Importing Canadian car into UK

[f00kie]

Hi all,

I found this forum via Google, but most of the threads relating to this question were a bit old and/or didn't specifically apply to my situation.

I am looking to do an intra-company work transfer from Toronto to London, and potentially bringing my car with me. The car has is a 2012 VW GTI, bought in Canada. The reason I am looking to bring it over is that it has something like $25K in performance parts in it (parts + labour). This includes toying with emissions -- however, I can put back the original emissions-altering components temporarily to pass the test if necessary.

Is this something that I should be even looking into? From a work perspective, I will be on a 2 or 3 year contract, so technically, not a "permanent" move -- and my visa will support that as will (temp visa). Could I even just keep it plated in Canada?

I am not looking to do anything illegal, just some advise. Also advise on a LHD car in London (I see lots of Middle Eastern cars like that in the city, but realistically is it useful)? I track my car for fun, and it's a beast, so hence why I would love to be able to bring it over. Also, selling it would be very problematic with the amount of modifications.

Thanks!

[f00kie]

Herman Toothrot said:

How's the Canadian market for 2nd hand performance parts? In the uk stripping performance parts off cars and selling those parts you get a lot of money back.

It's there. I can easily ship to the US, so that's not the issue. But the labour of taking the parts off (I already travel ~weekly from Canada to Europe and just don't have the free time to do it myself) doesn't make it too worthwhile for me. It can be done and is certainly an option though.

[f00kie]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think the right move is either selling or storing the vehicle -- importing sounds prohibitively difficult and expensive.

[f00kie]

Reviving this a bit.

So I looked into my vehicle a lot more. Original cost was about $44K CAD. Cars of my age (3 years) are going for $25K CAD right now. I've also put in $34K CAD into the car over the years. I am not sure I can sell for over $30-35K CAD, if anyone actually does buy it.

I've looked into cost of shipment before. It was only $1K USD including insurance by RoRo boat to the UK (Southampton). So that's not the issue (and company may even cover that as moving expense).

Based on this link (https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/temporary-imports), if I am there for a set work time (doesn't say how much), I may not even need to register it, and therefore would not need to go through any inspections/taxes. I am just not sure if it would apply to my situation: while my contract would be temporary, I am doing an intra-company transfer, and therefore would become employed by the UK branch of my company. I would of course need to get international car insurance; I know little about how much that could cost.

I would not plan to drive the vehicle in London much. It would be with me more so for weekend excursions, to explore Europe, and not to lose out on the significant time and money put into it. For example, would absolutely love to take the car on the Nurburgring.

Thoughts?

Edited by f00kie on Monday 11th August 21:53

Edited by f00kie on Monday 11th August 21:57

[f00kie]

Reading more and more into it, I think I can keep the vehicle in the UK without registering it for as long as I have a "temporary" work contract. Even if it is 3 years, and I am on a visa, I have yet to find somewhere that says that is too long. So success on that end, I think.

The next questions become how expensive would my international insurance be, how expensive would parking be in London, and whether it is all worth it.