Im importing a BMW 3 Series diesel from Germany soon and will be bring the car back on the Cruxhaven (Hamburg) to Harwich route. The dealer is taking the car by trailer to the dock so I don't need transit plates.
I was going to have him put it on the DFDS ferry and me collect it from Harwich, then drive all the way home to Lancashire on no UK registration plates (perfectly legal I can assure you!) but covered by my insurance policy.
However, DFDS want £230 for a one way service to bring the car back unaccompanied. So I asked them how much for me to travel on a return ticket from Harwich to Cruxhaven, collect the car and return the same day. The price? £169!! WTF!?
Beats me why a one way, unaccompanied trip should cost £60 more and no, insurance isnt included. VAT is included in both prices. When I asked the girl said the return ticket is classed as a mini cruise.
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I'ts an odd world. I thought I would save money on my next car by buying the pieces and putting them together myself ;-)
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free market economy i suppose
same with airlines
standing at BA counter in France
"how much is a single on the next flight to London ? "
Answer "£ X" (about 250 quid I think)
"ok I'll have one"
Answer "I can do you a return for X minus Y" (about 160)
"ok give me a return then"
And they wonder why they have so many "no shows", never did bother with the return
or some of the train companies do similar... "you may as well have a return sir, its the same price"
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Huw, I don't think so.
Werther's Original chewing Backroomers may remember a television news item from the early 1970s where someone was keen on replacing his Morris Minor with another one, and didn't want to buy secondhand.
His local garage built him one from spare parts, and the resulting bill would have covered the price of a very trendy BMW.
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LeZebre you seem to have missed the wink ;-) at the end of my post.
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Hi Huw,
Well I didn't really think you were being serious :-)
My fingers get itchy even if I only think I've been given an opportunity to offer an anecdote.
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I'ts an odd world. I thought I would save money on my next car by buying the pieces and putting them together myself ;-)
You've been watching far too many episodes of "A Car Is Born" on the Discovery Channel :o)
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Has anyone ever estimated the cost of building a car from bits, as opposed to purchasing it ready built? Silly question perhaps, but I wonder roughly what the difference would be and is it possible to do so.............
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This has been asked before.
IIRC the questimates were that it was possible but would cost you anything up to ten times that of a ready-assembled specimen.
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Unaccompanied, it makes it that much more obvious that this is no pleasure trip, but a commercial one where your enterprising purchase has secured you a substantial advantage.
Cynically, or understandably, depending on your viewpoint, the ferry company wants its cut!
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Ah but they know it's STILL no pleasure trip if I go out to collect the car, a because I told them and b, because the car is still only going one way!
If they wanted their 'cut' they'd have charged the same whether a one way trip or return.
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Like I meant to imply, Watcher, I admire (and envy) your enterprise.
Me, I read all I can find on importing, then end up joining the ranks of the grey pound at Reg Vardy's.
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Of course, having you on board for a return journey means they can try to sell you all sorts of refreshments and fancy goods at inflated prices, not to mention duty and tax paid goods. They can't do this with an unaccompanied car :o)
Terry
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recently flew to Bremen (BA, using Air Miles, only charged one-way "price" but would have been double if I'd paid cash!), to collect S3 (saving over £4,000) and returned on ferry via Cuxenhaven. No probs. Add to your fun - why not get return ticket on DFDS and meet dealer quayside to collect?
El Hacko
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Originally, I was just going to have the car shipped over but seeing as I'm saving £60 and with some spare time on my hands, I intend collecting from Cruxhaven!
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You'll always get a better deal booking through an agent that offers decent discounts that DFDS direct. Did you know by shipping your car with them unaccompanied on this route that not only are you not covered by DFDS insurance policy but that as a shipper of unaccompanied cargo, you will be held jointly liable for the loss of the ship if it sinks when your car is on it! You need to take out your own marine insurance to bring the car over this way. This information came from DFDS themselves when I enquired about doing the same on this route.
Colin
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Yes, thanks I am aware of this though the chances of the ship sinking are, hopefully, extremely remote.
The sooner something is done to lift the 2 EU regs preventing UK insurers legally covering a car on foreign transit plates, the better.
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The insurance issue is a real nuisance. Law abiding customers who want to ensure they are properly covered for comprehensive risks are having to take chances with minimum legal cover for the Euro part of their journey due to Euro beaurocracy. I complained to my MP (via the excellent www.faxyourmp.com site) and got the following response:
www.sportimport.co.uk/dtlr.jpg
When there seemed to be no change, I complained again and goa slightly different story:
www.sportimport.co.uk/dtlr2.jpg
Two years ago there was no problem getting cover on the VIN and the excuses about the car not being registered in the UK are bull, the VIN number is a much more secure method of vehicle identification that a pair of plastic plates from Halfords.
Colin
(Sorry for link to my own website, but the images of the letters hosted there for my clients benefit)
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