Importing a Subaru to the UK

[KCzech]

Hi all,

 

I have moved to the UK some time ago and I had to leave my Legacy back in Poland. Now that I have settled in, I have to figure out what to do with my beloved car. I don't want to sell it, but I am afraid of the cost of importing and keeping it here. My main concern is the insurance. 

 

My Legacy 2.5GT was made in the US for the US market, but after around 3000 miles it was written off. Then it was bought and imported to Poland where it was repaired and used for several years by one guy (the previous owner). He did a very good job making it almost as good as new.

 

Now my question is, is there a way to insure a car like that in the UK for a reasonable price? And by reasonable I mean a price that is significantly lower than getting a spec.B. 

 

Are there other cost I should look out for except changing the lights, and getting it MOTed?

 

Thanks,

Krzysztof

[Greg722]

Hi,

 

You will need to change the lights to UK as you said.  rear lights need to comply as well. I believe rear fog light needs to be on right in UK (furthest from kerb), if your car has 2 fog lights then that will be fine.

 

It will need to pass an MOT, which above is required for. You said there was crash damage, If the crash damaged is severe on a UK registered car you will require a VIC test.  But as yours is not UK registered, so long as the crash damage has been repaired to a good standard I dont think there should be a problem. 

 

Registration of a vehicle was £80 about 10 years ago when I last did it, an internet search will help that.

 

The process is a bit difficult as I remember getting tax, and MOT sorted with all nesesary paperwork, but not as bad as you are used to with Polish bureaucracy  (my wife is Polish so I can comment with experience ;) ).