Exporting a Car from the UK

Overview

The Process at a Glance

Exporting a car has the same core steps whether you are moving a car you already own or buying one to ship overseas. Here is the whole journey in order.

1. 1

   Work out which route applies

   Is the car leaving for 12 months or more (permanent export) or less (temporary)? That decides the DVLA process. Do you live outside the UK, or are you a UK resident moving abroad with the car? That decides which VAT route is open. We sell zero-rated only to buyers who live outside the UK, or to businesses with no establishment here; a UK resident leaving with the car uses the Personal Export Scheme.

2. 2

   Check the car

   Have the full V5C log book in hand and deal with any personalised registration before the car goes. Run an HPI check (a vehicle history check that confirms the mileage and shows outstanding finance, theft and write-offs), clear any outstanding finance or get the finance company's written approval to export, and make sure the MOT (the annual UK roadworthiness test) is valid. Unsettled finance and missing log books are the commonest causes of delay.

3. 3

   Settle the VAT position before buying

   There are three positions: a zero-rated export sale, where a VAT-registered seller such as us sells a new or VAT-qualifying car to a buyer who lives outside the UK and the seller exports it within three months of the time of supply; a Personal Export Scheme sale by a dealer that runs the scheme, for a buyer leaving the UK with the vehicle for at least 6 months, using form VAT 410; or a normal VAT-paid sale. Either VAT-free route has to be arranged as part of the sale. You cannot buy normally and reclaim the VAT later.

4. 4

   Agree the price and payment terms

   Get the final price including shipping and associated costs, with a full breakdown of the VAT position, shipping, destination costs and a realistic timeline. Check that whoever you are paying is a UK-registered company you can verify on Companies House, and look for payment terms that do not require the full amount up front. We are UK Vehicle Exporters Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 10399100. A £1,000 deposit secures a car we source or buy for you, and the balance is due in cleared funds before the car is loaded.

5. 5

   Gather the documents

   V5C, invoice or bill of sale, proof of ID, HPI check, finance clearance, UK export declaration, inspection certificate, service history and keys.

6. 6

   Book any pre-export inspection

   Some destinations, for example Kenya and Tanzania, require a pre-export inspection certificate. Without one, a car can be refused registration, inspected on arrival at extra cost, or penalised. Confirm this before you commit to a shipping date. Where your destination requires one, we book the inspection with the agency that country has approved and time it around the sailing. It is quoted separately.

7. 7

   Appoint a clearing agent at the destination

   Confirm duty, taxes and registration costs before the car leaves, so it is not sitting at a port running up storage fees while paperwork catches up. We can arrange customs clearance, registration and delivery to your door through a local agent, quoted separately, or work with an agent of your choice.

8. 8

   Book shipping and marine insurance

   We ship by roll-on roll-off (RoRo) or container, or by air when time matters. Marine insurance is not included in our price: we can arrange it on container shipments, quoted separately.

9. 9

   Tell the DVLA

   Complete and detach the "permanent export" section of the V5C and post it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BD. Keep the rest of the log book to register the car abroad, or give it to the buyer if you have sold the car. When we buy the car for you, we send DVLA the permanent export section, and the rest of the log book goes to you by UPS or DHL with the export documents.

10. 10

    Ship, clear customs, register, drive

    Follow the shipment (we keep you informed until the car arrives), clear customs with your agent, register the car locally and collect it. Destination duty and taxes are the buyer's to pay as the importer.

Which route

The 12-Month Rule

You must tell DVLA if you are taking your vehicle out of the UK for 12 months or more. DVLA calls this permanent export, and it includes moves to the Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey), the Isle of Man and Ireland.

For less than 12 months the car stays UK-registered, and UK law keeps applying to it while it is away.

12 months or more

Permanent Export

Follow these steps if the car is leaving the UK for 12 months or more, whether you are taking it yourself or selling it to someone who is.

