UK-to-Ireland car import: a buying-agent guide

Reviewed 2026-10-16. For a buying agent deciding whether a particular used car is worth importing, start with an asking-price comparison, not a promised saving. This page is free, static documentation: it does not query inventory, call a model, request a wallet or make a payment.

Choose the right operation

Use the free preview for a buy-in-Ireland versus import decision; use the paid full import check only for individual matching listings.
Use price_check for a specific Irish valuation or uk_price_check for UK/NI, not for landed costs.
Use search_car_listings for candidate listings, not a valuation or an import recommendation.
At least 5 comparables within filters: same make/model/fuel, within 1 year and 30,000 km, plus optional transmission. Import needs Irish and qualifying origin coverage. Otherwise no_data, never an invented valuation.
Supply actual make, model, year, mileage in km, fuel type and measured WLTP CO2; do not guess hybrid fuel or CO2.
Import origin GB means Great Britain; NI means Northern Ireland; ANY compares qualifying routes. Search country=GB includes NI, unlike import origin=GB. Check vehicle history, origin and tax treatment with Revenue.

Check the actual vehicle and import route

Use the actual make/model, model year, odometer converted to kilometres, underlying fuel type and WLTP CO2 from the vehicle documentation. Add transmission only when known. Verify that comparable vehicles represent the car you are buying, including specification and condition: asking prices are not sale prices.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland are distinct import routes. Do not infer tax treatment solely from a seller's address; history and origin matter. Review each response's assumptions for transport, duty, VAT, VRT, NOx and other costs. These are estimator outputs, not financial or tax advice. Consult Revenue's official VRT documentation before buying.

Try a limited preview without a wallet

preview_uk_import_check / GET /api/v1/a2a/uk-import-preview returns a verdict and costs, excluding individual listings. The default allowance is 3 attempts per UTC day per IP (this deployment: 3), shared across REST and MCP, persisted across restarts and reset at midnight UTC. Invalid and no-data attempts count. A 429 includes Retry-After: wait rather than automatically paying.

curl -i "https://irish-auto-arbitrage-production.up.railway.app/api/v1/a2a/uk-import-preview?make=Volkswagen&model=Golf&year=2023&mileage_km=50000&fuel_type=Petrol&co2_g_km=125"

This is a sample input, not a promise of live 2023 stock. Fewer than five comparables within the filters means no_data, not a fabricated valuation. A 404 is not charged. Confirm coverage or carefully broaden filters without misrepresenting the actual car; search/valuation tools are paid.

Read an illustrative result, not a current market claim

SYNTHETIC_ILLUSTRATION: all following prices, counts, FX and costs are illustrative. live_data=false, payment_made=false. No individual listing IDs or URLs are included. No current availability or real savings are claimed.

{
  "example_kind": "SYNTHETIC_ILLUSTRATION",
  "live_data": false,
  "payment_made": false,
  "query": {
    "make": "Volkswagen",
    "model": "Golf",
    "year": 2023,
    "mileage_km": 50000,
    "fuel_type": "Petrol",
    "co2_g_km": 125
  },
  "irish_market": {
    "comparable_count": 68,
    "median_price_eur": 29950.0,
    "p25_price_eur": 24971.25,
    "p75_price_eur": 32218.25
  },
  "verdict": {
    "cheaper_to_import": false,
    "recommendation": "BUY_IN_IRELAND",
    "best_origin": "GB",
    "saving_eur": -8060.6,
    "summary": "SYNTHETIC_ILLUSTRATION: buying in Ireland costs less in this invented example."
  },
  "assumptions": [
    "SYNTHETIC_ILLUSTRATION: all prices, counts, FX and costs are illustrative, not current market observations.",
    "Illustrative GBP/EUR rate 1.1819; route costs are estimates, not tax advice.",
    "No current availability, achievable savings or individual listings are represented."
  ],
  "estimate_only": true,
  "disclaimer": "Indicative estimate; confirm duty, VAT and VRT with Revenue before buying.",
  "routes": [
    {
      "origin": "GB",
      "comparable_count": 23,
      "median_uk_price_gbp": 19645.0,
      "median_uk_price_eur": 23218.43,
      "landed_cost": {
        "vehicle_price_eur": 23218.43,
        "shipping_eur": 650.0,
        "customs_duty_eur": 2386.84,
        "import_vat_eur": 6038.71,
        "vrt_eur": 5016.62,
        "nox_levy_eur": 200.0,
        "other_costs_eur": 500.0,
        "total_landed_cost_eur": 38010.6
      },
      "saving_vs_irish_median_eur": -8060.6,
      "cheaper_to_import": false,
      "recommendation": "BUY_IN_IRELAND"
    }
  ],
  "preview": {
    "full_result_path": "/api/v1/a2a/uk-import-check",
    "full_result_tool": "is_it_cheaper_to_import_car_from_uk_to_ireland",
    "note": "Free preview excludes individual listings. Use the paid import check for matching listings."
  }
}

