Hi all
I'm in the process of trying to register an SA imported Escort at the moment. I bought it from a small company who import various vehicles - they had paid the NOVA when it landed and provided the acknowledgement.
You need an MoT to submit the registration application, so we've been focused on that. It has taken us just over a year to get it ready for an MOT, working at a fairly steady pace on evenings and weekends. But, in hindsight, we probably got far too stuck in to 'restoration' when I now think we'd have been better off just doing the minimum to get an MoT and getting the registration application in... then coming back to restoration. The engine was knocking, so we had the whole lot out and stripped, and we did a whole lot of stuff we wanted to do 'while we were at it', that didn't need doing for the MoT.
The shell was very good in all the usual problem areas, but the rot we had was in the footwells where gravel/stones had taken the paint off over time and then they'd started to rot... So check under the carpet in the footwells. Also, the tunnel had been cut/bashed about to fit a Sierra 4 speed box at some point in its life, and it was rotten at the top, where the heater box must have leaked, so that was a reasonable excuse for a big tunnel. The last bit of rot we found was in the bottom of the rear quarter panel, behind the wheel, which, again, had just gone through with gravel rash. Otherwise, due to being used as an everyday car for 40 years, everything was generally knackered (with some very interesting 'repair' jobs), but that's to be expected!
Unfortunately, now that's all done and I've got an MoT, my registration application hasn't been quite as straightforward for me as it seems to have been for some people! The issue I've had relates to the SA registration paperwork noting down the two parts of the VIN the opposite way around to how it is presented on the car - the NOVA was done stating the VIN as per SA paperwork; the VIN on the MoT is as it is presented on the car so, technically (for the DVLA, who won't look at anything pragmatically), the VINs aren't identical on all the paperwork.
My understanding from others is that theirs have been registered using the VIN as it is shown on the SA paperwork for everything, because once you get past the DVLA, anyone else can see that it relates to the same VIN. Even so, I still wanted the VIN on the V5 to match the car.
I submitted my application originally on 18 Feb this year - the first one was rejected for the above reason; the second application is now pending, including a very clear explanation of the above, a supporting letter from the Sporting Escort Owners Club and a load of photos. I have had to ask the guy who imported the car originally to amend the NOVA, which he has been able to request via his online account with HMRC (luckily he is still around and happy to help!!) and yesterday I received a letter from the DVLA saying the car needs to be inspected, which I need to arrange with the independent company the DVLA want to use.
As a heads up to anyone considering doing this... If the two parts of the VIN are the opposite way around on the paperwork you have, think carefully about how to record it on the NOVA and reg paperwork! I think, knowing what I know now (although I am not at the end yet), it would be best to get everything (including the NOVA) done with the VIN as it is on the car, and obtain confirmation from the relevant OC to certify age, and not submit the SA paperwork at all...?
Hopefully I will be able to update this post with some positive news at some point, but this is why in hindsight, I'd rather have got this out of the way before plouging so much time and money into the car!
