Don't forget that unless it's a classic with worldwide or niche appeal (like a Corvette, Trans-Am, etc.) it will have virtually no UK second hand market value, no matter how much it might be worth in the US.
When I was in USA I noticed how new cars seemed much cheaper than new cars in UK but the opposite for used cars, here in the UK just got a couple of prices on a vw golf 2014 diesel auto USA with 80k was $18000 the same car in UK with only 34k miles was equivalent to $13000. These were both major dealership price comparison
@@Mat0305 That’s not how it usually is in the USA. Right now we’re facing a chip shortage alongside inflation which has created a bubble in the car economy and led to prices being out of control.
In terms of the British market, perhaps, but not entirely true in terms of selling a LHD car in the UK. There are quite a few LHD specialist car companies in the UK, who will buy cars specifically to sell to people relocating into Europe etc., and resale prices are actually quite high. When I moved to Portugal I looked at buying a LHD car in the UK. There were almost limitless choices, but prices were higher than equivalent UK RHD cars.
As a Brit I can tell you very few American cars last long in UK. Their reliability is not good, terrible to drive on most of the smaller roads and in towns. There is also a problem parking as parking spaces are small. I was a mechanic for many years and worked in a couple of garages a few miles from a large US base. Many servicemen who bought their cars over struggled to drive them here on the left hand side and soon crashed them. Another thing to remember is that if you try to buy UK car insurance for an American car import you will pay more, partly because it's an import but mostly because it's left hand drive. One suggestion I would give to any American intending to drive in UK would be to go online or in a book shop ( if already in UK ) and buy a copy of a small book called The Highway Code . It's a book from the driving department here. It explains everything about the roads here, road markings , laws and explains how to drive here.
Some interesting thoughts there. Let me add a few of my own. My partner is American and has been travelling back and forward for many years. We are now able to settle in the UK. So we have vehicle experience on both sides of the pond. If you're concerned about a large 7 or 9 seater vehicle, they are available in the UK. If that's your ONLY reason for wanting to ship your own vehicle, don't bother. The negatives far outweight the benefits. You will be hammered for insurance. You'll be automatically hammered because you have no opportunity to build up your 'no claims bonus' here and you'll be doubly hammered because you're driving a left hand drive vehicle which has been modified. You might even find insurance difficult to get or with restrictions. You MUST have insurance arranged before getting behind the wheel so if you intend to drive back from the port of entry, arrange your insurance first. You also need to inform the government, register the vehicle within 14 days and sort new number plates. You need an IVA to ensure the vehicle meets emissions standards. Returning to insurance, check the insurance provided by the shipping company to ensure it covers the full value of your vehicle. It might be worth taking out your own insurance too. If your vehicle has a tracker, check that the tracker operations company will still deal with it in the UK. You might have to pay extra. If you insist on bringing your US vehicle, the best place to find mechanics familiar with it and able to get parts more easily is near one of the large US military bases in the UK. Lakenheath, Fairford and Mildenhall are the largest and all have garages near them for US cars. Look for ones called 'auto centres' rather than garages. That's a big clue! Most big cities will have dealers/mechanics who deal with the US sports cars (Corvettes, Mustangs and similar). If you are moving because of your job why not ask your employer to organise a rental car for you for a period of time? 8 weeks should give you plenty of time to look at vehicles here and sell your car/s in the US to have that money available. You might even be able to organise a company leasehold car. If you don't ask..... If you intend to be in the UK and driving for more than a year, you need to get a UK driving licence. You need to pass a UK test BEFORE the 12 months are up. Failure to do so will get you an hefty fine, points on your licence and your car seized. Your insurance will, naturally, be invalid. Any points you get go on your licence whether it's a UK one or not so it's in your interest to be sure that you understand the laws here, maybe have some lessons and read or watch information on the Highway Code. Ignorance of UK driving laws will be no defence.
America often complains that other countries are not buying American cars, in many cases citing unfair trade barriers. The simple fact is that America doesn't make cars that people in other countries want to buy.
An anecdote : when we lived in Kenya (1957-1960), one of my father's friends had bought one of those huge American cars. The long-awaited day came when the car was to be delivered at the port of Mombasa. The road to Mombasa was red dirt and nearing Mombasa, there were huge ups and downs. He collected his pride and joy (I mean the car) and started back to Nairobi. Unfortunately these "ups and downs" overheated the motor which stalled. He got out of the car, lifted the hood to let out the steam, when he heard loud trompetting getting closer and closer. He realized there was a herd of elephants on the way, so he climbed the nearest tree. The leader of the herd was a very large male elephant who, intrigued by the steam, moved to the car and with his sensitive trump touched the source of the steam. He screamed in pain and started stamping on the car, followed by the rest of the herd. The car was completely flattened and my father's friend was left hugging the tree many hours before another car came by. That's one catastrophe you won't have in the UK with your American cars - lol !!!!
Oh yeah? Well, I was driving an American car in the UK and it broke down! Just then, a pack of squirrels came along and …….. yeah…. I got nothin….. 😒……
I worked with a guy who brought over his Ford F-350 to North Yorkshire. He soon realized his mistake. Too tall for multi story car parks. Too wide for street parking. In fact too wide for a lot of the smaller roads. It ended up living on his driveway (too big for his garage) for 3 years until he returned to the US. He had to put up with a lot of friendly banter.
I would recommend that anyone thinking of bringing in a US car just until you are settled, then bring in a classic car over 40 years old. 1:The import duty is a fraction of the cost compared to a modern car. 2: They are MOT exempt so will not need a yearly inspection (MOT). 3: Road tax if Free. 4: Parts are easy to find as there is a big market for classic American cars in the UK. And 5: American classic cars are worth more in the UK than they are in the US, so when you are ready to sell, you will make a profit! On top of this, cars over 40 years old do not need to be adapted for use or UK registration, which makes the whole registration process very simple as no "single vehicle approval" is needed
Yes, our narrow roads, based on houses that are hundreds of years old and the width of two horses passing! I learned to drive on country roads and always had front windows partly open to hear the traffic around the corners
And even if you CAN drive in a road in normal conditions, it's the abnormal situations that get you. Like, 2 cars passing each other with cars parked on either side of the road, leaving you with narrow gap to pass the other car. And once you're narrow for a European car, you got no chance of getting an extra wide car through there. I struggled with my Ford C-Max sometimes and that was only a few cm wide than a standard car.
@@martinconnelly1473 yes, the sound of all vehicles has decreased over the last 23 years (I trained as a mobility instructor for the blind in 1999) used to hear cars coming by their engines 15 to 30seconds away (when waiting to cross the road) then engines became quieter and it is the rumble of the tyres on the road that you hear rather than the engine! 10 to 20 seconds. The electric cars mostly have artificial noise when travelling above a certain speed, but you can hear the tyres on the road. Slow moving or stationary traffic is a nightmare for blind people as engines cut out when stationary. You are taught not to cross in front of vehicles as you cannot see if vehicle is overtaking, and the stationary vehicle is acting as a ‘sound shadow’ so can’t hear an overtaking vehicle until it is too late.
I just imported a Crown Vic to the UK. Ive been to the US many times and been in them in America and driven a CV in the UK as well but hadnt appreciated how big the thing is! I struggled to get a trailer big enough to get it home from the port and when it went on the drive it dwarfed everything! Im not worried about the small lanes having grown up driving on them, but a Dually literally wouldn't fit through traffic calming posts or down some lanes
Incredibly wise advice. Moderategamer metioned the annual vehicle check (MOT) which is something that *must* be done or else ones insurance is no longer valid. (MOT - Ministry of Transport Certificate. The ministry as such no longer exists. Its functions were subsumed by the Department of the Environment. However the term MOT is used just about everywhere as a shorthand for the annual vehicle check.)
One thing you missed is that a number of European cities and an increasing number of British cities have emission control zones with high charges for vehicles that do not meet the emission control standards. Very few US manufactured vehicles are capable of meeting the required emission standards so this can end up being very expensive if you are regularly having to drive into an area that has an emission control zone.
In the UK, vehicles which have not been tested for emissions for the UK market are marked zero. My daily driver (in the UK) is a 2015 Dodge Challenger with a 6.4l petrol V8. It has UK emissions of 0g/km, about £260 a year tax and can drive in central London for free...
@Zockblatt Shickleblender I don't know what Diesel cars pay. It is true that my car pays nothing in all of them as a US import. I just checked. Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Manchester, Portsmouth, all no charge.
Thank you very much. I was considering shipping my American car to Ireland. I really appreciate your mentioning things like going to the parking garage, or drive through I hadn't considered that. The more important point of finding mechanics who can work on the car. This was exactly what I was looking for and I appreciate your doing this.
Also regarding lights... If your headlights are reflector types the UK have lenses in them that focus the dipped beam to the nearside verge so you don't dazzle oncoming traffic. Not an issue with projector beams as I believe there is an option to switch to left hand (UK) driving but can be quite costly (New headlamps) with reflecotrs. I know this because I bought an old Mk2 Capri off a squadie that was stationed in Germany. He changed the headlamps with a buddie going the opposite direction and when he came back I ended up having to fork out to buy new headlamps for it.
Seat belts & Air bags on European made cars are different on US spec vehicles. Another factor is that the cost of fuel in both the UK and Europe is way more expensive than in the US. .
You brought up so many points I’d never thought of such as servicing and spare parts and overtaking on narrow roads. Another point is that the larger American cars have thirsty V8’s and petrol is so much more expensive in Europe due to extortionate tax. There are many British fans of American cars so you should be able to sell your car even if it has mechanical problems.
I live near a few US airbases - some servicemen do bring their cars with them. American cars always look out of place in the UK - and if you drive them they feel very weird. Jelly suspension, brakes apparently operated by string, seats like sitting on a duvet, snoozing power & transmission and styling that looks quite ungainly to Europeans. And the constant bloody bonging and gonging from the dash! They're probably great on the US interstate, but on twisty European roads they're a fish out of water. That probably applies less to models already sold here - but why would you bother to import it if you could just buy one when you get here? You can buy some larger cars here, but they don't sell very well and many manufacturers have dropped them due to low sales and the prohibitive cost of qualifying them for the euro market in light of this. I think it's because most European roads and cities are far older than the car, whereas many American infrastructure is much more recent and was built with cars in mind. Plus there's just regional variations on preferences.
Sadly there were a number of fatalities involving US military families around the Fens. The big pick-up style trucks were notorious for leaving the road and ending up the steep sided water filled ditches. I think children were involved. Very tragic.
Many US cars in the UK have been shipped over for military service personnel, then sold on. Vehicles like the Nissan Titan and Honda Ridgeline are made exclusively for the massive US market. Even a US Toyota Yaris is a completely different 3-box design rather than the Hatchback familiar to the rest of the world.
I got stuck behind a Dodge caravan with WA state plates on a road in the UK last week. Thing was managing 40mph in the overtaking lane and accelerating real slowly. After overtaking it, I saw the car actually left hand drive on it, which was really impressive, because that meant the thing somehow managed to get from Washington state to the UK
And another thing… windshield/windscreen for any us spec can be found at American glass in Shrewsbury Shropshire, everything from 60’s corvette to late Ford F-150
It’s insane to me that people would even consider importing a basic US car to UK. You could buy a decent car for cash for the same cost of the transport and import costs alone. Great advice on this video, but I really would wonder how you couldn’t find any 6/7 seater cars?
