I bought my Guzzi from Italy. I flew over and paid the man cash, got it shipped back by https://www.chasmortimer.co.uk/ (who I would highly recommend), registered for NOVA, filled in a DVLA form, insured bike on frame no. to be able to ride to MOT, paid the reg. fee + road tax, sent off the Italian documents and got an age-related UK plate +V5 within a week or so - actually very simple and I was impressed with the DVLA turn around. Bike was 35 years old so no VAT was payable but I don't recall them asking the mileage, only the purchase price but even then they didn't ask for any proof, just took my word for it.
If under 6000 KM a 35 year old bike would require vat to be paid, Bonham's recently sold some 1980's Ducati's with almost zero miles on the clock and highlighted this fact at the sale so as not to surprise wining bidders.
Maybe so but I don't recall them asking the mileage and even if they did, they never verified it unless the verification was the MOT test that I had to do to get registered? and which showed 15 miles because I had fitted a new MPH speedo before the test...
Haven't tried yet. But that is 2010 and I am way before that! But remember, I am not saying you are wrong......... yet.
I didn't need a CoC due to the age, I forget what year but was told that pre a certain year it was not required. I had all the original Italian documents so was a straight forward swap for a V5 and age-related plate. The seller wanted the number plate returning to him as he reckoned he might need it to deal with the paperwork over there? As he is a friend of the family this was not a problem for either of us but an anonymous seller might be more cautious? As for the headlight, mine dipped the wrong way so at the MOT, the tester stuck a bit of tape over it and gave me an advisory "Headlamp masks/converters fitted" although I've changed the light since so no more advisory, in fact no more MOT as it's over 40 years old.
Bought an 888 from Holland this year, 9000km and the process was the same as dukedesmo ,same transporters too who were excellent. The only difference was I used the owners club to verify age and they provided a certificate which was accepted by NOVA. The other difference was it took 4 months to register because of this bloody virus,
Zero seconds evidently: If you are a resident in the UK (which for this purpose includes if you just moved there with the intent of working and living in the UK), you cannot drive a non-UK car in the UK. Since there are no residency cards in the UK, whenever you are stopped by a police officer and he thinks you are actually a resident (for example if you have a UK driving licence, or have UK debit cards in your wallet), then he might confiscate your car which might be destroyed, unless you can prove you are not a UK resident, or you are working in more than one EU countries, and spend more than 6 months (185 days) per year outside of the UK. If you are not a resident, then you can drive the car for at most 6 months (per year), but your car does need to have valid MOT and Insurance from the originating country, which you have to prove to the officer in case it's needed. You also have to prove to him that you are not driving the car for more than 6 months (for example if you show him the ferry / tunnel ticket). Every day your car is in the country counts, so if you leave the country, but the car is still there, it's still counts towards the 6 months (as your ferry/tunnel ticket is still showing the date). Exiting and re-entering the country won't reset the 6 months (although you will have a fresher ferry/tunnel ticket, so it becomes easier to prove you just arrived to the country) There are only three possible options for a UK resident to drive a non-UK car completely legally: If the car is not yours, the registered owner is not a UK resident, and he is sitting with you in the car (in this case he is considered to be the driver) If the car belongs to (or to be more precise is registered in the name of) an EU based company, and you are working for that company. If the car is on a lease in an other country (for example it's a car hired from France) The second point is regulated by common EU rules on using non-local, but EU-registered cars
Another idea in the bin...but..........If it was me, I would still go to Italy in person (pandemic sh1t aside), check it out, buy it if good, ride it back and then register it here,
Apart from the logistics & importation issues raised - which are minimal except the OP faces a vat bill of 20%, no one has addressed the OP’s question of payment. If it were me and it is an official Ducati dealer I’d feel safe paying upfront. If it were AN Other dealer I may look to use an escrow service. Either way, I can’t see the dealer, or any seller, would release the bike without payment upfront.
Bikes are silly cheap in Italy and France. I have bought two so far. I collected and paid for the french one. The Italian one was more of a challenge as I could not collect. I spent many hours on facetime with the seller trying to figure out if they were kosha. In the end I paid 100% up front against a signed invoice and copy of his passport. He arranged delivery for 200 Euros. The bike arrived in three days with Italian reg papers. NOVA, DVLA, job done.
