fidobsa

I am in the process of doing repairs and modifications to my LDV Convoy van to get it onto Hungarian plates. One garage did look at it and came up with a list of items that need attention. One of these was the exhaust, which normally exits on the right hand side of the van rather than the back. They said this is not allowed in Hungary, presumably because it is directing exhaust fumes toward pedestrians on the pavement when driving on the right. For months I have been trying to find out what exhaust layout was used on left hand drive versions of the Convoy but they are quite rare vehicles. Today I saw a Leyland DAF 400 pickup truck in the Penny market car park. this was the model before the Convoy so I had a look underneath at the exhaust. It looked like there was only one silencer after the cat. then a short bit of slash cut exit pipe pointing downwards, roughly half way down the length of the truck box. I could easily rig my exhaust in a similar way if it is good enough to satisfy an MoT tester but is there any way I can find out what is allowed? In UK we have the construction and use regulations for vehicles, is there something similar in Hungary?

I had been looking at ways to get the exhaust to exit at the left side or the back but it needs to go over the propshaft or the back axle, both quite tricky obstacles.

Trance it

Hi. If I were you i would take the van to another garage for them to check it over.
I have a right hand drive Transit and did not have any problems at all. I only changed my headlights over, no mention of exhaust problems as mine also sits on the right hand side at the back.
Hope this helps a little.

fidobsa

Thanks for the reply. Did you organise the registration yourself or did a garage handle it for you? I will also need to get at least 4 tyres as they are currently all different. Apparently they have to be the same make and tread pattern on any given axle and mine is a twin wheel so it will probably mean 4 new back tyres.

Trance it

Hi fidobsa. Sorry for the delay in answering your question but we were away on holiday.

The garage booked it in for it's first test and drove it there for us thought they did have problems finding someone to drive it as nobody wanted to drive a right hand drive van.

I did think the import duty was a little high for the age of the van but it's a commercial vehicle hence higher cost. We were also told, and had to sign a form, that we understood that we were also prohibited from selling the vehicle due to it being a right hand drive so we basically have to either drive it into the ground or break it for spares, something else to think about.
As like in the UK, shop around for tyre prices as they do vary a fair bit, you may have to travel out of town but as a rule it's worth it in the long run. Also consider using the UK for spare parts as it can be cheaper to have them mailed to Hungary than buying it here, some prices i have been quoted in the past were extortionate to say the least.

fidobsa

I thought there was no import duty on vans so it was cheaper to register them than cars?

Trance it

We were not aware of it either until we were there with the paperwork and they would only accept cash over the counter. You have to also pay for your number plates when you pick them up. that being cash only.
We did bring over our car so we had two vehicles to register, the van one year younger than the car and twice the import duty.

fidobsa

This was from the old thread on registering cars:

"Just thought I would let you all know how this works as we had no idea how much was involved when we started the process. It might help others or put them off completely.

We have an 8 year old transit and a 9 year old vauxhall astra. We love both the vehicles and we decided to keep them. Now the fun started.

The transit was fairly straight forward when we finally found a garage to do it. They were brilliant, and local, which was a bonus. The transit needed to be taken to Kaposvar for a Hungarian MOT. The garage checked it first then took the van to Kaposvar in the morning and we got it back in the afternoon with the MOT in place.

Next I had to call the ID/Vehicle licencing Office in Fonyod (we live in Balatonfenyves) to get an appointment to get the van papers sorted and get a licence plate. When I had the appointment, I called our insurance lady to arrange insurance for the van for the day we had to go to the Office. We just showed up, presented all the papers (original registration document, plates, Hungarian MOT, Hungarian insurance, Steve's registration card, passport and address card). We were given 3 post office cheques to pay (approximately 21000Fts) then went back and got the Hungarian Registration Document, licence plates and sticker for the windscreen. Done and dusted.
As it is a commercial vehicle, we didn't have to pay any registration fee (AKA import duty) at customs. Not the case with the car...

Car works the same way except for registration fee, which you have to pay. They work this out by looking at the age of the car and the condition of the engine (which you only get to know once the Hungarian MOT is done). We had to pay 240 000 Fts and the usual - MOT 40 000Fts, plates and documents 21 000Fts. Unfortunately after paying the post office cheques we were told they couldn't give us the plates there and then because the name vauxhall is not int heir computer base. They had to update their system but it was only the head office being able to do that. We were there on Wednesday afternoon and they said it would be a couple of days, so really hoping it will be done early next week.

By the way, apparently you cannot sell right hand drive vehicles over here. You can only bring them into the country for your own use and then sell them as spares. They only let people who OWNED the cars abroad keep them because of relocation.


Hope this helps


Ria"

duztee

Agreed Fid.
My 4x4 was a PLG in the UK but classed as a commercial vehicle here and so there was no Import duty charge.

But because it has 5 seat it was possible to register it as N1, which exempts it from the commercial regulations. but be careful if you have a tow bar fitted as this can again take you over the 3.5 tonne train weight and back into commercial regulations, even to the extent of requiring a tachograph fitted.
Though it is possible to sign a declaration stating solely for private use, which again gets you exemption from the regulations.

Peter_in_Hungary

Not to mention a group 'C' driving licence

fidobsa

I do have a C1E licence but have removed the towbar in any case. It was on the van when I got it but I've never towed with it and have no plans to do so. Unfortunately I also had to remove the rear step as I could not undo the towball nuts which are about 3 feet from the end of a box section tube and are not welded to said tube!