For a first car in the UK go for a second hand Manuel vauxhall corsa or ford fiesta. They are extremely popular so sourcing parts is extremely easy. There are tons of forums going over the common faults on these vehicles and how to fix them (plus all garages in the UK can fix them). They are in a low insurance group so are cheap to insure and are fairly fuel efficient (provided you use your gears correctly when driving and get the car serviced every year). Look for a car with 8+ months left on its annual MOT (compulsory government safety inspection) as this will ensure the car is roadworthy.
Another thing to consider is that unless it's a classic car, selling it in the UK when you want a change will be difficult. Really, there's almost no rational reason for getting a car shipped over. It will be costly, the car will inconvenient to use, and largely unsuitable in many situations.
I live in Ireland, we wouldn’t be very dissimilar from the England, in some cases our roads would be smaller, but I saw a full-size Ford F-150 yesterday and it made my day, it was so cool, but it took up the entire lane, and straddled the centre line and that was on a fairly large road in the middle of Dublin
Matt from the UA-cam channel Furious Driving recently imported a Crown Victoria to the UK. He's currently doing a series that covers some of the challenges involved.
Yeah, with apologies, your best advice is to leave those things at home. Here, most urban roads were laid out when the biggest vehicle was a horse and cart. Village streets and rural back-roads can be a nightmare unless all you're driving is a flock of sheep. That's before even mentioning the sky-high cost of petrol. Driving on the 'wrong' side, however, isn't as big a deal as you might think - we often drive over in Europe, and all it takes is a bit of getting used to - plus, I think most drivers there will spot a UK licence plate and make allowances, much as you do for a learner. Since you'll need to re-register an import vehicle, there won't be such a flag for a US motor with a UK licence plate.
Importing from the US into my country (Netherlands) - if your car has no "type certification" (you have to check the formal jargon yourself), then you need to have the car subjected to a test by our version of the MOT. And it may get rejected. When you arrive in the country with the car, you may have a grace period for a foreign license plate, but after some time the car needs to get a national license plate and you start to pay road tax (so at that moment the type certification is unavoidable). There may be a distinction upon entry of your car into the country between a car remaining foreign and relying on tourist use as in temporarily in the country versus "importing" and going through registration. Upon importing a US car in my country, you may need to pay VAT (21%) and BPM (29% IIRC). I believe that you may be exempt of (all or most of - check that out) this when you owned the car more than half a year on the other side of the pond and it is registered to your name in this country for considerable (check that out) time in this country. Note that this friendly country is full of cameras that record you and even if you do not get fined, photos can be used for tax purposes, insurance checks, road tax checks, or in the future if you are suspected of more criminal acts. My knowledge of this is decades old and may no longer apply, be worse or better. Check it out. If you intend to bring an American gas guzzler, then check out fuel prices before you do so. A smaller, lighter car can save you a lot of money and the environment too. Note that the default European car used to have stick shift transmission (AKA manual) - reason being that the old automatic transmissions loose a lot of power and have significantly worse fuel economy. Modern cars with a more modern complex automatic gearbox and 6 to 9 gears are actually more like manual transmissions that are clutch/switched automatically (or through a paddle command). These generally are more economical than stick shift cars because the controlling computer is better able to drive economically than most humans. Shipping a car overseas is not cheap, by the way, and getting the car through customs at a harbor may not be the fastest procedure you can imagine. If you add that up as temporary personal transport costs, then alternatively you might consider locally renting (short term) or leasing (longer term) a small and cheap car. This is really a matter of shopping around and generally avoiding the big names on airports. Usually the monthly fee comes with some "all risks" insurance that has a low "own risk" amount that you have to pay when you are at fault in an accident. It is important to review a rental car when issued to you and document each and every scratch or deviation - "fixing" these when you return the car seems a business model to me. Or, if not documented properly, fixing the same scratch may get invoiced to different clients repeatedly. In tax terms, my country has two types of vehicles: private versus commercial (business purpose). Commercial vehicles may be exempt of some tax, but they also will have luxury limitations. Here, diesel fuel is taxed less than petrol/gasoline and this was a way to benefit transport companies. For cars subject to a regular car driver's license, the road tax for diesel is higher and you must travel significant distances to earn that back. (The luxury, though is that diesel engines have better fuel economy and a basic Mercedes C class diesel with the extended fuel tank option may bring you from Amsterdam to Milan (1,074 km or 668 miles, going through Germany and Switzerland) at a cruise control speed between 100 and 120 km/h. That distance forces you to refill a petrol/gasoline engined car twice, or thrice if you decide to drive very fast in Germany. Note that the time you gain at high speed is lost at the petrol/gas station. So you could see it as a luxury instead (and a bigger environmental problem too). Commercial is not limited to the "little white van" and e.g. in the UK, Range Rover might have a commercial version. Most of the van type cars have two or three seats in the front behind which a closed separation wall to the payload compartment. But there are versions with a second row of seats. If you need to move bigger stuff a lot, and have 4 kids, such a car might be very attractive. I don't think you need to have a formally founded business to be able to buy and own a commercial vehicle - and this is yet another detail to verify or explore. Biggest worry may be whether your US state's driver's license can be transferred to a local one. You will have some grace period in this regard as well, but when you register as a citizen the clock ticks fast. The US is really federal, not united, at many levels. Getting a driver's license in several European countries is a big deal and you may end up with a couple thousand euros cost as well as complications to your personal life. If your US state has no exchange treaty for its driver's license with the country of destination, then it may be cheaper to figure out which other US state has a treaty and for you to get a license there, before you move (assuming these treaties look at the origin of the license and not your state of residence you arrive from). Even if your driver's license situation is an easy transfer, I would still advise to take a few driving lessons in all cases. To get used to not driving on the right side of the road. To be pointed to specific etiquette that actually may be based in code too, so you could be fined for not complying. Or even to get used to the speed of the other cars. You may be used to 70 miles/hour (113 km/h) or 62 (100 km/h), and you can guesstimate how quickly a car is at your bumper at those speeds. But a top speed limited car at 155 miles/hour (250 km/h) on the German autobahn is another story and your brain needs to learn to guesstimate such speeds. (And then there are the cars that have not been limited or need a second key to remove the limit ... there's a YT video of a car doing some 250 miles/hour (~400 km/h) on a stretch of Autobahn that has no limits. The driver was identified and may be prosecuted for violating generic safety laws, by the way.) As in our traffic there are so many pedestrians or cyclists, you cannot run a red traffic light on a right turn. There needs to be a green signal. And, learn the liabilities. In this country if you (with your vehicle/motorbike) collide with a pedestrian or minor or cyclist, then you may have partial or 100% liability irrespective of "the traffic rules".
A couple of other things to consider if bringing an American car to the UK. Cost of fuel, petrol here is nearly £1.50 per litre, more than $7 per US gallon. Insurance is very expensive for unusual cars models. Size of parking spaces and height of parking spaces, most are much smaller than large US cars, they may not fit in anywhere. Blinkers must be amber colour not red at the rear and white at the front.
I've lived overseas a while now and would consider the idea of bringing a car over from the states to be a massive waste of money in every possible way. And I drove a 7 seater in the UK that I bought in the UK. It is MUCH easier to drive in the UK when your driving position in correct for the UK. You just remember that your body is towards the centre line. I have for years come to the conclusion that large American cars are not only cumbersome, but HUGELY wasteful and rather obnoxious. It really is better to drive a car fashioned to take European roads. And don't get me started on petrol!
Should have sold your car in the US on the second hand market, then bought a second hand car in the UK for the first year, then taken that car to a dealership as a trade in for a deal after working for a year. Plenty of 7 seaters in the UK.
Quite agree, but have seen on American tv some of their cars look like European size. Believe they even have bmw3, 5 and minis there. Japanese ones too look similar to here.
@@johno8892 Certainly not all American cars are so huge, but many are oddly WIDE. Making the idea of parking such over here unpalatable. I lived over there and here. I wouldn't for this reason as well. Drive a small car over there and no real problem, but drive a car that would be average over there and abnormally large for here? Parking, narrow roads, visibility (you would be driving from the wrong side of the car for the side on which you'd be driving! It would make a difference), and like I said, petrol. With the cost of bringing it over in the first place? WHY? A second hand Zafira would be far more sensible in every way.
I love how you nailed it the pickups like the F150 are made for the highway. They're your equivalent of the Chelsea Tractor, nobody is ever talking them off road. It's home to school to Starbucks to soccer practice to home.
Some states (an absolute minority) have annual checks, but they're nowhere near as stringent as MOTs - nor are the histories as easily accesible as MOTs.
@Colin Gregory; yes, you absolutely do! It's called an IVA and must be done except for a few classic/older types of vehicle. The shipper might get this done otherwise it's your responsibility and must be done before the vehicle is driven. The emissions laws here are stringent and most US cars will not pass unmodified.
There clubs for American car fans in the UK, but they tend to interested in classic old muscle cars. When it comes to your Honda, there are also specialist car clubs for Japanese imports that can probably help with advice for sourcing parts. Any good auto-electrician could have suggested an entirely satisfactory substitution for your battery. Look to the specialist suppliers not main dealers.
You missed another main reason why importing is completely insane. Fuel is very expensive in the UK/Europe so an American Gas Guzzler will cost an absolute fortune to run. We offset the high fuel prices in the Europe by having cars with much better fuel economy - smaller petrol(gasoline) engines or fuel-efficient diesels, manual transmissions, etc.
Yeah, standard unleaded* is currently around £1.50 per litre which is about *$7.70 per US gallon*, so pretty much double US prices AFAIK. You do not want something that gets 15mpg, at least not as your daily driver! *95 octane, E10
If you want to find a mechanic that knows their way around a US spec car the best place to had for is rural Suffolk! Specifically the area in and around Lakenheath and Mildenhall
Hi, welcome to UK. Some excellent advice in your video, to which I would like to add a few points which may be of use:- 1. Fuel here is very high priced compared with the USA so consider your daily mileage needs. A European or British car might prove more economical to run, and from my experience, the recommended service intervals are usually longer. Note that only 2 grades of gasoline are available 95 and 97 octane(plus diesel). 2. I don't know if you are an American serviceman or not, but if you were to be stationed at Lakenheath or Mildenhall in Suffolk, I can personally recommend Mildenhall Auto Centre who have worked on my vehicles and have regular deliveries of spares from the US. I have also had spares shipped from USA myself, including a Catalyst, which I had fitted by a local garage. 3. One of the main changes needed to vehicle lighting is on the indicators (turn signals) which have to be amber, and not red (I can't understand why that system is still in use in the US). If the headlights are flat topped beams then there should be no problem with them. I bought spare bulbs in Walmart a couple of trips back. 4. I have had 3 American LHD vehicles here in the UK - Chevrolet Astro, Chevrolet HHR, and a Dodge Ram 1500 van, but I have never had any problem driving on the roads here with the size of the vehicles. In fact, I wish that I still had the Astro (the most comfortable vehicle I have ever owned and my wife loved it). The Dodge van was the most disappointing as I think it had been badly maintained with some defects that should have been picked up in its MOT test on the airbase before I bought it. Note the requirement for an annual MOT for use on British roads. 5. Some American cars have been sold here for the British/European markets- Chrysler Neon, PT Cruiser, Mustang, etc. Drive safely (and on the left)
Thousands of people do it every year... not so crazy to a lot of Americans who come over. Also helps if driving into Europe from the UK to have a US spec car.
