Buying a left-hand drive car

[ChristopheMaeB]

Hi, I was told it would be cheaper to buy a left-hand drive car in the UK rather than France. Does anybody have any idea as to whether this is true?

[Chezstevens]

They are expensive, secondhand, in the UK.  Better off buying secondhand in Germany.  Buying new then yes you do save money .... e.g.  Mini Clubman, with a tax-paid price in the UK of approx 25K sterling fully loaded, France 34K euros - go figure!! 

[Quillan]

I assume you want want to register it in France so you have to add that cost on as well, not much but its still another cost. I looked many years ago at buying in the UK and thought there was little advantage. If you buy from a dealer in France you normally get a years warranty as well plus most buy near where they live so you can go kick them if things go wrong.

[Anton Redman II]

Costs depend on which CF (Fiscal Horsepower) and how poluting it can now be very expensive with Malus payments on first registration in France.

[Quillan]

Well there you go, its not necessarily going to be cheap then.

The big problem for Brits is the price of second hand cars in France where as in the UK they appear to be 2 a penny second hand French cars appear to be more expensive. I tend to look at it from the other angle. As French cars don't appear to devalue as much or as quickly as in the UK then when you sell your car in France you will get more than you would if it were RHD and you were selling it in the UK. Sort of swings and roundabouts really.

[AnOther]

For those like myself who buy 4 or 5 year old's and run them to virtual death residual values are pretty irrelevant. I always work on the basis that it will be nil so anything I do get back (and I have always got something) is a bonus.

Whilst the bonus malus is a fair point for the sort of small or medium cars the majority are likely to be interested in it's not likely to prove a deal breaker, the cost of changing the headlights could be higher, start looking at gas guzzlers though and it can become very significant although again, if you plan to hang on to a car for a few years, it becomes less of an issue.

[P-D de Rouffignac]

If you are already in France, you may have noticed that the price of new cars - especially those in the range of less than 10,000 euros - is often close to that of second-hand, with the advantage of getting a new model, purchase terms (even leaseback) and longer and longer guarantees/servicing deals. The price of 'nearly new' cars tends to be high, with a drop once the kiolmetrage is (often well) over 100,000 kms, where you will be offered a 3-month warranty and end of up buyng a load of uncertainty.

(It is much the same, curiously, in the property business, which I confess I know more about.  With currently low interest rates monthly repayments on a mortgage are now often the same or less than a monthly rental on the equivalent property - plus of course the resale value...).

P-D de R.

[cooperlola]

Not exactly my experience P-D. I bought a second hand Note from my Nissan dealer and got a full year's warranty and a good price to boot (2 years old with 20k on the clock.) 5k less than new list. As with the UK, shop around - there are deals to be had and I think often the dealers can be more realistic than private individuals about 2nd hand prices. But certainly cars hold their value here much more than in the UK (so you'll be able to sell on for a bit more too.)

[Pierre ZFP]

You could try looking at cars in Belgium, they can be a lot cheaper but, in gereral, I note that the Belgiums seem to take less care of their cars even skimping on servicing.

For my next car (if and when) I think I'll have a look at Switzerland.  Another generalisation but the cars there seem to be top-of-the-range, serviced and maintained to the letter of the book, normally garaged and not thrashed as there is a speed camera every 50 metres on all roads (well not quite but ...).  Prices seemed to be good too when I last looked, maybe a bargain to be had.

I can't imagine there would be too much difficulty in registering such a car in France once you have CoC etc.

[ChristopheMaeB]

Hi, thanks as always for your responses - it gives me plenty to look into!

[Chezstevens]

Switzerland .... so you will be paying import duty plus VAT?

[ChristopheMaeB]

[quote user="Chezstevens"]Switzerland .... so you will be paying import duty plus VAT?

[/quote] Hi Chezstevens, would I have to pay import duty and Vat on any car I brought into France, or is it because Switzerland is outside of the EU?

[Chezstevens]

The latter ... but be careful with VAT and importing new cars from within the EU that are less than 6 months old.  Plenty on the site about this from us so just do a search.

[Pierre ZFP]

[quote user="Chezstevens"]Switzerland .... so you will be paying import duty plus VAT?
[/quote]

No I don't think so, I remember looking before and finding that there are special arrangements between Switzerland and the EU such that there was nothing to pay on 'Previously enjoyed' cars

[Chezstevens]

Pierre,

I probably did not make myself clear - my post referes to new cars and cars less than 6 months.