Car originally registered abroad

[Ben02]

I have recently found out that my Clio was originally registered in Belgium. It is a RHD car. It was delivered on the 9/8/2000. The MOT check government site states that it was registered on 1/9/2000. Maybe this is when it was registered in the UK. It didn't stay in Belgium for a long time anyway as the first service was in Preston on the 3/8/01.

Can anyone think of a reason as to why it was originally registered abroad? The only one I can think of is that it was a specific customer request.

 

[Pegasaurus Rex]

I have recently found out that my Clio was originally registered in Belgium. It is a RHD car. It was delivered on the 9/8/2000. The MOT check government site states that it was registered on 1/9/2000. Maybe this is when it was registered in the UK. It didn't stay in Belgium for a long time anyway as the first service was in Preston on the 3/8/01.

Can anyone think of a reason as to why it was originally registered abroad? The only one I can think of is that it was a specific customer request.

When you say registered abroad, was it actually given a registration number? Between about 2000-2005 parallel imports were rife in the Uk. Basically UK spec (right hand drive) cars sold via a European country. Usually by brokers or supermarkets. There were huge savings at one point. We used to sell hundreds of Renaults in the early 00’s

 

[Daniel]

As above, I used to sell Renault 172’s when they were new and for every English registered one there was at least one import. They were very common. Nothing to worry about at all.

 

[Ben02]

When you say registered abroad, was it actually given a registration number? Between about 2000-2005 parallel imports were rife in the Uk. Basically UK spec (right hand drive) cars sold via a European country. Usually by brokers or supermarkets. There were huge savings at one point. We used to sell hundreds of Renaults in the early 00’s

I contacted Renault and they told me that it had been originally registered in Belgium. I have the Renault delivery certificate which has the dealer stamp on it. I have just googled the name of the dealer and a Renault dealer has shown up (screenshot below). The registration number on the delivery certificate is WN6 8HW whilst the current reg is X864OKH.

 

[hopgop1]

I have recently found out that my Clio was originally registered in Belgium. It is a RHD car. It was delivered on the 9/8/2000. The MOT check government site states that it was registered on 1/9/2000. Maybe this is when it was registered in the UK. It didn't stay in Belgium for a long time anyway as the first service was in Preston on the 3/8/01.

Can anyone think of a reason as to why it was originally registered abroad? The only one I can think of is that it was a specific customer request.

You'll probably find that it doesn't have ISR markings on the windows, or the factory alarm I believe? Loads of clios were sold via that grey market importing as above, was cheaper than Renault dealers.

 

[Ben02]

As above, I used to sell Renault 172’s when they were new and for every English registered one there was at least one import. They were very common. Nothing to worry about at all.

Not worried, just interested

 

[Pegasaurus Rex]

I contacted Renault and they told me that it had been originally registered in Belgium. I have the Renault delivery certificate which has the dealer stamp on it. I have just googled the name of the dealer and a Renault dealer has shown up (screenshot below). The registration number on the delivery certificate is WN6 8HW whilst the current reg is X864OKH.

View attachment 1654523

So yes, it would’ve been supplied to a dealer in Belgium. But not ‘registered’ as we would call it over here. There will be a PDI stamp from the original supplying dealer. It would’ve been shipped over here brand new with a certificate of conformity and then registered at the local DVLA office, cars the same as UK supplied ones only it doesn’t have the alarm and other bits that were fitted dock side by CAT (RUk port agents at the time) it makes no difference nowadays.

You'll probably find that it doesn't have ISR markings on the windows, or the factory alarm I believe? Loads of clios were sold via that grey market importing as above, was cheaper than Renault dealers.

Just to be clear, these are not grey imports. These are Parallel imports which is a very different thing. They were basically brand new unregistered, UK spec cars from the EU. Grey imports are not UK supplied specification and are generally used vehicles (think Jap stuff as an example)

As above, I used to sell Renault 172’s when they were new and for every English registered one there was at least one import. They were very common. Nothing to worry about at all.

It’s funny isn’t it when you see the numbers people spout about RS clios. 1000 of this colour, 400 of that…. But that only includes UK supplied cars and completely misses all the imported ones which as you say Daniel, will likely double the number of 1*2’s that were once on the UK roads! I know of the ones we sold the DVLA could never register the f**king things right, so they’ll have no idea of how many there were either!

 

[hopgop1]

So yes, it would’ve been supplied to a dealer in Belgium. But not ‘registered’ as we would call it over here. There will be a PDI stamp from the original supplying dealer. It would’ve been shipped over here brand new with a certificate of conformity and then registered at the local DVLA office, cars the same as UK supplied ones only it doesn’t have the alarm and other bits that were fitted dock side by CAT (RUk port agents at the time) it makes no difference nowadays.



