Importing a campervan from Europe

[Vikivan]

Hi. I am thinking of importing a left hand drive van from Europe as we want to use it mainly for touring in Europe. I understand I need to change the headlights for right hand drive headlights and the speedo dial. If I buy new will this invalidate the warranty? Even if the work is done by a main (say Fiat) dealer?
Thank you for any help in this regard.

 

[Yorick]

I know it's very difficult to import/nationalise with wrong side steering wheel. Not a chance with PVC.

 

[nicholsong]

These are details.

Headlights - if you buy knew or recent the lights dip centrally and are acceptable for EUR and UK

Speedo - often has mph and kph, but if buying new just specify you want a dual denominated one.

 

[Lenny HB]

I know it's very difficult to import/nationalise with wrong side steering wheel. Not a chance with PVC.

It's no different dead easy to do.

These are details.

Headlights - if you buy knew or recent the lights dip centrally and are acceptable for EUR and UK

Speedo - often has mph and kph, but if buying new just specify you want a dual denominated one.

Headlamps that can be changed to flat dipping are only fitted to A Class vans.

All LHD vans have kmh Speedos you have to buy a replacement dial in the UK.

Doesn't normally effect the warranty as if you bought a LHD from a UK dealer it would have the same mods.

 

[Rob Turner]

Listen to Lenny!!

It is easy enough tbf

Change your headlights, I’ve got a pair of RH ones here for a Ducato if you’re interested and Speedometer dials from Lockwood and you’re sorted.

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[Caradot]

I’m in the process of importing from Germany, a Fiat Ducato base with the Euro6d engine coach built. As I understand things I will need new headlamps, a Lockwood dial, the reverse and fog lamps swapped over to get it to U.K. standards. My concern at the moment is driving the vehicle from the port in Newcastle to Edinburgh, given the DVLA advice not to drive it but have it transported. Good luck with your import.

 

[Lenny HB]

DVLA advice about driving from the port is just advice. Providing it's insured it's legal. To be legal you should drive it without number plates but our dealer always fits false Belgium plates for us, far less chance of getting stopped, the same would apply to German export plates.

 

[Wully]

I had German export plates, booked MOT at my local garage before leaving Germany. No hassle.
Rotated headlights, rewired fog and reversing lights(Hymer) Flew through MOT. DVLA crawled through paperwork on their hideous form then we were good to go.
loads of very useful and helpful information on here and for us it was a happy experience using it.

 

[SteveJulesMontycame2]

I imported our 2017 LHD Adria Matrix last year (Sept 2019). Had to register it with DVLA as we relocated to the UK even though we spend more time in Europe than the UK. Bought a pair of these cheap pattern lights just for the importation ("borrowed" the LED ballast from the original lights for the process)

Fits Fiat Ducato Peugeot Boxer Citroen Relay Right Headlight Silver With DRL 14on

New Right Hand Drive Right Headlight With DRL Silver Housing Fits: Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer And Citroen Relay From 04.2014 Onwards Face Lift Model. Does Not Include LED Driver You Will Need To Swap This From Your Old Headlamp Or Purchase A New One.

coastalmotorhomes.co.uk

I've since re-fitted the original lights to come abroad again. The UK ones will go back on just for the MoT in April.

Also bought and fitted a speedo card from Lockwoods <Broken link removed>

I found a rear fog light to match the existing one in a European van accessory shop and fitted it in place of the blanking plate on the "UK" side, so we now have two rear fog lights.

You have to provide a statement to the certification agency that the required work has been done, and although I did the work myself, DVLA won't accept your own statement, this has to come from a garage. I went to my local garage who set the headlamp beams for me and signed it all off.
I found the vehicle certification agency to be the slow part of the process, they took a couple of weeks; once they'd signed it off, the V5 came within a week from DVLA.

Our van was second hand and on German plates when we brought it over. I timed the German insurance to expire when we crossed into the UK and bought UK insurance to start at the same time. The only difficulty with UK insurance was that they would only give us 14 days on a chassis number and the reg number took longer than this to come from DVLA. So I fell out with CAMC over their inflexibility on this, despite their good price, they cancelled the policy. Their loss was the NFU's gain!