@@MacandBlair well, you want to drive in Europe, how many times? Get a hire car. Spend lots of money to ship? I guess that your American car is too big and an auto. What you need is a small right hand drive manual. I just don't get why, you can't sell it in the UK, I still say crazy.
Having had the opposite culture shock myself I can testify that UK and US driving are very different beasts. Look at the roads: us has suburbs without sidewalks, towns on a grid of straight lines, and interstate highways. UK has routes trodden for 2000 years by foot, with cattle and eventually coaches, that have been gradually upgraded and realigned over time. With 10x the population density there's much less room for bespoke roadbuilding. My recommendation if you're staying more than a couple years is to get a relatively compact uk Ford (e. g c-max) and also take the UK driving test, you will find it interesting from a cultural point of view and it will help to remove the mystique around British driving styles
Plus a large number of UK cars still use a manual gearbox. This has always confused me given that autos are less stressful to drive in heavy stop-start traffic. Here in Australia most cars are auto.
@@stevecarter8810 Yeah I remember as a kid being told autos were less efficient and so used more fuel. That may have been true for cars made in the 1980s and earlier but not anymore. Petrol has shot up to $2/litre (Aussie dollar) in Melbourne just in the past week. That's the highest I've ever seen it. Previously it was around $1.70. Six months ago it hovered around $1.50, which was also about where it was pre-pandemic. At the peak of lockdowns in early 2021 it got down to $0.70.
Its just crazy to bring a US car to the UK - the costs to ship will buy you something here for a start. Just sell your vehicles and use cash to buy one here, ive never got a loan for a vehicle in the last 30 years! - then add that to a LHD vehicle would be less safe here and other extra running costs.
Also keep in mind: even if you bring a car that's sold both in the US and Europe (Ford Mustangs, Ford Transits, Chevy Camaros, etc.), the European dealership might not be able to get your parts, as the US VINs are not in their system and part numbers are different for US and EU models.
If you're going in the other direction, UK -> US, the ideal car to bring would be a Classic Mini. Very small to save on shipping costs and easily sold on the collector car market once you've gotten a daily driver worked out.
A Classic Mini is likely not to be on its original engine, and it may fall foul of what's hit Land Rover importers, where anything that's not numbers matching is a massive headache.
When you go back to US you will have to have headlight realigned as they will have been set for driving on left & will be aimed towards the right and have to adjusted when you go home. Have you looked into buying a tax free car from Europe, paying VAT until you leave & reclaiming it back? Porche, Mercedes you see with Z plates are not taxed in Germany, when exported.
Years ago you could sell on a US car in the UK, now it probably would be tough selling it on. Also we have lots of corners and small parking spaces so good idea to get a car that can go around a corner OK and fit in a parking space.
About bigger vehicles (such as F-250): Drivers licenses in EU has classes and anything with too high maximum total weight might require the drivers license for most heavy commercial vehicles, your normal license for cars (and light vans, lighter pick up trucks, etc) wouldn't be allowed. Also speed limits for some trucks are lower, they might be banned from some roads.
If you're thinking of buying a Range/Land Rover I would recommend a Toyota. I've never owned a Landy but heard plenty of stories about reliabilty and parts cost (£300 for one rear light assembly because some LEDs had stopped working!!!). I was brought up on Fords and owned a few myself. Now I drive a 22 year Toyota and the reliability is far better than any Ford I've owned. Some parts can be a lot dearer in comparison, but needed far less often. There is a saying in Australia. "If you want to go into the Outback, get a Land Rover. If you want to come back again, get a Toyota". Toyota also make Lexus if want a bit of luxury too.
Hello, yes Land Rover and Range Rovers are famous for breaking down just don't get them unless u want to spend money toyotas are good but kind of rare in UK market most JDM are but they are worth it especially 90's trucks
About 13 years ago, I bought a 1983 Camaro. Took me about 10 mins to get used to LHD. I owned a Chrysler LeBaron after that. And recently my friend lent me his 1978 Lincoln Continental. That was fun. Old american cars get a lot of praise here in the UK. They fetch good money to . Best to join an American car group on facebook. That way you get recommendations for parts suppliers etc.
I've just sold my car, it's probably one you will know a Ford explorer an American car but mine was made for the British Market so it was right hand drive, I loved it as it is so big in the back and was petrol honestly I'm thinking of looking for another
I'm Dutch, we can just drive to the ferry or tunnel and go to the UK for a few days. The locals say that people from the mainland Europa get less involved in accidents, they take less risks due to the leftside driving 👍
@@rusticpartyeditz I'd disagree. The roads are OKish - apart from the potholes and the drivers are average. Most Western European drivers are pretty good but buy your funeral in advance if you're stupid enough to go to Russia.
The biggest reason not to do this is that it's much much cheaper to buy a used car in the UK than in the US so just buy the same car when you get here and save some money.
@@sandersson2813 it's properly more like 80%. Reason most British roads are so bendy and windey is that's the way the farm animals went back to the farm - to avoid the bogs. Especially true in Northern Britain. BTW standard gauge raways (4' 8") is based on the width of two horses pulling a roman chariot on British roads.
@@tonyjones9442 How the fuck are railway gauges made on Roman measurements when railways came in the 19th century and Romans left Britain in 467 AD? 😂 😂 😂 1500 years earler
a battery is a battery you may not get what the dealer says is OK to use but its still the same im a machinic for many years and can tell you now what you been told is bs. but thinks like the front window will be hard to get but the parts for the rest of the car you might have to wait for but can still be done
@@MacandBlair I'm not sure about newer cars, but to my knowledge, the only "major" difference between US batteries and Euro batteries are some cars use side posts threaded in, mostly GM, while pretty much 99% of the cars use the usual top posts sticking out. Sometimes they're reversed. Then there's the dimensions and specs, but that's not related to the origin of the car.
The only thing to watch out for with batteries is battery /type/. Application data sheets may be wrong for an unusual car, such as a US model in UK, but it can happen any time a garage fits the wrong chemistry of battery to any car. Batteries that use "calcium technology" (a small amount of calcium alloyed with the lead) usually need a slightly higher charging voltage (typically over 14.4V). A calcium battery in a car not set up for it may fail early due to not being fully charged. An ordinary (non calcium) battery in a car set up for calcium may fail early, (and suddenly) due to overcharging causing positive plate erosion that eventually breaks, because they typically need charging voltage to be less than 14.4V. Also warranty may be void if the battery fitted is wrong. The number of "won't start" callouts I attended with a "calcium" battery in a car not made for calcium is ridiculous. I recommended fitting a regular battery from the local motor factors, which cost half as much and lasted more than twice as long, and I got a lot of thanks and recommendations from people who realised their battery from me was lasting *years*, instead of failing every winter with the wrong battery.
Ditto when driving in mainland Europe. Keep my right shoulder to the kerb side. Issue is that time, after about 2-3 weeks when you return to the Uk and you come across the round-a-bout with no others cars present and you forget which way😂
Here's a thought in Japan they do a Honda Odyssey in rhd , it's worth finding a japanese parts specialist that might be able to get you equilivnt parts , brakes and service items shoulf be the same depending on engine specs
Something else that's really important is weight - especially pickups. If your US vehicle has a maximum weight over 3,500kg (7,716lbs), such as a F250 Super Duty with max weight of 8,500lbs, you *MUST NOT* drive that on a UK car licence. If caught you face seizure of the vehicle for 'driving otherwise in accordance with your licence', points on your licence and a fine & costs. Should a vehicle be seized, it has to be collected by someone insured to drive it and licenced to do so. To get a licence for vehicles over 3,500kg you need a medical and to sit a different test which takes weeks or even months to achive (so it's not something you can arrange fast to get your vehicle back).
@@MacandBlair aye, UK licences are far more restrictive than the US & have more categories - which, essentially, are broken down by weight, type of vehicle & towing capacity. Each category, generally, requires its own test (some minor exceptions apply).
From England, in the 1990s, I worked with an English guy who had worked in the USA for a few years, and he brought his US Ford Escort over when he returned to England, I saw it in the car park, and thought 'Blimey that looks like a Ford Escort but not quite'. He said it was a nightmare to get spare parts, Ford Europe parts weren't compatible. But that was before the internet made it easier to source parts.
A few of the light things include that here amber indicators (turn signals) on the rear aren't optional, red indicators are prohibited, and the headlamps should have the higher beam on the left as opposed to the right to prevent blinding oncoming traffic. I don't know what the law is for imports but I believe it still needs to deal with the normal MOT, and therefore problems with mechanics will be exemplified as its a criminal offence to not have an MOT (specific service and test, comes from the now defunct Ministry of Transport (MoT) which used to require them, now its the Department of Transport which is part of a bigger ministry but MOT stuck as a name for the test which never originally has a formal name).
I drive a 1995 Ford F-250 , I pull a 1954 Airstream travel trailer all around the UK .. There is not one road I can't drive down and not one spare part I can't get for either truck or trailer , including windscreen ..
Completely irrelevant to me but i watched the whole way through and enjoyed every moment. Interesting little details and nice soothing soundtrack. Another quality upload, thanks and have a great day.
Sound advice for the UK. I would add that the cost of petrol (gas) is a lot higher over here - another reason you might not want to have a large vehicle. Finally, the cost of insurance may be higher given the difficulty of obtaining spare parts needed for repairs. We do not have low pay-out policies here (like $20k cover) so you can only have policies with much higher cover figures. With all that said, do not be put off from coming over here for work reasons. Our laws regarding employment, holidays and pensions should mean you get time to enjoy the country.
@@grahamwilkinson6902 And yet people there still complain about how far they need to drive constantly. The English sense of distance is pretty amusing.
This is sad. When I first started watching this channel all the comments were nice and supportive. Sadly the trolls have found the channel and the comments are full of the small mean spirited tiny brained people. Hopefully some of the nicer people are still here too. Get yourself an ID. Buzz sir 👍🏻
One other thing. An American visiting worker where I used to work told me he was shipping over his car, and when I pointed out the problems with overtaking told me he would pass on the left. It took several of us to point out that passing on the left in the UK is called "undertaking" and is ILLEGAL, before he eventually changed his mind and bought a UK car, which at the end of his 3 year placemnt he shipped back to the US!
Passing on the left is not, in itself, an offence and hasn't been since the early 1970's. If you do so the offence will usually be negligent or dangerous driving. Note: if you're in the left lane already and the lane to your right slows down, I believe you're permitted to maintain speed if it's safe.
