How it works
Importing a car from the Gulf sounds like a lot of moving parts. It is, but almost all of them are ours to worry about. Here is what happens, who does it and what we need from you.
Make, model, where it is and why it is coming. Someone on our team builds your quote.
Fines, tolls and any finance cleared. Nothing leaves the Gulf with money owed against it.
The car comes off the local register and goes onto export plates. Our agents help you through it.
Picked up from your address, checked, photographed and secured in its container.
Usually 3 to 6 weeks, with transit insurance available for its full value.
Unloaded at our own site in Derby and cleared through HMRC by our in-house customs team.
Fog light, speedo and headlights sorted, then IVA or MOT in our own test lane.
Registered with the DVLA in around 10 working days, then collected or delivered to your door.
It starts with the quote form, or a phone call if you prefer. We want to know what the car is, where it is registered, where it is now and why it is coming to the UK. That last one matters more than people expect, because it decides how the car is taxed.
Someone at My Car Import reads it and builds a quote around your car. There is no obligation, and if something about the car needs a closer look before we can quote properly, we will say so.
Before any Gulf authority will let a car leave its register, everything owed against it has to be paid. That means traffic fines, toll balances like Salik or Darb, and any finance. Your bank has to confirm the loan is cleared before the car can be deregistered.
This is the one part we cannot do for you, but we can tell you what is needed. The leaving the Gulf checklist covers it, and our guide to settling up explains the usual snags.
With the account clear, the car comes off the local register and, in Dubai, goes onto export plates issued by the RTA. Each emirate and each country has its own version of this, and our agents help you through whichever one applies.
We will ask for copies of the registration card, your passport and proof of ownership. Keep the originals; they travel with you and HMRC may want to see them.
Our agents collect the car from your address and take it to the loading warehouse. For UAE cars that is near Jebel Ali, the largest port in the Middle East. It is checked, photographed and secured in its container.
Most cars travel in a shared container with other customers’ cars, which keeps the cost sensible. If you would rather your car had a container to itself, it can, and for valuable cars we recommend it. RoRo is also available from some ports.
The sea leg is usually 3 to 6 weeks in a container. Shipping lines choose their routes depending on conditions, which is one reason we always give a range rather than a single date.
Transit insurance is available for the full value of the car. While it is on the water, you can follow progress in your own online portal, so there is no need to chase anyone for updates.
When the container reaches the UK, it comes to our own site in Castle Donington. We unload it ourselves, rather than leaving it to a port warehouse working against the clock, and we take as much time as each car needs.
Our in-house customs team are HMRC CDS authorised entry agents. They make the import entry, apply any Transfer of Residence relief, and make sure you pay the right amount and nothing extra. HMRC has to be told about an imported car within 14 days of it arriving, and we take care of that.
Gulf cars are left-hand drive and built for roads that drive on the right. In our workshop we adjust the headlights so they dip the correct way, make sure the speedometer reads in miles per hour and fit a rear fog light if the car does not have one.
Then it is tested in our own lanes. Cars under ten years old take an IVA test, and we were the first privately owned IVA testing centre for passenger vehicles in the UK. Older cars take an MOT, and cars over 40 years old do not need one before registration. Because we schedule our own tests, the car never leaves site to sit in someone else’s queue.
With the test passed, we register the car through our dealer-level DVLA account, usually in around 10 working days. UK number plates go on, and the car is ready.
Collect it from us, or we deliver it on an open or enclosed trailer to any UK address. If you are not ready for it yet, we have indoor and outdoor storage, and we keep it charged and on the key.
Pick the bit you need
Most Gulf customers want the whole thing looked after. If you have already shipped the car or only need one part doing, that is fine too.
Collection in the Gulf to UK plates on your drive. Most people choose this.
The car is already here or arriving. We clear it with HMRC and apply any relief.
Lights, speedo, fog light, then IVA or MOT in our own lanes.
Paperwork sorted and the car registered with the DVLA.
Not much, and nothing you will not already have. To get started we ask for copies of:
Anything else that comes up along the way, we will ask for clearly and in plenty of time. You will never be left wondering what is holding things up.
No. Most Gulf customers hand us the whole job, but you can pick the part you need: customs only, conversions and testing, or registration.
Yes. You can follow its progress in your own online portal, so there is no need to chase anyone for updates.
Transit insurance is available for the full value of the car.
At our own site in Castle Donington. We unload the container ourselves rather than leaving it to a port warehouse, and take as much time as each car needs.
We register through our dealer-level DVLA account, usually in around 10 working days.
Tell us about the car and where it is. Someone at My Car Import builds your quote around your car, and there is no obligation to go ahead.