Good luck.

 

[SpeedyDux]

I imported our 2017 LHD Adria Matrix last year (Sept 2019). Had to register it with DVLA as we relocated to the UK even though we spend more time in Europe than the UK. Bought a pair of these cheap pattern lights just for the importation ("borrowed" the LED ballast from the original lights for the process)

Fits Fiat Ducato Peugeot Boxer Citroen Relay Right Headlight Silver With DRL 14on

New Right Hand Drive Right Headlight With DRL Silver Housing Fits: Fiat Ducato, Peugeot Boxer And Citroen Relay From 04.2014 Onwards Face Lift Model. Does Not Include LED Driver You Will Need To Swap This From Your Old Headlamp Or Purchase A New One.

coastalmotorhomes.co.uk

I've since re-fitted the original lights to come abroad again. The UK ones will go back on just for the MoT in April.

Also bought and fitted a speedo card from Lockwoods <Broken link removed>

I found a rear fog light to match the existing one in a European van accessory shop and fitted it in place of the blanking plate on the "UK" side, so we now have two rear fog lights.

You have to provide a statement to the certification agency that the required work has been done, and although I did the work myself, DVLA won't accept your own statement, this has to come from a garage. I went to my local garage who set the headlamp beams for me and signed it all off.
I found the vehicle certification agency to be the slow part of the process, they took a couple of weeks; once they'd signed it off, the V5 came within a week from DVLA.

Our van was second hand and on German plates when we brought it over. I timed the German insurance to expire when we crossed into the UK and bought UK insurance to start at the same time. The only difficulty with UK insurance was that they would only give us 14 days on a chassis number and the reg number took longer than this to come from DVLA. So I fell out with CAMC over their inflexibility on this, despite their good price, they cancelled the policy. Their loss was the NFU's gain!

Good luck.

DVLA asked me for invoices to prove ALL the UK specific conversion requirements had been carried out.

Yes, beware the cut-off date for the UK insurance cover. I had my UK insurance cancelled and could not extend it. In my case there was no suitable UK speedo overlay available. I bought the closest equivalent, but had to send it back because the cut outs for warning lights didn't match the real thing. I had an acrylic speedo dial face showing MPH and KPH made to order, which cost a bit. That took longer than the insurance company would allow before DVLA registered the van and despite my request to extend the cover the insurers cancelled it anyway. I was at risk, without any insurance, for a couple of weeks until re-registration was completed by DVLA. In the end I was very pleased with the new speedo face. It was a perfect match for the original, better than using a cheap overlay.

You then have to explain why you have had an insurance policy cancelled. What a palaver.

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[Vikivan]

Hi
Thanks for all your suggestions, fortunately a fellow funster Rob provided a set of right hand drive lights and we got a replacement speedo dial face from Lockwood which was very easy to fit (their website shows step by step instructions). The new van had rear fog lights both sides so we didn't need to do anything with that.
The biggest problems we had were HMRC it took a month to pay the VAT- they incorrectly advised me on how to complete the online VAT form and then couldn't tell me what was wrong so it kept being rejected until I worked out myself how to do it, they then told me that no VAT was due which was obviously wrong. I thought about whether I should just accept their offer but I know that the German dealer would check because they are liable if we don't pay the VAT in UK, so having pointed out to them that they had made a mistake it took another week or so to make the payment and get confirmation which was needed for DVLA registration. Then I had my registration application rejected 3 times, two of the rejections were because they incorrectly advised me what the tax needed to be (each time they took two to three weeks to respond) so we eventually received the registration in mid December months after importing from Germany. I raised a formal complaint with DVLA but never received a reply. We were lucky that NFU did not cancel our UK insurance we just kept them informed throughout about our problems with DVLA, I guess for them it wasn't a problem because we were paying for full insurance but in fact we couldn't use the van so their only risk was theft from our driveway.
Anyway all behind us now off to Sunstore tomorrow to get solar panels, reversing camera and lpg gas tank fitted.