Everyone should drive a left hand drive vehicle for a while to teach them how to overtake properly - stay back and get a good view. Far too many drivers get too close to the vehicle they are trying to overtake and cannot see the road ahead. This applies to those driving RHD vehicles and it's why someone will suddenly stick themselves out into the on-coming traffic to peek round a large vehicle - and it's damned dangerous.
So the moral is sell or store your car in the US. Buy a UK car when you arrive. I drive a right hand drive and a left hand drive car in Portugal. Road lay-outs just make sense in a left hand drive car. Overtaking is easy and selling your car is easy when the time comes. My right hand drive is an off road Land Rover, so it doesn't really matter where I sit.
Just reverse through the drive thru 😄 (I did that once late at McDonald's, they all thought i was nuts! But it got some laughs!) no I know what you mean sir, just get a car from the UK, one thing we do have is a lot of car shops be it 2nd hand or whatever, and you can find a good one for a reasonable price too. 👍👍
If you're moving from the US to the UK, I would recommend selling whatever cars you own in the US and buying a Challenger Scat Pack and a Camaro SS. Bring both of those with you, drive them for a while as you get settled in, then sell them at a huge profit and buy UK cars. If the Challenger and Camaro are your personal cars at the time, you don't have to pay the usual 10% duty on the car value and 20% VAT on the car value + duty + shipping cost that usually applies when importing cars.
When we lived n the US my wife had a Honda Civic. Upon investigation I found that this car bought in the US market did 30 miles to the gallon, yet exactly the same car bought in the UK market did 60 miles to the gallon!
US Gallons are not quite the same as imperial UK gallons, so it's about 1.2 US gallon = 1 imperial UK gallon so a US car getting 30mpg US converts to about 36mpg UK. Did both the Civics have the same engine size as that's some difference you got.
They arent half the size. Two tjings are important to consider. American fuel is so cheap that there is no incwntove to be efficient, and US fuel has multiple grades which are less premium than UK fuel.
Back in the late 70s, I did a job swap with my opposite number in N. Carolina university. We also swapped houses and cars for the duration. I warned him my car would be small compared to his but he might get to like it - it was a Renault 16. My wife's car was a Fiat 127. His was a Ford LTD station wagon - basically, an aircraft carrier but without the nuclear propulsion. Oh, and a Dodge Charger as the second car. It did have a towbar for the oil well though. We phoned after the first day and his first comment was 'Hey, you weren't kidding! but it's fun and we all fit in' (Mum, Dad and 2 kids) ' After the six months, it was back to normal but within a couple of weeks, they had bought a two small Japanese cars. We've kept in touch over the years and they've never bought anything but Japanese, Korean and European cars since.
One of the few places here you see significant numbers of imported US vehicles are in areas near USAF bases in the UK. There's a cluster of them on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk.
Sounds like more trouble than it’s worth. You can get long term hire cars as a foreigner and the UK gov will recognise a US license up to (I believe) about 2 years - that’s what I’d do if I was an American heading to the UK. Real deal breakers for me would be parts, cost of transporting it, cost to insure, steering wheel on wrong side (lol) and fuel consumption (US cars often drink more and UK fuel is about $9/US gallon). Also, as an Englishman having travelled to the US, across the UK and Europe, I can honestly say that UK and Europe have great public transport ANYWHERE super cheaply… US is a bit sketchy outside of cities. Don’t get me wrong, classic American cars, sure but your average modern Ford or Hyundai is a headache in my opinion
If I recall, if you do move to the UK, your US license is only valid for 6 months to a year before you have to take a UK test and must drive on a uk license. If you’ve been here longer and don’t have a uk license, your insurance may be invalid
It's 12 months and yes, if you don't pass the UK driving test and get a UK licence within that time frame, your insurance is invalid. Given the HUGE number of ANPR cameras in the UK compared to the US and ANPR facilities in all police cars, the chances of you getting pulled are high. Don't risk it.
I can’t understand why you would bring a family vehicle from the US to UK. Surely the shipping costs alone make that prohibitively expensive. Plus the cleaning, modification costs, the certification costs, the difficulty in getting it repaired, it being less convenient and less safe sitting on the left… Rent or lease one until you get a permanent address and buy a local vehicle.
Another significant expense to consider is the much higher insurance premium you will have to pay. A left hand drive vehicle used on UK roads is much more likely to be involved in an accident due to the vastly reduced visibility, especially when overtaking as mentioned in this video,. Insurance companies also factor in the cost of repairing damage after an accident, so if parts are not easily available then the insurance premium will be much higher. Unless the US vehicle has some special sentimental value to you, it simply isn’t worth the cost to bring it with you from the states. Sell it before you leave and use the cash to buy something more suitable when you arrive.
I've actually quoted insurance in UK and my US car came out lower than identical models of same age if I purchased them in the UK. The reason is I've owned the car so long that they consider 'vehicle experience' as a risk lowering factor.
Get a UK car that way you be constantly harassed by beeps,. What is it with everything you do in a yankmobile they beep. Also yank cars suspension is way to soft for UK roads, we have bends.
I was stationed in the UK for 4 years and took my Rodeo with me. All the mods sucked getting done but other than that there were no issues with driving on anything.
Another issue will be selling any LHD vehicle here. They typically don't do well unless someone is looking for an LHD vehicle in particular. Best not to expect high resale.
Just research cars and buy British or if you prefer left hand drives, buy one from France or Germany for example and pay cost of importing. Just embrace your new venture and keep it local or bring over a classic car like a VW where parts can be bought
Second hand car market is really good here in the UK. You can pick up a safe, reliable and practice car to tide you over when you get here for a lot less than the cost of shipping and import. It's a really poor decision to import a vehicle here from the US. The only exception is specialist vehicles you simply can't get here or very high end. Other than that, really don't bother. We have a completely different infrastructure here. Large vehicles just don't work. Fuel prices are much higher. Also totally different emissions and safety standards. Also there are all the import charges to pay. I just don't understand why you would do this. It's got so many problems and so few upsides.
@@deadeyeduncan5022 i meant like, less guns. NHS, better dental, better education system, lower death rates during birth, abortion rights, illegal child marriage ( although i know not all states are too bad regarding the last 2), food quality etc Stuff like that. If you're ultra religious the states is probably better , although the UK seems fairly diverse. Its definitely far from perfect tho. Crap government tories , increasing poverty, and a police force that works best for cis white men . Im not scared of the brexit police , let me at em ! 😈
@@deadeyeduncan5022 ..I could keep going but I really shouldn't have to. no, you really shouldnt keep going. you obviously have no idea what you are talking about, so silence is golden, as they say. unless you want to do some research and find out ' why ' the uk is better than the usa? are you going to do any research? i'd recommend it :)
Whatever you do, don’t drive out of a US airbase on the wrong side of the road, kill a cyclist and then run off to the States like a coward claiming diplomatic immunity that you don’t have.
He was on a motorcycle, not a bicycle but yes, claiming diplomatic immunity to escape the consequences of your actions is both cowardly & immoral. The US failure to allow her extradition should have seen us suspend any further extradition requests by them.
Anything non-standard costs an arm and a leg here in the UK (interestingly that phrase comes from painting years ago when you would be charged for the visage and extra for the arms and legs. Anyway …) We have very few toll roads but the other drivers on those must love you at the payment points. Servicing - after 3 years, you have to have an annual MOT here in the UK. A garage has to check your lights, battery, etc., etc. Servicing a tiny wee RHD VW was a fortune … imported that car from Belgium via Ireland - which saved money on the purchase price then but not now. (HMRC will eventually scout out any brilliant idea to save money.) So, eventually, I swapped mine for a make that was cheaper to service. Worth checking that out. The VW was 2-3 times the usual service price at least. Even normal parts you could replace yourself like windscreen wiper blades or light bulbs were a small fortune. The biggest problem with LHD on RHD roads and vice versa, is that drivers forget what planet they’re on and revert to ‘their’ side of the road from time to time. In France, him indoors had a British lady crash into his truck head on in a tiny French village with extremely narrow bendy roads - right angles in the road because that’s were some medieval peasant built their cottage. They were both on the French side of the road, if only she were driving backwards. Her car was a write off. His truck was squished a bit in the front. So was he. The RAC insurance service was brilliant. Got him home to the glorious (‘free’ to them) NHSand the truck was shipped back and forth for repair without us having to do anything. It helped that the woman who was on the wrong side of the road was British. Otherwise, it’s likely we’d still be in discussions now about whose fault it was and how much English she understood years later. There are infamous deaths due to Americans driving on the wrong side of the road near USA Air Force bases here in the UK. USA servicemen get their vehicles imported here for free. They should buy RHD and do a compulsory conversion driving course, that includes training for any adults in their family. We do have some very large cars here, but they tend to be accompanied by a President.
Don't forget that unless it's a classic with worldwide or niche appeal (like a Corvette, Trans-Am, etc.) it will have virtually no UK second hand market value, no matter how much it might be worth in the US.
When I was in USA I noticed how new cars seemed much cheaper than new cars in UK but the opposite for used cars, here in the UK just got a couple of prices on a vw golf 2014 diesel auto USA with 80k was $18000 the same car in UK with only 34k miles was equivalent to $13000. These were both major dealership price comparison
Those weird American cars imported from the Netherlands
@@Mat0305 That’s not how it usually is in the USA. Right now we’re facing a chip shortage alongside inflation which has created a bubble in the car economy and led to prices being out of control.
In terms of the British market, perhaps, but not entirely true in terms of selling a LHD car in the UK. There are quite a few LHD specialist car companies in the UK, who will buy cars specifically to sell to people relocating into Europe etc., and resale prices are actually quite high. When I moved to Portugal I looked at buying a LHD car in the UK. There were almost limitless choices, but prices were higher than equivalent UK RHD cars.
What about the pontiac grand prix gxp, they don't have those there.
As a Brit I can tell you very few American cars last long in UK. Their reliability is not good, terrible to drive on most of the smaller roads and in towns. There is also a problem parking as parking spaces are small.
I was a mechanic for many years and worked in a couple of garages a few miles from a large US base. Many servicemen who bought their cars over struggled to drive them here on the left hand side and soon crashed them.
Another thing to remember is that if you try to buy UK car insurance for an American car import you will pay more, partly because it's an import but mostly because it's left hand drive.
One suggestion I would give to any American intending to drive in UK would be to go online or in a book shop ( if already in UK ) and buy a copy of a small book called The Highway Code . It's a book from the driving department here. It explains everything about the roads here, road markings , laws and explains how to drive here.
It’s also available as an ebook
Some interesting thoughts there. Let me add a few of my own. My partner is American and has been travelling back and forward for many years. We are now able to settle in the UK. So we have vehicle experience on both sides of the pond.
If you're concerned about a large 7 or 9 seater vehicle, they are available in the UK. If that's your ONLY reason for wanting to ship your own vehicle, don't bother. The negatives far outweight the benefits.
You will be hammered for insurance. You'll be automatically hammered because you have no opportunity to build up your 'no claims bonus' here and you'll be doubly hammered because you're driving a left hand drive vehicle which has been modified. You might even find insurance difficult to get or with restrictions. You MUST have insurance arranged before getting behind the wheel so if you intend to drive back from the port of entry, arrange your insurance first. You also need to inform the government, register the vehicle within 14 days and sort new number plates. You need an IVA to ensure the vehicle meets emissions standards. Returning to insurance, check the insurance provided by the shipping company to ensure it covers the full value of your vehicle. It might be worth taking out your own insurance too.
