For an instant estimate of the costs involved in doing this, please use our calculator below:

Please note the guidelines are always subject to change, a great resource for information can be found here: Ukrainian Refugee Help

We are happy to assist with any questions you may have on the process from import tax / C110 / ToR forms through IVA / MOT testing and DVLA registration.

For more information please email: info@shipmycar.co.uk

The post Ukraine Car Import to UK appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

Power is up 40bhp from the standard C7 Stingray from its 6.2L V8, but now with the engine sitting behind you in a mid-engine layout.

The interior is also very different with a fantastic wrap around centre console, feeling more like a pilot than a driver!

We can assist with every step of bringing a Corvette C8 into the UK, from collection in the USA to import, testing and regsitration here in the UK.

For a full quote please use the below calculator, otherwise read on to see the modifications we make

Shipping a Corvette C8 to the UK

We can handle the collection and shipment of your Corvette into the UK. Our US Team will liaise directly with the US seller / dealer and move the car to one of our depots for loading.

We ship most cars by shared 40ft container using specialist R-Rak loading systems, alternatively we can load in a 20ft container for extra security and speed.

Once in the UK you will have tax and duty to pay on the value of the Corvette, we will then obtain NOVA from HMRC and unload the C8 into our workshop.

In the workshop we carry out our UK Corvette C8 lighting conversion, splitting the brakes from the indicators using our custom light control modules. We add a rear foglight, and side repeater indicators. If LED headlights they will need changing for the IVA Test.

We can then succesfully have your Corvette C8 IVA Tested and UK registered with the DVLA

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Since April 2021 prices have gone up 16.6% with strong demand for used vehicles.

It is no surprise that we have seen an increase in people looking to get in on the action and find vehicles to sell to our buoyant UK market.

However, some markets such as the USA have seen a slowdown in used car prices with the Manheim wholesale index suggesting a slowdown in pricing. Therefore, purchasing a car abroad and importing it to the UK can give you a double-win on low purchasing costs and high resale.

So how do you get involved in buying, importing and selling cars from countries such as USA or Dubai here in the UK?

Firstly we need to find cars for sale. Checking Autotrader.com / eBay USA can be a great start. You also have the auction houses such as CoPart with depots across the world (we see a lot from USA and Dubai) which have some incredible prices on cars.

Obviously from these markets the cars will be LHD, luckily there is a strong market for LHD cars here in the UK especially with people who frequently visit Europe, also from European buyers seeking UK cars.

Alternatively you can look into RHD markets such as Hong Kong, Australia, South Africa etc. However, in order to test & register a RHD car in the UK it is much easier if over ten years of age (it can be impossible to import a newer RHD car unless you are bringing it back as a transfer of residence). This is to protect our UK market from newer grey imports.

So how do you price everything up? Well first get the best rate for your payment abroad. This is always best by using an FX broker such as SMCFX. They will beat the banks rates at over 4% which can make a big difference to your overall margins.

Next we need a price for all the shipping, testing, insurance, taxes and registration costs – where do we even start?!

Luckily Ship My Car offer a fully turnkey solution (if you wish, or they can just collect & ship your car). All you need to do is visit their website and try the instant car shipping calculator on the homepage. It prices everything from collection through to road tax costs and works for all years, makes and models of imported cars.

So there you are. Importing a car from abroad and shipping it to the UK for sale can be as straightforward as buying a car from UK auction. Perhaps not as quick, but the margins can be extremely interesting indeed.

The post Making it easy to import a car for sale in the UK appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

Even in the midst of a global pandemic, there are thousands of people currently moving out of Hong Kong with many looking to the UK to relocate.

We have seen a large increase in the volume of interest in car shipping from Hong Kong to the UK as a consequence of the mass migration.

As a result we have opened a new route to the UK at lower costs to enable larger numbers of people to benefit from bringing their vehicle with them when they move abroad here.

Here we look into the how and why you should think strongly about bringing your vehicle back to the UK with you.

Why ship your car when moving from Hong Kong to UK

The UK and Hong Kong are similar in that we both drive on the left hand side of the road and have right hand steering, therefore bringing a car to the UK from HK is very easy in terms of practicalities in owning a HK vehicle in the UK:

• Residual values stay high as buyers are not phased by steering wheel being on the wrong side like a European import
• Toll booths, drive through restaurants and parking meters easy to use as steering wheel on correct side.
• Rear fog light is generally present and on the correct side for UK road rules

This means it is very easy to use your HK car in the UK as it is the same as purchasing a UK equivalent here when you arrive.

EU Approvals are often found on vehicles built for the HK market. For example the Teslas we import from there have e-markings on the VIN plates meaning no issues with things such as conformity for electrical safety.

Financial incentive

Selling a car in HK before you leave can often leave you short changed. Trade-in’s at dealers or a quick private sale mean you will likely receive less for you vehicle than if you had more time to do so.

Bringing a car to the UK as part of your transfer of residence means you pay no tax or duty on the import (providing you meet the requirements of having lived in HK at least 12 months and owned the car at least 6 months).

