Taking car out of Ireland

K

kasko

Registered User
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Hi guys,

I have an old car that I intend taking out Ireland permanently. Im not going to sell it overthere, but use it when I go on holidays 2 weeks per year. Is there a process for this or is it as simple as declaring this car off the road and keep doing so? What happens to the registration plates? For such off-the road-cars, do they still have to go for nct or simply do nothing? There seem to be very little information out there about such scenario.

Thank you for your help
 
You are going to have to re-register your vehicle in the country you go to.
 
I would think you would not only have to re-register as peteb says but also tax, insure and pay for all the other costs of owning a car in that country, might be cheaper just to rent a car for the two weeks each year??
 
If you are taking the car to be housed beyond 29 days in the south of Spain, you are required to have Spanish number plates and of course the HGV (Spain's version of the NCT). God be with the days when we had our older car out there permanently with a photocopy of NCT, Tax and Insurance, all illegal of course. The initial cost is not below €800.00 before you even start. But, the local police are on the case now and it would be stupid to keep an Irish registered car there for over four weeks. Their method of implementing fines is far more grave for the motorist than the Gardaí.
 
If you are thinking of bringing your car to Spain you will have to have it registered with Spanish plates, change the headlamps to left hand focus, have an ITV ( same as NCT), pay annual road tax of around €50 and insure the car which can be tricky as it is right hand drive. It will be quite a challenge to do all this yourself but you could pay a local fiscal service provider to do all the paperwork for you. I did it myself in the past and it was a frustrating exercise as the Spanish paper pushers love to give you the run around and nothing over there can be done online! I presume it would be the same case in any European country. It would be a lot easier to buy a relatively cheap car over there and use it when you're there. You would have to weigh up the cost of owning or renting a car for the time you intend to use it. You can also park your own car in a parking space near an airport so that it is ready for you when you arrive. I think this service costs a few hundred euro per year. It's a few years since I lived in Spain and perhaps someone else has more up to date info but I hope this is helpful.
 
I think Kasco needs to confirm what country they are proposing taking the car to before any more specific advice can be given.
 
Ok guys, bringing car to Bosnia, so outside the EU. I have an Irish driving licence, the car has the Irish reg plates. In Bosnia you can buy a motor insurance for foreign vehicles so insurance not an issue. This is the main reason why I am asking whether reg plates are to be returned to dept of transport or a similar authority here. Such car cannot be registered in Bosnia, you must change RHD to LHD first. Even after that I would have to pay about 300 euro per year to authorities for vehicle registration (local version of nct, insurance and road tax 3 in 1 kind of thing). Doing so would not be worth my while since value of the car is about €1,500 or even less.
 
See [broken link removed] for the VRT reclaim process and details of eligibility. See the last Q:

20. Do I have to inform the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport when I am permanently removing/exporting my vehicle from the State?
Yes. Where a vehicle is being permanently removed or exported from the State, you should inform the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, through their local Motor Tax Office
Click to expand...

Just be sure you never intend to bring the car back to Ireland.

You'll need local advice from Bosnia on the practicalities of driving there in a de-registered foreign car. I'd imagine the authorities would take a very dim view of it if found. Does the insurance available for foreign cars in Bosnia cover cars that are de-registered and permanently exported?
 
Short answer is no. If you for instance drive your car from Ireland to Bosnia you can either get a green card from your insurance company in Ireland or alternatively you can buy local insurance at the border. It is a temporary form of insurance. Of course if you have residence in Bosnia you have to change the reg plates and so on and forth. Since I am not resident overthere, I would simply purchase such insurance at times.
 
Just check the terms cover cars that are permanently kept in the country and that you're not breaking any other laws by not registering the car within a certain period of importing it.
 
Is the insurance you buy at the border a standalone policy that covers you for all your driving in Bosnia or is it additional cover for the insurance you have on the car in Ireland ??
 
As far as I know it is a standalone policy. I am checking this out with my contacts at the moment.
 
I have checked this out. This insurance can be purchased up to one month only and no more than 2 times per year. Required documentation: logbook and irish driving licence
 
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