If your vehicle has a tracker, check that the tracker operations company will still deal with it in the UK. You might have to pay extra.
If you insist on bringing your US vehicle, the best place to find mechanics familiar with it and able to get parts more easily is near one of the large US military bases in the UK. Lakenheath, Fairford and Mildenhall are the largest and all have garages near them for US cars. Look for ones called 'auto centres' rather than garages. That's a big clue! Most big cities will have dealers/mechanics who deal with the US sports cars (Corvettes, Mustangs and similar).
If you are moving because of your job why not ask your employer to organise a rental car for you for a period of time? 8 weeks should give you plenty of time to look at vehicles here and sell your car/s in the US to have that money available. You might even be able to organise a company leasehold car. If you don't ask.....
If you intend to be in the UK and driving for more than a year, you need to get a UK driving licence. You need to pass a UK test BEFORE the 12 months are up. Failure to do so will get you an hefty fine, points on your licence and your car seized. Your insurance will, naturally, be invalid. Any points you get go on your licence whether it's a UK one or not so it's in your interest to be sure that you understand the laws here, maybe have some lessons and read or watch information on the Highway Code. Ignorance of UK driving laws will be no defence.
America often complains that other countries are not buying American cars, in many cases citing unfair trade barriers. The simple fact is that America doesn't make cars that people in other countries want to buy.
Well, 70% of GM cars are made in China, there is not much US made to buy, any more.
An anecdote : when we lived in Kenya (1957-1960), one of my father's friends had bought one of those huge American cars. The long-awaited day came when the car was to be delivered at the port of Mombasa. The road to Mombasa was red dirt and nearing Mombasa, there were huge ups and downs. He collected his pride and joy (I mean the car) and started back to Nairobi. Unfortunately these "ups and downs" overheated the motor which stalled. He got out of the car, lifted the hood to let out the steam, when he heard loud trompetting getting closer and closer. He realized there was a herd of elephants on the way, so he climbed the nearest tree. The leader of the herd was a very large male elephant who, intrigued by the steam, moved to the car and with his sensitive trump touched the source of the steam. He screamed in pain and started stamping on the car, followed by the rest of the herd. The car was completely flattened and my father's friend was left hugging the tree many hours before another car came by.
That's one catastrophe you won't have in the UK with your American cars - lol !!!!
Great story! 😎 But not for the car. 😄
Cricky a bit more exciting then a pot holed journey to sainsbury's where I live
@@franbl8035 Ha ha ha - love your reaction !
Brilliant ♥
Oh yeah? Well, I was driving an American car in the UK and it broke down! Just then, a pack of squirrels came along and …….. yeah…. I got nothin….. 😒……
Always funny seeing stuff that drives round Lakenheath and Mildenhall. "They brought that over??!!??"
I worked with a guy who brought over his Ford F-350 to North Yorkshire. He soon realized his mistake. Too tall for multi story car parks. Too wide for street parking. In fact too wide for a lot of the smaller roads. It ended up living on his driveway (too big for his garage) for 3 years until he returned to the US. He had to put up with a lot of friendly banter.
I would recommend that anyone thinking of bringing in a US car just until you are settled, then bring in a classic car over 40 years old. 1:The import duty is a fraction of the cost compared to a modern car. 2: They are MOT exempt so will not need a yearly inspection (MOT). 3: Road tax if Free. 4: Parts are easy to find as there is a big market for classic American cars in the UK. And 5: American classic cars are worth more in the UK than they are in the US, so when you are ready to sell, you will make a profit!
On top of this, cars over 40 years old do not need to be adapted for use or UK registration, which makes the whole registration process very simple as no "single vehicle approval" is needed
Yes, our narrow roads, based on houses that are hundreds of years old and the width of two horses passing!
I learned to drive on country roads and always had front windows partly open to hear the traffic around the corners
And even if you CAN drive in a road in normal conditions, it's the abnormal situations that get you. Like, 2 cars passing each other with cars parked on either side of the road, leaving you with narrow gap to pass the other car.
And once you're narrow for a European car, you got no chance of getting an extra wide car through there.
I struggled with my Ford C-Max sometimes and that was only a few cm wide than a standard car.
That doesn't work for electric vehicles and I bet a lot of modern cars are too quiet to hear coming if they have backed off the power.
@@martinconnelly1473 yes, the sound of all vehicles has decreased over the last 23 years (I trained as a mobility instructor for the blind in 1999) used to hear cars coming by their engines 15 to 30seconds away (when waiting to cross the road) then engines became quieter and it is the rumble of the tyres on the road that you hear rather than the engine! 10 to 20 seconds. The electric cars mostly have artificial noise when travelling above a certain speed, but you can hear the tyres on the road. Slow moving or stationary traffic is a nightmare for blind people as engines cut out when stationary. You are taught not to cross in front of vehicles as you cannot see if vehicle is overtaking, and the stationary vehicle is acting as a ‘sound shadow’ so can’t hear an overtaking vehicle until it is too late.
I just imported a Crown Vic to the UK. Ive been to the US many times and been in them in America and driven a CV in the UK as well but hadnt appreciated how big the thing is! I struggled to get a trailer big enough to get it home from the port and when it went on the drive it dwarfed everything! Im not worried about the small lanes having grown up driving on them, but a Dually literally wouldn't fit through traffic calming posts or down some lanes
Incredibly wise advice.
Moderategamer metioned the annual vehicle check (MOT) which is something that *must* be done or else ones insurance is no longer valid. (MOT - Ministry of Transport Certificate. The ministry as such no longer exists. Its functions were subsumed by the Department of the Environment. However the term MOT is used just about everywhere as a shorthand for the annual vehicle check.)
One thing you missed is that a number of European cities and an increasing number of British cities have emission control zones with high charges for vehicles that do not meet the emission control standards. Very few US manufactured vehicles are capable of meeting the required emission standards so this can end up being very expensive if you are regularly having to drive into an area that has an emission control zone.
In the UK, vehicles which have not been tested for emissions for the UK market are marked zero. My daily driver (in the UK) is a 2015 Dodge Challenger with a 6.4l petrol V8. It has UK emissions of 0g/km, about £260 a year tax and can drive in central London for free...
@Zockblatt Shickleblender I don't know what Diesel cars pay. It is true that my car pays nothing in all of them as a US import. I just checked. Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Manchester, Portsmouth, all no charge.
That is a really good point. Thanks.
@@jameshoward2738 That may be the best loophole I have ever heard of... :)
5 things to consider before shipping a US car to the UK:
1. Don’t
2. Just don’t
3. Nope
4. Uh-uh
5. Just no!
Thank you very much. I was considering shipping my American car to Ireland. I really appreciate your mentioning things like going to the parking garage, or drive through I hadn't considered that. The more important point of finding mechanics who can work on the car. This was exactly what I was looking for and I appreciate your doing this.
Also regarding lights...
If your headlights are reflector types the UK have lenses in them that focus the dipped beam to the nearside verge so you don't dazzle oncoming traffic.
Not an issue with projector beams as I believe there is an option to switch to left hand (UK) driving but can be quite costly (New headlamps) with reflecotrs.
I know this because I bought an old Mk2 Capri off a squadie that was stationed in Germany. He changed the headlamps with a buddie going the opposite direction and when he came back I ended up having to fork out to buy new headlamps for it.
Seat belts & Air bags on European made cars are different on US spec vehicles. Another factor is that the cost of fuel in both the UK and Europe is way more expensive than in the US. .
You brought up so many points I’d never thought of such as servicing and spare parts and overtaking on narrow roads. Another point is that the larger American cars have thirsty V8’s and petrol is so much more expensive in Europe due to extortionate tax.
There are many British fans of American cars so you should be able to sell your car even if it has mechanical problems.
I live near a few US airbases - some servicemen do bring their cars with them. American cars always look out of place in the UK - and if you drive them they feel very weird. Jelly suspension, brakes apparently operated by string, seats like sitting on a duvet, snoozing power & transmission and styling that looks quite ungainly to Europeans. And the constant bloody bonging and gonging from the dash!
They're probably great on the US interstate, but on twisty European roads they're a fish out of water. That probably applies less to models already sold here - but why would you bother to import it if you could just buy one when you get here?
You can buy some larger cars here, but they don't sell very well and many manufacturers have dropped them due to low sales and the prohibitive cost of qualifying them for the euro market in light of this.
I think it's because most European roads and cities are far older than the car, whereas many American infrastructure is much more recent and was built with cars in mind. Plus there's just regional variations on preferences.
Sadly there were a number of fatalities involving US military families around the Fens. The big pick-up style trucks were notorious for leaving the road and ending up the steep sided water filled ditches. I think children were involved. Very tragic.
Many US cars in the UK have been shipped over for military service personnel, then sold on.
Vehicles like the Nissan Titan and Honda Ridgeline are made exclusively for the massive US market. Even a US Toyota Yaris is a completely different 3-box design rather than the Hatchback familiar to the rest of the world.
I got stuck behind a Dodge caravan with WA state plates on a road in the UK last week. Thing was managing 40mph in the overtaking lane and accelerating real slowly. After overtaking it, I saw the car actually left hand drive on it, which was really impressive, because that meant the thing somehow managed to get from Washington state to the UK
And another thing… windshield/windscreen for any us spec can be found at American glass in Shrewsbury Shropshire, everything from 60’s corvette to late Ford F-150
Yep, they had me a screen for a 1965 Mustang delivered to the door in 48 hours with a choice of plain, blue or brown top tints also!
It’s insane to me that people would even consider importing a basic US car to UK. You could buy a decent car for cash for the same cost of the transport and import costs alone. Great advice on this video, but I really would wonder how you couldn’t find any 6/7 seater cars?
For a first car in the UK go for a second hand Manuel vauxhall corsa or ford fiesta. They are extremely popular so sourcing parts is extremely easy. There are tons of forums going over the common faults on these vehicles and how to fix them (plus all garages in the UK can fix them). They are in a low insurance group so are cheap to insure and are fairly fuel efficient (provided you use your gears correctly when driving and get the car serviced every year). Look for a car with 8+ months left on its annual MOT (compulsory government safety inspection) as this will ensure the car is roadworthy.
Another thing to consider is that unless it's a classic car, selling it in the UK when you want a change will be difficult. Really, there's almost no rational reason for getting a car shipped over. It will be costly, the car will inconvenient to use, and largely unsuitable in many situations.
I live in Ireland, we wouldn’t be very dissimilar from the England, in some cases our roads would be smaller, but I saw a full-size Ford F-150 yesterday and it made my day, it was so cool, but it took up the entire lane, and straddled the centre line and that was on a fairly large road in the middle of Dublin
Great advice. Very generous of you to give up your time to alert your followers to these important issues.
There is always a stream of Americans moving to the UK... that is who I hope to help.
Matt from the UA-cam channel Furious Driving recently imported a Crown Victoria to the UK. He's currently doing a series that covers some of the challenges involved.
