On every page of ShipMyCar.co.uk you can now see a small ‘Chat Now’ button in the bottom right of the screen – seeing this means one of our knowledgeable car shipping expert staff are on-line and ready to answer any questions you may have in regards to your car shipping requirements. The system is completely free to use and very straightforward – our staff are usually on hand to answer any car shipping questions, and if we are not you will have the option to leave us a message which we will answer quickly for you.

Car Shipping Quote

On certain pages, such as when you receive your instant car shipping quote – one of our staff may automatically be prompted to ask if you have any questions in relation to the quote you have received.

Shipping a car can be a complex process, our Live Chat facility means you can talk to our car shipping experts completely free of charge

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If you are shipping your car permanently you will also have to ensure the car conforms to local rules and regulations which often involves significant modifications to lighting and safety features.

At ShipMyCar we take all the hassle out of the process, we offer a full door-to-door service including:

• Collection and delivery to local port
• Export customs formalities prior to shipping including x-ray if required
• Loading into consolidated or 20ft/4ft sole use container
• Fully comprehensive marine insurance with zero excess (on full car import packages)
• Unloading at destination port with full multi-point car inspection
• Car Import duty and VAT processing
• For UK – full IVA/MOT modification package with “Invisible IVA” modifications to keep you car looking standard
• For UK – DVLA registration and 12 months road tax
• For UK imports – Full valet prior to delivery including number plate fixing

Having one point of contact to handle all aspects of car shipping can make life a lot less stressful when shipping your vehicle. Our fully fitted workshop can handle any MOT / IVA requirements in terms of electrical or mechanical alterations

To make life even easier we have developed an instant car shipping online calculator which instantly and accurately gives you a full breakdown of all the above charges for all makes/model of vehicle

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ShipMyCar can handle the shipping of your car from any part of Portugal back here to the UK

First you will need to obtain a Certificate of Conformity from the Manufacturer of your vehicle, this is usually fairly straightforward and involves making a call to the appropriate head office e.g. VW, Mercedes etc and asking them to send one to you.

This document will (usually not in English, so use Google Translate!) explain what needs to be changed to allow the car to be driven on the left hand side of the road and usually lists the speedo needing to show mph rather than kilometres and often the foglight needing to be switched onto the other side, if the car was not originally for left hand driving, headlights may need to be changed to ensure the beam pattern suits left hand side of the road driving

Once you know what needs changing, the best thing to do is to get your car to us at ShipMyCar where our engineers can carry out all the changes for you. Rather than changing the entire speedo we simply fit fascia plates which look completely factory fit but work out significantly cheaper. We can carry out all headlight changes or rewiring needed, often while you wait. We can even MOT the vehicle which will be required if the car is over three years old.

As soon as the changes have been made we can provide you with a statement to prove so, this will then need to be sent to the VCA in order for them to issue a Mutual Recognition Certificate – you then simply apply with the DVLA to register the car by filling in the appropriate form, providing them with the MOT, insurance and mutual recognition certificate

For further information, please contact us on 01908 887917 or email info@shipmycar.co.uk

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First you will need to obtain a Certificate of Conformity from the Manufacturer of your vehicle, this is usually fairly straightforward and involves making a call to the appropriate head office e.g. VW, Mercedes etc and asking them to send one to you.

This document will (usually not in English, so use Google Translate!) explain what needs to be changed to allow the car to be driven on the left hand side of the road and usually lists the speedo needing to show mph rather than kilometres and often the foglight needing to be switched onto the other side, if the car was not originally for left hand driving, headlights may need to be changed to ensure the beam pattern suits left hand side of the road driving

Once you know what needs changing, the best thing to do is to get your car to us at ShipMyCar where our engineers can carry out all the changes for you. Rather than changing the entire speedo we simply fit fascia plates which look completely factory fit but work out significantly cheaper. We can carry out all headlight changes or rewiring needed, often while you wait. We can even MOT the vehicle which will be required if the car is over three years old.

As soon as the changes have been made we can provide you with a statement to prove so, this will then need to be sent to the VCA in order for them to issue a Mutual Recognition Certificate – you then simply apply with the DVLA to register the car by filling in the appropriate form, providing them with the MOT, insurance and mutual recognition certificate

For further information, please contact us on 01908 887917 or email info@shipmycar.co.uk

The post Shipping Irish Car to UK and Registration appeared first on ShipMyCar.

The modifications are carried out using our in-house developed light control module to ensure the existing brake and indicator feeds are split safely and do not put any additional strain on the vehicle’s sensitive electrical systems

Here is a short video showing the light modifications in action:

Car Shipping

If you are thinking of shipping a Corvette or any other car to the UK and require further information, please visit us at www.shipmycar.co.uk

The post Corvette C6 IVA UK Lights appeared first on ShipMyCar.

