LHD for the Netherlands- where to buy?

[AlexiusG55]

So this isn't a what to buy thread (yet), more a where to buy thread. I find myself moving to the Netherlands in a few months to start a new job there. While NL isn't the most car-friendly of countries, and I intend to commute by bike and/or train, I still think I'll want a car. I also intend to go over on the ferry with a carload of stuff when I move.

While I enjoy my current car (Saab 9-3 Aero), it's RHD. While it's been OK on the Continent the few times I've taken it over, I'll probably want an LHD car if I'm actually living there. Unless anyone disagrees with that...

So, the question is, does it make more sense financially to buy an LHD car in the UK and drive it over, buy one in the Netherlands, or buy one nearby but over the border (I will be living close to both the Belgian and German borders)? This is I think complicated by the fact that you have to pay tax on cars imported to NL even from another EU country. While they have an exemption for people moving and bringing their car in, I may not be able to get that on anything other than the LHD car I now own as I think you have to have owned it for a certain length of time before you move.

I am ideally looking at the cheap-but-not-shed end of the market, if I can find something interesting (ie not a shopping trolley) under €4000.

Thanks/ dank u wel (I'm trying to learn Dutch...)

[Turbojuice]

I think your best bet is more than likely Germany. No idea about the logistics of buying a car from Germany for use in NL though.

[VAGLover]

Turbojuice said:

I think your best bet is more than likely Germany. No idea about the logistics of buying a car from Germany for use in NL though.

No issue at all, it’s called a common market! Just need to register and tax it in Holland.