The car came to Ireland from Britain. What do I need to check?

Two files and one customs question. Since Britain left the EU customs union, a car brought from Great Britain into Ireland is an import: it has to be declared and cleared, and the evidence of that belongs with the car — ask to see it, because an unfinished import stays with the vehicle rather than with the previous owner. The British half of the history — test reports and service entries from before the move — hangs on the British registration and has to be requested separately; mileage there was kept in miles, so check which unit the Irish paperwork carries forward. Northern Ireland is a separate case with its own rules — have the seller say which of the two applies. Revenue gives the binding answer.

I want to bring the car to the continent. What has to happen before it leaves?

Ireland is an island and drives on the left, and both facts turn up again on the way home. There are direct sailings to France; the route across Britain runs through a third country and brings transit formalities of its own, so decide that in advance rather than at the quay. For the drive you need a valid registration or temporary plates and insurance that covers every country you cross. The headlamps are aimed for left-hand traffic, which means into oncoming traffic — adjusting or replacing them belongs before the first night drive. And if part of the VRT still embedded in the car is to be repaid on permanent export, the car has to be presented in Ireland before it goes; that appointment cannot be made up afterwards, and Revenue sets the conditions.

Used cars from Ireland

Ireland drives on the left, which puts the decisive fact ahead of any question about the model: the steering wheel is on the right. Unlike the left-driving islands of the Mediterranean, though, Irish stock is European goods — cars with EU type approval and a certificate of conformity, built for the British and Irish market rather than the Japanese one. The second defining factor is the charge at registration: Revenue assesses VRT on a market value it determines itself and on the car's emissions figures, not on what anyone actually paid — which makes changing car expensive and keeps cars in service longer. The third is the climate: mild and wet, hard frost rare, but sea air all year and an island on which nothing ever truly dries.

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What matters

Right-hand drive first, but with European paperwork: in right-hand traffic an Irish car is awkward to drive and harder to sell on; registering it is normally straightforward, because the European type approval exists and only the lighting has to be adapted. Price the resale disadvantage in before you compare it with a left-hand-drive car, not afterwards.
The plate is a document: it gives the year of first registration — and, for some time now, which half of the year — along with the registration district, and it stays with the car for its whole Irish life. So you read age and origin off the plate before any paperwork reaches your hands; a plate that does not match the claimed year is worth a question.
How VRT works: it falls due when the car is registered in Ireland and is built from the market value Revenue determines plus the car's emissions figures, with a separate component for nitrogen oxides; what the car cost abroad does not reduce it. That pushed the fleet towards low-emission engines and lengthened how long cars are kept — the valuation and the rates in force are Revenue's.
Damp, sea air and the border: Ireland knows little hard frost and little blanket salting, but the metal stands permanently damp and in salt-laden air — the damage sits on brake lines, plugs, connectors and inside cavities rather than as salt rot through a chassis rail. Within the EU no customs declaration follows; into Switzerland one does. The route into Ireland, with VRT, the NOx component and the NCT, is in the import guide below.

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How people search in Ireland

A used car is called:: used cars
The technical inspection is called:: NCT
The registration document is called:: vehicle registration certificate

These words appear in the papers and in every listing from Ireland — worth knowing before you assess a car from there. Ask where the NCT stands before you travel.

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Importing a car into Ireland

Common questions

The car came to Ireland from Britain. What do I need to check?: Two files and one customs question. Since Britain left the EU customs union, a car brought from Great Britain into Ireland is an import: it has to be declared and cleared, and the evidence of that belongs with the car — ask to see it, because an unfinished import stays with the vehicle rather than with the previous owner. The British half of the history — test reports and service entries from before the move — hangs on the British registration and has to be requested separately; mileage there was kept in miles, so check which unit the Irish paperwork carries forward. Northern Ireland is a separate case with its own rules — have the seller say which of the two applies. Revenue gives the binding answer.
I want to bring the car to the continent. What has to happen before it leaves?: Ireland is an island and drives on the left, and both facts turn up again on the way home. There are direct sailings to France; the route across Britain runs through a third country and brings transit formalities of its own, so decide that in advance rather than at the quay. For the drive you need a valid registration or temporary plates and insurance that covers every country you cross. The headlamps are aimed for left-hand traffic, which means into oncoming traffic — adjusting or replacing them belongs before the first night drive. And if part of the VRT still embedded in the car is to be repaid on permanent export, the car has to be presented in Ireland before it goes; that appointment cannot be made up afterwards, and Revenue sets the conditions.