 

[Surabaya]

Did so September last. A new LHD Carthago Malibu from Germany. Did not know where to start with the necessary paperwork so worked with Anderson Trading who are registered with DLA. Good price, fast and no researching necessary as each step of the process was taken care of. Rather than register the van with German plates (as suggested by the dealer) we got the UK registration completed whilst the van was still in Germany. This way we did not have to pay German MWSt ( 19% ) and have to reclaim this before paying UK VAT. All that was necessary for the dealer was a copy of the VAT receipt to prove that the vehicle was supplied for export and that German tax was not applicable. The dealer confirmed that the headlights were flat beam and that dual fog lights were fitted as standard (as I believe all new EU spec vehicles are). As suggested previously, cost of having fitted locally a Lockwood dual speedo around £80 plus £45 to buy. Mutual recognition certificate applied for (although technically needed to drive from Harwich ferry to home with KPH speedo, prior to upgrading). Certificates of conformity, VAT payment, DVLC registration, everything else needed for UK registration expertly handled by Peter at Anderson Trading. Plates made up and accompanied us to our dealer. Unable to get insurance in UK as our insurer claimed that it would only become valid once we were in the UK !!?? Dealer reluctant to provide trade insurance for a UK registered, so arranged insurance on taking delivery at dealers. (Not strictly legal perhaps but blame our insurer, presumably had we disembarked, got insured then returned on the same ferry then this would have been acceptable) ?? A RHD version, automatic was available at £10,000 more than our total cost (including UK VAT), my preference anyway was manual and LHD so saving allowed lots of extras (rear view camera, undersealing, alarm, tracker, Lithium battery, MiFi etc).

 

[Lenny HB]

Did so September last. A new LHD Carthago Malibu from Germany. Did not know where to start with the necessary paperwork so worked with Anderson Trading who are registered with DLA. Good price, fast and no researching necessary as each step of the process was taken care of. Rather than register the van with German plates (as suggested by the dealer) we got the UK registration completed whilst the van was still in Germany. This way we did not have to pay German MWSt ( 19% ) and have to reclaim this before paying UK VAT. All that was necessary for the dealer was a copy of the VAT receipt to prove that the vehicle was supplied for export and that German tax was not applicable. The dealer confirmed that the headlights were flat beam and that dual fog lights were fitted as standard (as I believe all new EU spec vehicles are). As suggested previously, cost of having fitted locally a Lockwood dual speedo around £80 plus £45 to buy. Mutual recognition certificate applied for (although technically needed to drive from Harwich ferry to home with KPH speedo, prior to upgrading). Certificates of conformity, VAT payment, DVLC registration, everything else needed for UK registration expertly handled by Peter at Anderson Trading. Plates made up and accompanied us to our dealer. Unable to get insurance in UK as our insurer claimed that it would only become valid once we were in the UK !!?? Dealer reluctant to provide trade insurance for a UK registered, so arranged insurance on taking delivery at dealers. (Not strictly legal perhaps but blame our insurer, presumably had we disembarked, got insured then returned on the same ferry then this would have been acceptable) ?? A RHD version, automatic was available at £10,000 more than our total cost (including UK VAT), my preference anyway was manual and LHD so saving allowed lots of extras (rear view camera, undersealing, alarm, tracker, Lithium battery, MiFi etc).

Not strictly legal what you have done. You can't pay the UK VAT until the vehicle is in the country.
Obviously not had a proper inspection as it has to have the correct speedo dial and the lights would not have passed. The lights on Fiat headlamps do not have a flat setting, it is only on A Class models with the Hella projector lamps that you can change them to flat dipping. You got stung on the speedo dial change, they must have been charging over £300 an hour.

