A friend of mine (really!) is considering buying an old Citroen CX from the south of France, where they rust a bit more slowly, but has received baffling advice from the DVLC, who insist that it must be MOT'd and taxed here as soon as he drives it off the boat.
Aside from the fact that he/it will be indistinguishable from a French holidaymaker when he gets here (especially if he puts a big oval F on the back), I can't believe that there isn't an official and sensible way of doing this. Anyone?
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I know people who have brought cars into the UK, but they were brought and used in France first. As he is not French it will not be on French plates as these are not issued to people without a French address and the plates will be removed when he buys the car (my collegues company car cannot have French plates as it is owned by a foreign registered company). Transfer plates might be allowed to get it into the country, but it will be a PITA to register (new speedo, new lights....)
Somebody will be along shortly who knows more.....
Joe
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"the plates will be removed when he buys the car"
I didn't know that. How does he get through France, then?
I should have mentioned that it's a RHD CX, owned by a couple of ex-pat elderly ladies (!), so pretty much UK spec already, but the registration/licensing thing is the main potential problem.
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Yes thats true he can drive but a short distance to a mot centre for the uk roads to be liscensed here.
It's a totally different law to a french guy coming here for his holiday and returning home.
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This is way out of date info and the law may well have changed since then but I remember a girl we knew as students who although British, had British parents who lived in Spain. She came to university in the UK and drove from Spain in her Spanish registered Renault 5 ( I think it was a 5 anyway ) intending to use it in the UK during term time and then to return home to Spain in it in the holidays. For reasons I forget, she wasn't allowed to do that which seemed odd because I also remember genuinely foreign students who brought their cars and motor bikes for exactly the same reasons and they were allowed to do so.
Last edited by: Humph D'bout on Wed 8 Sep 10 at 18:45
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Has the OP's mate looked at the price of used cars in Europe ? That might kill this project before it gets off the ground.
Did she have a UK licence Humph ?
Last edited by: gmac on Wed 8 Sep 10 at 19:10
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To be honest, I don't know and as I say it was a very long time ago. Would that have made a difference do you think ?
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From what I've read yes. You can live in the EU and retain your UK licence as long as the address is valid but a UK licence holder cannot drive an EU registered car in the UK.
Last edited by: gmac on Wed 8 Sep 10 at 19:42
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"a UK licence holder cannot drive an EU registered car in the UK."
So much for the entente cordiale!
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"price of used cars in Europe"
It's OK - he knows the price, but as the rest of this thread is shaping up, he may not bother!
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Some advice here;
www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/ImportingAndExportingAVehicle/DG_10014623
I think the key phrase is "If a vehicle is to remain in the UK ...."
Ooops, how my plans change ...
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>> Some advice here
But further down that page -->
UK residents are not allowed to use a foreign registered vehicle on UK roads. The exception is when a UK resident:
* is employed or self-employed in another EU member state
* uses a EU registered company car temporarily in the UK for business purposes
What's the solution? I'm moving abroad next year. Skoda UK will not build and sell me a LHD car in the UK (why not?!), there's a LHD sales specialist down south but if the DVLA say i can't drive something on foreign plates until i live abroad, that kind of defeats the idea of moving some stuff i want to take with me.
I'm going to have to either take my RHD car over there, or go live out a suitcase for long enough to get paperwork to prove my new address then buy a car there and drive back here to go back there...
Gahhhh!!!!
Need a better solution, the stuff i want to ship over a) wont fit in a plane overhead locker and b) i don't trust a moving company to handle
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Just need to sell that gleaming vrS Estate locally then before you go.... :)
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Haha if you know anyone who can better the £12,500 we buy any car offered...
WBAC could be an opportunity for arbitrage by the armed forces and the police, i believe the retail price to them from Skoda UK for a new Vrs estate is £12,399 (that's almost 50% off list!).
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Might offer £12501.....
Am going in (purely for a nosey you understand) to Henry's Open Weekend this weekend since I got an invite in. Want to see what the inside of a Yeti is like, I so want to like that car, loved my Skoda, prefer high up seating so it should tick the boxes.
But from the outside it is just so ugly and square!
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Ugly cars are "in" it would seem !
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>> Want to see what the inside of a Yeti is like
I was harassing Martin there yesterday to order me a LHD Yeti. Really nice guy, but Skoda UK said no :-( Henry's are 100x better than Parks, used to stand by Parks too.
Elegance 4x4 DSG + the fancy sunroof thing == perfecto, if dog ugly and drinking diseasal.
Until this thread put the kybosh on it, it was looking like a 2nd hand LHD BMW X5 since i can't have the skoda.
