car importing?

Old Mar 5th 2015, 2:18 pm
  #1  
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Default car importing?

Hopefully someone here can shed some light on this.

I am planning to move back to the UK in two months time approximately and have in my possession a car which is in good shape reliable pretty new. Its not under any leasing agreement nor HP.This car has a bank loan attached \associated to it and I'm trying to figure out if its really going to be worthwhile keeping it and using it for a number of reasons ie moving of possessions , I know I will need a car for work when I return ......etc. I have considered some of the pros and cons and would really appreciate some further feedback.

Is importing going to cost me dearly? Is it worth it?
Pretty sure I may have some issues selling it forward later if needed as it is LHD.

The loan isn't so substantial and would like to pay it off when back in the uk..I don't think I'm gonna be able to sell it right now and more than likely will only get 60% of the loan total , kinda buggered really let's see!
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Old Mar 5th 2015, 3:32 pm
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Default Re: car importing?

Originally Posted by timefortea
Hopefully someone here can shed some light on this.

I am planning to move back to the UK in two months time approximately and have in my possession a car which is in good shape reliable pretty new. Its not under any leasing agreement nor HP.This car has a bank loan attached \associated to it and I'm trying to figure out if its really going to be worthwhile keeping it and using it for a number of reasons ie moving of possessions , I know I will need a car for work when I return ......etc. I have considered some of the pros and cons and would really appreciate some further feedback.

Is importing going to cost me dearly? Is it worth it?
Pretty sure I may have some issues selling it forward later if needed as it is LHD.

The loan isn't so substantial and would like to pay it off when back in the uk..I don't think I'm gonna be able to sell it right now and more than likely will only get 60% of the loan total , kinda buggered really let's see!
I vaguely recall something similar in the past few months and there was a question of whether you are allowed to export a car that has outstanding finance on it.

Personally I would not export a LHD (US??) vehicle to the UK.

Surprisingly inexpensive to actually ship it, but

Cost of conversions
Cost of fuel (Us cars often have poor mpg)
Cost of insurance (higher risk)
Difficulty driving LHD (depending on where you plan to drive it)
Parking (is it a bigger US vehicle? UK roads and parking spaces really are much smaller)
Cost of repair (assume some mechanics wouldn't touch a non-UK car, or charge a pretty penny).

Many answers to your question are dependent on what the vehicle is. Care to share? Or is it a secret?
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Old Mar 5th 2015, 4:56 pm
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Default Re: car importing?

Originally Posted by dunroving
I vaguely recall something similar in the past few months and there was a question of whether you are allowed to export a car that has outstanding finance on it.

Personally I would not export a LHD (US??) vehicle to the UK.
The OP posted in the Welcome forum yesterday... s/he's returning from Finland.
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Old Mar 6th 2015, 2:01 am
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Default Re: car importing?

Hypothetically, if it was RHD, would it have much value if you kept it 2-3 years in the UK? If it would be low value by then, then the fact that is can be hard to sell a LHD in the UK is irrelevant. Just keep it until it stops working/ fails an MOT, then trade/ sell it for scrap value.
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Old Mar 6th 2015, 8:51 am
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Default Re: car importing?

I shipped my Audi S3 from Australia because of similar reasons around depreciation having only owned the car for 12 months. The thread I started is here http://britishexpats.com/forum/movin...va-etc-834829/ which may answer your basic questions. Shipmycar were great and looked after all the testing and registration. I arranged the actual shipping and marine insurance myself. All in it cost me about GBP4k.
I'd pay the finance out before shipping it back as there is probably some clause in the agreement about exporting or re-registering the car whilst under finance. I'd also think seriously about it if the car if left hand drive as that is going have big effect on re-sale value.
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Old Mar 6th 2015, 3:32 pm
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Default Re: car importing?

I shipped my car from Cape Town to UK in 1998 as also no-one wanted to pay me what it was worth and it was only 3 years old. Glad I did however it was RHD and had to have fog light modification. Problems came when I had a window broken (break in) and the size of window was slightly different than the UK ones so had to have that shipped out to me. Then one of the parts gave up and that also had to be shipped out. Not sure if I would do it again but would not give up a good car either. Eventually after 3 years of having it and moving to Canada I could only sell it for £1000 - btw it was a Honda. I also found a local guy to service it instead of at dealers and he was good and modified stuff if he could. I also only paid £1000 to ship it through a shipping company who was doing my furniture!
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Old Mar 8th 2015, 10:24 am
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Default Re: car importing?

I've been thinking about this as well, I have a little Honda Jazz that whilst it's six years old, it's got less that 25,000 miles on the clock an in excellent condition.

It's a RHD, I live in Bangkok but are considering relocating to the UK, the bottom has fallen out of the used car market, the only downside is that it doesn't have a heater.
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Old Mar 8th 2015, 10:48 am
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Default Re: car importing?

