Thinking about sourcing a LH drive Golf 4 TDi from Europe, a couple of years old, from a place where I know I can get them VERY cheap ! (answer, if you're wondering, is Sarajevo - there's a VW plant there, and all Golfs built are tax-subsidised; plus the locals don't earn much...)
Apart from the various import/tax etc things, what are the issues with getting a LH drive VW serviced here - are any of the bits specifically for left-hand drive cars, and therefore going to make a cheap to buy car expensive to run ?!
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Steering gear; clocks (km); headlights; clutch cable; sundry parts under the bonnet etc. will be different. Insurance is also likely to be loaded. Residual value will be lower than RHD when you come to sell.
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Assume you will have to pay to get bits changed to meet SVA?
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So presumably I'll need to get a very goodly cheap car to compensate for insurance / type / tax costs .... although I go to that part of the world regularly, so gettings parts not an issue...
I thought about this as decent Golf tdi's seem to be at least £8K+ s/h ....
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The changes needed are not major, and parts will be ok.
little higher insurance is nothing compared to big eastern europe savings.
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My major problem against getting a LHD car is the inconvenience. You can't really see to overtake. Car washes, ticket machines, toll booths are a problem - anything that assumes you have a RHD car. You've probably weighed this up already, but it'd have to work out a *lot* cheaper for me to put up with that. I'd probably only consider it if it was a car I had to have that you simply can't get in RHD.
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Agree with E34kid on this. eg Dartford tunnel is a total pain in LHD (unless you have DART system)- less of a problem if you spend a lot of time on the continent (at which point the expensive UK conversions mean the car is not operating as intended!)
Cost to convert a RHD car to legal German spec is around £300-500 (this is mainly headlamps and labour, depends on the model) and a couple of mornings at the various government offices and MoT testers'.
The safety argument does it for me. That's why I changed to a German car after 1 year and 30,000 miles with RHD. it's why I'm changing back when I go back to the UK.
All the cash in the world can't help you see round the artic in front or the umlit silver maniac going like a bat out of hell the other way.
pat
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I think different rules apply for importing cars from EU and non-EU countries. Sarajevo is in Bosnia, which is not in the EU. Check this out with DVLA and C&E before you purchase. See Honest John's FAQ for the contacts you need.
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My boss has a LHD Laguna II registered in the UK. He says its a pain MOT time (headlights are still LHD), and pays more for the insurance. No other problems reported.
Whats funny tho is his wifes car is a RHD Avensis. What do they take on holiday to France? You guessed, the Avensis!
Joe
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