Importing Car - NI as good as UK?

hi everyone,

What are the pros and cons of buying a car in the North as opposed to travelling to the UK (Manchester most likely) to buy one?

Obviously by staying in Ireland, you cut out the hassle of trying to bring a car back on the ferry.

But I imagine there would be much greater choice in Manchester - although I'm not sure on this.

One other point that was mentioned to me is that there are a lot of boy races in the North and that the cars may not be aswell looked after as those in the UK. However, as I am probably going to buy a Toyota Corolla or Rav 4, I doubt that boy racers would bother much with those?

Any recommendations for car sales rooms in the North that are reputable?

thanks.

Hi Bluebean,

My brother bought an Audi A4 in the north from www.olivercoreygarages.co.uk in Cookstown, Co.Tyrone. You give them one cheque which includes payment of the VRT. He is very happy with them and he is going to buy from them in the future.

Bluebean said:

What are the pros and cons of buying a car in the North as opposed to travelling to the UK (Manchester most likely) to buy one?

Click to expand...

Is it safe to assume you meant Great Britain instead of "the UK" as the North is part of the UK?

A lot of the car dealers in the North buy their cars in the UK and bring them over. You would be getting a UK car anyway, you will know by the number plate most of the time. They can get a car delivered cheaper than the normal person from the UK and they can factor in their cost of going over to England across a number of cars, (if they even go over at all, a lot of hem have a dealer in England who they know who buy the car for them)If you go to the UK you get more of a selection and a cheaper price but you have to factor in the cost of bring it back and if you cant find what you want you come back empty handed.

I wouldn’t like to buy a car that has been always been in the north with high miles as the roads have gone so bad that there would probably be suspension issues. UK cars with high mile have mostly motorway driving and this is fine in my view. If you keep an eye on Autotrader you will find a good selection of cars in the north and you can negotiate a good discount with them

Dinny said:

A lot of the car dealers in the North buy their cars in the UK and bring them over. You would be getting a UK car anyway, you will know by the number plate most of the time. They can get a car delivered cheaper than the normal person from the UK and they can factor in their cost of going over to England across a number of cars, (if they even go over at all, a lot of hem have a dealer in England who they know who buy the car for them)If you go to the UK you get more of a selection and a cheaper price but you have to factor in the cost of bring it back and if you cant find what you want you come back empty handed.

I wouldn’t like to buy a car that has been always been in the north with high miles as the roads have gone so bad that there would probably be suspension issues. UK cars with high mile have mostly motorway driving and this is fine in my view. If you keep an eye on Autotrader you will find a good selection of cars in the north and you can negotiate a good discount with them

Click to expand...

I'd gp with that - UK cars especially ones in Manchester (highest ratio of motorway miles to population in western europe - dont ask me how I know that) have high motorway miles which takes little out of a car ime

Are there any particular car supermarkets or recommended garages in the North that I should look at?