“Better the devil you know” – it can be true that buying a used or even new car can start to cost you in terms of servicing and repairs. If you have owned your vehicle in Hong Kong you will know exactly the history of the car and not have to double pay servicing.

How to ship my car from Hong Kong to the UK?

Well the easiest way is to use our all inclusive import package. You can get an instant quote for this for any make / model from www.shipmycar.co.uk/quote – this will immediately tell you the costs of shipping, testing and registering a car in the UK

You have two options on shipping from Hong Kong to the UK, firstly is by container.

Container Shipping Hong Kong to UK

A container is generally seen as the safest method of shipping a car from Hong Kong to the UK.

Your vehicle is loaded with another car so you share the container costs. The car can be fully loaded with personal effects and they are unloaded directly at our facility in Milton Keynes.

Roll-on-roll-off from Hong Kong

We can now also ship by RoRo. This is currently a much cheaper method due to the global shipping crisis. The vehicle must be fully empty of personal effects, but is loaded onto a huge car ferry.

RoRo vessels are unloaded in the UK and then cars transported to us in Milton Keynes for testing and registration.

If you would like to find out exactly how much it is going to cost, you can do so here in just a few seconds:

The post Huge increase in Hong Kong to UK Shipments appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

This usually means you are provided with a new, slightly later arrival time for your car to arrive in the UK.

So why is that and what is the reason?

Transshipment is when a container is taken from one vessel, and placed onto another.

This can occur when a direct route does not exist or a split route is cheaper / anables a car to ultimately arrive at destination quicker if there are no booking on direct routes.

However, in 2021 the UK has suffered from the fallout from Brexit and Covid combined, and so many vessels are simply unable to offload in the UK as there is no capacity for the larger ships.

They therefore take the containers elsewhere first and then head to the UK on smaller, feeder vessels.

Often the containers are unloaded in ports such as Antwerp or Rotterdam and then sent on to the UK as soon as possible.

As we load cars into containers using R-Rak technology, the vehicles are perfectly safe despite additional movements.

Our container tracking (so long as the shipping line feed accomodates) also will update with new routing and transshipment details for your car shipment to the UK.

The post What is Transshipment? appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

Export Delays

Ports around the world are struggling with congestion meaning it is taking a lot longer to get containers onto vessels.

The congestion is due to a number of issues but mainly the imbalance of containers across the world. Usually container shipping & logistics is an extremely well oiled machine, when things stop however, it quickly goes south.

In the last year obviously Covid has created port slowdowns, but also the number of vessels has decreased for Covid precautions and staff shortages.

Trade issues with China between the EU / US and Northern Africa have left containers inn places where they wouldn’t usually build up.

We even had the Ever Given getting stuck in the Suez canal to add to the shipping industry woes

Timescales for clearing customs and loading onto a vessel out of the USA for example have increased from around 2 weeks to around 4-8 weeks in some cases.

Port Congestion

Congestion in the UK has been a problem since Brexit but even now in July 2021 it is still a huge issue with many vessels simply skipping the UK, unloading in Europe and then bringing containers back to our shores on smaller feeder vessels (a process called transshipment)

The USA has seen huge port congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in particular with around 40 cargo vessels at any one time anchored off the cost waiting to unload.

Why?

Well a lot of it has to do with demand. People have been buying a lot of stuff and having it imported. Plus, they have not been exporting much. The UK is importing a lot of goods, yet has reduced many exports.

The USA has an imbalance of 4:1 on imports to exports, the highest levels ever recorded. Meaning ports are under the strain to get containners unloaded.

Getting containers unloaded has been difficult with many workers off due to Covid, or who have changed jobs due to the pandemic.

Even haulage has suffered with many container lorry drivers switching to other driving industries with better hours and pay e.g. Amazon

Car Shipping

So how does this affect the car shipping process?

Well it does have an impact, and we try to keep anyone looking at shipping a car as informed estimate on leadtimes as is possible at the time of making a booking.

In general we are looking at a few extra weeks overall for the shipping. Not ideal, but your car will arrive as close to the ETA as we can give.

Our live container tracking system in our client portal works even if a shipment is transhipped so you can keep track of where it has been and where it is next to visit.

DVLA Delays

The DVSA had their moments with IVA testing suspended but we can appreciate they didn’t have much choice when Covid showed up.

The DVLA almost got back to normal, then they decided they were not happy with the working conditions at Swansea and started industrial action that has been going on for weeks now.

They are now up to around six weeks to register a car, we can ship a car from Australia in less time. All the while the people waiting for their registrations are left without a vehicle.

We chase as much as we can on timings of each application.

The post Car Shipping Delays appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

These permits are obtained by an organisation called ITAC (hence why they are known as ITAC permits)

If you are shipping a car with us, our local agent there will assist obtaining everything for you.

These are the steps needed prior to exporting the car:

Request Police Clearance

Current owner will need to go to the local traffic department in order to provide a stamped police clearance request document.