The three steps

1. Fill in the "permanent export" section of your V5C log book, detach it, and keep the rest of the log book. You will need the rest to register the vehicle in the country you are taking it to.
2. Send the completed "permanent export" section to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BD. If your address has changed, include a letter with your new address so that DVLA can send any vehicle tax refund there.
3. Update the address on your driving licence if you are moving home.

Vehicle tax refund

If you are due a refund you will usually get it within 4 to 6 weeks. It is worked out from the date DVLA gets your "permanent export" section, so send it promptly.

The refund cheque goes to the name and address on the log book, so include the covering letter if you are moving. Contact DVLA if the cheque has not arrived after 8 weeks.

Buying a vehicle to take abroad

Make sure the seller follows the correct process for vehicles that will be registered in another country. They must give you the full log book (V5C), not just the new keeper slip.

If you are buying from a private seller, insist on the full document. When we buy a car for you, we take the full log book and a receipt from the seller.

Selling to a buyer who is taking the car abroad

What you do with the log book depends on where the buyer will register the car. If they are taking it abroad and registering it there:

1. Fill in the "permanent export" section of your log book.
2. Send it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BD, with a letter giving the buyer's name and address.
3. Give the rest of the log book to the buyer. They need it to register the vehicle in the country they are going to.

Do not give the buyer only the green "new keeper" slip; that is for buyers keeping the car in the UK. Any vehicle tax refund usually arrives in 4 to 6 weeks. Before you sell, you can show buyers the log book, but do not share its document reference number or photos or copies of it, which could be used to get a fraudulent copy.

If you have a buyer abroad, we can run the export for you, and we can buy the car from you and sell it on to the buyer, so you are paid by us, a UK company, rather than by someone overseas. See selling a car to an overseas buyer.

If you do not have a V5C

A replacement V5C costs £25: apply online or by phone (usually 5 to 7 working days) if your details are unchanged, or by post on form V62 (allow 4 to 6 weeks). Start well before you plan to leave.

Moving a vehicle between Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is part of the UK, so this is a change of address rather than an export. Fill in the change of address section in the log book and send it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BA.

Personalised registrations

Transfer or retain a personalised registration before you export or sell the vehicle, otherwise you lose your right to the registration number. You can take the number off online, or by post on form V317; it costs £80. Wait for the V778 retention document and the new V5C before the car is exported or sold.

Motor traders

The same two actions apply to the trade: fill in and detach the "permanent export" section of the V5C, then send it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BD.

Less than 12 months

Temporary Export

What you need depends on whether you are taking your own vehicle or a hired or leased one.

Taking your own vehicle abroad

• Take your V5C log book. You may have to show it if you are stopped at a port or while driving abroad.
• Your V5C must show your most recent UK address. Apply in advance if you need to get or update it: 5 to 7 working days online, or 4 to 6 weeks by post or after a change of name or address.
• UK law still applies to a UK-registered vehicle abroad for under 12 months. The vehicle must be taxed in the UK while it is away, have a current MOT (if it needs one) and have UK insurance.
• You also need to meet any international or national conditions for licensing and taxation in the countries you visit.

Import duty and the CPD Carnet

• You may need to pay import duty when you take a vehicle outside the UK. Check with the authorities in the destination country.
• You do not need to pay import duty to take a vehicle from Northern Ireland to Great Britain or the EU.
• If you are going to a non-EU country that charges duty, a CPD Carnet (Carnet de Passages en Douane, often called a Carnet de Passage) lets you take the vehicle in temporarily without paying duty and can make crossing the border simpler. You pay a fee and a deposit, and you usually get the carnet within 4 weeks of applying.
• Plan the carnet well ahead of the trip, and allow over a month to be safe.

Extra certificate for Liechtenstein, Mexico and Somalia

You must take an International Certificate for Motor Vehicles (ICMV) with you as well as your V5C. Apply to DVLA on form V1002/1, which is on GOV.UK, by email or post; there is no fee. The form is for keepers who have a V5C for the vehicle in their own name.

