I'm thinking of importing a Toyota Townace 5-spd, diesel from GB to the US. I'm wondering how difficult it would be to adjust to the left drive.With right drive you brake & gas with right foot, clutch with left. Is left drive the exact opposite (brake & gas with left & clutch right)? That could get really mind boggling.
Hey, Ask a postal worker what it is like to drive a right hand drive vehicle in the US :).
Also remember that the US has different safety requirements for cars than Europe and that to be able to register and drive a car designed for the UK market in the US, you may need to make some upgrade to the vehicle. Depending on what state, e.g. California or Massachusetts, you may need to do some emissions work.
The conversion to driving on the "passenger side" isn't all that difficult. Mail delivery guys do it all the time. However as others mentioned, you should check into how much it will cost to bring the car into compliance with U.S. standards for safety and lighting before putting the car on a boat. I'm less clear about whether there are special emisisons standards for diesel engines, but you should check that out as well.
It isn't terribly hard to get used to, but it sure feels weird the first couple times you ride in or drive one.
You might have a real hard time getting the car legal in the US. Right off the bat you'll need to find replacement headlights since the RHD beam pattern is different. Do they make a LHD version of the car for other European markets?
Having experienced a mitsu truck import, I'm not too sure why you would want to do this. A second hand Caravan would be quite sufficient, and cheaper in the long run. You can drive the thing at less than 25 mph and call it a farm vehicle. If you want to drive it on the road otherwise will require EPA clearance, which is quite pricey. The vehicle will also have to be inspected by the state police folks, whoever they call themselves where you are at in the US. Should you go ahead with this, let us know how it goes.
a lot of "European spec" cars can have thier lights aimed to dip correctly either by manual adjust or even from the ECU these days. Even jap ones. Not sure about the townace though being a people carrier/SUV/Minivan type of thing.
I'm beginning to see the obstacles are not insignificant. I was thinking it would be sort of like the promotions Volvo and some other Euro makers had where you buy it in Europe while you're on "vacation" and bring it home with you to the US but I guess this is a different kettle of fish. My goal is to end up with a Vege/Diesel van or wagon (or estate or saloon or whatever you call it over there). Well, I guess it's back to the VW Vanagon then.
I was reading an article in the paper last week about an industry in South America (Chile maybe?) where they import used cars from Japans (right-hand wheel) and tear them apart to move the steering wheel to the "normal" side of the car. Photos showed the interior of the car completely torn apart.
I guess these mechanics are quick and cheap enough to make it worthwhile...
It's the same deal when trying to import a car into Australia which isn't already RHD. Not only that though - there's all the other special compliance rules (called ADR's or Australian Design Rules) which all motor vehicles must meet based on the year of manufacture, and a few other criteria.
you'll find a fair few places drive on the left....
Anguilla Antigua & Barbuda Australia Bahamas Bangladesh Barbados Bermuda Bhutan Bophuthatswana Botswana British Virgin Islands Brunei Cayman Islands Channel Islands Ciskei Cyprus Dominica Falkland Islands Fiji Grenada Guyana Hong Kong India Indonesia Ireland Jamaica Japan Kenya Lesotho Macau Malawi Malaysia Malta Mauritius Montserrat Mozambique Namibia Nepal New Zealand Pakistan Papua New Guinea St. Vincent & Grenadines Seychelles Sikkim Singapore Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Sri Lanka St Kitts & Nevis St. Helena St. Lucia Surinam Swaziland Tanzania Thailand Tonga Trinidad & Tobago Uganda United Kingdom US Virgin Islands Venda Zambia Zimbabwe
This story is true, however it is Bolivia importing cars through the tollfree zone of Iquique, Chile. Story is this: Iquique is a tollfree port, and thousands of used cars from around the world are imported to the latin american continent trough this port. Bolivia is in the backland of this port, and being the poorest of south american countries, Bolivians import cars, mainly to serve as colectivos (cheap collective taxis). The cheapest used cars on the market are old run down cars from asian countries, the RHD's are even cheaper, because there are less markets to sell them to. Probably there's a road law forbidding RHD cars, so the Bolivians rebuild them to LHD's in an amateuristic way, and drive them till they fall apart. They look really funny, with the dash still on the right, but the steering wheel sticking onto the interior in the left sid through the (former) glove compartiment...
Having been to India I can assure you they drive on the left. And the right and the middle and just about anywhere they want to. The 3 hour taxi ride to & from the airport was, let's say an eye opening if not life threatening experience. Apparently obeying traffic devices like stop signs is optional.
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