Reckon it's a good bet to import a new Nissan Note?
I am considering buying a new Nissan Note. I have priced from a main dealer and also from a SIMI dealer who imports from the UK. The import has a higher spec and is about €2,000 cheaper with all the standard warranties etc. Is there anything I should be aware of when buying an import?
Thanks
Chaz Devlin (Clonard Village, Wexford)Jul 2012 Filed under: importing
Expert answer
Hi Chaz,
We put this question to vehicle records experts Cartell.ie and here's what they came back with:
"Upon importing a new vehicle into Ireland you must pay destination VAT, which means you pay the VAT in the country that it will be first registered. The vehicle is classed as new if it is less than six months old or has travelled less than 6,000 kilometres. If you buy a new car from the UK, you will pay the 20% VAT there. Then once you import the vehicle pay your 23% Irish VAT; you then reclaim the original VAT paid back from the UK.
Then you must pay the VRT, which varies from 14- to 36% depending on the CO2 emissions. If the vehicle is being bought through a registered SIMI dealer then they should take care of all this and the customer should just get the car for the price agreed. I would recommend that the customer gets a copy of the VRT and VAT receipts to prove that both have been paid. I would also recommend that the customer checks with SIMI to make sure that the garage is still a registered member.
You would also want to make sure that the warranty is covered throughout Europe. The dealer you bought it from will cover the warranty but another Nissan dealer may not. Also some warranties are extended by a year or two in certain countries. For example BMW has a standard two-year warranty, but BMW UK extends that to three years - but only in the UK. This may or may not be the case but worth looking at."
Hope that helps. Come back to us if you need more assistance.
Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Adviser@Shane_O_D