Bringing the vehicle back untaxed

If you bring your vehicle back to the UK untaxed you cannot drive it back in. It will have to be transported, and a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) must be made straight away.

Hired or leased vehicles

• You need a VE103 vehicle on hire certificate to show you are allowed to use a hired or leased vehicle abroad. You can get one for a fee from the AA, the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), RAC Motoring Services or the Road Haulage Association (RHA).
• For Liechtenstein, Mexico or Somalia you also need an ICMV, and the hire or lease company must apply for it.

Also check before you drive abroad

• You may need an International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive outside the UK. It is available in person from certain shops that have PayPoint and costs £5.50. With a UK photocard driving licence you do not need one in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein. If you are moving abroad, GOV.UK says not to apply for one: exchange your UK licence, or apply for a new one, in the country you are moving to.
• Your vehicle insurance must cover the countries you are driving through. Some countries outside the EU ask for a green card from your insurer, which can take up to 6 weeks to arrive by post.
• Check whether you need to display a UK sticker on the vehicle. It depends on your number plate and where you are going; in Spain, Cyprus and Malta you must display one.

Buying to export

VAT When You Buy a Car to Take Abroad

If you buy a new or used vehicle to take out of the UK, you might not have to pay UK VAT or vehicle taxes such as the registration fee. What you pay, and how, depends on where you are exporting to and from.

VAT-qualifying cars: how we sell them free of UK VAT

A new car carries VAT on its full price. So does a VAT-qualifying used car: one the dealer has to sell with VAT on the full price because VAT was reclaimed when it was bought, typically an ex-rental or ex-lease car. A UK buyer pays that price including 20% VAT. Sold to a buyer outside the UK, zero-rated as an export, the car's price has no UK VAT in it. A used car sold under the margin scheme, or by a private seller, has no VAT to take off. More on our tax-free vehicle supply page.

• Only a VAT-registered seller can sell a car zero-rated for export, and for the cars we sell you, that seller is us. We are VAT registered as part of a VAT group. When we buy a new or VAT-qualifying car, the dealer charges us VAT, which we recover through our VAT registration, and we sell the car on to you zero-rated, so our invoice shows no UK VAT on the car. Where VAT applies to our charges, your quotation shows it. A private buyer, in the UK or overseas, cannot reclaim UK VAT on a car they have already paid it on.
• The sale must be set up as an export sale from the start. If you buy a car normally and then decide to export it, the VAT cannot be reclaimed afterwards. If you buy a car yourself and the dealer charges you VAT, we cannot get that VAT back for you, so talk to us before you buy rather than after.
• For our sale to you to be zero-rated, you must live outside the UK (or be a business with no establishment here), the car must not be used or delivered to you in the UK before it leaves, we must export it within three months of the time of supply, and we must hold proof of export. This is for cars bought in England, Scotland and Wales. A car bought in Northern Ireland follows different rules, especially if it is going to the EU (see Northern Ireland to the EU below).
• Many UK dealers do not sell cars VAT-free for export themselves, because the seller must then hold proof of export and pay the VAT itself if the car does not leave in time. That does not limit your choice: we buy the car from any VAT-registered UK dealer as an ordinary UK sale and make the export sale to you ourselves. We are not limited to our own stock.
• The UK VAT that comes off is separate from import VAT and duty at the destination. Cyprus, for example, charges import VAT at 19% on the customs value plus any duty when the car lands. One comes off the UK price, the other is owed on arrival, and they do not offset each other.
• The real saving depends on exchange rates, the car's price, shipping, local taxes and admin fees. On some cars there is no saving compared with buying locally, so cost the whole journey before you commit: our quotation itemises the car, our charges and what is quoted separately.

In cash terms the UK VAT is largest on expensive cars, such as a new Range Rover, BMW, Mercedes or Porsche, where it can outweigh the cost of shipping. Whether it also covers import duty and taxes depends on the destination, and on lower-value cars those costs can eat into it.

