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Adopting
a Twingo
Registering
a Twingo
Insuring
a Twingo
Sales
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Registering your Twingo in the UK
Headlamps
- Rear Foglamp - Speedometer/Odometer
Making an imported
left-hand-drive car road-legal in this country can be complicated. Before
you proceed with registration, you will need modifications, but because
the Twingo is built to stand EU type-approval standards these are relatively
simple. Your Twingo needs:
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There are a
number of Twingos in Britain with stick-on headlight beam deflectors
and kilometre speedos, but these do not meet SVA (Single Vehicle
Approval) or MOT-test standards. If you do not have these modifications
made, you take your chances. SVA testing stations will fail your
car, and some MOT stations are also failing non-adapted Twingos,
although it is a known fact that many MOT testers have a relaxed
attitude to the exact letter of the law.
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NEW
TWINGOS
New vehicles
are imported as an NMT (New Means of Transport), which means that
the car is treated the same as a brand-new vehicle bought from a
UK dealer. The official definition of NMT is a vehicle which is
less than six months old and has covered less than 6000km.
As with all
imported cars, you will need temporary registration (Transit Plates)
and insurance cover including green card to drive your car back
to the UK. You then need take the following to your local VRO (Vehicle
Registration Office) in order to register the car:
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- EU Certificate
of Conformity for your Twingo
- British insurance
certificate or cover note
- The invoice for
the car
- Any invoices relating
to the import (travel expenses, hotel bills, etc.)
- Your driving licence
- Temporary registration
document issued in the country of origin
- Registration form
V55/5 (available from the Post Office or direct from the DVLA) and £25
fee
- VAT form VAT415
(available from your local VAT Office or VRO)
You must pay the VAT
on your purchase by the fifteenth day of the month after the one in which
the vehicle was made available to or taken away by the customer; or the
date of te VAT invoice - whichever is earlier. (source: Customs &
Excise Notice 728, issued March 2000)
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USED
TWINGOS
Whilst the procedures
for acquiring a used car elsewhere in the European Union are similar
to a new one, registration has different requirements, which vary
depending on the car itself. Firstly, for vehicles which do not
qualify as NMT (New Means of Transport) you complete VAT414 instead
of VAT415. Then, you need for Twingos up to three years old:
- Registration
application form V55/5 and £25 fee.
- Certificate
of Conformity and proof of modification.
- SVA (Single
Vehicle Approval certificate) for Twingos under three years which
do not have a Certificate of Conformity.
- Certificate
Insurance (or cover note).
- Receipt/invoice
from the supplier.
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For Twingos over three
years old, there are two different methods. The first is the Personal
Import Scheme, which used to require that the applicant had driven the
vehicle on continental soil and had proof of this (ferry tickets, fuel
recipts, etc.); but rules were changed during 2000 so that the scheme
only applies to people moving to Britain and bringing their car with them:
The owner must be able to prove residency in the car's country of origin
for at least twelve months and ownership of the car for six months. The
Personal Import Scheme for vehicles over three years does not require
the Certificate of Conformity, but you do need an MOT certificate prior
to registration.
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The second method
is the SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) test, which is necessary if you
haven't personally driven the vehicle in continental Europe and thre
car has no C of C. The test costs £165, and average waiting
times are two to four weeks, during which time that car may not be
driven on British roads. Again, an MOT certificate will also be needed.
Renault began
issuing Certificates of Conformity in 1996, so you may be lucky
and find a older Twingo with one. The C of C can be used in place
of the SVA certificate.
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Additional Bureaucracy
In addition to the Certificate of Conformity, most VROs now insist on
a Mutual Recognition Certificate for left-hand-drive vehicles. The MRC
is obtained from the Vehicle Certificate Agency in Bristol, and is issued
on presentation of the same C of C and proof of modification that you
include in your registration application. It is, therefore, little more
than an excuse for the government to extract a further £62 from
you without doing any legitimate work to earn it; and in effect, contradicts
EU law. Whoever said life was fair?
USEFUL CONTACTS/INFORMATION
Department of Environment
and Transport for the Regions (DETR)
'How To Permanently Import Your Car Into Great Britain'
Vehicle
Registration Office (VRO)
'V55/5 - Application to Register Car' and 'VAT415 (or VAT414) - To notify
Customs & Excise'
Her
Majesty's Customs & Excise
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