It also means, when applying for future tax discs, you will not need to show a valid MOT certificate

The car must still be in a roadworthy condition when used on a public road and we assume usual insurance criteria will apply for example if you had a crash in a pre-1960 vehicle with worn tyres, it should be your responsibility to ensure the car was in good condition and so if deemed un-roadworthy we would assume you would not be insured.

Shipping a pre-1960 car and MOT

If shipping a car to the UK through ShipMyCar, you will notice our instant car shipping calculator still adds an MOT test – this is going to be our company policy to put every car we ship into the UK to be put through a voluntary MOT test on import to the UK, this is to ensure the vehicle is safe for you to drive away.

The voluntary MOT will be carried out on the car’s VIN number as the car will not be registered yet as per usual with new imports and so will not be stored in the MOT system, and we will be able to provide a quote for any MOT work to get the car in roadworthy condition.

Cars being shipping for example from the USA may not have had a safety check carried out for many years and so we feel it right for your safety to ensure we have at least checked it has been deemed safe by a qualified MOT test station, or any defects are made clear to
you prior to collection.

Classic Car Shipping

We are specialists at classic car shipping – for further information or to try our unique classic car shipping quote calculator, please visit our classic car shipping website

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If you would like an instant car shipping quote that provides you with a full breakdown of transport, shipping, marine insurance, loading, unloading, customs clearance, tax and duty estimates, please visit Car Shipping Quote Calculator

This list will update in real time:

The post Top Cars to Ship appeared first on ShipMyCar.

Being the UK’s leading full service importer of cars into the UK we like to keep on top of all the latest car shipping industry news and practices and here are some of the latest car shipping items of interest:

Car Shipping and Exchange Rates

Our main market for car shipping is importing cars from the USA, and with the current exchange rates at around the 1.5$/£ this can affect the cost of shipping your car internationally in terms of the purchase price of the vehicle, shipping charges and customs costs. How can we help? Well firstly our shipping rates are at the lowest they have been for a while, we ship so many cars we manage to keep container rates as low as we can for our clients. We also provide assistance with paying for your car prior to shipping through our broker, TorFX. They ensure you obtain the best possible rate for your purchase, much better than at a bank. They can also facilitate a much faster payment to the USA from the UK.

Car Shipping and UK testing

The IVA test remains a very tricky test to get many modern import through successfully as a private individual. The wiring on modern cars is becoming more and more complex and the utilisation of LED lights makes modifications very difficult. Luckily we have a near-on 100% pass rate with VOSA and have developed in-house techniques to use existing LED circuits and painstakingly replace individual circuit board mounted LED’s. We call this our Invisible IVA package as the car is converted for UK use, without changing the original look of the vehicle. Take this 2013 Shelby GT500 for example – all the lovely rear lights still light up, but the indicators flash separate to the brakes and are amber.

For more information on our Shelby GT500 packages, please visit this blog post where we discuss how we manage to alter all the rear light clusters: http://www.shipmycar.co.uk/2013/01/iva-modifications-2013shelby-gt500-shipping-uk/

Car Shipping Quote Deals

As you probably know we have developed a sophisticated instant quote system for car shipping over the years which can instantly provide you with all the information you need to make car shipping a very simple process. We have decided to have a monthly special offer for anybody shipping their car and using our fully inclusive car shipping package. This month we are offering a TomTom Sat Nav system!

The post Car Shipping News appeared first on ShipMyCar.

The 2014 Corvette Stingray is just one of the models we have added to our car shipping quote system but is going to be an incredible machine, expected to be debuted in Geneva in March, we have already started planning the lighting modifications that will be required for IVA testing. The machine is entirely new. But familiar cues surface. Distinct aeronautical lines. A flowing, aerodynamic exterior. A sleek fastback finish. For the first time in decades, a stunning machine emerges with the aesthetic impact and the performance prowess worthy of the Stingray emblem

For all your car shipping requirements please visit our website at ShipMyCar

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In this article we will be discussing the rear light clusters which are made up of many tiny LED’s and a control module integrated into the clusters

For anybody thinking of shipping a GT500 to the UK we strongly advise against carrying out the below work on your car unless you are a trained IVA engineer. Our engineers are experienced in all makes/models of US vehicles shipped to the UK

The best way to modify a car shipped to the UK for the IVA test is to ensure modifications are carried out how they would have been in the factory, and ensuring no additional load is placed upon the sensitive electronics

We take apart the rear light clusters, dismantle each light control board and painstakingly replace each individual LED with the correct colour and intensity for UK road usage:

The post IVA Light Modifications | 2013 Shelby GT500 Shipping UK appeared first on ShipMyCar.