 

[Wombles]

Did so September last. A new LHD Carthago Malibu from Germany. Did not know where to start with the necessary paperwork so worked with Anderson Trading who are registered with DLA. Good price, fast and no researching necessary as each step of the process was taken care of. Rather than register the van with German plates (as suggested by the dealer) we got the UK registration completed whilst the van was still in Germany. This way we did not have to pay German MWSt ( 19% ) and have to reclaim this before paying UK VAT. All that was necessary for the dealer was a copy of the VAT receipt to prove that the vehicle was supplied for export and that German tax was not applicable. The dealer confirmed that the headlights were flat beam and that dual fog lights were fitted as standard (as I believe all new EU spec vehicles are). As suggested previously, cost of having fitted locally a Lockwood dual speedo around £80 plus £45 to buy. Mutual recognition certificate applied for (although technically needed to drive from Harwich ferry to home with KPH speedo, prior to upgrading). Certificates of conformity, VAT payment, DVLC registration, everything else needed for UK registration expertly handled by Peter at Anderson Trading. Plates made up and accompanied us to our dealer. Unable to get insurance in UK as our insurer claimed that it would only become valid once we were in the UK !!?? Dealer reluctant to provide trade insurance for a UK registered, so arranged insurance on taking delivery at dealers. (Not strictly legal perhaps but blame our insurer, presumably had we disembarked, got insured then returned on the same ferry then this would have been acceptable) ?? A RHD version, automatic was available at £10,000 more than our total cost (including UK VAT), my preference anyway was manual and LHD so saving allowed lots of extras (rear view camera, undersealing, alarm, tracker, Lithium battery, MiFi etc).

Hi and welcome to posting on here ? Not heard of Anderson Trading so do you have a website link please?

 

[Surabaya]

Thanks for the info regarding flat beam on the Fiat Ducato 2.3. German dealer assured me that they would be EU and UK compatible, but will definately need to get them checked now. Regarding flat rate £300 ph charge for lockwood fitting, yes, confirms the excellent advice given to me by wise South African representative at Autowatch Alarms, “ Remember nobody cares about your vehicle apart from you” ...
In reply to enquiry about Anderson Trading, I googled help importing a vehicle fro EU to UK. Try andersontrading@aol.com. Has a photo of his stand at an exhibition on website.

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[Lenny HB]

Thanks for the info regarding flat beam on the Fiat Ducato 2.3. German dealer assured me that they would be EU and UK compatible, but will definately need to get them checked now.

If you drive it in the dark should be obvious that the dip beam kicks up to the right. Or just point it at a wall.

 

[Rob Turner]

Did so September last. A new LHD Carthago Malibu from Germany. Did not know where to start with the necessary paperwork so worked with Anderson Trading who are registered with DLA. Good price, fast and no researching necessary as each step of the process was taken care of. Rather than register the van with German plates (as suggested by the dealer) we got the UK registration completed whilst the van was still in Germany. This way we did not have to pay German MWSt ( 19% ) and have to reclaim this before paying UK VAT. All that was necessary for the dealer was a copy of the VAT receipt to prove that the vehicle was supplied for export and that German tax was not applicable. The dealer confirmed that the headlights were flat beam and that dual fog lights were fitted as standard (as I believe all new EU spec vehicles are). As suggested previously, cost of having fitted locally a Lockwood dual speedo around £80 plus £45 to buy. Mutual recognition certificate applied for (although technically needed to drive from Harwich ferry to home with KPH speedo, prior to upgrading). Certificates of conformity, VAT payment, DVLC registration, everything else needed for UK registration expertly handled by Peter at Anderson Trading. Plates made up and accompanied us to our dealer. Unable to get insurance in UK as our insurer claimed that it would only become valid once we were in the UK !!?? Dealer reluctant to provide trade insurance for a UK registered, so arranged insurance on taking delivery at dealers. (Not strictly legal perhaps but blame our insurer, presumably had we disembarked, got insured then returned on the same ferry then this would have been acceptable) ?? A RHD version, automatic was available at £10,000 more than our total cost (including UK VAT), my preference anyway was manual and LHD so saving allowed lots of extras (rear view camera, undersealing, alarm, tracker, Lithium battery, MiFi etc).

Carlos wouldn’t have registered the vehicle in Germany he would have given you export plates and not charged you the German VAT as long as you provided him with proof of payment to HMRC.

