 2005)

What happens when you arrive back in Ireland and you have to register the car here.??? 

Don't you then have to pay the difference between the price here and the UK price for a similar car or have I missed something


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## Eurofan (1 Sep 2005)

asdfg said:
			
		

> What happens when you arrive back in Ireland and you have to register the car here.???
> 
> Don't you then have to pay the difference between the price here and the UK price for a similar car or have I missed something



You'v missed something 

It's a little complicated but not very. It's well known that depending on the model and age there are significant savings to be made by buying (in my case) a second-hand car in the U.K.

You do of course have to pay the VRT to put the car on Irish roads but even taking that into account along with the flights and ferry costs there's money to be saved.

Not only that but the cars are typically better looked after, driven on better roads and almost always have a better specification than the equivalent Irish model.

If the mods will forgive linking to another forum there is a fantastic and more detailed explanation here; http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=176389


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## onekeano (1 Sep 2005)

Thanks Nially and Eurofan - was looking for a Saab 9-3 but nothing on Cargiant. Any similar sites say around Manchester?

Roy


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## Eurofan (1 Sep 2005)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk is the definative resource for buying and selling cars in the UK.

I myself in fact bought via ebay!


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## onekeano (1 Sep 2005)

Thanks Eurofan for the link. Have you bought a car on eBay before - my concern would be bidding when you haven't actually seen the car - how sure can you be that the description is accurate in terms of condition?

Thanks 
Roy


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## Eurofan (2 Sep 2005)

No my first time via ebay. Frankly after some consideration i find it a more reliable source than most.

You have an opportunity to see the sellers history and feedback from previous buyers, most sellers include vastly more information and pictures about the car than you'll ever get from autotrader or even a dealer and all I have seen welcome an RAC or AA check before bidding (can cost a few hundred euro but provides a comprehensive check on everything about the car).

Ebay sellers who shift a few cars a month have more to lose than most from a sale going wrong, negative feedback left for them would severly hamper later efforts at selling.


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## onekeano (2 Sep 2005)

Thanks Eurofan - looked at eBay - some great deals available but I would prefer to have a choice of cars as I just want to go over with a friend who is great with cars, check out a few and bring one back same day.

So any other suggestions  like cargiant would be appreiciated.

Thanks
Roy


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## Hamilton (2 Sep 2005)

I am definitely going to go across to England to buy second hand as I think there are huge savings to be made if you are willing to make the effort.I have bought before in the North and the process of paying the VRT is simple. If you know which model you want then you can see the duty you have to pay on the VRT enquiry page at ros.ie. The cars seem to be a higher spec as well.I would also recommend autotrader.co.uk and allapprovedcars.com.
Will Cargiant allow you to testdrive the car or is it sold as seen?How much of a discount(%) can you expect because of the warranty,road tax etc?


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## thumper (3 Sep 2005)

Hello!

I recently imported a high end car from the U.k costing approx 36,000 euro (not including bloody VRT!). Seen the car initially on e-bay, contacted the seller(private sale) who sent me loads of digital images of outside/inside and scanned copies of V5 cert etc. The best money you will ever spend is to do a HPI check of the car, all you need is the reg no. but more info like V5 cert no. MOT cert no. VIN number is obviously better. This HPI check costs about 60 euro and gives you a wealth of info including any outstanding finance due, no. of previous owners, car ever stolen and recovered, insurance claim on it and a mileage check.

Next step phoned seller and got his bank account details and I wrote a letter to my own back to tranfer funds by electronic transfer once I gave the ok over the phone from the UK (this had to be in place before I left for the UK). Then went with seller to the respective dealer in the UK to get a full pre-purchase inspection done which cost approx 300 euro (well worth it also).

Once I was happy with the car, phoned my bank to transfer funds to sellers account (you also get a better exchange rate depending on the amount). Funds cleared in one day and then phoned my insurance company to insure me,paid my premium by credit card and away I went. Had ferry booked in advance but they were ok about which sailing I took as I came home earlier than expected.

Overall once you do some basic checks like HPI check, pre purchase inspection the process is fairly easy. Definately saved a lot of money doing this but it is very dependent on the type of car your looking to import. 

