importing car-converting to van

This question doesn't seem to be answered in previous posts so here goes;

I'm looking into buy a small car eg Opel Corsa in Uk and importing it here, getting it converted to into van (ie remove back seats etc) and then registering it as a van with revenue.
From what I can see I'll get a better spec vehicle at about same price as the clapped out ones here, since I'm planning to keep it med/long term, I'm better off.

any thoughts--have I missed something?

seems like a lot of effort, going all the way to england to buy a rubbish car and then forking out to turn it into a next to useless, and worthless van

Finding it difficult to understand the logic of this.

Why not buy a small van in the UK if thats what you need or want ?

If you are registered for VAT you will be able to purchase the UK van with zero vat.

If you follow your plan as described you may encounter further problems with Revenue. For BIK purposes Revenue class a vehicle according to its manufactured status (not converted status). If your plan is to licence the converted vehicle as a goods vehicle you may also run into problems.

My instinct tells me , Not a good move......................

thanks APHRODITE, the real reason is to get a nice car/van instead of a cargo van (eg berlingo) which are noisy and not very nice unless you're carrying goods.
Unlike Ireland there are very few car/vans in UK, they tend to all be cargo vans, so hence the logic in getting a small car and converting it over here.
We use the van as a pool vehicle so BIK isn't an issue.

you are welcome. rofl