Importing a 780 to the UK?

[deeman940]

Originally Posted by 726PAV

Hi - Thanks

There were no RHD 780 Bertones - the cars sold in Japan were LHD

Funnily enough, one of the 2 780s I know of in this Country did come from Japan.

My preference is a very late (1990) car - Turbo Petrol.

There were some diesels for the Italian Market and a 2litre Turbo too I believe.

A US car means adding side indicators (though thats not too difficult tbh)

Would you keep it LHD or convert it?

[Prufrock]

Originally Posted by deeman940

...or convert it?

!!!

Jon.

[726PAV]

Originally Posted by Prufrock

Best to source in Europe rather than the USA.

Jon.

Why? Purely the cost of moving it here?

[Prufrock]

Originally Posted by 726PAV

Why? Purely the cost of moving it here?

Not the only reason, and it isn't that expensive to transport cars from the USA - having done it a few times I know how.

Jon.

[726PAV]

Originally Posted by Prufrock

Not the only reason, and it isn't that expensive to transport cars from the USA - having done it a few times I know how.

Jon.

Why would a Euro car be preferable if not the transport cost?

[chrisfr]

Am i correct in saying that in japan you drive on the left hand side? So even though the cars imported would be left hand drive , they would have had their headlights changed to left hand traffic to comply with japanese roads, or have some kind of change over function built into the headlights. So maybe a car from a country that drives on the same side as the uk maybe an option as the headlights would comply with the traffic law of that country.

The advice on importing is to find out in writing,( email) from the dvla about the import requirements such as COC and headlights. This is because the dvla sometimes back tracks on advice and this causes problems. I have had experiance of this first hand. Most dvla employees are great, but get everything in writing as you have an audit trail if it goes wrong. Also do not believe the rubbish that they are not responsible for their advice as they are. Ask any lawyer specialising in transport law.
bon courage!

[Forrest]

I’ve never imported a vehicle myself, but a friend imported a motor tricycle from the continent a few years ago. I remember the main things he had to sort out were direction indicators and modifying the speedometer to read in mph. Can’t remember if this was formal type approval or just needed to obtain a UK MOT.

I suspect that it would be simpler and cheaper to import a car from the EU before March next year than from outside the EU.

US or UK are probably the only viable source of original MPH speedometers.

[Prufrock]

Originally Posted by chrisfr

Ask any lawyer specialising in transport law.

Transport law - tosh, this is all about HMRC and DVLA rules, they are clearly laid out (that's in writing!) on the relevant government websites and apply when your chosen vehicle arrives in the UK.

Selecting and transporting your chosen vehicle is a rather different thing.

Jon.

[chrisfr]

Prufrock,

There was another person who regularly imports vehicles from the states on another thread who said they regularly had conflicting advice from the dvla which caused problems. I have had exactly the same problem with the dvla as that person,so thanks for your opinion which you are entitled to but having experianced it first hand i will stick to my advice to create an audit trail.

[Prufrock]

chrisfr,

it is not my opinion.

I have, over a long period of time, imported a number of cars and motorcycles into the UK from the USA, and have a friend who is in business sourcing cars for UK and EU based customers from the USA.

Neither I nor he have had any issues with either HMRC (formerly Customs and Excise) or DVLA - if we did something stupid or failed to understand the protocols no doubt we would.

Jon.