The Personal Export Scheme

• You may be able to use it to take a new or used vehicle from Great Britain to anywhere outside the UK, or from Northern Ireland to a non-EU country.
• You do not pay UK VAT on a vehicle you buy and export under the scheme. You still pay vehicle tax while you use it in the UK, and on a new vehicle the registration fee.
• You must be planning to leave the UK for at least 6 months with the vehicle, and you usually have to be personally driving it. You take delivery from the dealer in person.
• Fill in form VAT 410 (the dealer gives you a copy) and hand it to the dealer. The dealer normally sends HMRC its copy at least 2 weeks before delivery, and cannot release the car until HMRC has approved the application.
• You can drive the vehicle in the UK for up to 6 months after delivery if you are a UK resident moving abroad (GOV.UK and Notice 707 also give EU residents 6 months), or up to 12 months if you are an overseas visitor who lives outside the EU. It must then be exported. The final date for export is shown on the VX302 for a new car or the VAT 410 for a used car.
• After export, send DVLA the tear-off section of the VX302 (new vehicle) or the V5C log book (used vehicle).
• If you do not export the vehicle on time, you have to pay the UK VAT, and HMRC can take the vehicle away. The VAT also becomes due if the car is stolen or written off before it is exported, so insure it for its full price including VAT.

The scheme is open to UK residents moving abroad and to overseas visitors who have not spent more than 365 days in the UK in the last 2 years (or 1,095 days in the last 6). Either way, you must stay outside the UK with the car for at least 6 consecutive months once it is exported.

Only a dealer that operates the scheme can sell a car under it, and the scheme is optional for dealers. We do not operate it, so you buy from a dealer that runs it and complete form VAT 410 with them. We can find a dealer that runs the scheme and ship the car when you are ready: see the Personal Export Scheme in detail.

Northern Ireland to the EU

• If you buy a new vehicle in Northern Ireland to take to an EU country, you do not pay UK VAT as long as you take the vehicle out of the UK within 2 months of the time of supply and do not drive it in the UK unless you register and tax it.
• Your supplier will get you to fill in form VAT 411.
• You declare the vehicle and pay VAT in the other country when you get there.

Before you commit

Checks on the Car

• Outstanding finance. Clear it, or get the finance company's written approval to export, before you go any further: until it is paid off, the finance company may still own the car. Unsettled finance and missing log books are the commonest causes of delay at this stage. On a car we buy for you, our HPI check shows any finance owed before you commit, and a car you ship with us must be clear of finance, or have the finance company's written approval to export.
• HPI check. A vehicle history check that confirms the mileage and shows outstanding finance, theft and write-offs. We run one on every car we source and export. When we buy a car you have found, you get a summary of the findings before anyone goes to see it, and the full report once you go ahead. If you are buying elsewhere, run the check yourself before you pay: how to check UK vehicle history.
• Full V5C. The complete document, never just the new keeper slip.
• MOT. Valid, and ready with the full V5C for any pre-export inspection: missing documents can hold up the certificate.
• Personalised registration. Transfer or retain it before export or it is lost.
• Electric vehicles. Shipping lines set their own rules for electric cars: limits on how charged the battery can be, some will not carry a used electric car, and in a container a fully electric car normally travels as dangerous goods. We confirm which lines and routes will carry the car, by RoRo or container, during your quote, before you commit to it. See electric and hybrid car export.
• Classic cars. Some destinations treat older classic cars differently, so check with your clearing agent before you buy. FIVA (the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens, the international federation of historic vehicle clubs) issues its identity card for vehicles at least 30 years old; whether a destination accepts it in place of its usual roadworthiness process is for that country to say. Shipping an older car: see classic vehicle shipping.

What we check on every car. Every car we source and export has its MOT checked, its mileage verified, an HPI check for outstanding finance, theft and write-offs, and our 198-point inspection before it leaves the UK. To see the findings before you buy, book the optional £350 pre-purchase inspection: the same 198-point inspection, carried out before you buy, with a written report.