Have you thought about selling it in the other fora? S/H car values vary widely across Europe - here in France they are fantastically high - and the UK I believe has the lowest second hand values.
Just a thought.
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Old Mar 8th 2015, 1:36 pm
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Default Re: car importing?

I can not speak for Finland but have exported cars from a few countries. The starting point is a title / registration document free on any liens / loans in your name. Without this most shipping companies will not touch it.
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Old Mar 8th 2015, 2:28 pm
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Default Re: car importing?

I wouldn't export the car if I were you. While it probably won't cost as much as you think to do so, you could encounter problems due to the loan issues (as another poster has already said). It wouldn't be nice at all to end up breaking a contract or incurring more costs as a result of that.

If you're planning to resell it at some point in the UK, you're unlikely to attract many buyers with a foreign car. However, it's a different story if you plan to drive it around yourself until it breaks down and is good for nothing.

Definitely check out the finance aspect though.
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Old Mar 19th 2015, 11:13 pm
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Default Re: car importing?

Some really great advice here.

I actually own two left-hand-drive cars in London (big American things too) and can say that although I have got used to it, some people do struggle.

The good news is that a left-hand-drive car in the UK is worth more than the same car in right-hand-drive and is usually pretty easy to sell as many Europeans working in the UK love to take them home (they're often cheaper here).

The big question is how much you love your car? If it's a great car, you might want to bring it back (importing from the EU is not too tricky, but from outside the EU is a pain). You can always sell it later.

But if you fancy a change anyway, now may be a good time...

ASHLEY
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Old Mar 20th 2015, 2:37 pm
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Default Re: car importing?

I investigated bringing my SLK 350 back from canada to the UK. Even though the car was built in Europe they don't use the EU certifications so it becomes a pain to get it approved. I did find a company shipmycar.co.uk who will quote for shipping and conversion or just conversion once you get it to the uk (usually cheaper to ship in a 40ft crate with your household belongings.
The quote I got that included conversion, passing the DVLA test (IVA), a years license fee, MOT test and DVLA registration was £1500, modification are about £1k of that.

However the other hidden costs are increased insurance, increased servicing costs to get the specific parts for the car, etc. The advantage its a lot easier to drive in Europe on your own as the tool booths are all on the lefthand side of the car :-)

Overall I'm torn and will probably leave the car behind. Getting the same car in the UK is not cheap - mine is 3.5L 300bhp, and doesn't have an exact equivalent. A similar spec'd model would cost me for a 2012 model the same price as I could buy a 2015 here.
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Old Mar 20th 2015, 7:46 pm
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Default Re: car importing?

Originally Posted by apskinner
I investigated bringing my SLK 350 back from canada to the UK. Even though the car was built in Europe they don't use the EU certifications so it becomes a pain to get it approved. I did find a company shipmycar.co.uk who will quote for shipping and conversion or just conversion once you get it to the uk (usually cheaper to ship in a 40ft crate with your household belongings.
The quote I got that included conversion, passing the DVLA test (IVA), a years license fee, MOT test and DVLA registration was £1500, modification are about £1k of that.

However the other hidden costs are increased insurance, increased servicing costs to get the specific parts for the car, etc. The advantage its a lot easier to drive in Europe on your own as the tool booths are all on the lefthand side of the car :-)

Overall I'm torn and will probably leave the car behind. Getting the same car in the UK is not cheap - mine is 3.5L 300bhp, and doesn't have an exact equivalent. A similar spec'd model would cost me for a 2012 model the same price as I could buy a 2015 here.
We do get the SLK350 here in the UK, with the same engine (sounds awesome at full revs!), but you're 100% correct that prices of used cars are much higher.

I've recently been helping someone import their US-spec Volvo into the UK and it's no where near as simple as with a UK car. £1,500 actually seems reasonable considering the effort it takes.

Last edited by ashleywinston; Mar 20th 2015 at 8:04 pm.
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Old Mar 25th 2015, 3:30 pm
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Default Re: car importing?

Cant see the value in this better to sale and then buy a good used car in UK, UK has the cheapest used values of vehicles and lots choice.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk
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Old Mar 25th 2015, 4:10 pm
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Default Re: car importing?

Compared to North America the UK is expensive - I've already looked into it.
Costs are around 30% more, even second hand.

If you have a premium marque worth a lot of money then bringing it over makes sense. To put numbers on my example above, a new version of the SLK 350 is about $70k over here vs for the same spec - which means lots of upgrades - the equivalent of $100k in the uk.

Yes if all you want is a Ford or Hyundai then it doesn't make sense, although the larger engines just aren't available. My wife has a SanteFe, you can get it in the UK with a whopping 2.2l diesel engine which if anything like the 2.5l petrol over here is under powered. She has a 3.5 V6. But its not a Marque so not worth bringing over.

IMHO
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