Importing

[Greta]

... as in physically buying and bringing a foreign registared car to the UK.

I know it has been done - ADU7B  - the Spitfire Rally car belonging to Mark Field of Jigsaw had lost it's registration and when re discovered was registered in France...

.. numerous cars seem to find their way back to blighty from across the pond. 

... does anyone have personal experience of this who'd be prepared to offer advice and guidance? I'm partricularly keen to be able to achieve a UK registration with a specific cherished plate ( sold to me by DVLA ) - I'm just not sure of the restrictions... 

Call centre staff at Swansea never seem to be able to answer specific questions - forever referring one to vague Gov.org webpages

[thescrapman]

Pete Jackson imported his 2 big saloons when he returned from NZ. He may have a few pointers.

I helped a company called CARS near Bury st Edmunds who specialise in moving vehicles round the world. They had a TR 4 from Zimbabwe with the numbers mixed up on the paperwork that needed sorting out.

[sparky_spit]

I recently bought an imported motorcycle from France that was supposedly correctly imported to the UK, but which did not show up on the Notification of Vehicle Arrival (NOVA) system, so I had to "import" myself. I suspect the actual machine came into the UK in the back of someone's van.

The process is pretty simple if you follow it methodically. If an agent does the import for you then it's even simpler for you. If you do it yourself then I'd advise doing it by paper form rather than online, as you can include covering letters to explain any anomalies which you can't do online.

A NOVA1 form can be requested from the HMRC Personal Transport Unit at Dover by phone on 0300 322 7069 or via PTUtechnicalsupport@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk. (or I can email them to you) The form is easy to fill in and, for a non-Type Approval vehicle (which yours will be) all they are really interested in is whether any VAT duty needs to be paid. For low value vehicles (in their terms your's probably will be) any payment is unlikely and only other thing you need is a bill of sale and any import documents, title, etc you may have.  If you have none, then a covering letter say why you don't have these worked for me. Your vehicle will be identified by its VIN, so use the commission number and make sure it is 100% correctly recorded. If not, you will have a whole world of pain later on.  I can point you to motorcycle websites where you can download a guide on what to put on the NOVA1 form, and what goes where, etc.

If all is okay, they will issue you with the all important NOVA reference number.

Then, go to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-a-used-vehicle-for-the-first-time-v555 and download the V55/5 form and Guidance Notes. To fill in the form you will need your NOVA Reference Number, an original title document or something official that proves year of manufacture for your vehicle (or a Dating Certificate from a recognised owners club such as CT), photos of the car and of the VIN and engine numbers, proof of your name address, etc, etc. The Guidance Notes are quite good but I'd suggest using one of the guides available on the internet as some of the questions are not applicable to older non-type-approved vehicles and it's easy to get confused. Again, I have these from the Scooter Club (no affiliation) and Yamaha Owners Club and can email them to you.

Basically, DVLA are trying to make sure the vehicle is as you say it is, is not stolen or reconstructed, and its claimed year of manufacture is correct. If there is anything that's not quite as required then add a covering letter to explain why.

Hopefully, you will get a letter in 10-14 days telling you what your new age related registration number is, plus all the stuff you sent them returned to you, and a few days after that you get the new V5 and a number-plate certificate letter to enable you to get the plates made up.

There is a chance that you will be given a Q plate if DVLA feel your car is not quite what you say it is, so be thorough with the evidence you send them and tell them in a covering note why you cannot supply something if that's the case.

One thing you need to find out beforehand is whether, once you have an age related reg no on your car, it can be changed to your personalised one. I don't know the answer to that one; you'd need to check. I do know that these age related numbers are issued from previously unused batches of numbers and can be from any district/area, and you cannot chose which number you want. Basically, you get what you are given.

When you first see the forms and stuff you need to assemble it seems quite daunting, but it's simple if you do things in the correct order and provide all that they ask for, or explain clearly why you cannot.

I have heard of several requests from DVLA to have your vehicle inspected at one of their test centres.  I don't know if this is because they feel there is something fishy about the application or just random spot-checks happening. 

Hope this helps.

[sparky_spit]

Forgot to mention....   Make sure that the VIN you enter is exactly the same, both in content and format, on the NOVA1, V55/5 forms and any dating certificate and Title Document or "log book", and of course on the car itself (photos need to show this).  If there is any discrepancy in any of them DVLA will reject the application.