Importing a car to the UK from Germany - how I did it
Discussion
I have just returned to the UK after 6 great years in Bonn. During this time I bought a S1 Elise which had previously come from the UK but was now on German plates. At the end of my assignment I found I was too attached to sell it! Instead I took a deep breath and negotiated the export/import process. This has now been completed and I thought I would summarise the process I went through in case any other DE PHer's need to do the same in the future. I would have found a guide like this helpful before I started the process.
Edited by Thud_Mcguffin on Wednesday 13th July 09:26
Drove the car to the UK on it’s German plates. I was able to do this as I was travelling back and forwards with work before I moved permanently.
I took it to a local garage to get an MOT test while still on German plates (they can do this on the VIN number only). An MOT certificate is needed before you can apply for British plates.
Parked it in a garage and took the plates off
Flew back to Germany with the plates
Notified HMRC via the NOVA site that the car was in the uk, they confirmed I did not have any import duty to pay.
Applied online for a V55/5 form from the DVLA (importing a used car from the EU).
Made an online appointment in the Dienstleistungszentrum in the Bonn Stadthaus,to deregister the car (KFZ – Außerbetriebsetzung)
Turn up at the allotted time with the plates, fahrzeugschein and fahrzeugbrief
The nice bloke stamped the fahrzeugschein and gave me it back. He also gave me a plate back minus the tax sticker as a souvenir. I gave him seven Euros. This conversation was in German.
Took out insurance on the car with Adrian Flux using the VIN number only
When the V55/5 arrived I filled this out. You need to have the European Certificate of Conformity to do this as the V55/5 asks for a lot of details about weights and emissions. I already had this but I understand you can apply for it from the manufacturer if needed.
I then sent the following to the DVLA:
-Completed V55/5
-Proof of identification
-Cheque for car tax and registration fee (£230 in my case)
-Certificate of conformity
-MOT certificate
- fahrzeugschein and fahrzeugbrief
-UK insurance certificate
- copy of an old V5/2 when the car had previously been registered in the UK (showing previous plate reg)
-covering letter
After two weeks the V5 arrived from the DVLA. The registration they allocated was the same one the car had before it was exported to Germany in 2011.
Bolted down to Halfords and had the plates made up
Called Adrian Flux to let them know the new registration
Emailed VOSA to get the MOT records updated with the new registration ( I would have thought this was automatic but the DVLA database was showing the MOT as expired).
My German insurer was automatically informed when I deregistered the car in Bonn so I did not have to do anything here.
DVLA sent me back all the documents I sent them minus the fahrzeugschein/brief and V55/5.
Total process was only three weeks and the Elise is now let loose on British roads!
If I didn’t have the luxury of driving the car back with the German plates I could have applied for export plates when I went to the stadthaus instead. To do this the appointment would have been for Ausfuhrkennzeichen/Exportkennzeichen and I also would have needed to provide a certificate of temporary insurance which would allow me to drive on the export plates.
I took it to a local garage to get an MOT test while still on German plates (they can do this on the VIN number only). An MOT certificate is needed before you can apply for British plates.
Parked it in a garage and took the plates off
Flew back to Germany with the plates
Notified HMRC via the NOVA site that the car was in the uk, they confirmed I did not have any import duty to pay.
Applied online for a V55/5 form from the DVLA (importing a used car from the EU).
Made an online appointment in the Dienstleistungszentrum in the Bonn Stadthaus,to deregister the car (KFZ – Außerbetriebsetzung)
Turn up at the allotted time with the plates, fahrzeugschein and fahrzeugbrief
The nice bloke stamped the fahrzeugschein and gave me it back. He also gave me a plate back minus the tax sticker as a souvenir. I gave him seven Euros. This conversation was in German.
Took out insurance on the car with Adrian Flux using the VIN number only
When the V55/5 arrived I filled this out. You need to have the European Certificate of Conformity to do this as the V55/5 asks for a lot of details about weights and emissions. I already had this but I understand you can apply for it from the manufacturer if needed.
I then sent the following to the DVLA:
-Completed V55/5
-Proof of identification
-Cheque for car tax and registration fee (£230 in my case)
-Certificate of conformity
-MOT certificate
- fahrzeugschein and fahrzeugbrief
-UK insurance certificate
- copy of an old V5/2 when the car had previously been registered in the UK (showing previous plate reg)
-covering letter
After two weeks the V5 arrived from the DVLA. The registration they allocated was the same one the car had before it was exported to Germany in 2011.
Bolted down to Halfords and had the plates made up
Called Adrian Flux to let them know the new registration
Emailed VOSA to get the MOT records updated with the new registration ( I would have thought this was automatic but the DVLA database was showing the MOT as expired).
My German insurer was automatically informed when I deregistered the car in Bonn so I did not have to do anything here.
DVLA sent me back all the documents I sent them minus the fahrzeugschein/brief and V55/5.
Total process was only three weeks and the Elise is now let loose on British roads!
If I didn’t have the luxury of driving the car back with the German plates I could have applied for export plates when I went to the stadthaus instead. To do this the appointment would have been for Ausfuhrkennzeichen/Exportkennzeichen and I also would have needed to provide a certificate of temporary insurance which would allow me to drive on the export plates.
Edited by Thud_Mcguffin on Wednesday 13th July 09:27
Thank you very much for writing this up. I am about to import a VW Transporter T5 from Turkey to the UK. I understand that the process is different for importing from a non EU country but some parts will be the same as you have written. As far as I can tell I have to de-register the VW first in Turkey, they give me temporary number plates and then I have 6 days to get to where I am going.
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