Just to be clear, these are not grey imports. These are Parallel imports which is a very different thing. They were basically brand new unregistered, UK spec cars from the EU. Grey imports are not UK supplied specification and are generally used vehicles (think Jap stuff as an example)


It’s funny isn’t it when you see the numbers people spout about RS clios. 1000 of this colour, 400 of that…. But that only includes UK supplied cars and completely misses all the imported ones which as you say Daniel, will likely double the number of 1*2’s that were once on the UK roads! I know of the ones we sold the DVLA could never register the f**king things right, so they’ll have no idea of how many there were either!

Ah thanks, sure I've seen them referred to as grey, suppose CS is never gospel , but as long as it's not a black market import I wouldn't be worried either way.

 

[Pegasaurus Rex]

Ah thanks, sure I've seen them referred to as grey, suppose CS is never gospel , but as long as it's not a black market import I wouldn't be worried either way.

You will have yes! Wiki has it listed that way, but unsurprisingly I believe it’s wrong!

The AA details it here:

Buying an imported car | AA

Imported cars may be cheaper, can sometimes have better equipment and you may even get your hands on an unusual model that's not available to the UK market. So why isn't everyone buying a car abroad?

www.theaa.com

So it’s absolutely fair you thought you’d heard them called grey bud, because you had.

 

[Ben02]

So yes, it would’ve been supplied to a dealer in Belgium. But not ‘registered’ as we would call it over here. There will be a PDI stamp from the original supplying dealer. It would’ve been shipped over here brand new with a certificate of conformity and then registered at the local DVLA office, cars the same as UK supplied ones only it doesn’t have the alarm and other bits that were fitted dock side by CAT (RUk port agents at the time) it makes no difference nowadays.



Just to be clear, these are not grey imports. These are Parallel imports which is a very different thing. They were basically brand new unregistered, UK spec cars from the EU. Grey imports are not UK supplied specification and are generally used vehicles (think Jap stuff as an example)


It’s funny isn’t it when you see the numbers people spout about RS clios. 1000 of this colour, 400 of that…. But that only includes UK supplied cars and completely misses all the imported ones which as you say Daniel, will likely double the number of 1*2’s that were once on the UK roads! I know of the ones we sold the DVLA could never register the f**king things right, so they’ll have no idea of how many there were either!

This may be a stupid question. Will my car not have an audible alarm? It has an immobiliser.

 

[Pegasaurus Rex]

This may be a stupid question. Will my car not have an audible alarm? It has an immobiliser.

It will have the immobiliser, but possibly not the alarm. As I seem to remember they were fitted at Renault UK import centre. Do you have the sensors on the door pillars? Or a stupid flashing light somewhere around the centre console?

 

[Ben02]

It will have the immobiliser, but possibly not the alarm. As I seem to remember they were fitted at Renault UK import centre. Do you have the sensors on the door pillars? Or a stupid flashing light somewhere around the centre console?

not sure about the sensors, have the flashing light though

 

[Daniel]

It will have the immobiliser, but possibly not the alarm. As I seem to remember they were fitted at Renault UK import centre. Do you have the sensors on the door pillars? Or a stupid flashing light somewhere around the centre console?

Locking wheel nuts, window etchings and alarms were all done by CAT for ‘genuine’ Uk registered cars iirc. All models had the immobiliser. Final answer Dave, but im only 99% sure not 100.

 

[Marky_]

It’s funny isn’t it when you see the numbers people spout about RS clios. 1000 of this colour, 400 of that…. But that only includes UK supplied cars and completely misses all the imported ones which as you say Daniel, will likely double the number of 1*2’s that were once on the UK roads! I know of the ones we sold the DVLA could never register the f**king things right, so they’ll have no idea of how many there were either!

So the figures from Renault's old heritage site are wildly wrong?! 😲

Heritage - Roadcars - Renaultsport.co.uk

web.archive.org

 

[Clio_fool]

That would explain why there's more sets of cup turini's on the market than there were 172 cups 🤣.

 

[Pegasaurus Rex]

So the figures from Renault's old heritage site are wildly wrong?! 😲

Heritage - Roadcars - Renaultsport.co.uk

web.archive.org

Depends if they are talking ‘production numbers’ or UK registrations. If the later then I’m afraid the numbers are well wrong. Not just a couple out, be hundreds if not thousands out! I’d say we sold 100-150 a year and we were small fry compared to the big supermarkets!