Buying without seeing the car

You do not need to see the car in person: the whole purchase can be handled remotely, with photos and video in place of a viewing. If you are buying from a seller elsewhere, before you pay ask for detailed descriptions, high-quality photographs, a live video walkaround and the service records. Get a vehicle history report covering previous owners, accident history, outstanding finance, theft and write-offs. Ideally, have a third-party mechanic carry out an independent pre-purchase inspection too.

When we buy a car you have found, we check its history first, then view it and send you photos and a video before you commit. Our optional £350 pre-purchase inspection is our own 198-point inspection with a written report; if you want a detailed mechanical inspection by an independent inspector, we quote for it on top.

Paperwork

Documents Checklist

Exactly which documents you need, and in what format, depends on the destination's customs requirements. Check with the receiving country's customs authority or your clearing agent. Items marked for one route only can be skipped for the other. Tick items off as you gather them; the ticks are kept in this browser only (see our cookie policy).

• V5C log book, full documentPermanent export (12 months or more): fill in, detach and post the "permanent export" section to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BD, and keep the rest to register the car abroad. Temporary export (under 12 months): do not detach anything; take the whole log book with you, showing your current UK address.
• Purchase invoice or bill of saleShows the price paid. On a car we sell zero-rated for export, our invoice to you shows no UK VAT on the car, and its value matches the export declaration.
• Proof of identity and your contact detailsWe ask for one government-issued photo ID and one utility bill showing your address, for the customs entries and our anti-money-laundering checks, plus your full name, address and phone number. Say if the person who will receive the car (the consignee) is not the person buying it.
• HPI checkMileage verification, outstanding finance, theft and write-offs. We run one on every car we source and export, and send you the findings on a car you have found.
• Finance clearanceWritten confirmation from the finance company that the finance is settled, or its written approval to export the car.
• UK export declarationThe customs declaration that tells HMRC the car is leaving the UK. We file it on the UK customs system, and it is in our price. The import declaration at the destination is made by the clearing agent there.
• Export certificateIn our price; we prepare it with the DVLA paperwork. Your clearing agent can confirm whether the destination asks to see it.
• Pre-export inspection certificateWhere the destination requires one, for example Kenya's Certificate of Roadworthiness from QISJ (Quality Inspection Services Inc. Japan), or Tanzania's TBS inspection. We book the inspection with the approved agency, quoted separately, and the certificate goes to whoever clears the car at the destination.
• Valid MOTRequired by law while a UK-registered car that needs an MOT is abroad for under 12 months. Have it ready for any pre-export inspection too: missing documents can hold up the certificate.
• Bill of LadingThe shipping document issued once the car is booked on a vessel. Once the car sails, we send it to you by UPS or DHL with the other original export documents.
• Service history, book pack, spare key, locking wheel nutThese should come with the car. When we buy a car for you, we take the full log book and the seller's papers, and the papers come to you by UPS or DHL with the export documents. Tell us if any of these items matters to you.
• VAT 410, plus the VX302 for a new carPersonal Export Scheme forms, if you are using the scheme.
• VAT 411New vehicle from Northern Ireland to the EU only.
• VE103, ICMV or CPD CarnetTemporary exports only: hired vehicles; Liechtenstein, Mexico and Somalia; non-EU countries that charge duty.