 

[Vikivan]

Did so September last. A new LHD Carthago Malibu from Germany. Did not know where to start with the necessary paperwork so worked with Anderson Trading who are registered with DLA. Good price, fast and no researching necessary as each step of the process was taken care of. Rather than register the van with German plates (as suggested by the dealer) we got the UK registration completed whilst the van was still in Germany. This way we did not have to pay German MWSt ( 19% ) and have to reclaim this before paying UK VAT. All that was necessary for the dealer was a copy of the VAT receipt to prove that the vehicle was supplied for export and that German tax was not applicable. The dealer confirmed that the headlights were flat beam and that dual fog lights were fitted as standard (as I believe all new EU spec vehicles are). As suggested previously, cost of having fitted locally a Lockwood dual speedo around £80 plus £45 to buy. Mutual recognition certificate applied for (although technically needed to drive from Harwich ferry to home with KPH speedo, prior to upgrading). Certificates of conformity, VAT payment, DVLC registration, everything else needed for UK registration expertly handled by Peter at Anderson Trading. Plates made up and accompanied us to our dealer. Unable to get insurance in UK as our insurer claimed that it would only become valid once we were in the UK !!?? Dealer reluctant to provide trade insurance for a UK registered, so arranged insurance on taking delivery at dealers. (Not strictly legal perhaps but blame our insurer, presumably had we disembarked, got insured then returned on the same ferry then this would have been acceptable) ?? A RHD version, automatic was available at £10,000 more than our total cost (including UK VAT), my preference anyway was manual and LHD so saving allowed lots of extras (rear view camera, undersealing, alarm, tracker, Lithium battery, MiFi etc).

Hi looks like you got the same model as we did. I would be interested to know what vehicle tax you paid please? Each time I applied for registration they rejected because they had told me the wrong tax amount needless to say it went up each time.

 

[Surabaya]

Hope my own experience of importing isn’t being taken as definitive, I’m sure that different ways exist. Very grateful for the responses and hope the various comments go some way to simplifying the process... Specifically, using an authorised HMRC gateway approved intermediary stopped me having to learn and implement the processes involved from scratch. His skill was in coordinating and liaising with HMRC, DVLA and DLA. Being aware of what information was needed meant no resubmissions or miscalculations. Thank you Rob, I am sure you are right about Carlos, the one decision I made may have worked against me !! Vikivan, hope you are as pleased with your Malibu as I am... It seems you will need to follow the advice from Lenny regarding the headlights. You will presumably not be able to apply for MRC until the speedo is overlaid, the fog lamps should be OK. Regarding the UK VAT, with a MWSt inclusive price of Eu 51950, the export price (MWSt not payable) was Eu43655. At the prevailing (bad) exchange rate cost price for VAT purposes was calculated to be £38465 So, VAT @ 20% payable was £7693 ( Total cost came to £46858 Sept 2019) Sorry... just realised you asked for the vehicle tax... I paid £1435 consisting of DVLA first registration £55, 1st year DVLA road tax (Diesel Co2 177) £1280 and fee for VCA MRC £100. I think that when road tax next due it will be £145 flat rate plus, for the first five years, as cost in excess of £40k, an additional £320 ( ie £465 for 5 years then reverting to standard vehicle tax, currently £145 pa ).... Website is https://www.importedvehicleregistration.co.uk/

 

[colinvee]

Bit late coming back with this but just picked up the thread as I am interested in buying second hand and importing. Do those extortionate rates of road tax apply to ALL vehicles or only new ones?

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[Lenny HB]

Bit late coming back with this but just picked up the thread as I am interested in buying second hand and importing. Do those extortionate rates of road tax apply to ALL vehicles or only new ones?

Only new ones with the Euro 6D engines.

 

[seakay22]

I too am awaiting a new Malibu from Herrmanns, should be ready for collection next month. When I met Carlos at the Düsseldorf show he said the headlamps on the PVC were universal for both left and right hand drive?

 

[Lenny HB]

. When I met Carlos at the Düsseldorf show he said the headlamps on the PVC were universal for both left and right hand drive?

Talking out of his rear end.

 

[Wombles]

Definitely different headlights on LHD Citroen Relay/Jumper PVC so needed to change them for UK registration so pretty much guaranteed to need changing if Ducato or Boxer too.

 

[seakay22]

Talking out of his rear end.

In which case, it's possible I misunderstood him or something was lost in translation as he's a knowledgeable and honest chap.

