Left hand drive Porsches in the UK
Discussion
Hi All,
We're relocating back to the UK later this year, I have a LHD 997 turbo convertible, which is in lovely condition. I have potential purchasers here (Dubai) but friends are suggesting she would be well received in the UK (it might suit me to keep her for a while whilst we settle in and I sort out which Porsche I want to progress on to). In your view, is a LHD Porsche something there might be interest in, in the UK? It's obviously no small job to import her.
Secondly, we have a very active owners club here who organise frequent track days, wet handling (skid pans), etc etc. Does anything like this exist in the UK (we are moving to South Wales, I couldn't find anything locally last summer when we were over).
Appreciate the benefit of your collective experience, thanks.
We're relocating back to the UK later this year, I have a LHD 997 turbo convertible, which is in lovely condition. I have potential purchasers here (Dubai) but friends are suggesting she would be well received in the UK (it might suit me to keep her for a while whilst we settle in and I sort out which Porsche I want to progress on to). In your view, is a LHD Porsche something there might be interest in, in the UK? It's obviously no small job to import her.
Secondly, we have a very active owners club here who organise frequent track days, wet handling (skid pans), etc etc. Does anything like this exist in the UK (we are moving to South Wales, I couldn't find anything locally last summer when we were over).
Appreciate the benefit of your collective experience, thanks.
I’d speak to someone like JZM OP....they retail LHD cars sometimes and 997 Turbo’s are cars they retail frequently. Not close to South Wales but they have a very good reputation.
https://www.jzmporsche.com
Also for an idea of LHD prices have a look at mobile.de
https://www.jzmporsche.com
Also for an idea of LHD prices have a look at mobile.de
As long as you've owned it for more than 6 months and you are relocating to live in UK then it comes into UK tax free but you'll have to keep it for a year before selling it; if you sell it within the year you have to pay the tax.
Assuming it is less than 10 years old you'll have to have both an MOT and an IVA test before you can register it (if it is more than 10 years old just an MOT), you need to make sure it has a working right hand fog light as you'll need it for UK registration, if it doesn't its best to get it done by Nabooda/ ARM before you leave and i'd get them to flick the headlights over to RHD ready for UK, cheaper to get it done there than in UK. Export from Dubai is easy but it's worth getting export plates so you can drive it in UK from the port to home, to MOT/ IVA test, etc.
In terms of value, the UK market itself is very fickle and UK central in its outlook, but the European market is far more open to imported cars, when it comes to selling i'd recommend to forget UK market and advertise on mobile.de as someone mentioned above.
When I came back i brought a few cars including a GT2 from Dubai, which easily found a home in Europe with a very respectable return when i sold it through mobile.de
I really didn't find the process any major hassle at all, just got an agent to clear the cars on arrival at the port, picked them up and drove them home, then went through the process of getting them IVA tested/ MOT'd and sent off paperwork to DVLA for registration.
I don't think there is a Porsche Club that is active in a similar way to the UAE, but there are plenty of good track day providers and most of the people who go to them are a friendly bunch. Lots more choice of circuits in the UK as well and whilst none have the facilities of YAS, all of them are far more interesting and challenging to drive on.
Assuming it is less than 10 years old you'll have to have both an MOT and an IVA test before you can register it (if it is more than 10 years old just an MOT), you need to make sure it has a working right hand fog light as you'll need it for UK registration, if it doesn't its best to get it done by Nabooda/ ARM before you leave and i'd get them to flick the headlights over to RHD ready for UK, cheaper to get it done there than in UK. Export from Dubai is easy but it's worth getting export plates so you can drive it in UK from the port to home, to MOT/ IVA test, etc.
In terms of value, the UK market itself is very fickle and UK central in its outlook, but the European market is far more open to imported cars, when it comes to selling i'd recommend to forget UK market and advertise on mobile.de as someone mentioned above.
When I came back i brought a few cars including a GT2 from Dubai, which easily found a home in Europe with a very respectable return when i sold it through mobile.de
I really didn't find the process any major hassle at all, just got an agent to clear the cars on arrival at the port, picked them up and drove them home, then went through the process of getting them IVA tested/ MOT'd and sent off paperwork to DVLA for registration.
I don't think there is a Porsche Club that is active in a similar way to the UAE, but there are plenty of good track day providers and most of the people who go to them are a friendly bunch. Lots more choice of circuits in the UK as well and whilst none have the facilities of YAS, all of them are far more interesting and challenging to drive on.
Edited by NAS90 on Saturday 13th January 19:22
NAS90 said:
As long as you've owned it for more than 6 months and you are relocating to live in UK then it comes into UK tax free but you'll have to keep it for a year before selling it; if you sell it within the year you have to pay the tax.