Destination rules

Pre-Export Inspections

• Some destinations require a pre-export roadworthiness inspection, carried out in the UK by the organisation that country has approved, before the car leaves. Without the certificate, a car can be refused registration, inspected on arrival at extra cost, or penalised.
• Kenya requires a Certificate of Roadworthiness from QISJ (Quality Inspection Services Inc. Japan), the inspection company the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has appointed for UK vehicles, before the car ships. The check is against Kenya's standard KS 1515 and covers items such as brakes, steering, tyres, lights, the chassis number and the condition of the body. Kenya also admits only cars less than eight years old, counted from the year of first registration. A car that arrives without the certificate is inspected on arrival, for a fee of 5% of its approved customs value. More on our Kenya page.
• Tanzania requires a Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) roadworthiness inspection under its pre-shipment verification (PVoC) programme, done in the UK before loading by the agent TBS has appointed; we confirm the agent when you book. A car that lands without a certificate is inspected at the port instead, and the importer faces a penalty. More on our Tanzania page.
• Have a valid MOT and the full V5C ready before the inspection: missing documents, such as the log book or the MOT, can hold up the certificate. The inspection checks the car's roadworthiness and its log book details, and QISJ reports a mileage that does not add up; it does not replace the HPI check for outstanding finance, theft and write-offs. A car that fails can often be repaired and inspected again.
• QISJ's published fee for a UK inspection for Kenya is USD 290 per vehicle plus tax, about £220, for applications from 19 May 2026. Kenya's customs, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), lists the Certificate of Roadworthiness among the documents needed to clear the car. We book the inspection with the approved agency and add it to your quotation, priced separately. Confirm the current price before you budget.
• Other markets have their own inspection bodies. Uganda's changes: the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has switched between inspection before export, by firms it appoints, and inspection after arrival, so we confirm which applies when you book. Our pre-shipping inspection page lists the countries that ask for one.
• It is the destination country's own check, and it is separate from our 198-point inspection.

Getting it there

Shipping, Insurance and Customs Clearance

Ways to ship

• Shipping cost depends on the destination port, the size and weight of the vehicle, the method and any extra services or insurance. Get a quote for the specific car. Our shipping rates are a starting point, and what goes into a shipping price explains the rest.
• Choose an established, reputable shipping partner over the cheapest quote. The car arriving in the condition it left in matters more than a small saving on the crossing.
• Ask for the estimated transit time when you get a quote. We give you the carrier's estimate when we quote. Arrival dates are the carrier's estimates and can move with weather, port congestion, customs inspection or changes to the vessel's route, so we keep you informed until the car arrives. Current sailings and typical transit times are on our sailing schedule.

Marine insurance

Marine insurance covers the car for the sea crossing itself. It is a small cost against a car worth tens of thousands of pounds, and it is not included in our price, so confirm it is in place rather than assuming it. We can arrange it on container shipments, quoted separately; for a RoRo shipment, arrange it with a specialist marine insurer. A standard car insurance policy typically does not cover the crossing. While the car is in our care in the UK, from collection until we hand it to the port or carrier for loading, it is covered by our motor trade insurance.

The customs clearing agent at the destination

• A clearing agent handles the import paperwork and duty payments with the receiving country's customs department.
• Appoint a recognised agent before the car leaves the UK. That lets you confirm the exact duty, taxes and registration costs in advance and resolve anything unusual about the car (its age, engine size or emissions category) before it is sitting at the destination port running up storage fees.
• We can arrange customs clearance, registration and delivery to your door through a local agent, quoted separately, or work with an agent of your choice. Duty, taxes, port storage and demurrage at the destination are always yours to pay as the importer, whoever clears the car.

Costs at the destination

Beyond the car and the shipping, budget for import duty, local taxes, port charges, registration and administrative fees. These are the buyer's responsibility and vary a great deal by country. Online tools give an estimate before you commit to a specific car, such as Irish Revenue's vehicle registration tax (VRT) calculator. For Kenya, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) values cars from its published Current Retail Selling Price (CRSP) schedule, and our own Kenya import duty calculator estimates the duty and taxes from it. Most customs authorities publish their vehicle import rules online; the destination's customs website is the place to start.

For Ireland and Luxembourg, our import guides set out duty, VAT and registration: see importing a car to Ireland and importing a car to Luxembourg. Other destinations are listed under importing cars from the UK.

