Importing new from France

[Ian789]

I am looking at a new LHD van from France.

a) fancy LHD as 80% plus of our camping is in Europe
b) although exact same model is sold in UK none are available or I think likely to be (it was a special edition)
c) It's 10% cheaper which is good but b) is more relevant at

I've read older 2022 threads re VAT etc. Just wondering if anyone has done it more recently and can give sone practical advice re the issues etc.

Thanks.

Ian

 

[MGDavid]

I think most has already been covered. I struggled to get insurance, nobody would cover me without a registration but you can’t register without insurance I drove very carefully on Export Plate 3rd Party Cover.
I got around the DVLA insurance conundrum by buying a private plate which I gave to my insurer who issued an insurance certificate. I included the retention certificate with the DVLA form and entered the private plate number on the form. It all went through with no issues.
It was very easy and I plan to do it again, hopefully very soon if the builder gets some chassis in stock

uunfortunately there's 2 or 3 very similar threads on the go all at once. As I said on one of the others, I used Crowthorne Insurance Services for insurance on a VIN number, they specialise in this and have a standard 28 day policy with an underwriter for just this situation.

 

[Brendan + Kath]

If it doesn’t affect resale values in any way, and the vans are cheaper to buy, why don’t uk dealers import vans as a matter of course?

We're looking at replacing our LHD with another. There doesn't appear to be one on an automatic transmission in the U K . The dealers tell us that they buy all the same type of chassis because it's cheaper. I'm following this thread with interest.

 

[stewartwebr]

uunfortunately there's 2 or 3 very similar threads on the go all at once. As I said on one of the others, I used Crowthorne Insurance Services for insurance on a VIN number, they specialise in this and have a standard 28 day policy with an underwriter for just this situation.

It depends on the value your covering, nobody would cover me. One option was to insure the Motorhome as goods in transit to cover a total loss. I took the chance, and thankfully it all worked out.

 

[Ian789]

Update

Sadly the purchase of the van from France didn't go ahead.

There were serious issues sourcing equivalent RHD headlights for the van.

The dealerv in France sent me a photo of the part label for the lights fitted abd I approavhed a numberv of parts suppliers / Fiat Professional with this info. All nitially couldntbeven locate the LHD part on their database search but having contacted Fiat Magnum obtained the equivalent RHD part numbers. £1000 plus a light but not available and no ETA from their suppliers.

If I understand correctly the lights were LED main and side but not DRLs which was non standard. They advised against fitting another model due to potential EMS issues ( id alreadg seen posts re the difficulty of swapping Non DrL lights for DRLs )

Dont know if these particulat lights were fitted due to supply ssues during that limited run but didn't fancy paying 70k plus to find I hhad difficulties passing the IVA.or with warranty.

Such a shame.

If they'd been bog stsndard lights it would have been OK .


In this (mis?) adventure though the people I dealt with were very good and on my experience id certainly recommend them to anyone considering this. For me it's back to the drawing board for now tii my stress levels reduce !

I'd recommend

* Opale Evasion 59 in Lille France. Bernard and his daughter Pauline. Really good seevice, price and were happy to sell net of VAT

*mycarimpott who were going to help with paperwork and the IVA

*Magnum Vehicle Solutions

* this Forum. . Obviously.. Lots of advice as usual

Ian

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[MGDavid]

timely update Ian, sorry it hasn't worked for you. I bought the 2 year old V132 from Brittany (wanted Ducato chassis, won't touch Citroen), and have just finally got a V5 from DVLA. Public services have become an unfunny joke over the last couple of years; VCA took 2 weeks instead of 4 days a few years ago, likewise DVLA took 4 weeks instead of 1. It's a complete disgrace but that's for another time. We sourced aftermarket RHD headlights with DRLs for less than £500 the pair, about an hour to fit both. My local Fiat Professional truck dealer (HTC in Theale) have been their usual helpful and efficient selves but are having trouble sourcing an English driver handbook! Armitages are doing the towbar as I need it for the end of this month and Mick Parkinson is fully booked until well into August. Am off to Denmark the first weekend in August so we'll see how it goes.

 

[Soycd]

Update

Sadly the purchase of the van from France didn't go ahead.

There were serious issues sourcing equivalent RHD headlights for the van.

The dealerv in France sent me a photo of the part label for the lights fitted abd I approavhed a numberv of parts suppliers / Fiat Professional with this info. All nitially couldntbeven locate the LHD part on their database search but having contacted Fiat Magnum obtained the equivalent RHD part numbers. £1000 plus a light but not available and no ETA from their suppliers.

If I understand correctly the lights were LED main and side but not DRLs which was non standard. They advised against fitting another model due to potential EMS issues ( id alreadg seen posts re the difficulty of swapping Non DrL lights for DRLs )

Dont know if these particulat lights were fitted due to supply ssues during that limited run but didn't fancy paying 70k plus to find I hhad difficulties passing the IVA.or with warranty.

Such a shame.

If they'd been bog stsndard lights it would have been OK .


In this (mis?) adventure though the people I dealt with were very good and on my experience id certainly recommend them to anyone considering this. For me it's back to the drawing board for now tii my stress levels reduce !

I'd recommend

* Opale Evasion 59 in Lille France. Bernard and his daughter Pauline. Really good seevice, price and were happy to sell net of VAT

*mycarimpott who were going to help with paperwork and the IVA

*Magnum Vehicle Solutions

* this Forum. . Obviously.. Lots of advice as usual

Ian

Sorry to hear that Ian. I had a devil of a job with headlights. Mine is a 2018 LHD Challenger Vany (Fiat Ducato) which I imported in 2018. The garage that did the light/tacho work really struggled to sort the lights. In the end we replaced the LED headlights (and LED DRLs) with non LED RHD models. I've never had a problem at MOT time. The slight issue was a warning light on the dashboard which was eventually solved. The short story is I have now got 2 sets of headlights which I can swop over in about 10 mins. Currently got the LHDs in as going away to Europe soon. Ironically, with the LHDs and beam benders in place it passes MOTs. Glad I have both sets.

