Car importing from Europe

I think that has almost died a death now. Parallel imports, although superficially are identical vehicles at a cheaper price, technically are not always.

Many of the European imports are in fact cars made for those countries, but modified for RHD and MPH speedos. I have seen them where they have still got the original LHD parts on them, but have been modified for the UK. This can often lead to difficulties in obtaining parts, and often severe problems in diagnosing faults - which are more likely to occur as the car has been modified - as there will be no workshop manual information covering these vehicles.

You also need to check warranty matters. Depending on the country of import, you might find you don't get any manufacturers warranty at all. In most cases manufacturers do have to offer a two year warranty, although in the UK most now top this up to three years by way of a contracted extended policy. These are very rarely transferable to the UK, so you need to include this in your cost calculation - normally about £300 for an equivalent cover.

Insurance can be an issue too, probably not so much now, but they do ask if a car is an import.

Be wary of exceptionally cheap, but highly specced models. These are most likely to be a 'grey' import from the far east. There was a glut of these a couple of years ago, due to poor economy out there. It wouldn't be inconcievable that less scrupulous sellers might flog these off as parallel imports. Most far eastern/Asian countries drive on the left too, and some even use MPH, so no modification is necessary for UK use.

However, there can be other legal/construction differences too. Some come without fog lights, and some don't get a catalyst. These often only come to light at the first MOT. Cars imported from Cyprus before Feb

Finally, you might find dealer support is less than friendly if you get a warranty problem. Make sure you get all the paperwork for the import, you'll probably need to present this before you can make a warranty claim anyway.

I have have imported a car from Denmark (twice), but it was many years ago. I would recommend to buy directly from a main dealer abroad rather than relying on an importer company and have money hanging out. The main dealer will help with local registration for personal export, i.e. no local registration tax. But the special number plates are only valid for 24 hours in Denmark. Esbjerg is a convenient port for personal export to the UK. Insurance is no problem as you can get a temporary insurance for one month. Arriving in Harwich, you drive through the red channel to present the bill and pay VAT. Make sure that the bill is only for the car and not for insurance etc. The customs wants any outstanding duties there and then, make sure to have funds. You can now drive on the Danish plates inside UK for up to one year or you can apply for UK plates and log book from Swansea. I would expect that warranty repair can be carried out by any main UK dealer for the make for at least for one year. That was happened in my case, I had a gearbox replaced by Ford (UK) no problem. Lastly, finding an RHD car may not be easy, but there are some dealers in Denmark which specialise in this kind of business.

Since it was a while ago I did this, I have no real idea if it's now worth while. I suppose that it depends on the type of car and the availability of finding dealers which can source RHD cars. But I'm sure they exists.

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Johannes saying something like:

Over the past few years a lot of cars have been bought in Ireland and exported to the UK. Minimum hassle and easy access being two main factors, I suppose, along with the financial incentive.

Fords always were identical. RHD models were always built to UK spec regardless of which European country the car was supplied in.

In message , Mike Day writes

What does it have to do with "maintenance"?

Try asking in uk.rec.cars.imports

Are you absolutely 100% sure of that? Until you start having to repair them you may never know.

Besides, I was only pointing out *possible* pitfalls, none are by any means certain they will happen. They just have a higher chance than if you bought a car in the UK.

Good point, although future maintenance *can* be an issue with *some* cars.

Yes. I got into it in some detail a few years ago while importing a Ford from Belgium.

OK.

Paul Giverin ( snipped-for-privacy@giverin.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Even Ireland, with RHD but a KPH speedo?