Not eBay.. But Ireland's answer...

[Bob]

Lads, ye should be looking here for 80's and 100's. our crazy motor tax system means that the big trucks go cheap here when they are a few years old. 2 examples available now..

1996 80 4.5 petrol €3995
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-amazon-vx-4-5-v8-auto-8-seater/4856402




2002 100 Diesel VX €12,500

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-amazon-02-vx/5184846



I need to start exporting!

 

[IRLGW]

Lads, ye should be looking here for 80's and 100's. our crazy motor tax system means that the big trucks go cheap here when they are a few years old. 2 examples available now..

1996 80 4.5 petrol €3995
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-amazon-vx-4-5-v8-auto-8-seater/4856402




2002 100 Diesel VX €12,500

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-amazon-02-vx/5184846



I need to start exporting!

Yeah but they never show you pics of the spud field inside the truck...

 

[wobbly]

There is a garage local to me that are importing from the Republic, seems a simple enough process.

Only thing to avoid are 'vans' - they have much lower tax in the ROI so are very popular - so dealers imported standard vehicles and they were converted at the docks, but the Irish customs insist that the vehicle cannot physically be reconverted to standard vehicles, hence rear seatbelt mounting points are either ground out or welded over etc.

My mate came a cropper when he re-imported a Discovery Van. It was exported from the UK as a standard vehicle, was converted into a van at the docks and registered as such. When he re-imported it to the UK it didnt meet the manufacturers certificate of conformity for either type, so he had to do the SVA test - ok if you dont mind the hassle, but a pia if you're not expecting it.

Pete

 

[yogi]

That's only the case if the vehicle is imported to Eire as a commercial. If it is converted there under a 'change of use' to a 'van/commercial' then the seat belt points etc remain.

 

[wobbly]

Could well be.

I had a look through the ads, I reckon 60% of Landcruisers are 'commercial', but they mustve started out as normal cars.

What is noticeable is the much reduced numbers of post-2008 vehicles for sale, the recession really hit the Republic a lot harder than here, I guess there were either fewer registrations or people are holding on to them longer.

Did find one ad where the seller is willing to swap for livestock......

Pete

 

[yogi]

Unbelieveably more so than the UK, about the only thing that can be sold here is livestock and prices are falling there too. I'd say as many as 80% are commercials because of the loony tax system. Just to give you an idea, my daily drive in a 1997 Toyota carina, it costs 800 a year to tax with a 2000cc diesel engine, yet my 10tonne DAF 45 costs a little over 300, same as a landcruiser commercial, or a transit van, or a fiesta van.

Add into that the illegal (according to the EU) 'import levy' charged on all new and imported cars here and you will see why the used car market is arseways. If I bought a £500 banger on ebay, it could cost me as much as 2k to put it on Irish plates.

But the real irony is that newer cars are cheaper to tax, so, as is always the case the poor pay while the rich play.