Versioned machine-readable examples also show illustrative 404/no_data, 429/Retry-After and informational 402 shapes. The full import check costs 0.02 USDC per successful call and includes matching listings. An unpaid call normally returns 402 with terms in PAYMENT-REQUIRED; its body may be empty. Reading examples or inspecting a quote requires no wallet.

Install the public client; no LLM required

PyPI package · Public client repository · Runnable integration examples

python -m pip install irish-car-import-assistant
car-import-assistant --demo
car-import-assistant --make Volkswagen --model Golf --year 2023 --mileage-km 50000 --fuel-type Petrol --co2-g-km 125 --json
car-import-assistant --make Volkswagen --model Golf --year 2023 --mileage-km 50000 --fuel-type Petrol --co2-g-km 125 --json --full
car-import-assistant --make Volkswagen --model Golf --year 2023 --mileage-km 50000 --fuel-type Petrol --co2-g-km 125 --json --full --pay --max-usdc 0.02

These commands are documentation, not executed here. The structured command is free; adding --full inspects a quote without paying. Only an explicit --full --pay --max-usdc 0.02 authorizes a capped paid retry. Never put wallet keys inline or ask a model to approve spending.

MCP and framework adapters

Connect using MCP (streamable HTTP) or the x402 REST API. The /a2a/ URL is a legacy API namespace, not an implementation of the A2A protocol. MCP connectivity alone does not provide a wallet or x402 payment support. The car tool takes flat vehicle fields in params.arguments, not an extra nested vehicle/input/params object:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "preview_uk_import_check",
    "arguments": {
      "make": "Volkswagen",
      "model": "Golf",
      "year": 2023,
      "mileage_km": 50000,
      "fuel_type": "Petrol",
      "co2_g_km": 125
    }
  }
}

MCP endpoint: https://mcp-production-f77f.up.railway.app/mcp.

Client 0.2.0 or later offers optional LangChain and OpenAI Agents SDK extras:

python -m pip install "irish-car-import-assistant[langchain,openai]>=0.2.0"
from irish_car_import_assistant import CarImportTools
session = CarImportTools()
langchain_tools = session.as_langchain_tools()
openai_tools = session.as_openai_tools()

The structured free CLI needs no LLM or wallet. --full inspects a quote without paying.
Only explicit --full --pay authorizes a capped paid retry; nothing here runs it.
Default framework tools are offline_demo, preview, quote. Paid tools are hidden by default.
Paid framework tools require an operator-defined approval_policy; model output cannot authorize spending.
Retain one CarImportTools instance: default session limit 0.02 USDC and one paid attempt.
Reservations are in memory; failures do not refund them and restarts reset them. Production needs durable external policy and budgets.
Never put wallet keys in prompts, inline examples or logs. Frameworks have separate model costs and privacy settings.
No automatic model calls, payment upgrades or spending; MCP connectivity is not payment authorization.

Next steps and API contracts

Live service overview · API docs · OpenAPI · Buyer quickstart · Agent summary · examples.json

Complete integration handbook · VS Code config · Cursor config. Merge entries without overwriting existing servers; operator review/trust is required. Generic editor MCP supplies no wallet or x402 payment support.