Moving back home to UK, want to take my 1996 C4 LT4 with me. Looking for some info/advice on importing and costs, and insuring it as a younger person.

[SearchShane]

Hi guys, I moved to Sweden 2 years ago and this year became owner of a c4 lt4 1996 corvette. The car has since taken my heart and has become worth way more emotionally than it would be valued. I am moving back home to UK this month and would love to take the car with me. But I need to figure out if I can even manage to do so, as it seems ownership of my corvette will cost much more in UK. Seeing that the insura ce quote i got was £6,600pa.
Any tips / advice would be appreciated, and suggestions on how to get the car back home too as im still figuring it all out.

 

[Forrest Gump]

£6,600 sounds ridiculous for insurance. Have you tried contacting some of the CCCUK supporting vendor Insurance companies? - see them listed at the bottom of this websites home page. Of course there will be factors like your age, intended annual mileage and where you plan to live and keep the car. Becoming a member of the Club will get you a further discount ….and it will be good to have you in the Club too!

 

[Roscobbc]

Be aware that a 1996 vehicle will fall right in the middle of some impending UK controls on vehicle emissions (if travelling or residing in Greater London and an increasing number of larger UK cities). It will be 'new' to be registered as 'Historic' (it needs to be 40+ years old) and exempt from control.......... yet too old to be ULEZ compliant (vehicles manufactured after 2002-2005) and from later this year will cost you £12.50 per day to travel within all London boroughs. A number of other major UK cities are looking to copy this scheme or something similar in the future. Check it out!

 

[SearchShane]

£6,600 sounds ridiculous for insurance. Have you tried contacting some of the CCCUK supporting vendor Insurance companies? - see them listed at the bottom of this websites home page. Of course there will be factors like your age, intended annual mileage and where you plan to live and keep the car. Becoming a member of the Club will get you a further discount ….and it will be good to have you in the Club too!

I just joined the club today, and got my membership aswell, so will look further into insurance once im back in the UK. Still got to figure out if I can even afford to bring the car back with me at all.. else I'd be hoping to get another corvette in the UK, but they seem much rarer/more expensive in UK than they are here... Thanks for the warm welcome! Hope to be cruising along side you all to some events and meets as soon as possible.

 

[SearchShane]

Be aware that a 1996 vehicle will fall right in the middle of some impending UK controls on vehicle emissions (if travelling or residing in Greater London and an increasing number of larger UK cities). It will be 'new' to be registered as 'Historic' (it needs to be 40+ years old) and exempt from control.......... yet too old to be ULEZ compliant (vehicles manufactured after 2002-2005) and from later this year will cost you £12.50 per day to travel within all London boroughs. A number of other major UK cities are looking to copy this scheme or something similar in the future. Check it out!

Is there any limiting factors other than paying the 12.50 per day? If thats all then im not too worried as I wont be around London too often. Im moving up to Lancashire, and will spend fair amount of time in Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.

If there is a grey zone there that will cause me to get fined for compliance reasons due to different rules in different areas, that would become a bigger issue.

 

[Forrest Gump]

I just joined the club today, and got my membership aswell, so will look further into insurance once im back in the UK. Still got to figure out if I can even afford to bring the car back with me at all.. else I'd be hoping to get another corvette in the UK, but they seem much rarer/more expensive in UK than they are here... Thanks for the warm welcome! Hope to be cruising along side you all to some events and meets as soon as possible.

Excellent, welcome to the Club. That'll be a great road trip from Sweden to the UK, if it all works out.

 

[Roscobbc]

Is there any limiting factors other than paying the 12.50 per day? If thats all then im not too worried as I wont be around London too often. Im moving up to Lancashire, and will spend fair amount of time in Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.

If there is a grey zone there that will cause me to get fined for compliance reasons due to different rules in different areas, that would become a bigger issue.

If you arer simply using the M25 to circumnavigate London to other areas you'll be OK. Perhaps other members on here can advise better about other UK cities?

 

[Chuffer]

I just joined the club today, and got my membership aswell, so will look further into insurance once im back in the UK. Still got to figure out if I can even afford to bring the car back with me at all.. else I'd be hoping to get another corvette in the UK, but they seem much rarer/more expensive in UK than they are here... Thanks for the warm welcome! Hope to be cruising along side you all to some events and meets as soon as possible.

Welcome to the club . Like Forest Gump said , £6.600 insurance is proposterous !! Unless you are only 17 years old you will get a classic car insurance policy on a limited annual mileage deal for a few hundred quid . Good luck .

