imports/registering new vehicles

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rogermac
Posts: 233
Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: glasgow scotland

imports/registering new vehicles

Post by rogermac »

I have recently applied for 1st registration in the UK for a USA kawasaki and obtained a dating certificate from north leicester motorcycles
but have had this refused by the DVLA Glasgow who state that I have to get one from Kawasaki gb only , nowhere else is acceptable
i know VJMC do a dating service but is this a new ruling that will stop clubs/ specialists doing this service?
DVLA swansea will not process my application stating i must do this locally.I suggested to the local DVLA that they were wrong and was shown the door...!?
where can i get a ruling from the DVLA as if i had a BSA i could not get the manufacturers to date it as they are no longer in business.... so is it
one rule for DVLA england and another for scotland. i have been informed that DVLA in england accept north leicester motorcycles / other dating certificates!
does anyone have any experience trying to register imports and being told to get dating certificated from manufacturers?
thanks
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mick 63
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Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2009 7:20 pm
Location: Lancaster,Lanc's.

Re: imports/registering new vehicles

Post by mick 63 »

Hi just my two penneth worth , i bought a 1970 Honda cb750 off ebay about 5 years ago, i bought it because it had a 1970 frame number and i knew it would be tax exempt etc once sorted,

after some detective work i found it was originally a Dutch bike ,( i kept that bit to myself) , i wrote to Honda uk and asked for a year of manufacture letter / certificate , they contacted Honda Japan,

and £30 and about 3 weeks later i got my letter stating it was made in 1970, i moted the bike on the frame number and insured it on the frame number,

then armed with all these documents and another fee of i think £55 ? (i can't remember if this is right amount ) i went to my local DVLA office and i came out with an age related plate "H",

Log book and Tax in post Happy days

it may not be the right way to do it but it might be another option, good luck cheers Mick.
Last edited by mick 63 on Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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rogermac
Posts: 233
Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: glasgow scotland

Re: imports/registering new vehicles

Post by rogermac »

thanks Glenn,mick
i have already contacted kawasaki gb and got this reply.............
Dear Mr McLean,

Thank you for your e-mail dated 9 December 2012.
We maybe in a position to confirm in writing the model and year of manufacture of your machine.
You will need to write to the following address detailing your machines full engine and frame number.
Kawasaki Motors UK
1 Dukes Meadow
Millboard Road
Bourne End
Bucks
SL8 5XF
A charge of £54.00 (including VAT) is payable per machine for this service. Please can you enclose a cheque made payable to "Kawasaki Motors UK".

Yours sincerely,
Simon Chitty
Customer Service Group

Yes i agree the youth that threw me out the DVLA didnt really know what he was talking about but what can i do
except get this certificate from kawasaki uk and argue that this is what they asked me to produce as per their
instructions.so have ordered it and will report back if this is sucessfull.
i have a two bike insurance policy with my kettle on page 1 of the insurance certificate and the kawasaki frame number on page 2 as per DVLA requirements.
they returned my registration form stating that i had provided the wrong insurance certificate.....i.e. they didnt even look past page 1 to page 2....!!!!
just sent it back to me with a ticked box......wrong insurance document.......fe***g e**ing b******ll**ks.!
Got to laugh though.......seems to be the norm with companies/ organisations/ the man etc !!
ok Rant over!!!!!!!
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rogermac
Posts: 233
Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: glasgow scotland

Re: imports/registering new vehicles

Post by rogermac »

the reply from leicester motorcycles.......................very interesting
probably what you were going to suggest Glen?
anyway good info for future importers......

Dear Roger
Sorry you are getiing messed about. You are right, Glasgow DVLA are wrong; because the rules regarding this are made in the Policy Office at Swansea , not by them. The Policy Office is definitely aware of us correctly issuing Certificates with their permission, so with regret I must advise that you do need to request Gladgow DVLA to check with their own Policy Office.. If they refuse ,you must insist they decine in writing, so that I can forward it on your behalf to the Policy Office. A few years ago this same issue arose with a different VRO and the Policy office duly sent the offending officer for "re-training", which made me howl with laughter. I suppose it is a near as they can get to the Siberian Salt mines. Pleae let me know how you get on, our Certifivcates are corectly issued and I am willing to help sort out as discussed
regards
Stuart
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rogermac
Posts: 233
Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: glasgow scotland

Re: imports/registering new vehicles

Post by rogermac »

Well blow me if a tax disc and registration number didn't appear in the post today......!!!!
the moral of the story............just keep trying, act daft , say nothing, keep resending applications in
hoping someone in the local DVLA office knows what they are talking about and the application lands on that persons
desk..........!!!!
happy days
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nealblath
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Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 3:51 pm

Re: imports/registering new vehicles

Post by nealblath »

I have a Kettle which needs registering for the first time in the UK

I have MOT'd the bike and insured it on the frame number. I have a dating certificate from VJMC (will this be acceptable to DVLA?).

