Importing a car from UK

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Jonnie
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Importing a car from UK

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Post by Jonnie »

Just thought I would share my experiences:-

Importing a car

Some time ago my wife and I decided we should buy a UK car, spend a bit of time travelling through Europe with the final destination being TRNC where we will import the car. When we moved out here some 12 years ago we did something similar so whilst not complete novices it had been a while!

I planned ahead deciding on the type of car we wanted but not necessarily the model and started taking to dealers, I was in the UK last January so that was the target time for the buy with us driving over in the early spring. I treated it as a buyers’ market and sourced a car at a good price in the end.
We began the Journey in March and had a good trip over arriving on a beautifully calm spring day on the overnight ferry into Girne. I had everything sorted, insurance etc but needed ins and outs at the port so left the car there and took a taxi to the police station and sorted this.
We were given a yellow form that allowed us a month which is pretty much what I expected. We then took that form to the customs office at Lefkosa and had it extended. The extension relates to, I believe your ins/outs history and your car tax, though I have no idea what the relevance is. We were on UK road tax till January and they gave us till November. As the deadline approached, I went back and after a little bit of coaxing the stay was extended till 10th January as I wanted to get into another year and avoid dealing with it in December.
We then bit the bullet and decided to get on with it!
We went to a customs agent I have used for other things, decent English and pretty helpful. We took with us:-
Muhtars letter
Car Paperwork
Copy of passport
Fatura from the docks (port of entry)
Yellow import form from docks (port of entry)
New ins/outs

The agent filled out a form for us and prepared the paperwork and sent us to the Ticaret Diaresi to get the import licence. This has moved now and is on the right hand side of the road heading into Lefkosa. On the right hand side is a red petrol station (Kpet) and it is the road immediately after that. However you cannot take it so you have to continue in and turn at the big junction after the Flour distributor. You cannot do a u turn so the best thing we found was to turn left and then turn back and re-join the road which would lead out of Lefkosa. We made enquiries and were shown to an office on the first floor, they were all exceedingly helpful however we learned we were deficient by 2 pieces of paperwork and we needed additionally: -
Bank Statements and a Copy of our Kocan
We returned the following day with these docs and the closure of this was a breeze, again all parties were pleasant and helpful. We then went back to the customs agent. Another form filled out and we went to the customs office with one of their “runners”. The car was inspected and there was lots of running round offices whilst we sat and drank coffee. It was determined that the Ticaret Dairesi had missed a letter out on their form in the sequence that formed the chassis number and also the inspector was unable to read the engine number. The first was fixed by another visit to the Dairesi where there was lots of apologies and the issue was quickly sorted. The latter was sorted at the inspection by police later in the process. We then went back with the corrected form, more “running” by the customs guy followed and finally the moment of truth came and we were told what we owed. They took the latest Glass guide price, trade then took 23% off this (UK Taxes or something) then took something like 50% of that and the figure was about 2 thirds of what I was expecting. Fees paid to the agent were 500tl. The tax is paid in TL.
We then went to the police station just up the road, he sent us off to get the engine number cleaned, we returned got an inspection report from him, took it to his office and got a new MOT. No emissions were required. We took all this back to the customs office so they could enter the engine number on their paperwork and that was it. It was approaching 3pm so we thought we would leave the registration part for a fresh day.
All in all, a result. Happy with what I paid and also very happy with the help assistance and friendliness of all parties.
The second part of importation involved going to the Lefkosia Motor Registration Office (old KTHY building). We arrived in the morning and took a couple of numbers (we didn’t quite know which one we wanted). When our number came up the lady behind the counter told us to go to ‘Danisma’ (Advice) which as you enter the building is straight in front of you. Speak to the person behind the counter and explain that it is a new registration. He took the file from us and told us to come back at 2pm. At 2pm we arrived and were told to sit down as it wasn’t quite ready. After about 1 ½ hours and asking intermittently if it was ready, we were called through the back where we paid about £650. This included the first year’s tax. They filled out a new Log Book and gave it to us along with the tax disc, MOT and copy of the import form. If you need husband and wife on the log book please inform them before they fill it out, they will need a copy of both passports.
All done and dusted, we now just need to get new number plates and change the details on our insurance.
Hope this is of help to someone!!!!
Some are wise and some otherwise.....

tomsteel
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Re: Importing a car from UK

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Post by tomsteel »

What a hepful, useful and comprehensive post. Thank you.

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waddo
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Re: Importing a car from UK

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Post by waddo »

Jonnie, excellent but a couple of questions if I may,as this is something I have long thought about doing myself. 1. Was the vehicle you imported brand new when purchased? or If the vehicle you imported was not brand new, how old was it when you arrived in the TRNC? 2. Was the vehicle made in the EU or from a foreign market producer.

The answers will assist me greatly in my decision on which make/model I would choose, not sure if the fuel makes a big difference - apart from the road tax cost of course. Many thanks.
No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.

David
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Re: Importing a car from UK

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Post by David »

Excellent post very helpful.

Mike and Sue
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Post by Mike and Sue »

I bought a 4 year old Merc SLK , hard work getting through the process but worth it

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Post by wanderer »

Thanks for your experiences it takes me back to some fun days and helpful people

Shipped our Fiesta over in 2009 so coming upto 10 years now .

Sent out on a Roro ferry Ipswich to Famagusta about £650 no passengers allowed

We arrived by plane 50 tl for a customs runner at the port and an hour latter the car out of customs and driving to Girne
We had checked before in lefkosa customs that our car was ok as it was over five years old but as we had owned it from new it was allowed
The shipping company also confirmed the fact before allowing shipping
The glasses guide and tax etc worked out at about £1600 for the 1.25 cc petrol car worth £3k in the uk at the time £6k in the TRNC
Its now got 42000 miles on the clock 22k when imported more than paid its way

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waddo
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Post by waddo »

Just a thought but has anyone ever tried to purchase a car in the RoC and import it to TRNC?
No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.

Jonnie
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Re: Importing a car from UK

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Post by Jonnie »

waddo wrote:Jonnie, excellent but a couple of questions if I may,as this is something I have long thought about doing myself. 1. Was the vehicle you imported brand new when purchased? or If the vehicle you imported was not brand new, how old was it when you arrived in the TRNC? 2. Was the vehicle made in the EU or from a foreign market producer.

The answers will assist me greatly in my decision on which make/model I would choose, not sure if the fuel makes a big difference - apart from the road tax cost of course. Many thanks.


Car was 2 yo when I bought it and 3yo when I did the paperwork here. The oldest it can be is 5yo they are apparently very strict on this but I am not sure if it is 5 when it gets here or when you go to permanently import if that makes sense. Car is a Vauxhaul. The main difference is with cars from Asia I think.

The agent I used I have used for other things you could go and have a chat. Neveser Gumrukleme on the road up to the Customs office in Lefkosa.
Some are wise and some otherwise.....

wanderer
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Re: Importing a car from UK

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Post by wanderer »

We got over the five year old rule as we had owned the car since new I wonder if the rule still applies it was 10 years ago though

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