Buying a Motorhome Abroad

[Guest Trevor Bayton]

Hi Being a newcomer to thought of motorhoming we have been lookingaround for the last 6 months for an A Class Motorhome around £21k, as yet we have not been to sucsessful either they were sold or in really poor condition for the money. What i would like to know from your forum is there any one out there that as purchased on their own from abroad, Germany,France,Belgium, of Holland, we where told there is sometimes a 25% saving on buying abroad, but at what costs, what about V5 and Testing and taxing without the right documents is it that hard to do? may be someone can help with advice, or even companies abroad to contact for potential purchase. Thankyou in anticipation Trevor Bayton 01236 212360

[Guest Roy Hamilton]

Trevor: Instead of waiting for replies, click on search and put Buying abroad into the box. You will get reams of info. Good Luck

[Guest MelE]

Or, to save the search, you can get the MMM Fact Sheet on Buying Abroad by sending an sae (C5 size) together with a cheque (at least £5) payable to my favourite charity (MacIntyre Care), an organisation that provides for children and adults with severe learning difficulties, to: M Eastburn Fact Sheet c/o MMM PO Box 88 TIVERTON EX16 7ZN The Fact Sheet covers everything you need to know about buying abroad on 8 A4 dual-column pages. Over 600 have had it so far. Mention that you want to buy in Germany and you'll also get the 'Buying in Germany' supplement.

[Guest Brian Kirby]

Just one thing to keep in mind. At that price you'll be buying a used left hand drive A Class 'van. To register it in UK you'll first need, as Mel's excellent Fact Sheet will tell you, to change the headlights to dip to the left, change the speedo to read in MPH and change the rear fog light (if fitted) to the UK offside or vehicle centre line. You may not use beam benders to fix the headlights. Some light units may have a lamp holder that can be rotated for left/right dip adjustment: most, it seems, don't. You are therefore likely to need new, left dipping, headlamp units. Do check that you can get these units, and their price, for the 'van you choose, before you go too far. Some of the A Class 'vans use the original base vehicle headlamp units, whereas others have special headlamps produced just for the converter. The correct replacement left dip units for these specials on older 'vans can, I understand, be very costly and difficult to get hold of. Also do check out that the speedo can be suitably fixed, although this and the rear fog lamp are much easier to deal with. Whatever the saving, it would be very expensive to find that your newly imported 'van can't be registered because the left dipping headlamp units can't be obtained. On this note, whatever you do - but especially if the headlamp units are not those from the base vehicle - do make sure you buy a 'van of a make, type and model year (base vehicle make and conversion model of that same year also sold in UK) that was actually imported into UK, otherwise any spares may involve a trip back to wherever in Europe it was bought! Probably sounds a bit daunting, but it's only part of the essential homework. Most of the major European makes have been imported into UK, so the best place to look for the 'van you want will be in UK. Once you find the make/model you like in UK, go hunting for it in Europe, rather than starting your search in Europe. Good luck Brian

[Guest Derek Uzzell]

You might also try UK motorhome importing agencies (eg. www.bundesvan.co.uk or www.goeuropean.co.uk) as they sometimes have LHD trade-ins that are in good condition and reasonably priced. There is also a fair likelihood such vehicles will be UK-legal regarding lights and speedometer.

[Guest Mel E]

Response to a couple of the points raised: - Derek is right about 'grey importers', but remember they're making a margin too, including keeping any price discount they can negotiate - and this can be up to 10% or a shade more in Germany. - Also do not assume that such grey imports will be UK road legal. Even quite recently, a major franchised dealer was selling brand new LHD imports that were not UK road legal! - Headlights are a problem. To meet the UK Construction & Use Regulations, they must be left dipping without the use of aids. However, to pass the MoT test, applied tape or beam benders are quite satisfactory. I have to admit that my personal choice (& I emphasise PERSONAL) with our last motorhome was to keep the right dippers as it was used primarily on the Continent and use tape in the UK (white plastic tape as it lights up and does not hold the heat in like black tape). This was, of course, not strictly legal, so I certainly cannot even suggest that anyone does this!