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Why do people bring RHD cars over


Teamedup
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We hadn't planned on moving to France, but when we did we sold our RHD car in the UK and bought in France.

So why do you bring your cars over. I have enough experience of driving my LHD in the UK to know that I prefer, as a driver, to be in the crown of the road, far more convenient.

 

NB I would say that classic cars would be some sort of exception though.

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Because we had to have a reliable car in the UK and our old faithfull had finaly given up the ghost,we bought a nearly new car only about 12 months befor departure and would have lost far too much money in selling back to a garage .A private sale possibly could have left us without transport, plus the fact that we have a trailor and used this to bring over what we wanted from our Uk home. Mrs O
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We brought Di's Mist Wagen over because

1. Though only aged 6 with low mileage worth very little

2. Funds generated by UK sale would buy *** all here

3. Cost of re-registering a UK car ? DRIRE €67 + CT€51 + carte grise which we would have to buy for any car

4. Di does not find an RHD car a problem, any con more than offset by keeping her trusty automatic

My RHD Honda developed an expensive sounding noise from NSF so was not worth re-registration. I then bought small C15D van to overtake and park anywhere with impunity.

John

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[quote]Because we had to have a reliable car in the UK and our old faithfull had finaly given up the ghost,we bought a nearly new car only about 12 months befor departure and would have lost far too much mon...[/quote]

Ditto.  Had bought a new Renualt Scenic RX4 (dog wagon!) 6 months earlier (imported but RHD) for excellent price. Would never have got money back so decided to keep it.  Had no problems reregistering it (already had cert of conformity), nice and high so can see well ahead and can easily reach across for tolls etc.  Also would have been, potentially, left without transport.  Plus all rear seats come out so it doubles up as van of sorts - amazing how much stuff you can get in on a trip to the dechetterie!
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Same as MrsO really - had to have something to drive over in!!

We had sold our decent car to my Dad before moving and bought cheap old Renault estate which we packed to the roof on each trip down! (LOL - don't think Diana would have approved!)

We have since bought in France (a citroen and the obligatory little white van) but can understand folks bringing their UK cars over as secondhand here are sooooo expensive!!

But, we are now happier that we "blend in"! 

How did you get here TU? In the removal van?

regards.......helen

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Brought over RHD car in order to transport remaining belongings.

Wrote-off RHD car within 2 weeks of arriving! :cryingnobody hurt but emotionally scarred and haven't driven since:unsure

Bought second hand French car and enjoy being chauffeured everywhere.

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Peugeot 306 HDI with 120,000 miles - 175,000 kilometres on the clock, under 4 years old Air Conditioning, CD, leather and all the toys. Totally reliable clutch lasted 105,000 miles, cam belt due in 40,000 miles. Average 55 MPG in UK while completing a 62 mile commute to work in about 70 minutes. Seems to be doing better in France. I would be very lucky to get Euros 6,000 for a private sale in UK.

RHD a pain when using toll booths and carparks. Overtaking not an issue as Trucks are so fast these days you can only get past them on the exits from Roundabouts or on three lane sections. Vary rare to find a 'hatched' section of road when you could get past anything other than a VSP unless you own a TVR or Ferrari.

Set of headlamps cost less than one year's UK road tax. No premium on French insurance for RHD. I could not buy a decent French van for what the PUG would have realised in UK. I might buy a Alpine (interesting dealer south of Chartres) or a DS 23 or possibly a 205 GTI but seem to have reached a point in my life where 306 is fast enough and I never run cars to impress the neighbours.
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I can see both sides of the coin here. When we first come over we rented a car for 3 months until we found a house to buy and then purchased a new car. I rented cars in London for the last couple of year's. This worked out much cheaper than buying. I did not need one all the time as our house was in cental London, plus i also had a motorbike for zipping about town. I have never driven a RHD car here in France but have been back to the U.K. in our LHD car and not found it an isssue apart from garage parking and the Dartford crossing. I noticed in Northern France on some tolls they have a RHD toll booth for U.K. car's BUT not a LHD toll booth on the Dartford crossing for LHD car's/lorry's,AND there are a lot of LHD lorry's that use it. I got some evil looks when i got out of my car to pay the toll at Dartford. Some Essex boy leaned out and said Go Home Frog, which i replied to in my best Queens English ****** ******** ******** ********** *********, to say he looked a little shocked would be an understatement.

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Read all replies with interest as I have been trying to find a LHD car in the UK prior to moving out in Dec. How do I get myself and all my stuff (too bulky/expensive to send by air/Fedex) to Bugundy?(My husband is already there and has purchased a LHD) car so unless anyone has a spare magic carpet I will have to drive my RHD car over and hope to sell it on our 1st trip back to the UK.
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Yes, I knew that there were more french people living in the UK than brits here.

 

We have no plans to take either of our cars back to the UK with us, as we did when we came, we will be starting afresh. I don't think it is easier, from what I can gather, most of these posts imply that it is cheaper.

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We are from France living in the UK and we have brought our LHD over with us. Drove on French plates with Tesco insurance (apparently this is legal  - checked with DVLA) for the first few months whilst deciding if we stayed or not. Once we had decided to stay got MOT (CT had run out) and started process to re-register car here.

We also made the mistake of going back to France in the car to during this time to pick up the remainder of our belongings that weren't going into storage. Driving happily towards Calais we got stopped at the peage by the Gendarmes and had the car inspected. They were not too impressed that we were driving with UK insurance, UK MOT, french licenses (this didn't really make a difference but didn'thelp our pleads for ignorance), French registration documents and NO Controle Technique! We were threatened with having the car confiscated whilst a CT was organised but managed to convince them to let us off with an on the spot fine.

Moral of the story is that whichever country your car is registered in then you should respect their rules. Sounds daft with Europe and all that, but basically things don't seem to be progressing on that side.

With regards to driving here no problemo. We have stick on mirrors on the wing mirrors which help with blind spots and I believe that the world would be a safer place if everyone had them! I think that I can probably see better with these than those in RHD over here without them.

We do now have a RHD now that we are here for the long term and ironically go back to France in it (safer better car than the LHD).

Prices in the UK for used cars are dirt cheap. My first RHD cost me only 700 (it was to practice with). In France it would have cost me at least the double!

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Basically, the cost of an equivilent car in france is hugely inflated, the cost of swapping to the carte gris including changing the headlights still worked out at an huge saving.  As a bonus the servicing costs, at the main dealer, are a fraction of the UK cost too.

Simon

 

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We brought 2 RHDs over to France.

The first is Mr M's little classic car. Reckon I'd be left behind before his 'baby'.

The other car - mine originally which I didn't really use much - had only done 13,000 miles and had bags of room. 

Impossible to find a LHD car in the Isle of Man and had difficulty sourcing one in UK prior to moving over. Even if possible to spare the time for a few viewing trips, it would have been a very expensive option with extra ferries, flights etc and no service back-up.

Our RHD also fitted suitcases, bedding and dogs in their cages etc for the move.

Although it's a pain, we're still driving it here 5 months on and will take it UK side in the spring when we've bought our LHD locally.

 

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