Importing RUF-Flemke you were right!
Discussion
Well the ongoing saga from trying to get insurance for RUF has gone from decent news(£2400 insurance) to bad news. Unfortunately Flemke was right and it is not easy at all to bring a RUF vin car into the UK. Have been informed today by VOSA that short of crash testing my car, i won't be able to have my car certified in the UK because they don't accept TUV test results. Trying to get hold of RUF now to see what my options are. As Flemke said, RUF modified cars are okay...not sure if the RUF vin was worth it!!!
Cho
Cho
cho said:
Well the ongoing saga from trying to get insurance for RUF has gone from decent news(£2400 insurance) to bad news. Unfortunately Flemke was right and it is not easy at all to bring a RUF vin car into the UK. Have been informed today by VOSA that short of crash testing my car, i won't be able to have my car certified in the UK because they don't accept TUV test results. Trying to get hold of RUF now to see what my options are. As Flemke said, RUF modified cars are okay...not sure if the RUF vin was worth it!!!
Cho
Ah yes. Cho
This is the one time per year when I'm right.
For the crash tests, IINM you can do a comparison test. That is, you can take a UK-registered Porsche equivalent to the ESVA station and have it compared side-by-side with the Ruf.
The crash test regs got tougher in '03 (wasn't yours an '04?), but still you ought to be able to demonstrate that your car and the standard one are substantially identical - as they really are.
They may want to take off the F&R PUs to examine the underlying crash structure. Maybe for the door they would need to take off the door skin. Whatever, they don't need actually to crash your car.
Sorry that I was right in this case.
As I said before, good luck.
tb993tt said:
This is really sh!t - when I imported a CTR1 in the 90s I registered it as an '89 911 carrera turbo, that's what I put on the log book and no officials seemed to care.... surely you just own a 911 turbo imported from Germany ? 
The rules changed in around '99.
The ESVA is required only for RHD. It was instituted because some rocket scientist at VOSA didn't like the idea of loads of grey import Japanese cars being brought into the UK.The stuff of genius
drhildr said:
I am positive Ruf themselves will provide the answer - they were willing to bend over backwards to ensure that any car I bought would make it through the system.
The Rufs are exceptionally friendly, helpful people. In this case, however, they do not have a magic bullet. They do not have much experience in getting RHD Rufs registered in the UK, especially since the rule change mentioned above.
It was totally different before the rules changed, or back when there was a Ruf office in the UK.
If you want to sidestep the rules (that is, to commit fraud), there may be ways. There usually are.
The rule absolutely states, however, that if it's RHD and you cannot get a UK-based C of C or a letter from (in this case) Porsche GB, you need the ESVA.
The absolutely ludicrous part is that these clowns won't accept TuV approval. The TuV test is only about five times more rigourous than anything in the UK.
cho said:
Have been informed today by VOSA that short of crash testing my car, i won't be able to have my car certified in the UK because they don't accept TUV test results.
Depending on money and life-style you may not need to: Many continental europeans drive their cars around the UK for months, can't you own it in europe and let it visit the UK in the summer? A further step in that direction of course is just to up sticks and move out of the UK, a prospect which I must admit becomes more tempting as each month passes... Just my 2c lateral thought of the day.
hugoagogo said:
seriously though, this is mental. surely a car legal in one EU country should be legal in all of them?
Don't start getting all logical on us.
Eurocrat laws are good enough to be imposed on the people of Britain, even when they are not enforced on the Continent.
Soon points picked up by Britons whilst driving in Slovenia will be applied against one's UK licence.
But, just because your car has been rigourously tested and approved by the TuV, that doesn't mean that it's safe for Britain. Silly boy!
How could a Ruf be as safe as a home-built Caterfield?
flemke said:
hugoagogo said:
seriously though, this is mental. surely a car legal in one EU country should be legal in all of them?
Don't start getting all logical on us.
But, just because your car has been rigourously tested and approved by the TuV, that doesn't mean that it's safe for Britain. Silly boy!
