Importing a boxster into the UK
Discussion
I'm a new poster but a long time lurker. I'm not trying to advertise, just looking for an answer to a question. Hope I'm not breaking any rules, It's not my intent
I own a U.S. spec boxster that resides in Switzerland with me. I'm planning to sell the car and wondered if it would be difficult for a citizen of the UK to import the car from main land Europe, ie. extreme taxes and so on.
I was intending to place adds for it in the Porsche magazines that come out of the UK and on this site. If it wasn't cost effective to import I would look to other avenues so advertise it in. I figure since the display is in miles and that my German is crap that it would be easiest for me to try and sell it to another native English speaker.
Please let me know if anyone has had experience doing this or if I'm barking up the wrong tree. Thanks for the help.
I own a U.S. spec boxster that resides in Switzerland with me. I'm planning to sell the car and wondered if it would be difficult for a citizen of the UK to import the car from main land Europe, ie. extreme taxes and so on.
I was intending to place adds for it in the Porsche magazines that come out of the UK and on this site. If it wasn't cost effective to import I would look to other avenues so advertise it in. I figure since the display is in miles and that my German is crap that it would be easiest for me to try and sell it to another native English speaker.
Please let me know if anyone has had experience doing this or if I'm barking up the wrong tree. Thanks for the help.
Yes I have privately imported 2 Porsches from Germany to the UK. I am also a Swiss national. Personally I like the saving on LHD cars, and trips home are a pleasure on the "real" roads of Europe rather than the moving traffic jams of the UK.
To import a car to the UK there is excellent information available on :
www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/exptimpt.htm
You can also find the phone number and order an import pack. Like all bureaucracy there is attendant paperwork of a baffling array – but not complicated, just annoying.
Remember you can drive any car registered in any country into the UK for up to 6 months without having to re-register it in the UK. Frankly unless you want to sell it no one bothers to re-register and you have the luxury of ignoring speed cameras, but if the Police stop you might be in a spot of bother !
Costs to import add up.
Tunnel £120 (one way)
Petrol £80
Tolls £50
Type Certification £25
Road Tax £160
Registration £ 25
There is no tax to pay bringing the car to the UK - period. However VAT has to be proved to have been paid at the time of original purchase if you wish to sell. If you can not demonstrate this then you will have to pay tax at the Post office when you register it or you can pay it at the port as you drive through. The tax is standard VAT at 17.5% of ORIGINAL purchase price.
Thinking about it I am sure you are allowed to sell foreign registered cars in the UK – you just have to find a buyer willing to trust you.
So basically Tax is only an issue if you want to sell it and you must prove it has been paid or pay it yourself.
There is one hugely important point to consider – your car is US Spec and while the Swiss don’t mind it on their roads the EC does (in theory) . Your car has to be “Type Certified” I.E the Porsche document issued at point of sale specifying various characteristics of the car. If you have this from the US it will already be in Imperial units and acceptable to the UK Government. Metric is not so you must pay Porsche £68 for Imperial copy and a letter stating the cars “road worthiness”. If you can prove the above at the time of registration in the UK then this obviates the need for a SVA Test – which is a rigorous test to gather the equivalent of the “Type Certification” information by examining the car – and it costs a lot more. Some main points are rear seat belts (N/A for a Boxster) Fog lights, Speedo showing Mph units
Frankly however I would sell in Switzerland – you will get a better price. People in the UK are quite pedestrian and very sensitive about the side of the road the steering wheel is on – go figure. Frankly if they have an issue with it they should not be behind the wheel of a Porsche but then people are Muppets sometimes. Accordingly LHD cars in the UK sell for about 7% less than RHD ones and are very difficult to sell. Unless you figure you are trust worthy type and can sell well, purchases will be wary of a US car from Switzerland, selling in the UK under UK registration and your sale price will show this. Then again you might get lucky, London area will always be better for a sale so consider this too.
To import a car to the UK there is excellent information available on :
www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/exptimpt.htm
You can also find the phone number and order an import pack. Like all bureaucracy there is attendant paperwork of a baffling array – but not complicated, just annoying.
Remember you can drive any car registered in any country into the UK for up to 6 months without having to re-register it in the UK. Frankly unless you want to sell it no one bothers to re-register and you have the luxury of ignoring speed cameras, but if the Police stop you might be in a spot of bother !
Costs to import add up.
Tunnel £120 (one way)
Petrol £80
Tolls £50
Type Certification £25
Road Tax £160
Registration £ 25
There is no tax to pay bringing the car to the UK - period. However VAT has to be proved to have been paid at the time of original purchase if you wish to sell. If you can not demonstrate this then you will have to pay tax at the Post office when you register it or you can pay it at the port as you drive through. The tax is standard VAT at 17.5% of ORIGINAL purchase price.
Thinking about it I am sure you are allowed to sell foreign registered cars in the UK – you just have to find a buyer willing to trust you.
So basically Tax is only an issue if you want to sell it and you must prove it has been paid or pay it yourself.
There is one hugely important point to consider – your car is US Spec and while the Swiss don’t mind it on their roads the EC does (in theory) . Your car has to be “Type Certified” I.E the Porsche document issued at point of sale specifying various characteristics of the car. If you have this from the US it will already be in Imperial units and acceptable to the UK Government. Metric is not so you must pay Porsche £68 for Imperial copy and a letter stating the cars “road worthiness”. If you can prove the above at the time of registration in the UK then this obviates the need for a SVA Test – which is a rigorous test to gather the equivalent of the “Type Certification” information by examining the car – and it costs a lot more. Some main points are rear seat belts (N/A for a Boxster) Fog lights, Speedo showing Mph units
Frankly however I would sell in Switzerland – you will get a better price. People in the UK are quite pedestrian and very sensitive about the side of the road the steering wheel is on – go figure. Frankly if they have an issue with it they should not be behind the wheel of a Porsche but then people are Muppets sometimes. Accordingly LHD cars in the UK sell for about 7% less than RHD ones and are very difficult to sell. Unless you figure you are trust worthy type and can sell well, purchases will be wary of a US car from Switzerland, selling in the UK under UK registration and your sale price will show this. Then again you might get lucky, London area will always be better for a sale so consider this too.
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