Now it's looking like hiking boots :-(
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>>I was harassing Martin there yesterday to order me a LHD Yeti. Really nice guy, but Skoda UK said no :-( Henry's are 100x better than Parks, used to stand by Parks too.
Got my Fabia vrS from there (when they were on the old site), very pleased with them and West End in Broxburn for thier level of service.
Over the years have tried, and failed, to like Park's. Just can't take to them, don't know why!
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Have they many Yetis in just now?
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Loads, they just can't find 'em...
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Their used car search on their website doesn't even have Yeti as an option in the drop down menu so I guess not!!
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They're rare to find nearly new, but the VAT free offer's still on (and they're absorbing the increase at the turn of the year).
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Don't think it applies to the Yeti?
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More I look at it, the more it looks like a big Panda!!
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>> More I look at it, the more it looks like a big Panda!!
It's not a pretty thing, and women hate it. I didn't like it or see the point in it before.
But... now i want one :-( just seems ideal for Krakow, small enough to scoot about the city centre without hassle, tall enough to cope with the road infrastructure, especially off the beaten track, tons of space for carting stuff over there. Strong.
French sticker on the boot of a LHD X5 and my best french accent combined with glaswegian words (dont speak french) should have any rozzer between Calais and civilisation (:-P) stumped. Hopefully. It's a big gamble in case they catch me though.
I could probably forge a foreign utility bill to "prove" residence elsewhere but that's really putting my neck out and calling their bluff!
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Well nipped in after work to have a look at the Yeti. Had one in the showroom with 9k miles on the clock but was still £22k!
Just didnt take to it at all, definitely very boxy and square.
That is now 3 cars that were on my possible next car list, Yeti, Kuga and Rav 4 that I have sat in all 3 and none of them have won my attention.
Maybe i like my Altea more than I realise . .
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"Until this thread put the kybosh on it"
Sorry, Skoda. I thought it was going to be simple, as we are in the EU. Revenge for Mrs T's rebate, perhaps...
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>What's the solution? I'm moving abroad next year. Skoda UK will not build and sell me a LHD car in the UK..
Order it from a dealer in Holland or Belgium?
Kevin...
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>> Order it from a dealer in Holland or Belgium?
I like your thinking.
Sent an email, to a large Polish dealer but they weren't much use, not interested in hooking up with my local dealer for delivery via the Skoda factory channels and no sensible alternative ideas.
I'm in Den Oover (i think it's called!) the week after next and should have some free time to go harass an NL dealership...
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Surely UK dealers are used to sourcing LHD cars for UK Forces in Germany, we still have a couple of squaddies looking after the place don't we ?
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Not really PU.
Last month they cut back on the range so we no longer get BFBS in Cologne.
Trying to get a LHD out of a UK dealership is like pulling teeth. Been there, done that, ended up with a lease car from the local dealership.
Last edited by: gmac on Wed 8 Sep 10 at 22:57
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if they supplied a lhd car for this country what headlights would they fit,what speedo would they fit and how would the warranty affect the country supplied into
we might be in the eu but if i was a car manufacturer/dealer i wouldnt fancy importing a one off car for a customer where if it had warrenty issue like say a left handed doofer it could be a week before the part came
i reckon
i know i over egged it but you get the jist
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Military abroad tend by buy LHD 2nd hand in their country of posting, for their tour and then buy the shiny RHD to bring home a few months before they are posted. I never heard of anyone buying a new LHD to take with them even before all this EU nausea!
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>Skoda UK will not build and sell me a LHD car in the UK (why not?!)
In the past, the EU commission has had a lot to say about car manufacturers restricting the ability of customers to choose the country in which they buy their car, either directly or indirectly. Have a look at
ec.europa.eu/competition/sectors/motor_vehicles/overview_en.html
I had no problems buying a LHD car for export to Germany but then it was from a UK manufacturer.
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I had no problems buying a new LHD Volvo in the UK for export to France. Handy discount too. Several manufacturers have a Diplomatic/Military/Export sales department, totally separate from the UK dealer network.
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Biggles & NickinNZ were these purchases recent (last twelve to eighteen months) ?
With the pound in the toilet the manufacturers appeared unwilling to sell when that same car could fetch so much more abroad.
Last edited by: gmac on Sun 12 Sep 10 at 09:01
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Yes. Bought Jaguar XF in July.
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Nice car !
My own experience was eighteen months ago.
I could make a saving of around £4,500 at the time comparing list prices in Germany and the UK. German dealer would not budge on price, the manufacturer usually has big discounts available in the UK.
The export dealership in London was painful to deal with so I opted for a lease deal on a local ex-demo car and saved more.
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Buying abroad - Dr_Rubber
