Buying abroad

[Markas]

Evening all, am currently helping look after a campsite in France & am considering buying a new campervan from a nearby dealer - looking at new Hymercar models which appear much cheaper overhere and LHD would be an advantage.
Does anyone have any experience to share...is it practical to even consider it?

 

[Lenny HB]

All three Hymers we have had bought in Belgium can't afford UK prices.
Search Importing loads of threads on it.

 

[Markas]

Problem could be that I'm not planning to return to the UK until end of March...could this complicate things?

 

[Lenny HB]

Don't see why I think life will go on after Brexit.
If you import a vehicle older than 6 months and it has done over 6000km no vat liabilities in the UK .
If not bringing it in until March UK and under 6 months & 6000km you will be liable for UK vat and with the time lag may be difficult reclaiming the French vat.

 

[Markas]

Would I only be liable for UK VAT if I re-register it in the UK?
But do I need a permanent French address to get a carte grise for the van...confused?!?

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[Jim lea]

We’ve looked at this recently. Looked at France initially (French van), bottom line with the exchange rate as it is we would of saved around 5 grand. By the time you took out 2 visits to France and the admin side of things this end didn’t think it worth it so bought LHD from uk dealer. You wouldn’t have the crossing the channel a couple of times to factor in, so if the price is right - go for it.

 

[Markas]

I certainly wouldn't have any channel crossings, am looking at dealers in Niort, about an hour away from me. As you say, a 5k (plus) saving seems achievable. It must be worth it for the sake of some red tape!!

 

[Nicepix]

Just bear in mind that French after sales service is almost non-existent. Check the feedback if any on the dealer's reviews on Google. Ask around. Don't assume that you will get UK or German levels of customer service.

Many French firms lose interest in you as soon as you walk out of the door. Buy a lawn mower that goes wrong after a few months. Try to take it back and they just give you the manufacturer's contact details. Buy a cement mixer that breaks within the guarantee period and the shop expects you to send it back to the makers for repair. Even though you are half way through laying your kitchen floor.

The tales from my ex-pat customers and friends don't bear thinking about. And from my own experience; I have owned a S/H motorhome for just over 6 months and for the last four months it has no interior electrics and little sign that the dealer actually knows how to fix it. They even tried to suggest that because they couldn't make an appointment to check the fault within the guarantee period I would have to pay for the repair, even though it had been reported one month before the guarantee ended.

 

[Markas]

I gather that warranties are pretty much non-existent here. Still, if the van's substantially cheaper that's money in the bank for repairs and nothing to invalidate if I get stuck into fixing it myself (not afraid of anything on the 'hab' side of things!) Plus have heard a good few horror stories of service from UK dealers.
If I bought from a UK dealer and it went wrong, would be even more of a pain in the a*** to get sorted if I'm in France!