Returning UK car from abroad, mot run out now can't tax...

[OutInTheShed]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

He would be driving to a test centre, if he is. I've done exactly this, Malaga to pre booked MOT in London. Arrived at MOT garage at 8pm, left car there and walked home. Walked back the next morning to hand over keys at opening time.

If you're driving to an MOT centre for a pre booked MOT, from Dover to Aberdeen or wherever, there's not a damn thing any police officer can do about it.

There is actually.
A copper can pull you over and check your car for roadworthiness and generally be a PITA.
It's not unusual for cars to arrive at the Channel ports having worn their tyres a fair bit in 1,000 miles of autoroute or whatever.

[OutInTheShed]

mph said:

I'm looking at purchasing and then bringing a UK registered car back from France. The MOT has expired. The owner is an expat Brit, has looked into the subject, and is adamant that it can't be driven back into the UK.

In the event I don't buy it he's going to have it transported back to the UK in a few months time.

I was considering the pre-booked MOT route but I've recently seen the Government statement seems to contradict that.

Will be interesting to know if anyone has actually taken advice from the DVLA rather than just taken a chance with the pre-booked MOT.

You need to be sure of the import/export rules on that.
I'm not sure of the details with cars, but if it was a boat, you'd be liable for VAT and import duty, because you bought it abroad, despite the vendor being British and/or it being British registered.
It might be simpler to drive it here as his property then 'buy' it in the UK.

Import/Export is not simple!

[Oilchange]

Hold on, it had an mot but its expired and, big assumption, IF it was taxed then it would have had to have been registered and therefor the VAT would have been paid already.
Happy to be corrected of course

[OutInTheShed]

Oilchange said:

Hold on, it had an mot but its expired and, big assumption, IF it was taxed then it would have had to have been registered and therefor the VAT would have been paid already.
Happy to be corrected of course

whether the VAT was previously paid is of no consequence in may cases, when it comes to purchasing things abroad and importing them.

I know something of the rules for a few xlasses of goods, I would strongly suggest getting proper advice from someone who knows the rules regarding vehicles.

[MustangGT]

OutInTheShed said:

mph said:

I'm looking at purchasing and then bringing a UK registered car back from France. The MOT has expired. The owner is an expat Brit, has looked into the subject, and is adamant that it can't be driven back into the UK.

In the event I don't buy it he's going to have it transported back to the UK in a few months time.

I was considering the pre-booked MOT route but I've recently seen the Government statement seems to contradict that.

Will be interesting to know if anyone has actually taken advice from the DVLA rather than just taken a chance with the pre-booked MOT.

You need to be sure of the import/export rules on that.
I'm not sure of the details with cars, but if it was a boat, you'd be liable for VAT and import duty, because you bought it abroad, despite the vendor being British and/or it being British registered.
It might be simpler to drive it here as his property then 'buy' it in the UK.

Import/Export is not simple!

I think you may be over-complicating this. The statement is that it is a UK registered car, therefore it has not actually been exported in the first place.

[MustangGT]

OutInTheShed said:

There is actually.
A copper can pull you over and check your car for roadworthiness and generally be a PITA.
It's not unusual for cars to arrive at the Channel ports having worn their tyres a fair bit in 1,000 miles of autoroute or whatever.

That statement applies to any car in the whole country, regardless of whether or not it has just been brought back into the country. For the purposes of this thread we shall assume the car is roadworthy.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

OutInTheShed said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

He would be driving to a test centre, if he is. I've done exactly this, Malaga to pre booked MOT in London. Arrived at MOT garage at 8pm, left car there and walked home. Walked back the next morning to hand over keys at opening time.

If you're driving to an MOT centre for a pre booked MOT, from Dover to Aberdeen or wherever, there's not a damn thing any police officer can do about it.

There is actually.
A copper can pull you over and check your car for roadworthiness and generally be a PITA.
It's not unusual for cars to arrive at the Channel ports having worn their tyres a fair bit in 1,000 miles of autoroute or whatever.

If your car isn't roadworthy of course it shouldn't be on the road, even if it had a valid MOT.

[OutInTheShed]

MustangGT said:

That statement applies to any car in the whole country, regardless of whether or not it has just been brought back into the country. For the purposes of this thread we shall assume the car is roadworthy.

For the purposes of nicking people, the plod may assume that a car with no MOT might not be...

[OutInTheShed]

MustangGT said:

I think you may be over-complicating this. The statement is that it is a UK registered car, therefore it has not actually been exported in the first place.

I follow the logic.

I'm not sure it applies though.
The car is not physically in the Uk at point of sale.
It hasn't been formally temporarily exported, it's just been driven out as someone's 'personal goods'.
The person who drove it out, or who owned at the time it was driven out, would be entitled to drive it back.

Anything else is potentially complicated.

Laws have probably been broken in both countries, the car is not MoT'd and is neither taxed nor SORN? It's no longer properly registered with a valid UK .keeper's address?

The proper answer might be to have it trucked to Cherbourg and buy it outside the gate of the ferryport in Portsmouth.

[pavarotti1980]

OutInTheShed said:

For the purposes of nicking people, the plod may assume that a car with no MOT might not be...

Dear me stop dreaming up imaginary scenarios to try and win the internet today FFS