[Lorne Leader]

Hello,

I have recently been to the brink of buying a T5 that has been brought in to the UK from the Republic of Ireland where it has been registered all of its road going life. I spent an inordinate amount of time piecing together the incredibly complex, multi-dimensional processes that you can go through to get an imported vehicle on to UK plates.

Eventually it came down to a single option which was the Driver Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) test. The vehicle had to go through category 'R' if it was to go through the test because it couldn't be considered a personal import as it hadn't been owned by me for 6 months. Therefore it was the full test and not the basic test that the van would have been subject to.

It was a pretty tense and stressful time trying to weigh up all the risks and potential costs of IVA test failure or inability to comply with the UK requirements etc. I've been thinking long and hard about it ever since.

There must be loads of folk out there who import all the time? I'm still looking for a van (the dream van will come ** crosses fingers**) and so I'd be keen to hear of your experiences and advice on this. The T5 is a mass produced van for the whole of the European market, from a single factory in Germany, right? So I'm thinking generally, all the vans are essentially the same, right? Regardless of which country they end up in? Right enough there is LHD and RHD and differing specs to do with this (lights etc), but between ROI and UK (the two RHD states in the EC), they must be the same? Right?

I still don't know if the van would have got through but it would be good to find out. Has anyone gone through the IVA 1LG test with a T5 from Ireland from 2009 to 2005 and had any trouble passing the test or getting suitable ECC compliance from VW Ireland? Or is it super easy?

Looking forward to hearing about it.

Thanks,

LL

 

[Hooting_Owl]

There are specification differences between the two markets. Be careful.
Service history and mileage are near impossible to verify on an Irish van - many use this route to ring and launder stolen or crash damaged vans..

If it was easy then all the dealers would be at it and turning a nice profit.

 

[mrshells]

I looked at this a few years ago
compliance cert can be obtained from VW
speedo had to be changed to MPH From KPH ( invoice to say it has been done from any VAT registered garage was enough)
then you have to register it with DVLA and pay the registration fee and road tax
I was looking at a saving after it had been registered of around £2K on a panel van
but my insurance company wanted £600 instead of £300 to insure as it would still be classed as an import
this cancelled out any saving if you are planning to keep for a few years
also may put people off if they actually read the log book
log book states First registration in UK which would differ from year of Manufacture

 

[nicklouse]

You mention some years. The years are the single most important thing.

If the van is over 10 years old you only need to get an MOT on the chassis number.
If the van is less than 10 years old then you need a COC BUT for comercials they were not produced till 2009. And be obtained from VW.

If no COC and younger than 10 years then you need to have IVA.

So tread with care.