 

[Ian789]

Sorry to hear that Ian. I had a devil of a job with headlights. Mine is a 2018 LHD Challenger Vany (Fiat Ducato) which I imported in 2018. The garage that did the light/tacho work really struggled to sort the lights. In the end we replaced the LED headlights (and LED DRLs) with non LED RHD models. I've never had a problem at MOT time. The slight issue was a warning light on the dashboard which was eventually solved. The short story is I have now got 2 sets of headlights which I can swop over in about 10 mins. Currently got the LHDs in as going away to Europe soon. Ironically, with the LHDs and beam benders in place it passes MOTs. Glad I have both sets.

Glad you got yours sorted. I didn't want to chance it. Who knows if the 2022 ducato would be as amenable to that change. Nobody was prepared to confirm it. The local fiatvprofessional had no experience of it.

 

[Ian789]

timely update Ian, sorry it hasn't worked for you. I bought the 2 year old V132 from Brittany (wanted Ducato chassis, won't touch Citroen), and have just finally got a V5 from DVLA. Public services have become an unfunny joke over the last couple of years; VCA took 2 weeks instead of 4 days a few years ago, likewise DVLA took 4 weeks instead of 1. It's a complete disgrace but that's for another time. We sourced aftermarket RHD headlights with DRLs for less than £500 the pair, about an hour to fit both. My local Fiat Professional truck dealer (HTC in Theale) have been their usual helpful and efficient selves but are having trouble sourcing an English driver handbook! Armitages are doing the towbar as I need it for the end of this month and Mick Parkinson is fully booked until well into August. Am off to Denmark the first weekend in August so we'll see how it goes.

Yeah I was gutted. Not sure if the face-lift is the issue or what. My local Fiat are usually OK but they couldn't help at all with this unless they saw ir in the flesh. I dodnt fancy chancing spending valley that money to find they were stumped by it.

Glad you found a solution.

Shame cos everything else with mine was clicking into place reasonable easily.

 

[gus-lopez]

still struggle with the idea that LHD drive vans are both measurably cheaper than RHD, yet worth the same at trade in as RHD … the market usually doesn’t allow “free” profit to exist for very long

Lhdrive cars & commercial vans have always fetched around 3x the price of rhdrive second hand for the 50 years I've been looking.

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[Abgs]

My local Fiat Professional truck dealer (HTC in Theale) have been their usual helpful and efficient selves but are having trouble sourcing an English driver handbook!

Go to page:

https://aftersales.fiat.com/elum/Login.aspx?adobe_mc_ref=

Select country ‘other’

On next screen enter your Vin number

The next page gives options to view or download the handbook.

I downloaded mine and added it to a ‘note’ on my iPhone so I always have it handy.

 

[MGDavid]

Go to page:

https://aftersales.fiat.com/elum/Login.aspx?adobe_mc_ref=

Select country ‘other’

On next screen enter your Vin number

The next page gives options to view or download the handbook.

I downloaded mine and added it to a ‘note’ on my iPhone so I always have it handy.

Now that's clever and very helpful - thanks v much, appreciated !

 

[Sarah40]

timely update Ian, sorry it hasn't worked for you. I bought the 2 year old V132 from Brittany (wanted Ducato chassis, won't touch Citroen), and have just finally got a V5 from DVLA. Public services have become an unfunny joke over the last couple of years; VCA took 2 weeks instead of 4 days a few years ago, likewise DVLA took 4 weeks instead of 1. It's a complete disgrace but that's for another time. We sourced aftermarket RHD headlights with DRLs for less than £500 the pair, about an hour to fit both.

Hi MGDavid! Looking to import a 2025 Adria PVC with full LED DRL’s. Can I ask where you sourced your RHD DRL’s from. Just trying to make sure this isn’t going to be an expensive fix! Have seen some saying £1000 per light! Thx

 

[Lenny HB]

Hi MGDavid! Looking to import a 2025 Adria PVC with full LED DRL’s. Can I ask where you sourced your RHD DRL’s from. Just trying to make sure this isn’t going to be an expensive fix! Have seen some saying £1000 per light! Thx

Try Coastal Motorhomes at Ringwood.

 

[MGDavid]

Hi MGDavid! Looking to import a 2025 Adria PVC with full LED DRL’s. Can I ask where you sourced your RHD DRL’s from. Just trying to make sure this isn’t going to be an expensive fix! Have seen some saying £1000 per light! Thx

Hi Sarah,
couldn't remember but looked it up in old emails; it was an ebay purchase from 'ultimate-styling' based in Swindon. The lights are Chinese copies, £488 the pair instead of Fiat main dealer price of £1700. Lights and LED DRLs all work just as they should.

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[Sarah40]

Hi Sarah,
couldn't remember but looked it up in old emails; it was an ebay purchase from 'ultimate-styling' based in Swindon. The lights are Chinese copies, £488 the pair instead of Fiat main dealer price of £1700. Lights and LED DRLs all work just as they should.

Hi David - that’s brilliant info. Thank you for looking it up! The van should currently be in production so once we get it over to UK - we have a garage who is going to assess what exactly is in the 2025 Fiat Ducato model and go from there. If we need to change them, we’ll definitely look at these!