Importing an RS4 into Ireland

[Rs4Fan]

Hello all, Newbie here. I will be relocating from the U.S. east coast to Ireland. I'm currently driving a '96 993 C4S and have a '00 ABT tuned S4 as my daily driver. I'll be relocating to Dublin within the next couple of months and wanted to see what it would take to import an RS4 to Ireland. I've heard it's been done before. Any advice?

[FrankC]

Welcome Rs4Fan,

I,m afraid i cant help with the info you are looking for,but i am sure if someone can help from this site.....they will.
Cheers fc

[simple1]

OK stand by your beds.......VST will also back me up here.....
To import a car into Ireland, (south if it is Dublin) you have to several things including paying VRT, Vehicle Registration tax at 30% of the value of the vehicle as deemed by the Customs. You will also have to register and tax the car, at 2.7 you are talking somewhere in the region of €1000 to do that, and submit the car for the Ministry of transport inspection.. the speedo will need to read in MPH and KPH, and from February KPH only as they are now doing speeds in kilos, they have been distances in kilos for years......Very expensive past time, and it makes no odds if you have owned the car outside the country. Any car caught of foriegn registrations can be impounded on the spot and not released until all duties are paid..........

[Rs4Fan]

Thanks for the advice. So, my plan would be to purchase a UK RHD car, have the speedo converted to (German?) KPH and pay the 30% tax. I was looking at a used RS6 (too much depreciation pending) in Ireland or a new S4 (even more expensive than a used RS4). Would a UK Audi dealer be able to switch the speedo? Here in the States we call them "Stealers" - not "Dealers". I'd like to have everything well documented as I'll be selling the car again within a couple of years. Anybody know of anybody in Ireland that has done this before? I'd hate to be the guniea pig for such a project.

Any advice about driving a LHD car in a RHD world? Obviously, importing one from Germany into Ireland would entail swiching the headligts.

[simple1]

Would entail switching not only headlights but also rear lights and would also then cost you more as you would need to obtain single tye approval.(Rear fog light would be on the wrong side) far better to buy a RHD. As for the speedo, all UK cars show both KPH and MPH so you would not need to change the speedo, and you can ask the OBC to tell distances in MPH or KPH. None of the dealers in the south would have a clue about RS4's, you may find yourself at the door of Agnews in belfast, and they are Stealers...........

[VST]

Simon pretty much has it all covered there,except for the fact that dealing with the customs when clearing a car can be something of a lottery.They willl give you a VRT figure over the phone,but you have to produce the car for inspection,where there is a 50/50 chance that they will look for more money based on the condition of the car,its spec,optional extras,or perhaps just because they are having a bad day.They really are that fickle.

As regards the dealer network in the South, the RS4 was never officially imported to S.Ireland, there are only two irish registered RS4s in the country,so to say they are unfamilar with the car would be a bit of an understatement. Even the 2.7T S4 and A6 are extremely rare over here,so experience with the 2.7T motor itself would be low.

LHD over here is fine if you're talking exotica(Ferraris,911 turbos,etc) people seem prepared to put up with it on cars that are weekend toys,but on the likes of an RS4,which would most likely be someones daily driver,the market for a LHD one over here would be non existant when you'd come to sell it.

Also as Simon pointed out,road tax is 1000 euro per annum based on the cc of the RS4 and depending on your age/driving history,insurance can be pretty steep also,most companies wont quote for an RS4 here.

[Rs4Fan]

Thanks VST - most helpful. Many thanks! I'm going to try to make my car #3. Do #1 and #2 visit this forum? As for the VRT figure, would that not be what I paid for the car (converted to Euros?). I was already aware of the 30% VRT and the road tax. I'm really looking for a low key daily driver and wouldn't have a problem bringing the car back to the UK for service. What's a good source for insurance information in Ireland?

[VST]

No1 is parked in my driveway.

The VRT figure is not what you pay in Euros,its 30% of the Irish retail value of the vehicle,a value which they can(at will)pluck out of the sky.

No2 is owned by a friend of a forum member(ASFAIK)

There is one other UK plated car down south,but the chap splits his time between the UK and here,so his cars are ran on UK plates,UK tax,insurance etc.

Your best bet would be to contact a broker over here,as most of the direct companies are reluctant to deal with very high performance vehicles. I'm with St Pauls through a broker if that helps.

[pdxa4]

Hello all, Newbie here. I will be relocating from the U.S. east coast to Ireland. I'm currently driving a '96 993 C4S and have a '00 ABT tuned S4 as my daily driver. I'll be relocating to Dublin within the next couple of months and wanted to see what it would take to import an RS4 to Ireland. I've heard it's been done before. Any advice?

Glad you made it here man...VST will see you right...

[Rs4Fan]

Thanks for the lead Colin. This forum is ablsolutely awesome. I'll miss the Porsche but can't wait to put the "1.6" on the back of the RS4.

[simple1]

Best stick that on the car before the VRT inspection, not that it will help, A friend just paid €3200 to import a 15 year old ur-quattro into the South, the car value is no more than £6000.....

[gn3dr]

Rs4Fan
You won't have to pay any VRT if you can prove that you owned and insured the car in another EU contry for >6 months before moving to Ireland. I'm not sure if this applies when you are moving from the States but I think it might. They do check in a lot of detail to make sure you were living in another country - they ask for proof of insurance, income etc in that country. If you can prove this and bring in a car without VRT, the only stipulation they then require is that you cannot sell the car for 12 months afterwards.
There is an online calculator available to show how much you car will cost if you do end up paying VRT - it's available at

https://www.ros.ie:/VRTEnquiryServlet/showVRT

As VST says though they do view the car and can try to add more for any extras fitted - although they seems to be getting a bit more lenient on these.

[Rs4Fan]

Rs4Fan
You won't have to pay any VRT if you can prove that you owned and insured the car in another EU contry for >6 months before moving to Ireland. I'm not sure if this applies when you are moving from the States but I think it might.

I've looked into this for bringing my '96 993 with me and it works from the U.S - you're prohibited from selling the car for 12 months. The Porsche won't work because it is LHD and I would like to stay low key vis a vis my employees in Ireland. The other problem is that the RS4 was never officially imported to the U.S. so we don't have any here. Thanks for the calculator - unfortunately S4, RS4s and Porsches aren't in the database.

Question: What taxes are due in Ireland when selling a used motor vehicle from one private person to another?

[gn3dr]

No taxes due from a private sale of a car.

The VRT calculator doesn't include Porsche - you're right. It does however have S4's and RS4's & most other Audi's.

If you call them they'll add your Porsche. This is what I did for an S6 and they had the data for that car on their system within 2 days.

[Rs4Fan]

When looking for S4/RS4s I get the "There were no vehicles matching your selections found. Please try again." I'll give them a call. Thanks!