UK to Ireland · since 2018Send us the car

For UK dealers

An Irish customer wants your car. Sell it as a UK sale.

Irish buyers are a market you cannot normally reach: the VAT, the customs and the V5C get in the way. Through us the sale is no different from selling to a customer in Leeds. You invoice Carbuyerbuddy Ltd, a UK company, you are paid in full by bank transfer before the car moves, and we take care of the export. The one difference is that the original V5C goes with the car.

See it happen

Selling to an Irish buyer, the UK way

A red BMW M3 on a city street

An Irish buyer picks your car

They find it on ukcarimports.ie or on your own website. We buy it from you as a UK company and export it.

  • A buyer you could not reach
  • Your car, your price

Every step, in detail

  1. We call about the carUsually because an Irish customer has chosen it on ukcarimports.ie or sent us your advert. We ask the normal questions and may book our mechanic in for an hour.
  2. You invoice Carbuyerbuddy Ltd1 Greenway, Eston, Middlesbrough, Cleveland TS6 9EQ. Company 11597396, VAT GB 363 3343 10. VAT-qualifying or margin, either way.
  3. We pay in full, before collectionBank transfer from our business account, with proof of payment sent to you. No finance, no part-exchange.
  4. You send a scan of the V5CPage one, front and back, after payment. We need it to lodge the customs declaration, which can take a few days, and to book the transport.
  5. The export section goes to DVLASection 5 of the V5C, "permanently exported", stating the Republic of Ireland. Two minutes to fill in, and it releases the car from your responsibility without registering a new UK keeper. We will post it for you if you prefer.
  6. We collectOur transporter, at a time you agree, with ID and a collection note. The original V5C travels in the glovebox and the car goes straight to the port.

The only thing we need that a UK customer would not: the original V5C

The car is re-registered in Ireland and the Irish registration office keeps the original logbook. A scan or the new-keeper slip is not enough. Everything else about the sale, from the invoice to the handover, is yours as usual.

What your handover team usually asks

The answers we give on the phone, written down.

Our policy is to register the car to a UK keeper before it leaves.
You can register it to Carbuyerbuddy Ltd, a UK company at a UK address, and we declare it SORN the same day. It is cleaner for everyone to use the V5C's permanent-export section instead, because a new keeper adds an owner to a car that is leaving the country, but if your group's process needs a UK keeper, we will be it.
We don't sell to the trade.
We are not a trader reselling in the UK. We buy a specific car that an Irish customer has chosen, and it leaves Great Britain on our transporter. If your group needs sign-off for an export sale, ask early and we will wait for it; we have done this with most of the big groups.
The car has to be taxed to leave the site.
It never touches a UK road. Our transporter loads it on your forecourt and unloads it at the port, so there is nothing to tax. Once the car is ours we declare it SORN. We would rather not pay for tax that has to be refunded afterwards.
There is finance on the car.
Settle it from our payment exactly as you would on any sale. We run a history check before and after and will ask you to have the marker cleared if it is still showing.
Is the car VAT-qualifying or a margin car?
Either is fine. Tell us which, and word the invoice accordingly: a VAT-qualifying car shows the VAT; a margin car carries the words "second-hand margin scheme supply invoice" with your stock book number and the invoice number. It cannot be both on one invoice.
Who collects, and when?
A transporter booked by us, usually within a few days of payment clearing, at a time your handover team agrees. The driver carries a licence and a collection note from us. Please have the keys, the spare, the service history and the charging cables in the car.
Will the manufacturer's warranty still apply?
For most brands the balance of a European manufacturer warranty follows the car to Ireland. On a high-value car we may ask you to confirm that in writing before we complete, because a repair without it would land on us.

Got an Irish enquiry you cannot serve?

Point them to us, or send us the car and their details. We price the car landed in Ireland, with VAT, customs, transport and VRT, and if they go ahead you get the sale as described above. No fee to you.

Send us the enquiry

Who you are dealing with

Company
Carbuyerbuddy Ltd
Company number
11597396 (Registered in England and Wales)
UK VAT number
GB 363 3343 10
Irish VAT and EORI
IE 4820647OH
Registered office
1 Greenway, Eston, Middlesbrough, Cleveland TS6 9EQ
Director
Richard Smith, Managing Director
Get in touch
Use the contact form