Yeah, with apologies, your best advice is to leave those things at home. Here, most urban roads were laid out when the biggest vehicle was a horse and cart. Village streets and rural back-roads can be a nightmare unless all you're driving is a flock of sheep. That's before even mentioning the sky-high cost of petrol. Driving on the 'wrong' side, however, isn't as big a deal as you might think - we often drive over in Europe, and all it takes is a bit of getting used to - plus, I think most drivers there will spot a UK licence plate and make allowances, much as you do for a learner. Since you'll need to re-register an import vehicle, there won't be such a flag for a US motor with a UK licence plate.
Importing from the US into my country (Netherlands) - if your car has no "type certification" (you have to check the formal jargon yourself), then you need to have the car subjected to a test by our version of the MOT. And it may get rejected. When you arrive in the country with the car, you may have a grace period for a foreign license plate, but after some time the car needs to get a national license plate and you start to pay road tax (so at that moment the type certification is unavoidable).
There may be a distinction upon entry of your car into the country between a car remaining foreign and relying on tourist use as in temporarily in the country versus "importing" and going through registration.
Upon importing a US car in my country, you may need to pay VAT (21%) and BPM (29% IIRC). I believe that you may be exempt of (all or most of - check that out) this when you owned the car more than half a year on the other side of the pond and it is registered to your name in this country for considerable (check that out) time in this country. Note that this friendly country is full of cameras that record you and even if you do not get fined, photos can be used for tax purposes, insurance checks, road tax checks, or in the future if you are suspected of more criminal acts. My knowledge of this is decades old and may no longer apply, be worse or better. Check it out.
If you intend to bring an American gas guzzler, then check out fuel prices before you do so. A smaller, lighter car can save you a lot of money and the environment too. Note that the default European car used to have stick shift transmission (AKA manual) - reason being that the old automatic transmissions loose a lot of power and have significantly worse fuel economy. Modern cars with a more modern complex automatic gearbox and 6 to 9 gears are actually more like manual transmissions that are clutch/switched automatically (or through a paddle command). These generally are more economical than stick shift cars because the controlling computer is better able to drive economically than most humans.
Shipping a car overseas is not cheap, by the way, and getting the car through customs at a harbor may not be the fastest procedure you can imagine. If you add that up as temporary personal transport costs, then alternatively you might consider locally renting (short term) or leasing (longer term) a small and cheap car. This is really a matter of shopping around and generally avoiding the big names on airports. Usually the monthly fee comes with some "all risks" insurance that has a low "own risk" amount that you have to pay when you are at fault in an accident. It is important to review a rental car when issued to you and document each and every scratch or deviation - "fixing" these when you return the car seems a business model to me. Or, if not documented properly, fixing the same scratch may get invoiced to different clients repeatedly.
In tax terms, my country has two types of vehicles: private versus commercial (business purpose). Commercial vehicles may be exempt of some tax, but they also will have luxury limitations. Here, diesel fuel is taxed less than petrol/gasoline and this was a way to benefit transport companies. For cars subject to a regular car driver's license, the road tax for diesel is higher and you must travel significant distances to earn that back. (The luxury, though is that diesel engines have better fuel economy and a basic Mercedes C class diesel with the extended fuel tank option may bring you from Amsterdam to Milan (1,074 km or 668 miles, going through Germany and Switzerland) at a cruise control speed between 100 and 120 km/h. That distance forces you to refill a petrol/gasoline engined car twice, or thrice if you decide to drive very fast in Germany. Note that the time you gain at high speed is lost at the petrol/gas station. So you could see it as a luxury instead (and a bigger environmental problem too). Commercial is not limited to the "little white van" and e.g. in the UK, Range Rover might have a commercial version. Most of the van type cars have two or three seats in the front behind which a closed separation wall to the payload compartment. But there are versions with a second row of seats. If you need to move bigger stuff a lot, and have 4 kids, such a car might be very attractive. I don't think you need to have a formally founded business to be able to buy and own a commercial vehicle - and this is yet another detail to verify or explore.
Biggest worry may be whether your US state's driver's license can be transferred to a local one. You will have some grace period in this regard as well, but when you register as a citizen the clock ticks fast. The US is really federal, not united, at many levels. Getting a driver's license in several European countries is a big deal and you may end up with a couple thousand euros cost as well as complications to your personal life. If your US state has no exchange treaty for its driver's license with the country of destination, then it may be cheaper to figure out which other US state has a treaty and for you to get a license there, before you move (assuming these treaties look at the origin of the license and not your state of residence you arrive from).
Even if your driver's license situation is an easy transfer, I would still advise to take a few driving lessons in all cases. To get used to not driving on the right side of the road. To be pointed to specific etiquette that actually may be based in code too, so you could be fined for not complying. Or even to get used to the speed of the other cars. You may be used to 70 miles/hour (113 km/h) or 62 (100 km/h), and you can guesstimate how quickly a car is at your bumper at those speeds. But a top speed limited car at 155 miles/hour (250 km/h) on the German autobahn is another story and your brain needs to learn to guesstimate such speeds. (And then there are the cars that have not been limited or need a second key to remove the limit ... there's a YT video of a car doing some 250 miles/hour (~400 km/h) on a stretch of Autobahn that has no limits. The driver was identified and may be prosecuted for violating generic safety laws, by the way.) As in our traffic there are so many pedestrians or cyclists, you cannot run a red traffic light on a right turn. There needs to be a green signal. And, learn the liabilities. In this country if you (with your vehicle/motorbike) collide with a pedestrian or minor or cyclist, then you may have partial or 100% liability irrespective of "the traffic rules".
A couple of other things to consider if bringing an American car to the UK. Cost of fuel, petrol here is nearly £1.50 per litre, more than $7 per US gallon. Insurance is very expensive for unusual cars models. Size of parking spaces and height of parking spaces, most are much smaller than large US cars, they may not fit in anywhere. Blinkers must be amber colour not red at the rear and white at the front.
Also the headlights need changing as they dip the wrong direction for driving on the opposite side of the road.
I've lived overseas a while now and would consider the idea of bringing a car over from the states to be a massive waste of money in every possible way. And I drove a 7 seater in the UK that I bought in the UK. It is MUCH easier to drive in the UK when your driving position in correct for the UK. You just remember that your body is towards the centre line. I have for years come to the conclusion that large American cars are not only cumbersome, but HUGELY wasteful and rather obnoxious. It really is better to drive a car fashioned to take European roads. And don't get me started on petrol!
Should have sold your car in the US on the second hand market, then bought a second hand car in the UK for the first year, then taken that car to a dealership as a trade in for a deal after working for a year. Plenty of 7 seaters in the UK.
Quite agree, but have seen on American tv some of their cars look like European size. Believe they even have bmw3, 5 and minis there. Japanese ones too look similar to here.
@@johno8892 Certainly not all American cars are so huge, but many are oddly WIDE. Making the idea of parking such over here unpalatable. I lived over there and here. I wouldn't for this reason as well. Drive a small car over there and no real problem, but drive a car that would be average over there and abnormally large for here? Parking, narrow roads, visibility (you would be driving from the wrong side of the car for the side on which you'd be driving! It would make a difference), and like I said, petrol. With the cost of bringing it over in the first place? WHY? A second hand Zafira would be far more sensible in every way.
I love how you nailed it the pickups like the F150 are made for the highway.
They're your equivalent of the Chelsea Tractor, nobody is ever talking them off road.
It's home to school to Starbucks to soccer practice to home.
Great video, may be worth talking about MOTs as far as I'm aware the US doesn't have any form of annual vehicle safety checks
Some states (an absolute minority) have annual checks, but they're nowhere near as stringent as MOTs - nor are the histories as easily accesible as MOTs.
@@tomwebb3081 interesting !
Apparently New York is one of them from what I’m told
Do you need an initial check on arrival before taking it on the road ? Emissions ? Others ?
@Colin Gregory; yes, you absolutely do! It's called an IVA and must be done except for a few classic/older types of vehicle. The shipper might get this done otherwise it's your responsibility and must be done before the vehicle is driven. The emissions laws here are stringent and most US cars will not pass unmodified.
You need to buy the Peel P50. That will fit everyone in no problem!
There clubs for American car fans in the UK, but they tend to interested in classic old muscle cars. When it comes to your Honda, there are also specialist car clubs for Japanese imports that can probably help with advice for sourcing parts.
Any good auto-electrician could have suggested an entirely satisfactory substitution for your battery.
Look to the specialist suppliers not main dealers.
10:48 if you want even more space, look at some vans like the Ford transit and vw transporter
You missed another main reason why importing is completely insane. Fuel is very expensive in the UK/Europe so an American Gas Guzzler will cost an absolute fortune to run. We offset the high fuel prices in the Europe by having cars with much better fuel economy - smaller petrol(gasoline) engines or fuel-efficient diesels, manual transmissions, etc.
Yeah, standard unleaded* is currently around £1.50 per litre which is about *$7.70 per US gallon*, so pretty much double US prices AFAIK. You do not want something that gets 15mpg, at least not as your daily driver!
*95 octane, E10
@@The1trueDave £1.75 a litre now :(
@@richard6440 Yep, and my motorbike won't play nicely with E10 so it needs 'premium' E5 :-(
If you want to find a mechanic that knows their way around a US spec car the best place to had for is rural Suffolk!
Specifically the area in and around Lakenheath and Mildenhall
Thanks
Hi Mac...You may also want to mention that the handles to the petrol pumps are a different colour to those in the U.S.A.
Hi, welcome to UK. Some excellent advice in your video, to which I would like to add a few points which may be of use:-
1. Fuel here is very high priced compared with the USA so consider your daily mileage needs. A European or British car might prove more economical to run, and from my experience, the recommended service intervals are usually longer. Note that only 2 grades of gasoline are available 95 and 97 octane(plus diesel).
2. I don't know if you are an American serviceman or not, but if you were to be stationed at Lakenheath or Mildenhall in Suffolk, I can personally recommend Mildenhall Auto Centre who have worked on my vehicles and have regular deliveries of spares from the US. I have also had spares shipped from USA myself, including a Catalyst, which I had fitted by a local garage.
3. One of the main changes needed to vehicle lighting is on the indicators (turn signals) which have to be amber, and not red (I can't understand why that system is still in use in the US). If the headlights are flat topped beams then there should be no problem with them. I bought spare bulbs in Walmart a couple of trips back.
4. I have had 3 American LHD vehicles here in the UK - Chevrolet Astro, Chevrolet HHR, and a Dodge Ram 1500 van, but I have never had any problem driving on the roads here with the size of the vehicles. In fact, I wish that I still had the Astro (the most comfortable vehicle I have ever owned and my wife loved it).
The Dodge van was the most disappointing as I think it had been badly maintained with some defects that should have been picked up in its MOT test on the airbase before I bought it.
Note the requirement for an annual MOT for use on British roads.
5. Some American cars have been sold here for the British/European markets- Chrysler Neon, PT Cruiser, Mustang, etc.
Drive safely (and on the left)
Why on earth would you want to ship a car, that is completely unsuitable for a different country. Drives on the wrong side for a start. Crazy
Thousands of people do it every year... not so crazy to a lot of Americans who come over. Also helps if driving into Europe from the UK to have a US spec car.