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[Vikivan]

My Malibu was new and definitely needed the lights changed. As pointed out by Lenny the vans are Fiat Ducato which don't come with adjustable/flat beams. I have to say that when we visited German shows in the last couple of years while researching our choice of vehicle we found that most salesmen at the shows had no idea about the lights and whether or not they needed changing or could be adjusted I think they just told us what they thought we wanted to hear.

 

[Vikivan]

Hope my own experience of importing isn’t being taken as definitive, I’m sure that different ways exist. Very grateful for the responses and hope the various comments go some way to simplifying the process... Specifically, using an authorised HMRC gateway approved intermediary stopped me having to learn and implement the processes involved from scratch. His skill was in coordinating and liaising with HMRC, DVLA and DLA. Being aware of what information was needed meant no resubmissions or miscalculations. Thank you Rob, I am sure you are right about Carlos, the one decision I made may have worked against me !! Vikivan, hope you are as pleased with your Malibu as I am... It seems you will need to follow the advice from Lenny regarding the headlights. You will presumably not be able to apply for MRC until the speedo is overlaid, the fog lamps should be OK. Regarding the UK VAT, with a MWSt inclusive price of Eu 51950, the export price (MWSt not payable) was Eu43655. At the prevailing (bad) exchange rate cost price for VAT purposes was calculated to be £38465 So, VAT @ 20% payable was £7693 ( Total cost came to £46858 Sept 2019) Sorry... just realised you asked for the vehicle tax... I paid £1435 consisting of DVLA first registration £55, 1st year DVLA road tax (Diesel Co2 177) £1280 and fee for VCA MRC £100. I think that when road tax next due it will be £145 flat rate plus, for the first five years, as cost in excess of £40k, an additional £320 ( ie £465 for 5 years then reverting to standard vehicle tax, currently £145 pa ).... Website is https://www.importedvehicleregistration.co.uk/

Thanks for the response, my vehicle tax was the same I just wanted to make sure because the first time I contacted them they said the tax would be £265 even though I carefully explained what vehicle I was registering. They then returned my application and said it would £855 (in writing) and then rejected that application (without any apology that they had given me the wrong information) and asked for £1280.

 

[Surabaya]

Just a thought. The reason I preferred a LHD was that most countries drive on the left... My previous van, a Florida LT31 was LHD and I drove it around knowing exactly where the kerb was for 25 years. Roundabouts were a cinch throughout Europe.... As beam deflectors are not acceptable for Mutual Recognition Certificates, and we drive mostly abroad, converting to UK conforming seems to be a backwards step?? MOT,s were passed with beam deflectors, these were left in place in the UK and removed as needed. Could I ask, does anyone know if a switchable headlamp beam is available and at what cost? If not, reluctantly installing RH Beam would cost about?? Is it likely that beam deflectors on a newer van would less likely to get through the MOT??? Essentially I have come way back to the original post....

 

[Lenny HB]

Could I ask, does anyone know if a switchable headlamp beam is available?

Only on the Hella projector lamps they fit to A Class vans.

 

[SpeedyDux]

Just a thought. The reason I preferred a LHD was that most countries drive on the left... My previous van, a Florida LT31 was LHD and I drove it around knowing exactly where the kerb was for 25 years. Roundabouts were a cinch throughout Europe.... As beam deflectors are not acceptable for Mutual Recognition Certificates, and we drive mostly abroad, converting to UK conforming seems to be a backwards step?? MOT,s were passed with beam deflectors, these were left in place in the UK and removed as needed. Could I ask, does anyone know if a switchable headlamp beam is available and at what cost? If not, reluctantly installing RH Beam would cost about?? Is it likely that beam deflectors on a newer van would less likely to get through the MOT??? Essentially I have come way back to the original post....

On the bright side at least you won't need a MOT test until the 3rd anniversary. At that stage you might need to swap the headlights. Maybe some Funster knows chapter and verse on current MOT requirements and whether LHD headlights can be made to pass.

As for beam deflectors mine is RHD with corresponding headlights. For going to Europe I have clip on headlamp protectors that are marked to show where you need to fit black tape which can then be easy to remove when I return.