How is it that we have US imports, with US plates, driving around in the UK?

izoneiz

izoneiz

izoneiz

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After seeing that blue mustang in the daily pics thread, (the one with the US plates), I started thinking - how does that actually happen?

Living in London I do see US-imports relatively (ish) frequently, but most of them have UK plates (i.e. SVA tested, certified, UK-insured et cetera et cetera et cetera).

However, as the aforementioned thread proves, there are a few cars in the UK that have American number plates.

Based on some research I did, it appears that it's very hard (if not impossible) to get car with US plates into the UK, and drive it around on a daily basis. So, how is it done? How do these people do it?

Any ideas?

Obviously I can envisage that an individual could import a vehicle him/herself and drive it TO the SVA place, but I know for a fact that there are a number US-imports, in London, that have been here for months.

Any reasonable thoughts welcome.
 
After seeing a couple of us plated cars at the 'Ring brought over by military personnel,then my guess is just that.

You can bring a car into the states for a year as long as it leaves after a year, unless you of course go through the whole registering it there and paying taxes etc.
 
austinpowers said:
After seeing a couple of us plated cars at the 'Ring brought over by military personnel,then my guess is just that.
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Me too.

I drive near RAF Lakenheath frequently, Although technically an RAF station, it primarily hosts United States Air Force units and personnel. The host wing is the 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW), also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). I often see American registered vehicles, some Military, some appear private, but imo all are almost certain to be from either Lakenheath or its nearby sister base, RAF Mildenhall.

The RAF Lakenheath / Mildenhall site even has a few U.S. car dealers on site to supply cars to the staff based over here,along with a rather large shopping Mall !
Its an incredible site,real Hometown America in rural Suffolk!
 
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R124/LA420 said:
Me too.

I drive near RAF Lakenheath frequently, Although technically an RAF station, it primarily hosts United States Air Force units and personnel. The host wing is the 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW), also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). I often see American registered vehicles, some Military, some appear private, but imo all are almost certain to be from either Lakenheath or its nearby sister base, RAF Mildenhall.

The RAF Lakenheath / Mildenhall site even has a few U.S. car dealers on site to supply cars to the staff based over here,along with a rather large shopping Mall !
Its an incredible site,real Hometown America in rural Suffolk!
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Aye, I work in Brandon which is a couple of miles outside RAF Lakenheath. I have an American friend who works on the base, if they're staying a while they do have to get the plate changed to UK spec.

His car is now a Q plate...
 
There are always plenty of American muscle cars and Winnebago's parked at the docks here waiting to be shipped back to the USA.
 
Who checks up on the amount of time the car has spent in the UK? When I lived in Edinburgh there were tonnes of polish plate cars around (total bangers that would fail an MOT over here). Can they just go on indefinatly not paying road tax?
 
12 Months is permitted, after that its illegal and the car must be registed with DVLA and UK plates fitted. Same goes for non EU driving licenses, after 12 months they are no longer valid and a full EU/UK license must be obtained. (This can be extended, simply by leaving the country for a few months)

Doesnt seem a lot of checking is made though, Its quite a common scam for people to buy these cars to avoid londons congestion charge. (I believe it's illegal to sell the vehicles without registering them in the UK first but could be wrong)

If the car's an "epic fail", I believe the police can still pull it over and say its unfit for use on the public roads even if its completely legal in their home country. I believe its pretty much "luck" for the dvla or police to catch people who dont register their cars after 12 months.
 
Corasik said:
If the car's an "epic fail", I believe the police can still pull it over and say its unfit for use on the public roads even if its completely legal in their home country. I believe its pretty much "luck" for the dvla or police to catch people who dont register their cars after 12 months.
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Surely if they recorded the plates of the non-UK cars on the boat on the way over they'd then be able to see how long it's been in the UK? This could be done automatically with this CCTV we have...
 
if you have temporary residence in the UK, (ie) permanent residence abroad, you can drive around on foreign plates for 6 months isn't it?

if you're a student whose parents live outside the uk for example, then you can drive around on foreign plates for the duration of your studies, as you're not a permanent resident in the uk
 
mjt said:
if you have temporary residence in the UK, (ie) permanent residence abroad, you can drive around on foreign plates for 6 months isn't it?

if you're a student whose parents live outside the uk for example, then you can drive around on foreign plates for the duration of your studies, as you're not a permanent resident in the uk
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Ah, that might explain the car pr0n parked outside the London Business School
 
aha yes, the london business school is well known for having lots and lots of nice cars..
rich ***** ¬_¬
 
mjt said:
aha yes, the london business school is well known for having lots and lots of nice cars..
rich ***** ¬_¬
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Parked in their car park once because I was desperate for a p**s. Saw a Brabus V12 G-Wagon. Thought "hmm, the professors sure to get paid well here". Then I saw a 17yr old scrawny kid whip out his keys and unlock the damned thing. Got in, and stormed away.

As my friends say "I'd feel ashamed of myself turning up to that place in anything less than an M6"
 
aye, they're mostly rich russians/former USSR/arabs/east europeans
oligarchs, etc
and that norwegian girl who was killed :/
 
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