@@MacandBlair well, you want to drive in Europe, how many times? Get a hire car. Spend lots of money to ship? I guess that your American car is too big and an auto. What you need is a small right hand drive manual. I just don't get why, you can't sell it in the UK, I still say crazy.
We don't drive on the wrong side. We drive on a different side.
Because if I did move I want to bring my dodge hellcat demon charger
People are so negative for no reason at all. You're a lovely positive man, ignore them all :)
Thank you.
Having had the opposite culture shock myself I can testify that UK and US driving are very different beasts. Look at the roads: us has suburbs without sidewalks, towns on a grid of straight lines, and interstate highways. UK has routes trodden for 2000 years by foot, with cattle and eventually coaches, that have been gradually upgraded and realigned over time. With 10x the population density there's much less room for bespoke roadbuilding.
My recommendation if you're staying more than a couple years is to get a relatively compact uk Ford (e. g c-max) and also take the UK driving test, you will find it interesting from a cultural point of view and it will help to remove the mystique around British driving styles
Plus a large number of UK cars still use a manual gearbox. This has always confused me given that autos are less stressful to drive in heavy stop-start traffic.
Here in Australia most cars are auto.
@@zoomosis the idea that automatics waste fuel is deeply entrenched here, and fuel prices are very high compared to USA. idk about aussie fuel prices.
@@stevecarter8810 Yeah I remember as a kid being told autos were less efficient and so used more fuel. That may have been true for cars made in the 1980s and earlier but not anymore.
Petrol has shot up to $2/litre (Aussie dollar) in Melbourne just in the past week. That's the highest I've ever seen it. Previously it was around $1.70.
Six months ago it hovered around $1.50, which was also about where it was pre-pandemic.
At the peak of lockdowns in early 2021 it got down to $0.70.
@@zoomosis it hasn't been much below aud 2.50 in Britain for the last decade
The whole thing about the vehicles being clean before shipping is something you will find with a lot of countries e.g. Australia, New Zealand etc
Its just crazy to bring a US car to the UK - the costs to ship will buy you something here for a start. Just sell your vehicles and use cash to buy one here, ive never got a loan for a vehicle in the last 30 years! - then add that to a LHD vehicle would be less safe here and other extra running costs.
Also keep in mind: even if you bring a car that's sold both in the US and Europe (Ford Mustangs, Ford Transits, Chevy Camaros, etc.), the European dealership might not be able to get your parts, as the US VINs are not in their system and part numbers are different for US and EU models.
If you're going in the other direction, UK -> US, the ideal car to bring would be a Classic Mini. Very small to save on shipping costs and easily sold on the collector car market once you've gotten a daily driver worked out.
A Classic Mini is likely not to be on its original engine, and it may fall foul of what's hit Land Rover importers, where anything that's not numbers matching is a massive headache.
When you go back to US you will have to have headlight realigned as they will have been set for driving on left & will be aimed towards the right and have to adjusted when you go home. Have you looked into buying a tax free car from Europe, paying VAT until you leave & reclaiming it back? Porche, Mercedes you see with Z plates are not taxed in Germany, when exported.
Years ago you could sell on a US car in the UK, now it probably would be tough selling it on.
Also we have lots of corners and small parking spaces so good idea to get a car that can go around a corner OK and fit in a parking space.
About bigger vehicles (such as F-250): Drivers licenses in EU has classes and anything with too high maximum total weight might require the drivers license for most heavy commercial vehicles, your normal license for cars (and light vans, lighter pick up trucks, etc) wouldn't be allowed.
Also speed limits for some trucks are lower, they might be banned from some roads.
If you're thinking of buying a Range/Land Rover I would recommend a Toyota. I've never owned a Landy but heard plenty of stories about reliabilty and parts cost (£300 for one rear light assembly because some LEDs had stopped working!!!).
I was brought up on Fords and owned a few myself. Now I drive a 22 year Toyota and the reliability is far better than any Ford I've owned. Some parts can be a lot dearer in comparison, but needed far less often.
There is a saying in Australia. "If you want to go into the Outback, get a Land Rover. If you want to come back again, get a Toyota". Toyota also make Lexus if want a bit of luxury too.
Hello, yes Land Rover and Range Rovers are famous for breaking down just don't get them unless u want to spend money toyotas are good but kind of rare in UK market most JDM are but they are worth it especially 90's trucks
About 13 years ago, I bought a 1983 Camaro. Took me about 10 mins to get used to LHD. I owned a Chrysler LeBaron after that. And recently my friend lent me his 1978 Lincoln Continental. That was fun. Old american cars get a lot of praise here in the UK. They fetch good money to .
Best to join an American car group on facebook. That way you get recommendations for parts suppliers etc.
Thanks
I've just sold my car, it's probably one you will know a Ford explorer an American car but mine was made for the British Market so it was right hand drive, I loved it as it is so big in the back and was petrol honestly I'm thinking of looking for another
I'm Dutch, we can just drive to the ferry or tunnel and go to the UK for a few days. The locals say that people from the mainland Europa get less involved in accidents, they take less risks due to the leftside driving 👍
The UK has some of the safest roads in the world.
@@rusticpartyeditz I'd disagree. The roads are OKish - apart from the potholes and the drivers are average. Most Western European drivers are pretty good but buy your funeral in advance if you're stupid enough to go to Russia.
The biggest reason not to do this is that it's much much cheaper to buy a used car in the UK than in the US so just buy the same car when you get here and save some money.
I'm no longer a driver but it's good hearing of things I've never even thought about.
The country roads in the U.K. evolved from cart tracks, Drover trails and some Roman built roads.
Still they should of made them wider
Probably only about 5% of roads have such history.
@@sandersson2813 it's properly more like 80%. Reason most British roads are so bendy and windey is that's the way the farm animals went back to the farm - to avoid the bogs. Especially true in Northern Britain.
BTW standard gauge raways (4' 8") is based on the width of two horses pulling a roman chariot on British roads.
@@tonyjones9442 Roman roads were straight, so if 80% are bendy, they arent Roman
@@tonyjones9442 How the fuck are railway gauges made on Roman measurements when railways came in the 19th century and Romans left Britain in 467 AD? 😂 😂 😂 1500 years earler
Found this very informative and interesting even though I'm not moving anywhere
a battery is a battery you may not get what the dealer says is OK to use but its still the same im a machinic for many years and can tell you now what you been told is bs. but thinks like the front window will be hard to get but the parts for the rest of the car you might have to wait for but can still be done
If you think so...
@@MacandBlair I'm not sure about newer cars, but to my knowledge, the only "major" difference between US batteries and Euro batteries are some cars use side posts threaded in, mostly GM, while pretty much 99% of the cars use the usual top posts sticking out. Sometimes they're reversed. Then there's the dimensions and specs, but that's not related to the origin of the car.
The only thing to watch out for with batteries is battery /type/. Application data sheets may be wrong for an unusual car, such as a US model in UK, but it can happen any time a garage fits the wrong chemistry of battery to any car.
Batteries that use "calcium technology" (a small amount of calcium alloyed with the lead) usually need a slightly higher charging voltage (typically over 14.4V). A calcium battery in a car not set up for it may fail early due to not being fully charged.
An ordinary (non calcium) battery in a car set up for calcium may fail early, (and suddenly) due to overcharging causing positive plate erosion that eventually breaks, because they typically need charging voltage to be less than 14.4V.
Also warranty may be void if the battery fitted is wrong.
The number of "won't start" callouts I attended with a "calcium" battery in a car not made for calcium is ridiculous. I recommended fitting a regular battery from the local motor factors, which cost half as much and lasted more than twice as long, and I got a lot of thanks and recommendations from people who realised their battery from me was lasting *years*, instead of failing every winter with the wrong battery.
Honestly the best thing to do is sell your car in the USA and buy one in the UK.
Ditto when driving in mainland Europe. Keep my right shoulder to the kerb side. Issue is that time, after about 2-3 weeks when you return to the Uk and you come across the round-a-bout with no others cars present and you forget which way😂
Here's a thought in Japan they do a Honda Odyssey in rhd , it's worth finding a japanese parts specialist that might be able to get you equilivnt parts , brakes and service items shoulf be the same depending on engine specs
Something else that's really important is weight - especially pickups. If your US vehicle has a maximum weight over 3,500kg (7,716lbs), such as a F250 Super Duty with max weight of 8,500lbs, you *MUST NOT* drive that on a UK car licence. If caught you face seizure of the vehicle for 'driving otherwise in accordance with your licence', points on your licence and a fine & costs. Should a vehicle be seized, it has to be collected by someone insured to drive it and licenced to do so. To get a licence for vehicles over 3,500kg you need a medical and to sit a different test which takes weeks or even months to achive (so it's not something you can arrange fast to get your vehicle back).
Great points! I didn't know that...
@@MacandBlair aye, UK licences are far more restrictive than the US & have more categories - which, essentially, are broken down by weight, type of vehicle & towing capacity. Each category, generally, requires its own test (some minor exceptions apply).
From England, in the 1990s, I worked with an English guy who had worked in the USA for a few years, and he brought his US Ford Escort over when he returned to England, I saw it in the car park, and thought 'Blimey that looks like a Ford Escort but not quite'. He said it was a nightmare to get spare parts, Ford Europe parts weren't compatible. But that was before the internet made it easier to source parts.
Another thing I would suggest you think about, petrol prices. If you are gonna bring a US gas guzzler you are going to spend a fortune on fuel.
A few of the light things include that here amber indicators (turn signals) on the rear aren't optional, red indicators are prohibited, and the headlamps should have the higher beam on the left as opposed to the right to prevent blinding oncoming traffic. I don't know what the law is for imports but I believe it still needs to deal with the normal MOT, and therefore problems with mechanics will be exemplified as its a criminal offence to not have an MOT (specific service and test, comes from the now defunct Ministry of Transport (MoT) which used to require them, now its the Department of Transport which is part of a bigger ministry but MOT stuck as a name for the test which never originally has a formal name).
I drive a 1995 Ford F-250
, I pull a 1954 Airstream travel trailer all around the UK ..
There is not one road I can't drive down and not one spare part I can't get for either truck or trailer , including windscreen ..
Completely irrelevant to me but i watched the whole way through and enjoyed every moment. Interesting little details and nice soothing soundtrack. Another quality upload, thanks and have a great day.
Thanks Raven.👍🏾
Sound advice for the UK. I would add that the cost of petrol (gas) is a lot higher over here - another reason you might not want to have a large vehicle. Finally, the cost of insurance may be higher given the difficulty of obtaining spare parts needed for repairs. We do not have low pay-out policies here (like $20k cover) so you can only have policies with much higher cover figures. With all that said, do not be put off from coming over here for work reasons. Our laws regarding employment, holidays and pensions should mean you get time to enjoy the country.
I am surprised you didn't mention the much higher price of fuel.
It could be a serious problem with a fuel-hungry American car.
Over twice the price but everything is closer 😉
@@grahamwilkinson6902 And yet people there still complain about how far they need to drive constantly. The English sense of distance is pretty amusing.