Planning

How Long It Takes

Shipping times are port to port, from the carriers' published schedules, and follow our sailing schedule as it is updated. RoRo and container are shown separately because a container often tranships and takes longer.

DVLA processing times vary. Check the current turnaround on GOV.UK before relying on a specific date, particularly when travel or shipping is time-sensitive.

What goes wrong

Common Mistakes and Causes of Delay

• Accepting only the new keeper slip instead of the full V5C.
• Not clearing outstanding finance, or not getting the finance company's written approval, before the car leaves.
• Buying a car normally and then trying to reclaim the VAT afterwards. The export sale has to be set up as one from the start.
• Missing the export deadline (three months for a zero-rated export sale, or the Personal Export Scheme window), which makes the UK VAT payable.
• Shipping without a clearing agent in place, so the car sits at the destination port accruing storage fees.
• Booking a shipping date before confirming whether the destination needs a pre-export inspection.
• Assuming marine insurance is included in the shipping price.
• Leaving a Carnet de Passage to the last minute.
• Exporting a car with a personalised registration still on it, which loses the right to the number.
• Leaving the UK without a V5C. The DVLA cannot post one to an overseas address.
• Driving a vehicle back into the UK untaxed instead of transporting it and making a SORN.
• Forgetting the covering letter with your new address, so the vehicle tax refund goes astray.
• Buying an electric vehicle before checking which shipping lines will carry it.

How We Help

We are a UK car exporter and freight forwarder in Truro, Cornwall. We buy every car we source and sell it on to you, and we handle the UK side of the export.

• Finding or buying the car. We source cars from UK dealers, auctions and private sellers, or buy one you have found on your behalf. A £1,000 deposit secures the car; it is part of the price, not an extra fee.
• Checking it. Every car we source and export has its MOT checked, its mileage verified, an HPI check for outstanding finance, theft and write-offs, and our 198-point inspection before it leaves the UK. To see the findings before you buy, book the optional £350 pre-purchase inspection, with a written report.
• VAT-qualifying cars. We find new and VAT-qualifying cars, buy them and sell them to you free of UK VAT for export when HMRC's conditions are met. Where VAT applies to our charges, your quotation shows it.
• The UK paperwork and the shipping. We file the UK export declaration, prepare the DVLA paperwork, export certificate and Bill of Lading, and ship by RoRo or container, or by air when time matters. Collection at £1 per mile, marine insurance on container shipments and any pre-export inspection your country requires are quoted separately.
• The other end, if you want it. We can arrange customs clearance, registration and delivery to your door through a local agent, quoted separately, or work with an agent of your choice. Import duty and taxes in your country are always yours to pay as the importer.

Tell us about the car and where it is going and we will send you an itemised quotation for the car and our charges, with anything quoted separately shown on its own line.

Official Sources

All read on 28 October 2026. Rules change, and the official pages are the reference.

• GOV.UK: taking a vehicle out of the UK (permanent export)
• GOV.UK: taking a vehicle out of the UK for less than 12 months
• GOV.UK: taxes if you buy a new vehicle to take abroad
• GOV.UK: selling a vehicle, including to a buyer taking it abroad
• GOV.UK: vehicle tax refunds
• GOV.UK: getting a vehicle log book (V5C)
• GOV.UK: taking a private number off a vehicle (V317)
• DVLA: applying for an International Certificate for Motor Vehicles (V1002/1)
• GOV.UK: driving abroad and International Driving Permits
• HMRC VAT Notice 703: goods exported from the UK
• HMRC VAT Notice 707: Personal Export Scheme
• HMRC VAT Notice 700/64: motoring expenses (which cars carry VAT on the full price)
• HMRC: VAT on a new means of transport (Northern Ireland to the EU, VAT 411)
• Kenya Revenue Authority: procedures for importing a motor vehicle
• Tanzania Bureau of Standards: pre-shipment verification of conformity (PVoC)
• Irish Revenue: vehicle registration tax (VRT) calculator