Documents required for this are the original registration documents and some proof of ID. Step one of shipping the car complete!

Micro Dotting

Many new cars already have this completed, otherwise you will need the vehicle micro dotted at a roadwothiness centre

Police Clearance Obtained

With the obove complete, permission to export can now be obtained from the Police Clearance Centre

For this you will need all the details of the vehicle, bill of sale if recently sold, and passport copies

ITAC Permit

ITAC will then issue permit to export the car for shipping.

For an instant quote for exporting a car from South Africa and shipping to the UK, please visit www.shipmycar.co.uk and use our instant quote system

The post Exporting from South Africa appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

Our instant quote system can price up everything from loading fees, shipping, marine insurance, UK taxes, testing and registration fees all automatically – you will receive a quote from start to finish in less than a minute!

Shared container shipments are far safer than Roll-on-Roll-Off options and it means you are able to load your vehicle with personal effects.

How to Ship a Car from Hong Kong to UK

Car Shipping

We have a dedicated team in Hong Kong who will be in touch with you directly the moment you place a booking with us.

They will assist with advice on getting the car to our Hong Kong depot for loading, or we will be happy to quote for a car collection service.

We then will load your vehicle into a 40ft container securely and fully insured for your peace of mind.

Import Tax and Duty

Most of the cars we ship from Hong Kong to the UK are under ten years of age, therefore it is vital that you can prove you have lived outside of the UK at least 12 months and owned the car at least 6 months of that period in order to meet strict UK import rules.

This will also mean you qualify for Transfer of Residence import tax relief and so will pay no tax or duty. So to summarise the import duty and tax for importing a car from Hong Kong to the UK:

Import Tax and Duty

• If you have lived in Hong Kong at least 12 months and owned the car at least 6 months of that period, there is zero tax and zero duty to pay.
• If the car is over ten years of age and you have not previously owned it then expect 10% duty on a current value for the car and 20% VAT
• If the car is over thirty years of age then there would be no duty and just 5% VAT on a current valuation of the car.

Testing

Shipping cars from Hong Kong that are less than ten years old can be tricky, but luckily our inhouse IVA and import specialists have the experience to ensure your vehicle is suitable to be imported into the UK and registered for British roads.

Our team of inhouse IVA and MOT technicians carry out any modifications needed to convert the car for UK use and prepare the car for DVLA registration.

Our administration team will then supply all paperwork to the DVLA to have your vehicle road ready in the quickest possible time.

The post Car Shipping from Hong Kong to UK appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

This will allow all ShipMyCar clients to be assisted directly with RTA export clearance and any questions in regards to collection, clearance and loading of your vehicle.

You can now also visit our new website www.shipmycar.ae in order to get an instant quote for shipping a car from Dubai

If you have any questions on the export process from Dubai please contact our Dubai office below.

For all UK export / testing / registration questions please phone our UK office

ShipMyCar Dubai
Al Hahad, 2 Damascus Street, Al Qusais Industrial Area 2

Email: info@shipmycar.ae
Dubai Office: +971 54 355 7982

ShipMyCar UK
Unit 20 Tanners Drive, Milton Keynes, MK14 5BN

Email: info@shipmycar.co.uk
UK Office: +44 (0) 1908 887917

The post Dubai Office appeared first on Car Shipping and UK Import Specialists.

Why are there delays?

We are told that there are a few issues all comiong together which are causing the delay in having containers moved from ports to depots across the UK.

1. Shortage of drivers – many EU drivers are not here working due either to late holidays or quarantine processes. Brexit also has not helped with fewer EU drivers moving to the UK.
2. Furlough – many drivers were furloughed during lockdown and then went to work in places such as retail or distribution with local companies such as food delivery which pay higher wages than container haulage and subsequently have not returned. Some of the ports we are told still have staff on furlough and are therefore short staffed.
3. Social Distancing – many firms now operate strict social distancing measures. Where a container of goods would be unloaded by a team of warehouse operatives they are now only allowed one worker in a container at a time meaning the driver is sat waiting hours instead of a short drop off.
4. Port Congestion – with more containers now on vessels the ports are being hit with congestion so it is harder for hauliers to move the containers when needed.

What problems does this cause?

The main issue is another bottleneck in our process. We have had to work hard to manage the large number of vehicles we now have in our warehouses due to delays at DVSA and DVLA and we now have to deal with containers arriving at different dates and times than we have planned.

With containers being delayed at ports it has a knock on effect to our planning in regards to IVA testing and storage logistics.

As well as additional vehicle storage costs due to DVSA and DVLA delays we are now also incurring demurrage / container storage charges as well as extra staffing costs to unload containers out of hours.

What we are doing to mitigate

We are using both hauliers provided by the shipping lines and independant hauliers to try and move containers as quickly as possible.

We have excellent in-house IT systems which schedule IVA testing and we are constantly monitoring arrivals to try and pre-empt any delays in order to reschedule IVA tests before they become an issue

We are doing all we can to ensure cars keep moving as smoothly as they can.

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