Important tip: register the car with the revenue people at the beginning of the month (not the end as I did) or you will have to pay that months road tax even though it wasnt in the county. Didnt mind paying 14.5k in VRT but having to pay road tax for a whole month when it had only been in the state for a couple of days that month, really annoyed me. Wrote a letter of complaint saying I was being penalised for being honest but have not heard anything back yet (no surprise). Anyhow best of luck


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## CCOVICH (4 Sep 2005)

thumper said:
			
		

> Important tip: register the car with the revenue people at the beginning of the month (not the end as I did) or you will have to pay that months road tax even though it wasnt in the county. Didnt mind paying 14.5k in VRT but having to pay road tax for a whole month when it had only been in the state for a couple of days that month, really annoyed me. Wrote a letter of complaint saying I was being penalised for being honest but have not heard anything back yet (no surprise). Anyhow best of luck



I bought my first car (used) on September 29.  I had to pay tax from September 1.


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## RainyDay (4 Sep 2005)

thumper said:
			
		

> Once I was happy with the car, phoned my bank to transfer funds to sellers account (you also get a better exchange rate depending on the amount). Funds cleared in one day


This sounds like a very sensible and efficient approach, provided that you're dealing with a reputable dealer, i.e. someone you can trust enough to have your money before you actually take possession of the car.


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## thumper (4 Sep 2005)

Yes indeed Rainyday, thats why I would always insist on meeting the seller (if its a private sale) at his/her home address not some airport car park, or petrol station. Always ask to view any documentation inside the house (to make sure that it is their house in the first place) and cross reference with any documentation with the sellers address on it. Does indeed pay to be suspicious but a little "cop on" goes a long way.


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## RS2K (4 Sep 2005)

It's well dodgy to give anyone details of your bank account imho. You'd be wide open to abuse/theft. Carry cash. It's better, and immediate. A bit of danger but cash is king. Waive some under a sellers nose and you'll always get a better deal.

HPI is essential.

Some free info. available on www.rac.co.uk . 
You need to register and go into "My RAC".


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## RainyDay (4 Sep 2005)

RS2K said:
			
		

> It's well dodgy to give anyone details of your bank account imho.


Everyone that you've ever given a cheque to has these details.


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## RS2K (4 Sep 2005)

Indeed.

A lot of scamming occurs in car sales circles, especially when a vehicle appears on ebay.

The usual suspects.


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## Eurofan (4 Sep 2005)

RS2K said:
			
		

> Indeed.
> 
> A lot of scamming occurs in car sales circles, especially when a vehicle appears on ebay.
> 
> The usual suspects.



Can you elaborate?


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## RS2K (4 Sep 2005)

On the scamming or the suspects?


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## Eurofan (4 Sep 2005)

RS2K said:
			
		

> On the scamming or the suspects?



Both!  I'm just not sure what you mean by either.. I've just made a car purchase over ebay and am wondering if there's something I should be looking out for.


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## onekeano (5 Sep 2005)

Hi Thumper - great posting, thanks for the guideance.

Could I just ask in relation to the HPI check - how exactly do you get this done? Sounds like an excellent investment of 60 or so €.

Roy


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## RS2K (5 Sep 2005)

onekeano said:
			
		

> Hi Thumper - great posting, thanks for the guideance.
> 
> Could I just ask in relation to the HPI check - how exactly do you get this done? Sounds like an excellent investment of 60 or so €.
> 
> Roy



www.hpicheck.com

They need the reg. and chassis no's.


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## thumper (5 Sep 2005)

Hi Onekeano!

Just the reg number will suffice initially. However of you go the internet route you can go back onto the website and keep putting in more details as you get them ie Vin number, MOT certs, V5 cert etc for up to 10 days from the initial search at no extra cost. When I went over all I checked was the V5 cert and reg number and decided it was ok to travel over. Subsequently met the seller and took all other info such as above and went onto the internet over there and confirmed everything once more. Worth noting that HPI will sent you out a printed copy of the report which is very professional and detailed and so when I returned had 3 copies of a HpI report each one more detailed than the last. Well worth the 60 euro. 

Also would get the car professionally checked out by a respected garage out their if you are buying privately e.g ibefore yoy buy a  Saab go to a Saab garage and pay for a pre-purchase inspection. Also some garages will give you the option of buying a warranty for a year after the inspection for that added piece of mind. So you get the best of both worlds a cheaper private sale and the piece of mind of a warranty which will be honoured back home.
Best of luck!


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## onekeano (5 Sep 2005)

Thanks Thumper ,

Will definitely take your advice on this and report back in due course - much appreciated!.

Roy


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