Importing & type approval

Importing & type approval

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sleep envy

Original Poster:

62,260 posts

248 months

Monday 16th January 2006
quotequote all
Does anyone know the contact details of who I'd speak to in order to get a type approval certificate to register a German import 993?

Also, can the car be used on German export plates whilst the registration is going through or will I end up getting a tug from the BiB?

tertius

6,838 posts

229 months

Monday 16th January 2006
quotequote all
I strongly recommend that you use someone who specialises in this and pay their fees - it will be money well spent.

When I brought in my 993, the importer (MCP Motorsport) did most of the work for me, Porsche confirmation letter, type approval, etc. but I did the final DVLA registration - and it was a pain just doing that bit. PArtly because I didn't read the form correctly, but also because I was given misleading advice from the DVLA as to what to provide. Someone who does this all the time will be much better placed.

Re. driving on the foreign plates - check with your insurers, but mine was OK with it for up to 30 days, and had no problems from the police.

Feel free to PM if you want more info about my experience.

Dan

993rsr

3,424 posts

248 months

Monday 16th January 2006
quotequote all
You will be able to get the Type Approval letter through Porsche GB. From memory I think it's about £30?

As for the rest of the registataion process it's very straightforward, as for using the Export Plates, you are not meant to drive the car on export plates once you have the vehicle in the UK and have it registered.

However I ran my GT2 for 12 weeks on them, never got pulled up and did'nt worry about speed cameras!

cyrus1971

855 posts

238 months

Monday 16th January 2006
quotequote all
Personally I found the paperwork quite possible. DVLA offer a "import pack" and though it is tedious reading, it is as lucid as government information gets. Type conformity letter comes from Porsche GB in Reading and costs you a few £.

Regarding plates I never got pulled and in fact quite enjoyed the anonymity it gave me. My insurance was based on VIN number and only valid once my car was in the UK. For the drive from DE to Calais I was insured by virtue of the 3rd party only insurance that comes with the travel plates. Get them for 1 month minimum as it take this long to get the car sorted.

Steps would be :

Steps 1 : Arrange but don’t activate insurance, buy car, request Type Cert from Porsche GB, get DE travel plates (get seller to provide these) drive to UK and use in UK.

Steps 2 : Main items to change on the car is a right hand side fog light, headlights point able to the left. All 993s have LHD / RHD screw adjusters on the unit if removed from the wing – do not buy RHD headlamps, unnecessary IMHO. Then get the car MOT’ed in the UK and go to the nearest DVLA centre in the imported car so they can inspect it with these documents :

· MOT
· Type certificate from Porsche GB
· Fullingfraubrief (sure this is massively miss-spelt but it’s the Green German equivalent of the UK V5 document)
· Completed Import document (which you get in the Government Import Pack)
· Some kind of receipt or bill of sale from German vendor
· The tickets from your ferry or channel crossing
· Insurance certificate
· Cash for 6 or 12 months road fund licence

The people in the DVLA may look at the car, never did withy my 2 imports however, tax it and you can drive off. A few weeks later you will get a UK V5 for your car in the post. That’s it (I think) !

Like I say all possible just have to be a little organised and plan –get the DVLA pack as a starter. I liked selecting and importing my car, it was all part of the experience for me.

Cyrus

tertius

6,838 posts

229 months

Monday 16th January 2006
quotequote all
cyrus1971 said:
· Fullingfraubrief (sure this is massively miss-spelt but it’s the Green German equivalent of the UK V5 document)


Think it should be: Fahrzeugbrief

There is also a VAT form - VAT414 - I think.

yank

70 posts

242 months

Monday 16th January 2006
quotequote all
Just a quick word of advice,, it is dead simple if you get the pack that was suggested and follow it to the letter and IGNOR anything that you are told by someone over the phone by the DVLA,, most of them are completly useless. You can do it by post or you can get all the documents together and go there in person, if you do it in person make sure you get there 15 minutes before it opens and you will be alright.

sleep envy

Original Poster:

62,260 posts

248 months

Monday 16th January 2006
quotequote all
993rsr said:
as for using the Export Plates, you are not meant to drive the car on export plates once you have the vehicle in the UK and have it registered.

