Buying a used car in Hong Kong to bring to the UK

Buying a car you cannot easily drive round the block, in a city several thousand miles away, sounds like a leap of faith. It does not need to be.

Hong Kong is a good place to buy from. The cars are right-hand drive, built for left-hand traffic, and many have done fairly little driving. With a sensible checklist and a clear idea of the landed cost before you pay, you can buy with confidence. This guide gives you both.

Why buy in Hong Kong

There are a few reasons people look there.

The spec can be different. Hong Kong sees trims, options and models that rarely reach British forecourts, from big Japanese MPVs to particular performance and luxury versions.

The cars are already right-hand drive. That makes the UK side far simpler than importing from a left-hand drive market. Hong Kong cars are no longer scrutinised for headlight compliance, so the usual work is just the speedometer and a rear fog light.

Mileage is often modest. Hong Kong is small, so many cars cover modest distances. That is a general point rather than a promise, so check every car on its own history.

Check the paperwork first

Before anything else, look at the Vehicle Registration Document.

• The VRD should be in the seller’s name. If it is not, find out why before going any further.
• The details on the VRD should match the car in front of you.
• Ask whether the vehicle licence is current.

It means you know you are dealing with the person entitled to sell the car. A seller who cannot produce the registration document, or is vague about whose name it is in, is a reason to walk away.

Check for outstanding finance

A car with finance still owed against it can cause real problems later. Ask the seller directly whether there is any outstanding finance or loan secured on the car, and get the answer in writing.

Where checks are available, use them. If anything is unclear, do not hand over money until it is resolved. We cannot give legal advice on Hong Kong finance arrangements, but we can tell you that it is far easier to ask now than to unpick later.

Service history and condition

Ask for the service history. Stamped books, invoices from dealers or independent garages, records of major work. A car with a clear history is easier to own and easier to sell later.

If you cannot see the car yourself, consider an independent inspection in Hong Kong before you commit. Photos are helpful but they do not tell you everything.

Look out for signs of heavy use that do not match the mileage, damage repairs, and anything that has been modified. Modifications are not necessarily a problem, but they can affect testing in the UK, so tell us about them.

Kilometres and miles

Hong Kong cars show distance in kilometres. When you are reading an advert, divide by about 1.6 to get a rough figure in miles. A car showing 48,000 km has covered roughly 30,000 miles.

Once in the UK, the speedometer is converted to show mph. We will talk you through what that means for your particular model.

Work out the tax before you buy

As you’re possibly aware, a car bought abroad and brought into the UK pays tax on arrival. Import duty is 10% of the car’s value, and VAT is 20% of the value plus shipping plus duty.

Example	Amount
Car value	£20,000
Shipping	£1,500
Import duty (10% of value)	£2,000
VAT (20% of £23,500)	£4,700
Tax total	£6,700

Transfer of Residence relief does not usually apply to a car you buy to import. It is for people moving their main home to the UK who have owned and used the car for at least 6 months before moving. If that describes you, look at our ToR checker, but for most buyers the tax is part of the cost.

The exception is cars over thirty years old in original condition, which can qualify for no duty and 5% VAT. HMRC decides. See our guide to classic cars from Hong Kong.

Get our quote before you pay

This is the single most useful thing on the list. Before you pay the seller, Get a quote from us.

Tell us the make, model, year, value and where the car is. We will give you a clear price for collection, shipping, customs, conversions, testing and registration, and you can add the tax using our import cost calculator. That gives you the real landed cost.

That’s why we always say quote first. A car that looks like a bargain in Hong Kong dollars can look different once everything is added up, and it is much better to know that before the money has gone.

Arranging collection

Once you have bought the car, we collect it from an address in Hong Kong and take it to the container-loading warehouse. Hong Kong has no postcodes, so give us clear address details. The car then travels in a container, normally shared, with marine insurance, typically 3 to 6 weeks at sea.

At our end, we are fully authorised HMRC CDS customs agents. We unload at our own facility in Castle Donington, carry out the light conversions, test the car at our own IVA testing centre if it is under ten years old, and register it through our dealer-level DVLA account. Allow about 12 to 14 weeks from the first paperwork to plates.

The Hong Kong registration also needs cancelling once the car has been shipped. Our TD184 guide explains what is involved, so you can agree with the seller who does what.

Next steps

Found a car, or close to it? Get a quote before you pay and we will tell you exactly what it will take to get it onto UK plates. We’d be more than happy to help should you need it.