Assuming it is less than 10 years old you'll have to have both an MOT and an IVA test before you can register it (if it is more than 10 years old just an MOT), you need to make sure it has a working right hand fog light as you'll need it for UK registration, if it doesn't its best to get it done by Nabooda/ ARM before you leave and i'd get them to flick the headlights over to RHD ready for UK, cheaper to get it done there than in UK. Export from Dubai is easy but it's worth getting export plates so you can drive it in UK from the port to home, to MOT/ IVA test, etc.
In terms of value, the UK market itself is very fickle and UK central in its outlook, but the European market is far more open to imported cars, when it comes to selling i'd recommend to forget UK market and advertise on mobile.de as someone mentioned above.
When I came back i brought a few cars including a GT2 from Dubai, which easily found a home in Europe with a very respectable return when i sold it through mobile.de
I really didn't find the process any major hassle at all, just got an agent to clear the cars on arrival at the port, picked them up and drove them home, then went through the process of getting them IVA tested/ MOT'd and sent off paperwork to DVLA for registration.
I don't think there is a Porsche Club that is active in a similar way to the UAE, but there are plenty of good track day providers and most of the people who go to them are a friendly bunch. Lots more choice of circuits in the UK as well and whilst none have the facilities of YAS, all of them are far more interesting and challenging to drive on.
Great feedback, thanks, appreciate the pointers (and same from previous posters) to where best to do my homework...Assuming it is less than 10 years old you'll have to have both an MOT and an IVA test before you can register it (if it is more than 10 years old just an MOT), you need to make sure it has a working right hand fog light as you'll need it for UK registration, if it doesn't its best to get it done by Nabooda/ ARM before you leave and i'd get them to flick the headlights over to RHD ready for UK, cheaper to get it done there than in UK. Export from Dubai is easy but it's worth getting export plates so you can drive it in UK from the port to home, to MOT/ IVA test, etc.
In terms of value, the UK market itself is very fickle and UK central in its outlook, but the European market is far more open to imported cars, when it comes to selling i'd recommend to forget UK market and advertise on mobile.de as someone mentioned above.
When I came back i brought a few cars including a GT2 from Dubai, which easily found a home in Europe with a very respectable return when i sold it through mobile.de
I really didn't find the process any major hassle at all, just got an agent to clear the cars on arrival at the port, picked them up and drove them home, then went through the process of getting them IVA tested/ MOT'd and sent off paperwork to DVLA for registration.
I don't think there is a Porsche Club that is active in a similar way to the UAE, but there are plenty of good track day providers and most of the people who go to them are a friendly bunch. Lots more choice of circuits in the UK as well and whilst none have the facilities of YAS, all of them are far more interesting and challenging to drive on.
Edited by NAS90 on Saturday 13th January 19:22
Imported my LHD 997.2 C4S from Dubai in November. No regrets at all. With ToR in place for duty/tax free import. It made total man math sense to me, especially comparing the value compared to the UK RHD cars. Note HMRC will place a 12 month blocker on you selling the car unless the duty is paid, after 12 months you can sell it as you wish.
Absolutely no issues driving LHD around in the UK, to a point I dont even think about it.
I've done a couple of Euro bashes in it as well (Belgium and then Slovakia) where of course LHD is well suited.
As for value, as said above, forget the UK market. I've no plans to sell, but if I did, Germany etc is where I'd advertise.
Is yours gen 2 turbo? If so, rear fog light swap is free and simple to do.
Absolutely no issues driving LHD around in the UK, to a point I dont even think about it.
I've done a couple of Euro bashes in it as well (Belgium and then Slovakia) where of course LHD is well suited.
As for value, as said above, forget the UK market. I've no plans to sell, but if I did, Germany etc is where I'd advertise.
Is yours gen 2 turbo? If so, rear fog light swap is free and simple to do.
Edited by Rich_AR on Tuesday 16th January 09:36
Rich_AR said:
Imported my LHD 997.2 C4S from Dubai in November. No regrets at all. With ToR in place for duty/tax free import. It made total man math sense to me, especially comparing the value compared to the UK RHD cars. Note HMRC will place a 12 month blocker on you selling the car unless the duty is paid, after 12 months you can sell it as you wish.
Absolutely no issues driving LHD around in the UK, to a point I dont even think about it.
I've done a couple of Euro bashes in it as well (Belgium and then Slovakia) where of course LHD is well suited.
As for value, as said above, forget the UK market. I've no plans to sell, but if I did, Germany etc is where I'd advertise.
Is yours gen 2 turbo? If so, rear fog light swap is free and simple to do.
I'm uncertain about driving LHD in the UK, country lanes and all that. Otherwise keeping her for 12 months in the UK is not an issues. A friend of mine owns Cannonball UK so anticipate joining in with that and yes, values in .de appear to be significantly higher than here and UK. I would sell to trade up (different conversation as to what to, GT3RS and GT4 are attractive, new GT2RS appear to be gold dust... I think 4 coming into UAE against waitlist of 150!). But the more I research, the more attractive it appears to be to bring her with me.... Absolutely no issues driving LHD around in the UK, to a point I dont even think about it.