However I ran my GT2 for 12 weeks on them, never got pulled up and did'nt worry about speed cameras!




cyrus1971 said:
load of useful info


Cheers for that, most helpful. If I go to my local DVLA office do they issue me with a registration and plate purchase certificate there and then?

tertius said:
There is also a VAT form - VAT414 - I think.


The car's over 6 months old so I've been told there's no VAT to pay???

tertius

6,838 posts

229 months

Monday 16th January 2006
quotequote all
sleep envy said:
tertius said:
There is also a VAT form - VAT414 - I think.


The car's over 6 months old so I've been told there's no VAT to pay???



I agree. Still need the form though ...

Edited to fix the quoting (which I notice SE did ...)

>> Edited by tertius on Monday 16th January 13:46

sleep envy

Original Poster:

62,260 posts

248 months

Monday 16th January 2006
quotequote all
tertius said:
sleep envy said:
tertius said:
There is also a VAT form - VAT414 - I think.


The car's over 6 months old so I've been told there's no VAT to pay???



I agree. Still need the form though ...


Noted, cheers!

phelix

4,422 posts

248 months

Monday 16th January 2006
quotequote all
I did this (with a French car) about two years ago. Various thoughts and comments:

What you'll need is a certificate of conformity (with EU vehicle regs) from Porsche GB. Don't think they'll issue it until you can provide some evidence of actually owning the car (a copy of the bill of sale will do). Should be v straightforward for a 993 built for an EU country. Cost is circa £60.

You will have great difficulty getting a UK insurer to cover the car before it touches UK soil. You'll need to get temporary insurance on the continent or use the owner's insurance to get it to the port/chunnel. In the UK the car will only be insured on the VIN as it will still have non-UK plates. My insurer at the time stressed that until the car was fully registered and on UK plates I was only insured for the drive from the port to my home, from my home to the MOT station and back and the drive to the DVLA and back if they required to see the car. And I had to complete the process within 28 days or the policy would be cancelled.

So I got home, sent off for the CoC and got an MOT. With those two docs plus the bill of sale I went to the DVLA and registered the car. Some days later I had a reg number and tax disc through the post. Then got number plates and I was road legal!

Strictly speaking you need at least some sort of mph markings on your speedo to register the car and in theory they can ask to see it. Your headlamps also need to be switched over to flare up on the left or at least be flat without the use of stick on bits. I think all 993's have the lever inside the lamps that flatten the beam to make them androgynous.

If the car's over 6 months old and the bill of sale doesn't say anything unusual about taxes then there's no VAT to pay provided it came from an EU country.

>> Edited by phelix on Monday 16th January 19:53

sleep envy

Original Poster:

62,260 posts

248 months

Tuesday 17th January 2006
quotequote all
phelix, nice one

phelix

4,422 posts

248 months

Tuesday 17th January 2006
quotequote all
For the CoC try Kathryn Josif or Marc Surtees on 0118 930 3666. Costs £64.62, or least it did 2 years ago.

elfer

1,922 posts

219 months

Wednesday 18th January 2006
quotequote all
The dipped beam adjustment (on my 993 at least) only changed the beam from RH dip to flat. To get a true left hand dip pattern conforming to UK regs, you would need new lights.

Also required would be a speedo with a MPH scale, the original being KMH only.

Side repeaters, rear seat belts and offside rear fog light will be already be fitted of course.

None of the above were physically checked by the dvla when I re-registered mine in the UK but there was a requirement to write (a signed) letter stating that they'd been done, and to provide receipts for the parts. You wil also need an MOT if the car is over 3 years old.

The VAT form is to confirm that sales tax was paid in the EU country of origin. I believe German cars bought by businesses rather than individuals would/could have had the MwWT reclaimed, for example, so in that case VAT would be due.

edit - with apologies for repeating what phelix says. I started writing before he'd posted...


