Hi, I live in Belgium and bought a car (more then 10 years old (2002)) from Japan. It is already in the country and tax and customs are paid. But as importing cars in Belgium/Netherlands is a pain in the ass if they are from outside the Eu I am looking for an easier, cheaper and most of all less than half a year of import time. So I was thinking of importing it to the UK and when it is a EU car importing it to Belgium. So I want to know some things. Assuming I have a UK friend who would like to register it to his name for some time. 1: Is there an inspection (does the car needs to be in the UK)? 2: What are the average costs of importing it including MOT/TAX/Registration (2,5l twin turbo about 1600Kg 280 HP) 3: How long will the complete process take? 4: If there are any modifications, (lets say coilovers) will they be visible on paper when registration is completed? This so that Belgium inspection know that it is imported the way it is.
costs of importing depend on the age of the up to 25 years old and it will be roughly 30% on top of the purchase and shipping price. the car will more than likely need a few small changes to make it compliant for UK MOT from landing in the UK if rushed, no more than a few weeks (I am busy doing it with a MK1 escort, but I am restoring the car at the same time) I dont believe modifications are listed.
also, the person importing the car for you, would either need to deal with an agent or get EORI numbers setup for the import process