Buy LHD car to drive in UK

[Freester]

If I buy a LHD car which is registered in Europe what are the requirements for initially driving it in the UK before its re-registered in the UK? I have been told by the seller they can arrange insurance from the country it is registered in and I don't need road tax at all, is this correct?

Thanks in advance.

[TooMany2cvs]

Freester said:

If I buy a LHD car which is registered in Europe

Which country?

Freester said:

what are the requirements for initially driving it in the UK before its re-registered in the UK?

If you're UK resident, then you can't. It's that simple.

Freester said:

I have been told by the seller they can arrange insurance from the country it is registered in and I don't need road tax at all, is this correct?

I have no idea if they can or not, or whether it'd be anything other than a useless but expensive piece of paper if they do. They probably told you the car was bob-on, and an absolute bargain, too.

[Freester]

The car is Dutch registered and yes it's fantastic.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bmw/lhd-left-hand-drive-...

[TooMany2cvs]

Freester said:

The car is Dutch registered and yes it's fantastic.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bmw/lhd-left-hand-drive-...

Sorry... let me just be sure I understand...

You're seriously thinking of paying six grand for a decade-old cack-hand Hyundai SantaFe that you'll need to jump through the registration hoops with...?
From an advert on GUMTREE that only has a mobile number...?
WTF are the plates on it in the pics from? Because they sure as hell ain't cloggyplates.

Edited by TooMany2cvs on Tuesday 13th December 15:44

[exelero]

AFAIK you can drive it for up to 6 months without having to register it, unless you are a UK resident.

The reg however can be a pain in the arse, you got to change the headlights, the foglights, than get it inspected by DVSA, than MOT than bla bla Why don't you just buy a RHD? Much cheaper

[Freester]

I want to drive it across Europe next year so I thought lhd would be easier to drive.

[exelero]

It's up to you my friend . You can always rent one, but buy it if you feel like.

[aka_kerrly]

exelero said:

AFAIK you can drive it for up to 6 months without having to register it, unless you are a UK resident.
r

And even then the police don't appear bothered nor the DVLA because they will claim there is no accurate way of telling when a car arrived in the uk. It's a farce.

[exelero]

aka_kerrly said:

And even then the police don't appear bothered nor the DVLA because they will claim there is no accurate way of telling when a car arrived in the uk. It's a farce.

Correct

[TooMany2cvs]

aka_kerrly said:

exelero said:

AFAIK you can drive it for up to 6 months without having to register it, unless you are a UK resident.

And even then the police don't appear bothered nor the DVLA because they will claim there is no accurate way of telling when a car arrived in the uk. It's a farce.

Most people who bring cars in, then fail to register them, are easily proven to be UK residents. There's no point in counting up 183 days, if it's that easy.

[rs990]

TooMany2cvs said:

WTF are the plates on it in the pics from? Because they sure as hell ain't cloggyplates.

The layout of letters and numbers matches the 2006 Dutch system, so I suspect that the car may be on Dutch export plates.

[sorin1987]

Freester said:

I want to drive it across Europe next year so I thought lhd would be easier to drive.

I do roadtrips on the continent every year. Never had a problem driving there with a RHD. Most of the driving is motorway anyway where you don't need to overtake (which is the only disadvantage of RHD in a "Drives on the right" country). I don't think that is a good enogh reason to buy a LHD car...

[Riley Blue]

sorin1987 said:

Freester said:

I want to drive it across Europe next year so I thought lhd would be easier to drive.

I do roadtrips on the continent every year. Never had a problem driving there with a RHD. Most of the driving is motorway anyway where you don't need to overtake (which is the only disadvantage of RHD in a "Drives on the right" country). I don't think that is a good enogh reason to buy a LHD car...

That's my thinking too plus you have the arse ache of driving LHD in the UK.

[Vaud]

sorin1987 said:

Freester said:

I want to drive it across Europe next year so I thought lhd would be easier to drive.

I do roadtrips on the continent every year. Never had a problem driving there with a RHD. Most of the driving is motorway anyway where you don't need to overtake (which is the only disadvantage of RHD in a "Drives on the right" country). I don't think that is a good enogh reason to buy a LHD car...

The only pain is toll booths when you are on your own. But a Sanef token can solve that, at least for France.

I've had no other issues.

[lostkiwi]

Vaud said:

sorin1987 said:

Freester said:

I want to drive it across Europe next year so I thought lhd would be easier to drive.

I do roadtrips on the continent every year. Never had a problem driving there with a RHD. Most of the driving is motorway anyway where you don't need to overtake (which is the only disadvantage of RHD in a "Drives on the right" country). I don't think that is a good enogh reason to buy a LHD car...

The only pain is toll booths when you are on your own. But a Sanef token can solve that, at least for France.

I've had no other issues.

That and carparks.
And it can be 'challenging' (and exciting!) overtaking HGVs when on smaller roads.

[wouth]

Freester, I advise you to be very careful.

Over the last 6 months I have reported to Gumtree at least a dozen times when people are selling Dutch cars (using different accounts). In all cases I managed to find that they were clocked (porsches, bmws, mercedes) significantly - simply by searching for the reg plate and 'te koop' thus getting the original ad.

Doing that for this car doesn't show any Dutch advertisement.

However checking with the Dutch MOT (RDW) it seems it had its last MOT in 2013.
http://www.rdwkenteken.nl/Check/61TGGG

So i think this is another dodgy sale - or at least it has been off the road in the NL for a long time..

Good luck!

PS driving a LHD car in the UK isn't a problem, so I wouldn't worry about that. Similarly, driving a RHD in the EU isn't a problem either. Just bring one of those little litter grabbers for the toll booths / car park garages.

[wouth]

btw yes they are the standard Dutch export plates - nothing strange there.
(I'm from Holland, as you probably guessed, but live in the UK)

[Jimmy Recard]

wouth said:

Freester, I advise you to be very careful.

Over the last 6 months I have reported to Gumtree at least a dozen times when people are selling Dutch cars (using different accounts). In all cases I managed to find that they were clocked (porsches, bmws, mercedes) significantly - simply by searching for the reg plate and 'te koop' thus getting the original ad.

Doing that for this car doesn't show any Dutch advertisement.

However checking with the Dutch MOT (RDW) it seems it had its last MOT in 2013.
http://www.rdwkenteken.nl/Check/61TGGG

So i think this is another dodgy sale - or at least it has been off the road in the NL for a long time..

Good luck!

PS driving a LHD car in the UK isn't a problem, so I wouldn't worry about that. Similarly, driving a RHD in the EU isn't a problem either. Just bring one of those little litter grabbers for the toll booths / car park garages.

I reckon it's probably been in the UK since 2013, driving around without tax or MOT and avoiding speeding tickets. I wouldn't buy it for various reasons.

[wouth]

and yes, this is the same dodgy seller...

His Touareg with 75k miles was just sold in Holland with 206k km
http://www.autotrader.nl/auto/volkswagen-touareg/2...

And his Sorento with 63k miles had 240k km in the Netherland when it was sold..
http://autovooru.nl/kia-sorento~112-8a1-15cd95.htm...

What a b*st*rd..

[Freester]

Thanks to everybody who posted especially Wouth who took the trouble to check the mileage of the cars when they left Holland.

I won't be buying a car off Gumtree any time soon!