Importing a car over 10 years old

[R10kbs]

Good evening
I am looking to import a car from Holland that is over 10 years old. Am i right in thinking it is exempt from type approval/Certificate of conformity/mutual recognition?
Do i need a dating letter or any other documentation besides the registration doc from Holland and a NOVA form from HMRC.
Thanks in advance
Rick

[V8Ford]

Hi Rick. I registered a Dutch-plated car not too long ago. 10+ years old is exempt from approval. Aside from the tax gubbins, you just need your Dutch registration document, insurance and an MOT certificate (the latter two can be issued on the basis of the chassis number). A dating letter is only required if the registration document is not available, and the RDW in Holland can provide this (for free - take note DVLA!)

Hope that helps! Matthew

Edited by V8Ford on Saturday 15th February 20:48

[R10kbs]

Thanks for your speedy response. In practice will the DVLA take the date first registered and use that to apply a date related plate here or will they somehow get the build date and use that? The reason I ask is they assure me they register to the build date not the date of first registration which seems odd to me and also makes the exercise pointless as i need the car to be a particular reg to allow a particular private number plate to be fitted at a later date.

[V8Ford]

Hi, if there is no build date on the Dutch reg. document and the DVLA want the date manufactured then you can just email the RDW and they'll just
send a letter confirming the manufacture date. This is what I had to do as the reg. document didn't come with the car. Matthew

Edited by V8Ford on Saturday 15th February 21:47

[TooMany2cvs]

R10kbs said:

In practice will the DVLA take the date first registered and use that to apply a date related plate here

Yep.

[quote]The reason I ask is they assure me they register to the build date not the date of first registration which seems odd to me and also makes the exercise pointless as i need the car to be a particular reg to allow a particular private number plate to be fitted at a later date.

No, they have no easy way of knowing the build date - nor does it generally matter. It's treated, to all intents and purposes, as if the dealer who put it on the road on that first reg date was in the UK, not in <wherever>.

[R10kbs]

I only intend on importing this car (mk1 golf cabriolet sportline) if i can get it on an L reg as the other half loves mk1 cabriolets and has a private plate that can only be allocated to an L reg or newer. The car was first registered (in Germany on 12/6/93 and imported to Holland in 2001) The dutch registration document only quotes the 1st registered and imported dates not the build date. As long as I am not required to supply the build date or any other documents that may contain it I think they will use the first registered date. But they tell me they use the build date and when i asked what would happen if I didn't know it they said it would be Q plated. I have spoken to VW who confirm it was built a good 10 months before it was registered but they also agree DVLA should use the 1st registered date off the Dutch registration docs.

[TooMany2cvs]

R10kbs said:

I only intend on importing this car if i can get it on an L reg

The car was first registered ...on 12/6/93

K prefix, then.

[quote]As long as I am not required to supply the build date or any other documents that may contain it I think they will use the first registered date.

<scratches head> But the build date will always be before the first reg date, right? So, by build date - if it'd been sitting in a field for a year, say - it might conceivably get a J prefix. No way will it ever get an L prefix, though, since it was being driven around for a month and a half before 1/8/93, when L came out.

[R10kbs]

sorry I made a typo first registration was 12/08/93
Well spotted though

[R10kbs]

probably the most important bit of information on the whole subject and i got it wrong!

[aw51 121565]

In 2007, I aquired an early MG Maestro 1600 which was first sold in Germany in October 1983 and was re-imported to the UK in 2004. Registration was dead easy with the V55/C, I only had one of the two parts of the German registration document (but the lady at DVLA Preston said that was fine and she would state "only one part of german registration document available" on her paperwork), and the MG had a very recent MoT plus insurance document stating the VIN only. With some cash to pay the fees, it was sorted .

It really is this easy for an EU-imported vehicle >10 years old . Well, not quite so easy, now there are no Local DVLA offices , but...

[TooMany2cvs]

R10kbs said:

sorry I made a typo first registration was 12/08/93

So, yep, L prefix.