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Dave&Olive

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have just had the option to buy a left hand drive opel frontera here in the uk it`s a 1998 model 2.5 diesel  with 50,000 miles it`s average ish nick what sort of money would it cost tobuy in france. I know I will have to get it french reg ect, because it`s on uk plates origin is spain. just thought it might save me a few bob..cause bob`s tight.
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You can tell if the beam points towards the right (towards vehicles coming in the opposite direction).  A good way of seeing this for sure is during a foggy/misty evening when the headlights reflect then you can almost clearly see the direction of the beam whilst you are driving. The beam should not point towards oncoming traffic.  If still unsure you can ask at any garage in the UK that does MOT's.

When you bring your car to France you will have to get it to pass the Controle Technicque and from our experiences if it passes a UK MOT you should be fine. Point to mention the French Mechanique will assume that if the car is UK plated the issue of headlights will need changing, he might not even check this and assume they are wrong, so you will have to stand your ground if they are the correct headlamps.

You will have to get a certificate of conformity (rip off and outrageous stupid piece of unecessary, costly french bureaucracy!) and it will cost circa 100E. Remind yourself of your intial savings.  A friend of mine still needed this pathetic piece of paper -  he had a Belgian Mercedes cert of Conf (all  in French) but still had to get  La France's version (still in french)!  Be warned!

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well i bought it a bit more than the above price and guess what it`s got headlamp stickers on.got to work out if it`s left had drive head lamps with rhd stickers or the other way round.....how do you tell????

Now you are winding us all up surely ?

Simply sitting in the car on a dark night and dipping the headlights from full beam will instantly tell you which way they dip. What's it going to be like when you get here and discover vino collapso Dave ?

 

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Don't want to upset you but please be careful with this vehicle in terms of things that may need replacing in the very near future. My sister bought a Frontera (Vauxhall) in 97 and it was nothing but trouble, everything fell off and/or broke and it cost so much to keep going to the garage for repairs that they got shot of it within 6 months. Their friend bought a brand new one and also got shot within a year because of the terrible construction problems. I remember Top Gear dropping a pile of dung on this vehicle in the poll of worst vehicles when it came last. Just a friendly warning as there are hardly any of these in France that I have ever seen and you may have problems getting parts here.
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Hi Val

What you have to remember is that a Vauhall Frontera is an off-road vehicle.  What they don't tell you though is that it spends most of its time off-road in the garage being fixed!  I know 2 people with these and they've had nothing but trouble.  The car is a vauxhall Cavalier in a para milatary bodyshell.  I'm sure there are some statisfied owners out there but for me the words 'barge pole' come to mind.

Pierre ZFP

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Thanks for the backing Pierre. I did wonder afterwards whether I should have replied or not but to be forwarned is to be forearmed. My sister could not believe they had bought such a pile of rubbish, even the toddlers managed to pull the dashboard away from the chassis. Their friend who bought the brand new one actually dumped it back on the forecourt of the dealer where it came from with a placard saying what a lot of rubbish it was and he wanted his money refunded.
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