Looking an importing a 1990 Defender...

I am thinking of importing a 1990 (or earlier) Land Rover Defender 110 from the UK, but am unsure of the VRT charge and the cost of road tax and insurance or even where to get insurance from. Can I tax and insure a commercial 4x4 for personal use if it's 30 years old and vintage? I don't have a business that I can register it against and am just a regular PAYE worker. This will only be a run-around for me and my son so not big mileage. Any help with these queries would be greatly appreciated.

Bill Hughes (Geashill, Offaly)

Aug 2020 Filed under: importing

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Expert answer

Hi Bill,

You can absolutely tax and insure a commercial vehicle for private use and, as it is more than 30 years old, it’ll be really cheap to import and to tax — the VRT will be a flat rate of €200 while the motor tax will be €56.

Insurance will, as ever, be the wrinkle — generally, if you want to put it on a classic scheme, most insurers will insist that you have another ’normal’ car for everyday use, and it might be tricky putting down your son as a named driver. I’d suggest getting in touch with a good local broker, who might be able to unearth a better deal for you than just searching around on the internet. 

Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Advisor
@neilmbriscoe