As far as I know, *all* MX-5s (including Miatas and Eunos Roadsters) were built in Japan, but that doesn't really help you much. If the car were badged an MX-5 (e.g. if it was a UK-supplied model) you would have been able to show it had already undergone 'European Type Approval'. However, since it is badged a Miata, the people who matter (i.e. the officials) will probably say it is considered a different model and hence the rule doesn't apply. In this case you need to have the car put through what is known here in the UK as 'SVA' (Single Vehicle Approval), which is a thorough examination to make sure that the car meets all sorts of standards. I have no idea what it's called in continental european countries or even if such a thing exists in all of them but I would expect it would (as part of common european standards).

Go back to the registration offices and ask them what they need you to do. Hopefully they will be able to tell you more about your equivalent of SVA. If this doesn't work I would go back to the dealer you bought the car from and ask for help.

In fact, it might be worth going straight to them and asking them to take car of the SVA for you. You have a strong point because the car is not much use to you without it because you can't register it and hence can't drive it on public roads!

I believe it is not unusual for people to ship Miatas to continental Europe (and the UK!) so hopefully you will be able to fight your way through the burocracy and get it done in the end.

Hope you get it sorted. It'll be worth it! (2/00)

SVA only required on cars under 3 years old that are personally imported. Commercially imported vehicles need it up to 10 years old....but then, not many imports are actually "commercial" imports. Like Japanese market cars, a lot of US standards are accepted as equivalent or exceeding UK standards, so stuff like the glass and seat belts are ok. Lighting is not.

Anyone find it strange that the Roadster windscreen is E-marked, but is actually a different part from that fitted in UK cars (ie. thinner). I wonder why Mazda bothered to get it certified, unless in fact it is fitted to some European bound cars. (3/00)

The law is a changing for those into importing .. be aware..

To paraphrase 'Japanese Performance' Mar/Apr 00 issue 3

Originally the changes to 'only SVA importing' was due 1st March 2000. Now there is a delay until 1st Sept 2000 for 'SVA for all cars under 10 year old'; this means no more personal imports - only if you lived 12 months abroad and drove the car abroad for 6 months. During this time the SVA test (165) will be in force as it is for under 3 year old cars currently but will be extended to all cars under 10 years old.

Come 1st Jan 2001 it will be effectively Dealer only importing; they have to pay over 1000 for a type approval test which can then be applied to all those cars - which therefore have to be standard (no more fancy exhausts) and no more one off cars.. (the tests will be paid for by a dealer collective who then pay a fee to use the test result) Just to inform you all ... after the flurry of importers.. (4/00)

Import duty and VAT first:
If you have been living abroad for at least six months, and you have owned the car (i.e. with official paperwork) for that time, then yes, if you are returning to the UK, then you don't have to pay duty nor VAT.

However, as I understand it, you'll get a special V5/log book that will have something about duty/VAT not applicable but only so long as you don't sell the car on within the first 12 months of it being registered/imported here. (If you do, then the full duty/VAT becomes payable).

There do seem to be some grey areas here though. My friend who imported a 1999 4.7 litre Landcruiser Amazon (£16,000!), managed to not pay duty/VAT despite the fact he still lives abroad (he came here to register it though, and does come back to the UK fairly often so may have hoodwinked/persuaded C&E somehow).

You will get a form C&E 3xx or 4xx when your car clears customs - you need this to register it (see below).

Note: you CANNOT LEGALLY drive on foreign plates, except for the usual, limited and rather confusing, "drive directly to MOT/SVA station for a pre-booked test" trip. Forget the 6 months/2 years stuff you've heard - this is BS. The only exception is for foreigners who are temporarily visiting the UK (in which case the car is obviously not imported).

