Car transportation from Northern Ireland to England?

[jools182]

I am looking at buying a car from N.I. and want to get it transported back to England.

I have been on a few websites where they supposedly get back to you with quotes but I haven't heard anything back.

Does anyone have an idea of costs and which companies are good?

I'd rather have it transported than driven back as I'm not keen on the idea of someone ragging my new purchase

The car is in County Antrim and I live not far from Manchester

[steve-5snwi]

Fly out there, get the overnight ferry back to Liverpool. If you want to do it in a day, Fly out and then bring it back into Cairnryan.

Flight could be £40 and ferry into Cainryan is around £120, and you get a trip out. Its not a bad journey and you get to have a road trip in your new car.

[Wilmslowboy]

I pretty much did this 3 weeks ago.

Belfast to South Manchester.

I got a couple of quotes (sorted out by the dealership I was buying the car from).
They came in at around £800, once the VAT was added - this was for a low lowder or covered trailer. In the end I didn't feel I wanted to risk damage, especially as I hadn't viewed the car in detail - so would never really know, if the damage was due to delivery or pre-existing.

In the end
I flew out sat morn (at 8:00) Flybe -£80
Tax- £12
Picked car up
Drove to Dublin (around 90 mins plus €3 Euro toll)
Waited some hours for the ferry
2 hours on the ferry to Holyhead - I think this was around £140
Drover from Anglesey to South Manchester - home for around 6:00 (220 miles in the car)

Edited by Wilmslowboy on Friday 14th April 20:50

[jools182]

I don't fly, that's partly why I wanted it transporting

[steve-5snwi]

why ? get the boat across as a walk on, then drive back.

[Order66]

With the ferry being around £250 return for a trailer and the time involved you'd better have a figure of around £750 in your mind. If you're in that game I can put you in touch with a PHer who moves expensive stuff in an enclosed trailer.

You'd be significanty cheaper using public transport/taxis at either end of the ferry to get there and drive it back yourself.

[jjr1]

I bought my 981S Boxster the other week from Belfast and there was no way I would have spent money on an alternative delivery firm. East Midlands to Dublin, coach up to Belfast and ferry home. One day off work and a cracking way to get used to my new car !

I very rarely turn down an opportunity to go and collect or deliver a car just because I simply like travelling. The only car I have recently failed to deliver was a Porsche 964 to Monaco and believe me I tried to work out every possible angle, so as I could drive it the whole way. The route was just too boring with mostly motorway miles and in the end I gave up and paid the 1500 quid.

[74merc]

Try Eamon McLaughlin car transport. I'd say £250-£300 would be a ballpark quote and I'd imagine they would be keen for the work as most cars are going the opposite direction.

[vikingaero]

Shiply?

[mk2driver]

As stated google NI car transport companies such as McGlaughlin.

Transporting cars bank from England is their trade mainly which means you should get a good price for it to go over to England.

With Manchester close to their main routes it may be cheaper if you meet them somewhere like an auction or a motorway services rather than asking for it to be delivered to your door

[Francy555]

Johnston transport in Castlederg or Harron transport in Kesh would bring this across for you no problem. As others have said their main business is bringing cars out of England to Ni, they may be glad of the backload.

However if it was me I'd fly across and drive home, it's a good way to get to know the new car and you can fully inspect it prior to sealing the deal. I've done it twice so far, both times flying into Luton and taxi to dealership and Liverpool Belfast overnight ferry home.

[Scootersp]

74merc said:

Try Eamon McLaughlin car transport. I'd say £250-£300 would be a ballpark quote and I'd imagine they would be keen for the work as most cars are going the opposite direction.

I used this company, less than £500 down to Surrey, they were very helpful, they even paid the seller cash for me on collection (only 3k ish) after i'd transferred them the money, would use again.

[rallycross]

When I've bought cars from Ni I have got the dealer to agree to get his driver to take it on the Ferry to Liverpool and then I get a Trade plate driver to meet the dealers own driver at the docks.
Book a trade plate driver from Cargoes in Northampton they cover the UK and are really good on rates.
If you are fussy about what you are buying you really should go and see it to know what you are buying.

[MitchT]

Hold thread bump!

Seen an interesting Approved Used BMW at a main dealer in Portadown.

If I were to buy it the logical solution, as far as I'm concerned, would be...

Fly to Belfast and use whatever means were necessary to get to the dealership. Drive the car from the dealership to the port. Put the car, and myself, on a boat and cross to England or Scotalnd, depending on the route. Then drive home to Yorkshire.

Considerations...

• Insurance - can I easily get cover for a car that will live in England but allow me to start its journey home in Northen Ireland?
• VED - is it the same in NI or will I need to tax the car for the UK but have something else for the part of the journey that takes place in NI?
• MOT - it's over four years old so I guess it'll have an Irish MOT. Will this still be valid in England?

Another thought. If I make the crossing at this time of year will the sea likely be rougher and create risk of the car being damaged during transit. I've seen YouTube footage of cars moving around on a car ferry and all ending up battered!

Edited by MitchT on Thursday 14th December 22:09

[Junglebert]

MitchT said:

Considerations..

• VED - is it the same in NI or will I need to tax the car for the UK but have something else for the part of the journey that takes place in NI?

Edited by MitchT on Thursday 14th December 22:09

NI is in the UK………

[stevemcs]

Just insure it as you would normally, tax, again just tax as you would normally

Mot, don’t worry, just book it in when you return.

Getting there, just get the dealer to collect you from the airport - just make sure you get the right one as there are two

Ferry, book the posh seats, hit the Buffett and enjoy the trip.

[MitchT]

Junglebert said:

NI is in the UK………

Yes, my bad, I was meaning any differences between NI and England.

[mk2driver]

Insurance and tax are U.K. wide so no issues there

NI MOT is valid in England so again no issues

Boat - they won’t sail if it’s that bad - they space the cars out and chock them if needed

[TGCOTF-dewey]

jools182 said:

I don't fly, that's partly why I wanted it transporting

So OP, did you enjoy your A-Team van?

[stevemcs]

mk2driver said:

Insurance and tax are U.K. wide so no issues there

NI MOT is valid in England so again no issues

Boat - they won’t sail if it’s that bad - they space the cars out and chock them if needed

It is if it has one, but if it’s 3 years old it won’t need one in NI but will need one in the UK