Purchasing a MEWP from the continent.

[William Clifford]

Having browsed a few adverts for a second hand tracked mewp, there seems to be a good choice at decent prices in Spain / France / Netherlands / Denmark. They seem to be significantly cheaper (can be 5 to 10k) for the age / condition I'm looking at.

 

What do I need to consider if I'm buying one from abroad?

 

My questions so far are do I and someone who knows mewps have to drive over, inspect and trailer it back if it's decent? Or would it be enough to have the service / loler history and some extra pics sent and hope it is what it's meant to be and have it transported back? 

 

How does one make sure it belongs to the seller and not get scammed?

 

Are there any export / import legalities / paperwork for a machine like that?

 

Thanks.

 

[donnk]

duty, vat,  provenance, scams.

[Marc Lewis]

Check out Italy too.

[s o c]

I don’t know if you are in Uk will you need to import before end of year.

Most problems you will have with mewps will be electrical/electro hydraulic.  Do you have somebody local that can diagnose problems if you can’t yourself ?
worth finding out which make has a decent back up locally and if they are ok to fix a machine they haven’t sold.

sometimes its worth paying a bit extra for something with local back up , over a few years the price difference might be more than offset by less downtime.

[William Clifford]

On 26/10/2020 at 06:48, donnk said:

duty, vat,  provenance, scams.

So there could be import duty on a second hand machine? If VAT is paid abroad it is reclaimable still just maybe at a different rate?

 

On 26/10/2020 at 07:53, Marc Lewis said:

Check out Italy too.

Have done thanks Marc, and yep there's a good choice there too. 

 

On 26/10/2020 at 08:36, s o c said:

I don’t know if you are in Uk will you need to import before end of year.

Most problems you will have with mewps will be electrical/electro hydraulic.  Do you have somebody local that can diagnose problems if you can’t yourself ?
worth finding out which make has a decent back up locally and if they are ok to fix a machine they haven’t sold.

sometimes its worth paying a bit extra for something with local back up , over a few years the price difference might be more than offset by less downtime.

Yep, I'm in the UK. Import before the end of the year - why, because of Brexit and possible exchange rates? 

 

Yeah, a make that has parts availability is a must. There seems to be at least a couple of companies nearby that service mewps even if it hasn't been purchased from them. And yeah, that's what I'm trying to figure out - if what seems like a better price could end up breaking even at best with a lot more uncertainty and hassle. Is it as simple as finding one, checking it and bringing it back on a trailer, or is it a bit more complicated than that? I know I need some due diligence on ownership, outstanding finance etc, but paperwork for importing it or anything?

 

Thanks.

[donnk]

duty on everything imported just a question of how much. The VAT is not normal VAT either its EU VAT which is different form and process to submit and reclaim.

 

Been there done that imported a digger, what a total nightmare from start to finish.

[josharb87]

I dunno what post brexit will be like, but when I’ve brought machines (new and used) from Germany and the UK into Sweden, there hasn’t been any “duty” to pay.

 

With a valid tax Nr you don’t pay the vat in the country your purchasing from, but declare it in your home country.

 

OR you pay vat in the country of purchase, then reclaim it back, this can be a bit of a faff/extra paperwork AND then still declare in home country

 

post brexit it’s not going to be easier that’s for sure! 
 

[William Clifford]

Cheers Josharb.

 

@donnk what sort of percentage duty did you pay on the digger? Might give me an idea of what I could maybe expect on a mewp. It's looking like the vat wouldn't be a big difference.