@@deadeyeduncan5022 have you seen our roads though 😂
Big truck will cost a bomb to run. £1.50 per litre. 4.545 Litre to British gallon.
This is sad. When I first started watching this channel all the comments were nice and supportive. Sadly the trolls have found the channel and the comments are full of the small mean spirited tiny brained people. Hopefully some of the nicer people are still here too. Get yourself an ID. Buzz sir 👍🏻
Simply lease a car. That way you can hand it back should you return stateside
Thanks for making this video quite interesting as I'm from UK but love us market cars
I think a Landrover defender would suit all your needs here.
My daughter and I are moving to Wales in 15months. I really enjoy your video's.
👍🏾😎
One other thing. An American visiting worker where I used to work told me he was shipping over his car, and when I pointed out the problems with overtaking told me he would pass on the left. It took several of us to point out that passing on the left in the UK is called "undertaking" and is ILLEGAL, before he eventually changed his mind and bought a UK car, which at the end of his 3 year placemnt he shipped back to the US!
Passing on the left is not, in itself, an offence and hasn't been since the early 1970's. If you do so the offence will usually be negligent or dangerous driving.
Note: if you're in the left lane already and the lane to your right slows down, I believe you're permitted to maintain speed if it's safe.
Everyone should drive a left hand drive vehicle for a while to teach them how to overtake properly - stay back and get a good view. Far too many drivers get too close to the vehicle they are trying to overtake and cannot see the road ahead. This applies to those driving RHD vehicles and it's why someone will suddenly stick themselves out into the on-coming traffic to peek round a large vehicle - and it's damned dangerous.
So the moral is sell or store your car in the US. Buy a UK car when you arrive. I drive a right hand drive and a left hand drive car in Portugal. Road lay-outs just make sense in a left hand drive car. Overtaking is easy and selling your car is easy when the time comes. My right hand drive is an off road Land Rover, so it doesn't really matter where I sit.
Just reverse through the drive thru 😄 (I did that once late at McDonald's, they all thought i was nuts! But it got some laughs!) no I know what you mean sir, just get a car from the UK, one thing we do have is a lot of car shops be it 2nd hand or whatever, and you can find a good one for a reasonable price too. 👍👍
👍🏾
Importing a car is a really stupid idea unless you are doing it because it's something expensive and rare.
There are a few 7 seater cars in the UK. I have a Kia Carens which has a 7 year warranty. Plus Ford do a7 seater . . .
My sympathies.
If you're moving from the US to the UK, I would recommend selling whatever cars you own in the US and buying a Challenger Scat Pack and a Camaro SS. Bring both of those with you, drive them for a while as you get settled in, then sell them at a huge profit and buy UK cars. If the Challenger and Camaro are your personal cars at the time, you don't have to pay the usual 10% duty on the car value and 20% VAT on the car value + duty + shipping cost that usually applies when importing cars.
When we lived n the US my wife had a Honda Civic. Upon investigation I found that this car bought in the US market did 30 miles to the gallon, yet exactly the same car bought in the UK market did 60 miles to the gallon!
US Gallons are not quite the same as imperial UK gallons, so it's about 1.2 US gallon = 1 imperial UK gallon so a US car getting 30mpg US converts to about 36mpg UK. Did both the Civics have the same engine size as that's some difference you got.
They arent half the size.
Two tjings are important to consider.
American fuel is so cheap that there is no incwntove to be efficient, and US fuel has multiple grades which are less premium than UK fuel.
Back in the late 70s, I did a job swap with my opposite number in N. Carolina university. We also swapped houses and cars for the duration. I warned him my car would be small compared to his but he might get to like it - it was a Renault 16. My wife's car was a Fiat 127. His was a Ford LTD station wagon - basically, an aircraft carrier but without the nuclear propulsion. Oh, and a Dodge Charger as the second car. It did have a towbar for the oil well though. We phoned after the first day and his first comment was 'Hey, you weren't kidding! but it's fun and we all fit in' (Mum, Dad and 2 kids)
'
After the six months, it was back to normal but within a couple of weeks, they had bought a two small Japanese cars. We've kept in touch over the years and they've never bought anything but Japanese, Korean and European cars since.
One of the few places here you see significant numbers of imported US vehicles are in areas near USAF bases in the UK. There's a cluster of them on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk.
Same with USAF bases in Germany, and there are garages near Ramstein that specialise in US cars.
Which side of the road do they drive on?
@@rusticpartyeditz UK is right, Germany is left.
@@lesrogers7310 I was being sarcastic. Were you?
@@rusticpartyeditz No, it went right over my head!
Really well balanced narrative, not better, not worse, just different. Thank you.
Sounds like more trouble than it’s worth. You can get long term hire cars as a foreigner and the UK gov will recognise a US license up to (I believe) about 2 years - that’s what I’d do if I was an American heading to the UK. Real deal breakers for me would be parts, cost of transporting it, cost to insure, steering wheel on wrong side (lol) and fuel consumption (US cars often drink more and UK fuel is about $9/US gallon). Also, as an Englishman having travelled to the US, across the UK and Europe, I can honestly say that UK and Europe have great public transport ANYWHERE super cheaply… US is a bit sketchy outside of cities. Don’t get me wrong, classic American cars, sure but your average modern Ford or Hyundai is a headache in my opinion
If I recall, if you do move to the UK, your US license is only valid for 6 months to a year before you have to take a UK test and must drive on a uk license. If you’ve been here longer and don’t have a uk license, your insurance may be invalid
It's 12 months and yes, if you don't pass the UK driving test and get a UK licence within that time frame, your insurance is invalid. Given the HUGE number of ANPR cameras in the UK compared to the US and ANPR facilities in all police cars, the chances of you getting pulled are high. Don't risk it.
This video was very imformative , I dont drive ! but I like listening to your voice .
💛
Concerning light modifications you will have to change where the beam is pointing if you return the vehicle to America.
I can’t understand why you would bring a family vehicle from the US to UK. Surely the shipping costs alone make that prohibitively expensive. Plus the cleaning, modification costs, the certification costs, the difficulty in getting it repaired, it being less convenient and less safe sitting on the left… Rent or lease one until you get a permanent address and buy a local vehicle.
Another significant expense to consider is the much higher insurance premium you will have to pay. A left hand drive vehicle used on UK roads is much more likely to be involved in an accident due to the vastly reduced visibility, especially when overtaking as mentioned in this video,. Insurance companies also factor in the cost of repairing damage after an accident, so if parts are not easily available then the insurance premium will be much higher.
Unless the US vehicle has some special sentimental value to you, it simply isn’t worth the cost to bring it with you from the states. Sell it before you leave and use the cash to buy something more suitable when you arrive.
I've actually quoted insurance in UK and my US car came out lower than identical models of same age if I purchased them in the UK. The reason is I've owned the car so long that they consider 'vehicle experience' as a risk lowering factor.
Not true
Get a UK car that way you be constantly harassed by beeps,. What is it with everything you do in a yankmobile they beep. Also yank cars suspension is way to soft for UK roads, we have bends.
I was stationed in the UK for 4 years and took my Rodeo with me. All the mods sucked getting done but other than that there were no issues with driving on anything.
Another issue will be selling any LHD vehicle here. They typically don't do well unless someone is looking for an LHD vehicle in particular. Best not to expect high resale.
Just research cars and buy British or if you prefer left hand drives, buy one from France or Germany for example and pay cost of importing. Just embrace your new venture and keep it local or bring over a classic car like a VW where parts can be bought
Second hand car market is really good here in the UK. You can pick up a safe, reliable and practice car to tide you over when you get here for a lot less than the cost of shipping and import. It's a really poor decision to import a vehicle here from the US. The only exception is specialist vehicles you simply can't get here or very high end. Other than that, really don't bother.
We have a completely different infrastructure here. Large vehicles just don't work. Fuel prices are much higher. Also totally different emissions and safety standards. Also there are all the import charges to pay.
I just don't understand why you would do this. It's got so many problems and so few upsides.
Let's be honest, there's very few upsides to moving to the UK anyway. Place is just a different version of messed up.
@@deadeyeduncan5022 not quite true , i guess it depends on your beliefs and values
@@CyanideSunshines Brexit, cops showing up if you tweet something a little to mean....I could keep going but I really shouldn't have to.
@@deadeyeduncan5022 i meant like, less guns. NHS, better dental, better education system, lower death rates during birth, abortion rights, illegal child marriage ( although i know not all states are too bad regarding the last 2), food quality etc Stuff like that. If you're ultra religious the states is probably better , although the UK seems fairly diverse. Its definitely far from perfect tho. Crap government tories , increasing poverty, and a police force that works best for cis white men .
Im not scared of the brexit police , let me at em ! 😈
@@deadeyeduncan5022 ..I could keep going but I really shouldn't have to. no, you really shouldnt keep going. you obviously have no idea what you are talking about, so silence is golden, as they say. unless you want to do some research and find out ' why ' the uk is better than the usa? are you going to do any research? i'd recommend it :)
I reckon I’d you went to a friendly small, back street garage, they could do basic servicing for you.
Whatever you do, don’t drive out of a US airbase on the wrong side of the road, kill a cyclist and then run off to the States like a coward claiming diplomatic immunity that you don’t have.
He was on a motorcycle, not a bicycle but yes, claiming diplomatic immunity to escape the consequences of your actions is both cowardly & immoral. The US failure to allow her extradition should have seen us suspend any further extradition requests by them.
Yea we should send her back to the UK to face Justice
Anything non-standard costs an arm and a leg here in the UK (interestingly that phrase comes from painting years ago when you would be charged for the visage and extra for the arms and legs. Anyway …)
We have very few toll roads but the other drivers on those must love you at the payment points.
Servicing - after 3 years, you have to have an annual MOT here in the UK. A garage has to check your lights, battery, etc., etc. Servicing a tiny wee RHD VW was a fortune … imported that car from Belgium via Ireland - which saved money on the purchase price then but not now. (HMRC will eventually scout out any brilliant idea to save money.) So, eventually, I swapped mine for a make that was cheaper to service. Worth checking that out. The VW was 2-3 times the usual service price at least. Even normal parts you could replace yourself like windscreen wiper blades or light bulbs were a small fortune.
The biggest problem with LHD on RHD roads and vice versa, is that drivers forget what planet they’re on and revert to ‘their’ side of the road from time to time. In France, him indoors had a British lady crash into his truck head on in a tiny French village with extremely narrow bendy roads - right angles in the road because that’s were some medieval peasant built their cottage. They were both on the French side of the road, if only she were driving backwards. Her car was a write off. His truck was squished a bit in the front. So was he. The RAC insurance service was brilliant. Got him home to the glorious (‘free’ to them) NHSand the truck was shipped back and forth for repair without us having to do anything. It helped that the woman who was on the wrong side of the road was British. Otherwise, it’s likely we’d still be in discussions now about whose fault it was and how much English she understood years later.
There are infamous deaths due to Americans driving on the wrong side of the road near USA Air Force bases here in the UK. USA servicemen get their vehicles imported here for free. They should buy RHD and do a compulsory conversion driving course, that includes training for any adults in their family.
We do have some very large cars here, but they tend to be accompanied by a President.