What do I need to do now and what form(s) do I need?

thanks

Neal
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Boilerman

Re: imports/registering new vehicles

Post by Boilerman »

Have imported and registered many thousands of bikes, so maybe this will help.

But before we start, remember that each office has their own interpritation of the guidelines, and it seems that often they are not as strict with personal applications as they are with those made by businesses. I've never registered a bike personally, all of mine have been commercial.

As said in the first post above, the registration process is administered by your regional VRO, not by DVLA Swansea.

The first thing you need is a form V55/5, which you can get from the VRO.

DVLA give guidelines to their regional Vehicle Registration Offices, but ultimately, as suggested above, what evidence of date of manufacture is acceptable is at the discretion of each office manager.

Bristol VRO want to inspect vehicles that don't have the equivilant of a foreign V5c registration document, some other offices chose not to see the vehicle at all.

If the rules are adhered to correctly, you will need to provide evidence that either the vehicle has been privately imported, or if brought in commercially you will need to demonstrate the the import duty and VAT have been paid.

Best thing would be to pop into the VRO, grab a V55/5, and ask the question.

Some VROs now have a member of staff dedicated to checking forms etc, this is done informally while you wait. The other thing is, if you don't like the answer you get from your local office, there isn't much mileage in taking the paperwork elsewhere, as, again, if the rules are followed correctly, the paperwork will then be forwarded to the VRO nearest the address of the applicant.
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mark.read3
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Re: imports/registering new vehicles

Post by mark.read3 »

Nice post, thanks for the info.
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nealblath
Posts: 248
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Re: imports/registering new vehicles

Post by nealblath »

Thanks Boilerman..............looks like I might have a problem then as I have no paperwork whatsoever for the bike other than a dating certificate from VJMC!

As it was a US import, surely customs will have paperwork somewhere for it proving VAT and duty have been paid................unless it's been smuggled in!
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Boilerman

Re: imports/registering new vehicles

Post by Boilerman »

Of course, if it were to have been imported from within the EU, as a private / personal import, and you had a supporting receipt from, for arguments sake, the seller in France, then the VAT / duty wouldn't be an issue.

If it came from America and there's no proof of the taxes being paid then you will have a problem.

There are different rules if you owned the bike yourself in the country that it was imported from, but going into that is just muddying the waters as it's not the case here.

Are you certain that yours came from outside of the EU?

Ref customs knowing whether or not the duties have been paid, they may be able to find the details, but then again...

The system they use has evolved / changed over the years. There is a form called a C&E386, this has details on it of the port of entry, date of import and the customs entry number, they used to produce a form for each vehicle, the problem was that these were hand written so it's unlikely that the VIN would be recorded within custom's system anywhere. This was hugely labour intensive for customs, so they changed the system and gave the importer the customs entry details, you could then self declare that the duties were paid. In both cases you had to give a copy of the foreign supplier's commercial invoice showing the full VIN for the vehicles. The chances of customs being able to trace a VIN from any given vehicle, given the potential time frame involved and the volume of customs entries they handle, virtually zero I'm afraid.

As for the dating evidence, you'll need to check with your local office. My dating letters were accepted by some offices, Bristol even used me to confirm that information on letters supplied by some other people was correct, but at the same time, there were some offices who wouldn't accept my letters at all, and you aren't allowed to provide dating evidence for vehicles that you have imported yourself. No doubt these 'rules' aren't always applied, or are interpreted differently, but that's the nature of things when dealing with an organisation as large as DVLA.

I'm not saying for one second that I know everything about registering imports, and it sounds as if other members here are pretty experienced, but I would be happy to discuss further and give you some ideas of how you can progress your application, if you like, you can PM me and I'll give you a contact number.
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