Importing

[anjer]

New member saying Hello

I don't have a 4 at the moment but quite like them owing to being cheap to run and practical - especially as one gets nearer to retirement age -easier for me to have fix. I travel through France a lot on the way to our place in Spain. So my question is importing - how do you register a foriegn car into this country particularly if it not roadworthy. I am aware of the process for a roadworthy car - tells customs on way into UK, MOT, insure and then register using DVLA pack. But what if the vehicle comes into the country as a wreck on a trailer.
Interested because France seems to be the place to get one, not sure about Spain. LHD doesn't bother me - our motorhome is LHD.
This forum and the Mig Weld UK are excellent
Thanks Anthony

 

[pepper]

I wouldn't be buying a wreck in the first place, there's plenty of them here in the UK at the moment!

I'd be buying the best condition car I could find to start with, especially regarding the chassis condition!

Apart from that its exactly the same procedures as with a roadworthy car.

 

[Stuart Delahoy]

Hi
If the car comes from an EU country then there is really nothing to do. I have several cars in this country that are French or Dutch registered and off the road.
In Holland the authorities take the number plates back, and issue you with paper ones to put in the window. So I drove my Citroen DS home, and straight through customes, getting not so much as a glance with no plates on the car at all!
To register the car must be first MOT'd then its quite simple and can be done at your local DVLA office, the cost is £55 now I think.
I agree with the comment to always buy the best car you can find, rust free R4's are still easy to come by in the south of France.
I have just bought a Spainish built and registered car in France and will be driving it home in the early summer!
Stuart

 

[benchseat]

I did this in 1995. Cost £30 from a UK scrapyard and still running!
Mine did not have any previous registration papers. In that situation I had to get a statement from the equivalent of the DVLA in (in this case) Germany confirming the date on which the car was first registered. This was necessary to enable the UK DVLA to issue a new age-related plate. Possibly the Renault Owners' Club or Renault Classic Car Club could officially certify it for age.
If you have the logbook then this problem would not apply, I imagine.
The car has to be street-legal for the UK, i.e. needs an MPH speedometer [NB. the round speedo fitted to the later R4GTLs was also fitted to early R5s : possibly still available new : try Lifestyle Renault who are the best], left-dipping headlights, and possibly other minor details like rear seatbelts, rear red foglights etc.
I believe that R4s ceased to be available in the UK in 1986 owing to emission legislation (cats). It might be worth checking with DVLA or the DOT Type Approval office if contemplating importing a late-plate (up to 1992) model.
If all is well it is necessary to get it MOT'd (the MOT will show the chassis number as the car will not yet have a UK numberplate), then take it to a DVLA Centre for it to be physically checked. Then a UK age-related number and tax disc are issued on the spot. I don't know about the legalities of driving a foreign car back/through Customs. I would have thought it would be safest to drive it back with plates and declare it as an import. If it is in "used" condition the Import Duty and VAT wouldn't be great (I think it is about 22% of market value). Same applies to trailering, and a trailered car could be argued to be a scrapper with market value minimal.

 

[Stuart Delahoy]

Hi All
If the car is from the EU its all one market so there is no duty VAT or any declaration needed, that only applies if the car comes from a non EU country, as I had a few years back with a car from the States.
I don't know the cut off date but the speedo change only applies to cars after a certain year, and I am 99% sure that all R4 are exempt, had to do this on Twingos but nothing old....
the lights can be tweaked to comply which is a well know mod.
Stuart