 

[hopgop1]

Depends if they are talking ‘production numbers’ or UK registrations. If the later then I’m afraid the numbers are well wrong. Not just a couple out, be hundreds if not thousands out! I’d say we sold 100-150 a year and we were small fry compared to the big supermarkets!

When did those parallel imports slow down/stop? I’m assuming there were less 182s bought that way, as I’ve not seen nearly as many as 172s.

 

[Pegasaurus Rex]

When did those parallel imports slow down/stop? I’m assuming there were less 182s bought that way, as I’ve not seen nearly as many as 172s.

Christ I can’t remember I think we were doing it from 00-05 maybe 6, was a mix bag of both. Also bear in mind if a 172 wasn’t sold it could’ve been registered much later (hence why you occasionally see 04 plate 172’s)

 

[Mr Underhill]

Crikey that takes me back.

Didn't this all kick off when the media were campaigning for car prices in the UK to be more in line with Europe?

I remember the job being on its arse, so we all started flogging parallel imports. Mazda's in particular.

 

[Clio_fool]

Yeah rip off Britain was in full swing in 2000 and parallel imports were increasing rapidly. I remember they were advertised everywhere.

Euro car sales double to thrifty British drivers

One-in-five British motorists will buy a new car abroad this year as the backlash against 'rip-off' UK car prices grows, new figures reveal.

www.theguardian.com

 

[Pegasaurus Rex]

I can’t bloody remember now! Was 20+ years ago. But it was decent for me! We used to sell loads of new Nissan, Renaults, fiats etc. It never really seemed to work with German vehicles. Just mainstream stuff. We did get stung with a load of Mazda 121’s which were basically 1.25 fiestas. Trouble was they managed to make it look a bit shitter and insurance was a bit funny with them as it was never a UK model. So we’re stuck with them. There was absolutely massive savings, it proper fucked main dealers over who used to try and shaft us with not accepting warranty claims. Block exemption rules amongst other things helped with that. Most imports came with a 12 month pan European warranty. Which was the same as Uk supplied car, with the additional 2 years being backed by the National sales centres (called dealer warranty) so we used to have to whack a 2 year warranty on to support.

Ahh those were the days! Back then we didn’t have to disclose what F&I products the customer had bought. The internet wasn’t really a big deal for cars and there was no social media. It was a more gentle time when customers would be happy to pay what they could afford and you could earn money out of selling cars

 

[Ben02]

I can’t bloody remember now! Was 20+ years ago. But it was decent for me! We used to sell loads of new Nissan, Renaults, fiats etc. It never really seemed to work with German vehicles. Just mainstream stuff. We did get stung with a load of Mazda 121’s which were basically 1.25 fiestas. Trouble was they managed to make it look a bit shitter and insurance was a bit funny with them as it was never a UK model. So we’re stuck with them. There was absolutely massive savings, it proper fucked main dealers over who used to try and shaft us with not accepting warranty claims. Block exemption rules amongst other things helped with that. Most imports came with a 12 month pan European warranty. Which was the same as Uk supplied car, with the additional 2 years being backed by the National sales centres (called dealer warranty) so we used to have to whack a 2 year warranty on to support.

Ahh those were the days! Back then we didn’t have to disclose what F&I products the customer had bought. The internet wasn’t really a big deal for cars and there was no social media. It was a more gentle time when customers would be happy to pay what they could afford and you could earn money out of selling cars

What do you mean by 'you could earn money out of selling cars'?

 

[Mr Underhill]

Most imports came with a 12 month pan European warranty. Which was the same as Uk supplied car, with the additional 2 years being backed by the National sales centres (called dealer warranty) so we used to have to whack a 2 year warranty on to support.

That made me think of when I supplied a bloke from Scotland with a Daihatsu YRV which was sourced from Ireland.

The full detail is a little fuzzy but I remember him kicking off because Daihatsu UK refused him a warranty claim. They said his warranty started from the date of manufacture, and not registration like in the UK. So whilst he'd only had it 9 months from when we registered it, the car was actually out of its Pan-European warranty. Must have been sitting for a while before we took it off their hands.

We sorted it for him as it wasn't an expensive claim. Mad times indeed.

 

[Pegasaurus Rex]

What do you mean by 'you could earn money out of selling cars'?

I mean it was easier to make money back then. As a sales exec you could earn very good money. Nowadays it’s much harder and many retailers/dealers won’t/don’t pay anything like the same commission as they used to. Same with finance, you could earn a good income as a business manager in a dealer…the FCA ruined that (as a consumer it’s much better and fairer) I couldn’t go back into the dealer environment now. Sourcing stock is harder, making profit is harder, customer demands are much greater backed by better consumer rights and the internet has reduced the geography for customers.