According to Cartell.ie, figures for September show a fall in imported vehicles to less than 3,000. This was the lowest number in three years and a decline of over 50% when compared with August (6,144). A spike was seen in August before the new VRT arrangements came into effect on 1st September, because total vehicle imports for the months of July and June had been relatively uniform at 4,747 and 4,924 respectively.

The new rules provide for 22 NCTS Centres around the country, taking responsibility from Revenue for the issuance of VRT. Dealers are reporting problems with the new arrangements, including delays, which may have lead to the decrease in the number of imports for September. The new system mandated a dealer to get a signed letter from the customer, along with utility bills, PPSN and a Bank Draft made payable to Applus+, before the NCTS can register the vehicle. Whereas under the old system, a dealer could simply use a T.A.N. number to register the vehicle at the local Motor Taxation Office.

The inspection (albeit a visual one) of all imported vehicles is a step in the right direction.  However, it will not alleviate the issue of write offs being imported into the State, as the inspection is not detailed enough to determine dangerous and defective vehicles. As a previous 2008 Cartell/HPI UK report showed (issued to the Road Safety Authority): up to one in ten UK vehicles imported into the State was a write off.

Therefore it’s very much a case of caveat emptor and buyers are urged to conduct a car history check before purchasing an imported car.