How could a Ruf be as safe as a home-built Caterfield?
LOL - but now crying!!
Just out of interest what RUF was it?
Mines called an RK 38 apparently, built in '05. As Flemke has been saying it is nigh on impossible to bring a RUF vin car in according to the bods at VOSA who more or less admit themselves that they can't do anything except enforce the rulings. The stupid thing is that if mine was a personal import i could bring it in, do a standard SVA and have it registered, but it is now classified as a commercial import as i haven't lived abroad. Suddenly makes the car safer having lived abroad!!
An alternative which i am thinking about at the moment which side steps means i can go through standard SVA and it is perfectly legal. Another stroke of genius thinking...just need to spend another £20000 probably! As Flemke says...no RHD cars.
Still waiting for RUF to get back to me to discuss alternatives so fingers crossed!
Cho
An alternative which i am thinking about at the moment which side steps means i can go through standard SVA and it is perfectly legal. Another stroke of genius thinking...just need to spend another £20000 probably! As Flemke says...no RHD cars.
Still waiting for RUF to get back to me to discuss alternatives so fingers crossed!
Cho
Edited by cho on Saturday 9th December 10:19
Yeah, was thinking about Leon as i saw that he was ordering one. MAybe should ask before getting it now. Alternative is to ask if RUF can order standard Porsche from germany and then modify it so that it still has Porsche vin then can get certificate of conformity from Porsche which also means no SVA test to do.
SVA.
I had a similar registration problem. Mine was a rhd 04 Boxster Anniversary. I bought it from Porsche in Germany de registered. It was their pre launch rhd C16 press car. Easy eh.....no. Porsche wouldnt issue a COC, even though for months they said they would. The reason was that it was pre production and therefore not E marked. The car came with a German SVA....easy...no, German SVA no longer accepted here contrary to statement on SVA web site.
Long painful story short, I applied for ESVA, and had to provide a statement from Porsche that various items were in fact to European conformity (eg belts, lights, airbag, steering colomb, and emmisions)that took another month for Porsche to say the emmisions were okay and the airbag was the same as any other Boxster. With that a 10 minute SVA to see a mph speedo and rh lights was all that required.
To be honest it was a huge trial. Because it was rhd, but not a Jap import was very difficult indeed. At one point I considered breaking it with only 2000 miles on it.
Porsche were embarrassed, no one wanted to help and it was illogical.
I dont know where that leads you, maybe its going to need more imagination, registration in Gersey, Ireland etc.
Would SVA accept any other foreign SVA approval?
Bloody daft when those stupidchinese quad bikes get registered.
Sorry cant help more but keep going, there must be a route.
Adrian Crawford.
I had a similar registration problem. Mine was a rhd 04 Boxster Anniversary. I bought it from Porsche in Germany de registered. It was their pre launch rhd C16 press car. Easy eh.....no. Porsche wouldnt issue a COC, even though for months they said they would. The reason was that it was pre production and therefore not E marked. The car came with a German SVA....easy...no, German SVA no longer accepted here contrary to statement on SVA web site.
Long painful story short, I applied for ESVA, and had to provide a statement from Porsche that various items were in fact to European conformity (eg belts, lights, airbag, steering colomb, and emmisions)that took another month for Porsche to say the emmisions were okay and the airbag was the same as any other Boxster. With that a 10 minute SVA to see a mph speedo and rh lights was all that required.
To be honest it was a huge trial. Because it was rhd, but not a Jap import was very difficult indeed. At one point I considered breaking it with only 2000 miles on it.
Porsche were embarrassed, no one wanted to help and it was illogical.
I dont know where that leads you, maybe its going to need more imagination, registration in Gersey, Ireland etc.
Would SVA accept any other foreign SVA approval?
Bloody daft when those stupidchinese quad bikes get registered.
Sorry cant help more but keep going, there must be a route.
Adrian Crawford.
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