UK student car in Ireland Questions

[GS1]

My friends daughter is going from the UK to study in Ireland for a PhD, so probably a year or two.Her dad is buying her a small car to get around, the questions are should he buy one in Ireland when she arrives, would that make more sense than taking a UK car over the water?
Also the question of insurance, I assume whichever option she takes, she will need Irish car insurance, is the fact that she is not Irish going to be a problem, is insurance for younger drivers similar to car insurance in the UK?
Hoping that someone on here might have an answer or two.
Thanks Anthony

 

[glenn2926]

A few years ago my nephew from Ireland bought his Audi A6 over here in England as he said it worked out much cheaper that way. When he sold a couple of year later to go to Australia he drew back what he paid for it in England.
I don’t know how long he had before it needed to go on Irish plates. Can’t help re insurance. Probably get the best answer from a decent insurance broker.

 

[wessie]

My UK car policy with Ageas only provides full cover for 60 days outside the UK in any one trip. I have the minimum cover needed for the full 12 months so legal, but no theft, fire or own damage cover after the 60th day.
If I lived in N.Ireland, Ageas would cover me for 12 months at full cover for the whole of the island of Ireland, North & South.

 

[Aidan1150]

As far as I know, and I stand open to correction, you can drive a foreign-registered vehicle for a year without registering it, as long as you are not a resident. If you become a resident or stay longer than 12 months, you must register and tax the vehicle in Ireland.

Given that the young lady will most likely to go home to England for Christmas, Easter etc then she won't be required to be a resident and import the car. There are loads of cars knocking about the country from Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria etc and their status in terms of MOT (NCT here) not to mention insurance is not at all clear. Her insurance, raised in England should cover her for visits of up to ninety days at a time (needs to be checked) which would reset each time she returned home and then came back to Ireland.

Even a night spent in Newry, Derry or Belfast which are "in the UK" should reset the number of days. Nice night or weekend in a hotel up north, keep the receipt and you're good.

Edit. Wessies insurance specifies 60 days which isn't too bad, others may vary which is why I said she'd need to check.

 

[Mzokk]

I've a friend who works in Strabane but lives in Muff...... don't think his vehicles have ever been resident in the ROI

 

[dub 24]

Latest info I can find. Hope it's of help. If the young lady is going to be here less than 185 days she's sorted

 

[JJH]

The info I got was more than 12 months. Revenue.ie have a lot of stuff on line. You would need English insurance because if you took out Irish insurance you would definitely be considered Irish resident. An English insurance company might not cover you for more than a month or 2 outside the the UK. The problem is that it’s quite hard to get definitive information and the rules are quite open to interpretation. The Irish customs service have extensive powers of seasure and there are many cars motorcycles trucks busses and rvs locked up in yards. The problem is the difference in duty’s and taxes between the two places. The UK having lower prices on vechicles. Brexet didn’t help. I’d seek professional advice because the last thing anyone needs is a question mark on their insurance. The other thing is where are they staying and studying? Depending on both a car may be a burden. JJH