Advice please - Moving to the UK?

[Danyol]

Guys,

I'm considering a work related move from the US to the UK and need to make some decisions on my car.

I have an '02 911 C4S , obviously it is a LH drive car (strike one). Wondering whether it would make any sense shipping the car with me? Alternative would be to sell here in the US (guessing around $55k) and purchase another car there, what would a comparable car cost? Besides being a left hooker, if I didn't have to pay shipping would this be a sensible financial decision. Are there any other pitfalls I need to lookout for here, the car is a daily driver?

I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks

[donkeyman]

Probably best to get a recent edition of the UK Porsche mags such as GT Purely Porsche or 911 & Porsche World and see what the people are asking for the equivalent model.

The advantage of the LHD car is that you can take it to continental europe and be back on the "right" side

[rountreed]

Just returned from vacation in England (I currently live in Germany) and according to the magazine I read it said buy used Porsche 996 for the cost of a new BMW 330i. I would say kiss your car goodbye and purchase on this side of the pond.

[Danyol]

Thanks guys.

Did a little research on prices. A low mileage '02 C4S appears to be going for around 45k pounds, current exchange rates (1.80) put that around $80k or a little less than I paid for my car new! I would have to come up with another $25k to get an equivalent if I sold my car for $55k.

How difficult would it be to get used to driving a LHD car in the UK? I normally have no issues driving over there, but the wheel is on the correct side on a rental!

Any other challenges in th UK for P-cars (sales tax, registration & Insurance)?

[al123]

Thanks guys.

Did a little research on prices. A low mileage '02 C4S  appears to be going for around 45k pounds, current exchange rates (1.80) put that around $80k or a little less than I paid for my car new! I would have to come up with another $25k to get an equivalent if I sold my car for $55k.

How difficult would it be to get used to driving a LHD car in the UK? I normally have no issues driving over there, but the wheel is on the correct side on a rental!

Any other challenges in th UK for P-cars (sales tax, registration & Insurance)?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I bought my C4S 2003 in Germany and drive it in UK. Since it is manual I prefere it LHD. Driving is not a problem AT ALL.

UK is the worse place to buy a car pricewise (that is why i got mine on continent) BUT u ll have to pay tax on it (check import duties) + Insurance on LHD might be higher (none in my case as i insured it in Germany). Once u add all up you will still save 5-10k but is it worse the hassle? + if you are in london on foreign plates they will only give you residents parkin permit for 6 month and will not renew it (not a problem with undergroung parking but it will severly limit your choice of housing)

[geza]

Call the British Embassy - ask them for a package of information that will tell you all you need to know about shipping a vehicle to the UK. If you are planning to live there permanently, you may be better off selling your car here, and buying over in Europe. If you are planning a shorter stay, for 2 - 3 years, you may be better off keeping the car and shipping it back to the US when you're done. If your career move leads you to other places within Europe - a LHD car will fit right in.

[Hroussard]

I moved from the European continent to England and took my DeTomaso Pantera with me. This is many moons ago but because the fact that the road system has really not changed too much for the general roads in use there ( excluding Motor ways - freeways), I believe this statement is still valid. I almost killed myself on one of the narrow roads, tagging allong behind a bus...seeing a space to overhaul and only finding out that the space to overhaul was getting small in a hurry. I managed to throw the car back onto the left lane in time to avoid the opposite traffic. That was the moment I decided to sell the car.. Which I did within a week or so. Trust me it's a ROYAL pain to check traffic from the wrong seat in the car and / or trying to rely on a co-pilot to tell you "it's safe to overhaul". There is obvious not such a problem on a wide open freeway. Also the comment of having the ability to drive into Europe with the steering wheel on the left hand side, although true, does not really help lots of folks because the only time you end up in Europe is on a 2 week vacation and you might be better of taken the Airplane down to Spain , Portugal or Italy - that's where it is warm enough for a vacation folks - because of the traffic in mainland Europe. Oh.. and did I mention the cost of the gasoline driving down South?? Charter flights to the South really start at 150 bucks for one week INCLUDING 2 meals at least.

Cheers

HarryR

[rountreed]

The point of tax is valid in your consideration, if you are moving as part of the US Government be it military, GS etc... you can exempt yourself from taxes via the status of forces agreement but if you are moving private then add 15-17% for the tax. Also I have driven both left and right hand drive cars and would ask the simple question would you drive a right hander in the USA? If the answer is yes then go ahead and ship but realize as mentioned above that once you are off the major roads and get back into the small towns with their round abouts every 2 kilometers life becomes much more difficult, especially at night when hardly anyone is on the road. With that if you want to keep your car come to the mainland of Europe and hit the German Autobahn for some full speed driving, just realize the roads are crowded and Sunday AM when the trucks are clear is a good time to hit the roads. Good Luck