Free Traffic Legal Advice

I got the car from a private dealer. It had no UK registration as it was from Japan and after registering it I had no emissions info connected to the car...

Looks like this is your problem. The dealers who specialise in these imports usually make sure they get the emissions stuff done. I'm a Jaguar enthusiast and often see XJ saloons for sale from Japan, with the emissions rating given. If they didn't do this, they'd not be able to sell any cars in London.

Have you tried BMW UK ?

The OP posted:

Anyway, as this [the ping-pong correspondence with the council] went in for several weeks, and with very sporadic replies to countless emails I sent, in the meantime I received two parking fines for parking outside my own home without a valid parking permit!

I appealed them but they were dismissed. I then bought the more expensive permit[after 3 June]

But they were displaying a Res Permit in the vehicle in June(PCN **0681) which expired in Jan!

@stamfordman, I'm as confused as you.

The Res Permit on show expired in Jan. 2025. It's in the vehicle in question, therefore it's reasonable to conclude that the OP had knowledge of and paid the prevailing permit tariff before 2025.

But they're saying here that they didn't buy a Res Permit until June 2025.

Anyway, OP your whole argument regarding the issue of 2 PCNs seems to be that you had tried to acquire a Res Permit soon after purchasing the car but were thwarted because of issues regarding the applicable tariff. As pointed out by others, you had options available to you to park legally which did not involve holding a permanent res permit, therefore even if correct it would not be a defence which would succeed at adjudication.

But as you held one in Jan. 2025, implicitly 2024, for exactly the same vehicle with the same emissions -therefore long before these PCNs- this rather undermines your argument. 

I can't square the circle of conflicting evidence without your input.

And we need to see photos of the traffic signs where you park.

I've just seen all the replies, thank you. The signage where I live is irrelevant here as I am a resident in a parking permit zone and there are signs at the beginning of the street saying something to the tune of "controlled parking zone" or suchlike. There are also other signs saying permit parking zone between 10am-2pm on the street.

This is the second year/cycle of having a permit on this imported car, a similar discussion happened the previous year which I can't fully remember but eventually I received a parking permit for the new car in 2024 which was a transitional permit  from previous car to new car and it seemed somewhat amicable as they didn't really overcharge they just transfered to the new car.

So when this permit ran out, I believe in March this year, I began these new discussions about renewal after the website where one buys the permit defaulted to the highest payment bracket.

I get the technicalities that have been raised in terms of dates etc but it far simpler than is being made out here:

my permit ran out, I tried  to renew online, I was shown a ridiculously high price, I attempted to discuss it with the council, they were very sporadic and dismissive in their responses and long drawn out response times, in the meantime I got 2 parking tickets. As replies were sometimes 2 weeks from the council I then just gave up and bought a permit at the higher price.

You are correct the expiry shows January but actually as it was a transitional permit it expired in March (it was a **** up in their part when I got the last licence and a duplicate one was made - very confusing...) so ran out March and I renewed in June. The discussions started in January and have gone on until I got the tickets and then bought a permit.

Does the above simplify matters?

My last message makes it very clear what happened. My last message also states what signage is present on my street.

Clearly with the council beiing obdurate and failing to engage, you should take them to London Tribunals. However, (and I don't like to say this, so sorry), but you're partly to blame in buying a re-imported vehicle without checking it's emissions rating. The car probably matches the same car sold in the UK, but you have to prove it. I suggest you go back to the dealer you bought the car from and confront him on the absence of emissions information. It is something all dealers in these re-imports should do, after all, they have to change the speedometer to be mph as the main scale.

Thanks. Wjst is London tribunals? It's coming up to two years since I bought the car. He changed the speedo.

London Tribunals adjudicate PCN disputes, when the council (or Transport for London as well), reject representations, and the PCN recipient decides to have the matter put to adjudication. It is your absolute right in law to take the council to adjudication. My understanding is that you had a permit for the car, but when renewal came up, the council decided it was in a higher emissions rating and asked for a bigger permit fee, even though the expired permit was for the same car !

I had a look on 'CHeck VED' for your car, and it shows a value of 0 (zero) for CO2 emissions thus confirming the when the car was re-registered in the UK, no emissions value was entered. Who did the registration, you or the dealer ?
Built originally in 2013, and registered with DVLA February 2024 so if it's petrol then it is bound to be ULEZ compliant, but if diesel, very unlikely.

You might like to look at this website if you haven't already done so: -
https://carfueldata.vehicle-certification-agency.gov.uk/search-new-or-used-cars.aspx