So, the (extraordinarily annoying and too-red-taped) non-EU import procedure is:

* pay duty+VAT (or get relevant exemption form from C&E)
* car clears customs - get it driven/trailered to an MOT/SVA station (yours should only need MOT, see below)
* get the necessary UK conversion work done on the car (running lights, fog light, etc for a US car - MOT requires a LOT less work than SVA)
* arrange insurance (insurance co will have to do it on the basis of the car's VIN cos there's no UK registration number yet)
* take the MOT certificate, insurance cover note, C&E form, original registration/export form from country of export, various other supporting docs for VRO forms, queue up at VRO (a sort of post office without the glamour), pay one-off reg fee (£25?) plus 6/12 months car tax
* wait "five working days" for VRO to (allegedly) check the docs and think of a registration number for your car (based on its age as given on the foreign reg/export docs)
* get registration plates made up, fit them, attach tax disk and off you go.

As for the Certificate of Conformity, you may be able to use this - don't you have to ask Mazda for one (possibly paying an "admin fee")? I'm not sure whether Mazda can/would claim that the Miata/Eunos is so different (sic) from an MX5 that it won't give you one.

But you still need to get an MOT on the car, and, as I understand it, the Certificate of Conformity only makes sense if the car would otherwise have to go through an SVA. Yours won't (assuming it's here before the big SVA changes happening after summer), because it's a personal import and and also possibly because of its age (cars older than 10 years are exempt from SVA - at least at the moment). So I don't think you need a Certificate of Conformity anyway.

As mentioned above, this is going through so much change at the moment (has been for a couple of years as far as I can see), you should call your local VRO and check. The above is a summary of the hoops I had to jump through when I imported a Skyline GT-R from a non-EU country last December (although I had to pay duty and VAT).

You cannot drive the car between the MOT test and the reg plates. Even if you have MOT and insurance, The Powers That Be don't like the idea of cars that they cannot identify through UK registration marks driving around. However, I have seen a few cars driving on foreign plates going to and from the local VRO, and I'll bet impatient owners stretch the law more than a bit. (5/00)

SVA also has a lot of interior secondary safety stuff (edges on switchgear, etc). For Japanese imports, SVA conversion and test can cost £400+, but for MOT, it should be around £200 all-in. SVA tests are only done at a few local testing stations run by HMG, you may have to wait for an appointment - MOT is simply done by any common-or-garden MOT testing station.

Apologies for misleading you over the conversion/MOT process - you do of course need to get the conversions done and then get the MOT. I combined them by trailering my car directly to an import/GT-R-savvy garage which was also an MOT testing station. I did this to make sure the conversions were 100% going to pass: they did the necessary work and then got the MOT certificate done immediately. No overly-fussy import-hating testers to pick on stuff for no reason.

Re Cert of Conformity - what I'm saying is that you, as a personal importer, don't need one. There may be a chance that Mazda can give/sell you one, but you've still got to get an MOT done anyway. For personal imports (for the time being), you only need an MOT if the car is over three years old (if the car is over 10 years old, an MOT is all that's needed, regardless of whether it's a personal import or not). There's an outside chance that you can get a CofC, and make the registration process a bit easier - call Mazda and your local VRO to find out (prepare to be on-hold for quite a lot of time the latter - lots of people importing has left them over-stretched). If you otherwise had to get an SVA done, it could possibly save you a few hundred pounds. (5/00)

The official links of interest are the DVLA http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/exptimpt.htm

And the DETR http://www.roads.detr.gov.uk/vehicle/sva/index.htm oh, and not forgetting HMC&E http://www.hmce.gov.uk/ (1/01)

Well, the 1992 V-Special Roadster finally passed its SVA test today. Hooray.

So, if you want the chance to save yourself the £22 re-test fee, these are the bits needed to convert a similar car:
1. Air vents (all 4 of them) - the UK ones have a smaller knob (oo-er).
2. Heater control knobs - the UK ones are flatter and squarer.
3. Steering wheel - Needs one without a wooden rim and with no holes in the spokes
4. Speedo - the face must read up to 112mph (I fitted a UK 140mph speedo just for the test)
5. Foglamp - Mk2 Fiesta one saves having to cut the bumper and looks ok. Make sure there is no exposed wiring underneath. Also the following items need attending to:
6. Wipers - Remove the spoiler blade from the offside wiper
7. Number plate fittings - remove the front no. plate mounting brackets.
8. Radio aerial - remove it if it's not electric.
9. A/c & heater fan knob - switch the fan off and push the a/c button in. (5/01)