>> Edited by elfer on Wednesday 18th January 10:17

>> Edited by elfer on Wednesday 18th January 10:19

>> Edited by elfer on Wednesday 18th January 10:36

elfer

1,922 posts

219 months

Wednesday 18th January 2006
quotequote all
I would check the insurance cover very carefully before driving on export plates beyond the allowed journeys from port of entry, to/from MOT and DVLA. As a returning ex-pat, my car was on fully registered German plates so wasn't an issue but I *thought* export plates' insurance only covered you for the trip home. You are very unlikely to get tugged but the moral, legal and financial results of being unisured when you skid on a patch of diesel and force a school bus full of gifted schoolchildren with lawyers for parents off the road...

phelix

4,422 posts

248 months

Wednesday 18th January 2006
quotequote all
elfer said:
The dipped beam adjustment (on my 993 at least) only changed the beam from RH dip to flat. To get a true left hand dip pattern conforming to UK regs, you would need new lights.

Also required would be a speedo with a MPH scale, the original being KMH only.

Side repeaters, rear seat belts and offside rear fog light will be already be fitted of course.

None of the above were physically checked by the dvla when I re-registered mine in the UK but there was a requirement to write (a signed) letter stating that they'd been done, and to provide receipts for the parts. You wil also need an MOT if the car is over 3 years old.



Intersting; I have no recollection of signing anything regarding "converting" the car. And the MoT man knew they were flat beams and was happy with that. This was April 04; things may well have changed.

flemke

22,864 posts

236 months

Wednesday 18th January 2006
quotequote all
phelix said:
Intersting; I have no recollection of signing anything regarding "converting" the car. And the MoT man knew they were flat beams and was happy with that. This was April 04; things may well have changed.
Are you sure that you didn't get a document from the Vehicle Certification Agency? They're the ones who issue Type Approval Certificates.
Also, flat beams are fine, whether you achieve them with a mechanical adjustment to the lamp or by putting tape across the lens.

elfer

1,922 posts

219 months

Wednesday 18th January 2006
quotequote all
Sorry Flemke, I had different information from you.

From the VOSA website:

Headlamps will need to be replaced or adjusted to produce the required dipped beam for left-hand traffic. The alignment requirement must be met without the use of masks, beam converters or adapters unless they are an integral part of an approved headlamp.

Source: www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft_roads_506867-02.hcsp#P40_2806

I was emphatically told by VOSA that the "required dip pattern" included the kick along the nearside kerb.

BTW At the last MOT, the chap couldn't tell the odometer from the trip meter, find the fuel flap or switch on the rear fogs. I wouldn't take an MOT pass from him as any guarrantee that a car meets UK regs!

flemke

22,864 posts

236 months

Wednesday 18th January 2006
quotequote all
elfer,

This is interesting. Perhaps they have changed the rules recently.
In Britain I have an older LHD car that was imported and which I had MOT'd via Porsche Cars Great Britain. The headlamps were masked, after which it passed with no problems.
Separately I took a LHD 993 into Britain and did all the bureaucratic junk myself. After minor fettling the car was properly qualified for the UK and received the VCA certificate. It did not require new headlamps, nor are the lenses masked.
Did the same with a GT3.
All three originated in Germany.

tertius

6,838 posts

229 months

Wednesday 18th January 2006
quotequote all
flemke said:
elfer,

This is interesting. Perhaps they have changed the rules recently.
In Britain I have an older LHD car that was imported and which I had MOT'd via Porsche Cars Great Britain. The headlamps were masked, after which it passed with no problems.
Separately I took a LHD 993 into Britain and did all the bureaucratic junk myself. After minor fettling the car was properly qualified for the UK and received the VCA certificate. It did not require new headlamps, nor are the lenses masked.
Did the same with a GT3.
All three originated in Germany.


I've just done the same with a German LHD 993, same situation with the headlights, MOT'd fine. To an earlier question, I did however need to provide documentation stating that it had been done (along with changing the rear foglight, etc.)

sleep envy

Original Poster:

62,260 posts

248 months

Wednesday 18th January 2006
quotequote all
tertius said:


I've just done the same with a German LHD 993, same situation with the headlights, MOT'd fine. To an earlier question, I did however need to provide documentation stating that it had been done (along with changing the rear foglight, etc.)


My last 993 had rear fog lamps both sides, is this not the case with German spec cars??