 

[Nassau65]

Getting the car to the UK will not be hard. The cheapest way will be to drive it over yourself. Once here you can then arrange to pay the necessary import duty at 10% and then VAT at 20% . Those figures will be based on the cars value, so do some homework as to its value in Sweden, and be a little creative

If it’s not going to be your daily , it could be insured as a classic. £6600 seems very unrealistic to me. Not sure where you’re based or how old you are etc but £6600 seems daft. Plenty of C4’s are insured in the UK, I’m sure you can be pointed in the right direction.

 

[SearchShane]

Getting the car to the UK will not be hard. The cheapest way will be to drive it over yourself. Once here you can then arrange to pay the necessary import duty at 10% and then VAT at 20% . Those figures will be based on the cars value, so do some homework as to its value in Sweden, and be a little creative

If it’s not going to be your daily , it could be insured as a classic. £6600 seems very unrealistic to me. Not sure where you’re based or how old you are etc but £6600 seems daft. Plenty of C4’s are insured in the UK, I’m sure you can be pointed in the right direction.

So I'm going to have to pay another 30% of the value of the car to get it to the UK? It seems more and more that it might be better to sell this one, and look at a different one already in UK once im there...

I would love to have it as my daily, but as a 25 year old it seems expensive in UK. In Sweden, I daily drive it and it costs me £155 per year to insure.

 

[Chuffer]

So I'm going to have to pay another 30% of the value of the car to get it to the UK? It seems more and more that it might be better to sell this one, and look at a different one already in UK once im there...

I would love to have it as my daily, but as a 25 year old it seems expensive in UK. In Sweden, I daily drive it and it costs me £155 per year to insure.

Welcome to rip off Britain !!!!!

 

[Nassau65]

As the UK is no longer a part of the EU, items coming into the UK are now subject to tax.

As for insurance, that amount you pay in Sweden would never be possible in the UK, certainly not at your age.

Unfortunately it seems your stuffed.

 

[CaptainK]

Do you have to pay tax on items (the car) that you have owned for a long time outside of the UK? I thought if you had owned a car for while, then you don't need to worry about it.
This is what I mean:
Importing vehicles into the UK

As you are transferring your residence to the UK, you can apply for the TOR relief, so you shouldn't have to pay tax or duty.

As for insurance, £6600 is ridiculous - have a word with a few of the club affiliated insurers and I'm sure it'll be far lower.

 

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi guys, I moved to Sweden 2 years ago and this year became owner of a c4 lt4 1996 corvette. The car has since taken my heart and has become worth way more emotionally than it would be valued. I am moving back home to UK this month and would love to take the car with me. But I need to figure out if I can even manage to do so, as it seems ownership of my corvette will cost much more in UK. Seeing that the insura ce quote i got was £6,600pa.
Any tips / advice would be appreciated, and suggestions on how to get the car back home too as im still figuring it all out.

Hi.
Please feel free to give us a try for insurance if you wish.
Regards,
Dan.

 

[SearchShane]

I've arrived in the UK and started my new job, but I really am second guessing and feeling a bit down about it. As the more I look into this, the more it feels like I am unable to afford to maintain my vette here in the UK..
Either way, want to get the vette to UK, even if only to enjoy the drive back to Sweden and move back after a few events here!

 

[CaptainK]

That's a shame. UK is quite costly for affording a nice car. Petrol prices aren't great for starters.

 

[Oneball]

What are the costs you’re worried about?
Insurance
Maintenance
Tax

 

[Nassau65]

Road tax shouldn’t be a problem as it’s before the emissions hike.
Maintenance again shouldn’t be a problem, servicing would be pretty routine. Any repairs wouldn’t be mega expensive.
The only downside would be the insurance as a everyday car and of course the users age, which in this case is young.

 

[theseoldcars]

Try someone like Peter James. I was paying ~£500 a year for insurance, on a Corvette, at a similar age. Nice thing is that unlimited-mileage policies, business use, etc., are all cheap (or included) with them and and modifications don't really make much of a difference to the cost. Your mileage may vary, though, of course, depending on area.

 

[SearchShane]

That's a shame. UK is quite costly for affording a nice car. Petrol prices aren't great for starters.

Petrol prices are nice here tbh, I was paying way more in Sweden for petrol, so Id save a few quid there.
Its just insurance that is becoming an absolutely mentally overpriced extra for it here. And finding a safe place to keep it, as I dont have a garage here in UK.

Its such a shame that UK just seems to want to punish "younger drivers" and prevent us from having things we love... For what reason? Every other country can do it without ripping us off