Importing a 1998 S Class into the UK from Abu Dhabi

[R77C]

Hi all,

Some advice from those who have done a similar process would be very welcomed. Essentially I want to import a 1998 Mercedes S500 into the UK from Abu Dhabi and want to know the best and cheapest way to do it. The car has done 250,000 miles, drives perfectly and is in good order apart from a few minor electrical gemlins e.g. central locking and the plastics/interior trims have mostly perished due to the extreme heat the Abu Dhabi gets. Before you all ask, the reason is that the car means a lot to me sentimentally and I'd like to restore it eventually.

I've looked into it a little and note that VAT might be payable, but the car is being gifted to me - does that change the VAT requirement? I've also looked into the IVA testing thing, but this seems to be more orientated towards kit cars, checking to see that they've been manufactured to the correct standards? Aside from a few things like headlight beam direction, rear fog light and braking ability it all seems quite straight forward to me but any comments welcome.

Any comments regarding the likely cost and best ways of doing the process (perhaps a car import company?) would be gratefully appreciated.

[dictys]

When I imported my 1990 Porsche from Dubai, all it needed was a valid MOT and then filled out the correct DVLA form to get a 1990 Reg number. No VAT was payable and I had owned the car for more than six months.

[HenryHippo]

W140 or W220?

[R77C]

dictys said:

When I imported my 1990 Porsche from Dubai, all it needed was a valid MOT and then filled out the correct DVLA form to get a 1990 Reg number. No VAT was payable and I had owned the car for more than six months.

Interesting, thank you - I did note the 6-month ownership rule. I wonder if there would be a difference here as I don't own the car.

[R77C]

HenryHippo said:

W140 or W220?

W140

[R77C]

dictys said:

When I imported my 1990 Porsche from Dubai, all it needed was a valid MOT and then filled out the correct DVLA form to get a 1990 Reg number. No VAT was payable and I had owned the car for more than six months.

Am I right in saying that if the car is over 30 years old then it also makes it VAT exsmpt?

Also how did you get the car here, did you use an import agent? How did you orchestrate it getting on a ship etc?

[R77C]

Anyone

I contacted a company called My Car Import and they're wanting to charge £4k to undertake the entire process from collection to delivery to me including all of the shipping, storage, fees and testing etc.