I've done a couple of Euro bashes in it as well (Belgium and then Slovakia) where of course LHD is well suited.
As for value, as said above, forget the UK market. I've no plans to sell, but if I did, Germany etc is where I'd advertise.
Is yours gen 2 turbo? If so, rear fog light swap is free and simple to do.
Edited by Rich_AR on Tuesday 16th January 09:36
Hugo a Gogo said:
if you like, as a personal favour, I'll drive it over to Germany, and keep it on the road here for you until it sells
I'll give it a run out say, every other day, just to keep it in working order, maybe a longer run on weekends
I just knew this group would be full of generous people... I'll give it a run out say, every other day, just to keep it in working order, maybe a longer run on weekends
Similar position to you. Lived and owned a 911 Turbo while living in Germany. Came back to the UK with the LHD car.
Selling the car was a pain. Official UK Porsche dealers were not interested. It was realistically priced, but no serious interest from end users. Just a bunch of nuisance calls from dealers I'd never heard of offering to take it off my hands for much less than it was worth. So I kept it for a while. It was a beautiful car but a pain to live with on UK roads. Biggest pain was car parks without a glamorous passenger always there to assist. Second pain was restricted visibility overtaking things... which you want to do in a 911 Turbo.
I did eventually sell the car via mobile.de to a car dealer in Belgium who wanted to use the car himself for a while before eventually selling it on. Waiting I got a much better price, but the car took 9 months to sell.
Conclusion: I would sell the car the Dubai if I was you. Unless you want to keep it indefinitely and continue using it.
Selling the car was a pain. Official UK Porsche dealers were not interested. It was realistically priced, but no serious interest from end users. Just a bunch of nuisance calls from dealers I'd never heard of offering to take it off my hands for much less than it was worth. So I kept it for a while. It was a beautiful car but a pain to live with on UK roads. Biggest pain was car parks without a glamorous passenger always there to assist. Second pain was restricted visibility overtaking things... which you want to do in a 911 Turbo.
I did eventually sell the car via mobile.de to a car dealer in Belgium who wanted to use the car himself for a while before eventually selling it on. Waiting I got a much better price, but the car took 9 months to sell.
Conclusion: I would sell the car the Dubai if I was you. Unless you want to keep it indefinitely and continue using it.
SimonOcean said:
Similar position to you. Lived and owned a 911 Turbo while living in Germany. Came back to the UK with the LHD car.
Selling the car was a pain. Official UK Porsche dealers were not interested. It was realistically priced, but no serious interest from end users. Just a bunch of nuisance calls from dealers I'd never heard of offering to take it off my hands for much less than it was worth. So I kept it for a while. It was a beautiful car but a pain to live with on UK roads. Biggest pain was car parks without a glamorous passenger always there to assist. Second pain was restricted visibility overtaking things... which you want to do in a 911 Turbo.
I did eventually sell the car via mobile.de to a car dealer in Belgium who wanted to use the car himself for a while before eventually selling it on. Waiting I got a much better price, but the car took 9 months to sell.
Conclusion: I would sell the car the Dubai if I was you. Unless you want to keep it indefinitely and continue using it.
I have had several LHD cars in the UK over the last 20 years. I completely agree with the above poster. If you plan to sell the car anyway, then do that in Dubai. Its not worth the hassle. On the other hand if it is a keeper then it is not a huge problem using a LHD in the UK. I only find car parks a pain where you have to lean over and take the ticket form the near side. That is ok in a Porsche but in a Range Rover it is a real pain. Selling the car was a pain. Official UK Porsche dealers were not interested. It was realistically priced, but no serious interest from end users. Just a bunch of nuisance calls from dealers I'd never heard of offering to take it off my hands for much less than it was worth. So I kept it for a while. It was a beautiful car but a pain to live with on UK roads. Biggest pain was car parks without a glamorous passenger always there to assist. Second pain was restricted visibility overtaking things... which you want to do in a 911 Turbo.
I did eventually sell the car via mobile.de to a car dealer in Belgium who wanted to use the car himself for a while before eventually selling it on. Waiting I got a much better price, but the car took 9 months to sell.
Conclusion: I would sell the car the Dubai if I was you. Unless you want to keep it indefinitely and continue using it.
Thanks for the ongoing input. I'm not in a rush to sell it and it won't be our only car, so still happy to continue investigating bringing it back. Anyone who has imported, can you advise who you used for insurance, particularly in the early stages prior to DVLA registration (ie from port to IVA testing centre - or was it better to put it on a trailer or flatbed)?
Thanks
Thanks
997dxb said:
Thanks for the ongoing input. I'm not in a rush to sell it and it won't be our only car, so still happy to continue investigating bringing it back. Anyone who has imported, can you advise who you used for insurance, particularly in the early stages prior to DVLA registration (ie from port to IVA testing centre - or was it better to put it on a trailer or flatbed)?
Thanks
To clarify, road insurance in the UK, not whilst transporting to the UK!Thanks
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