Importing a car from US to UK

May 23, 2006 2:36 AM

Importing a car from the US to the UK.

As my fiancée is moving to the UK after we get married, she wants to bring along her mercedes. Will there be any major issues (different petrol, steering wheel on "wrong" side etc) in doing this? Has anyone done this ok? Any recommended shippers from Houston to London? Cheers.

posted by Mossy to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

I see a "wrong" sided steering wheel about once a week here in London.
posted by k8t at 2:37 AM on May 23, 2006

No experience here, but perhaps getting a Mercedes (or something else?) there would be cheaper/easier? Additionally, might a smaller, easier to drive right-steering-wheeled Mercedes be in order (A-class, which we don't have AFAIK in the States) for Britain's smaller streets? Or are there unsolvable sentimental issues?

Congratulations on the marriage, by the way!
posted by mdonley at 2:47 AM on May 23, 2006

The resale value of a left-hand drive car is much less in the UK than its right-hand drive equivalent.
Also, we do have Mercedes here already, perhaps you could save a few tonnes of carbon by selling the US car and buying something similar here.
You could even dodge a whole bunch of import tax by buying the new Merc in Germany and driving it back to the UK.
posted by roofus at 2:48 AM on May 23, 2006

Well, it's a 2003 C230K coupé, so pretty small already (and much, much prettier than an A class). KBB is about $15-16k in the States, but it looks like equivalent models in the UK are about £15-16k (eep). With a current exchange rate of $1.88:£1, seems a bit hefty..
posted by Mossy at 3:01 AM on May 23, 2006

I brought a car over from NY about 5 years ago and it was well worth it. My Honda cost me US $20k. It was only a year old and I would have lost a few thousand off the original price selling it in the US. The same car here cost, I believe, £16k which would have been in the high 20s in US dollars so bringing it over saved me a lot. Shipping was only about a grand.

In order to avoid VAT charges, you have to have owned the car for at least a year (check that as it might have changed). It then has to go through a few modifications to make it street legal here. I had to change the headlights, the rear tail lights and install fog lights which wasn't too expensive. Once mine was modified it had to pass an SVA test and as I remember, the waiting time to get an SVA test was at least a few month so book your appointment well in advance (i.e. I think you can book it before the car even arrives but check on that).

Driving in the UK with a left hand drive car is fine. Overtaking on the motorway is tough as it's hard to see around the car in front and car parks are a pain as you have to lean out the passenger window to get a ticket but overall, no major problems.
posted by gfrobe at 3:06 AM on May 23, 2006

I'd also look at insurance. At least here in Ireland, insurance is higher on LHD cars (or so I've been told, I didn't look into it too much because, well, I wasn't all that serious about importing my car).
posted by antifuse at 3:31 AM on May 23, 2006

Depends first of all how it's shipped - RO-RO (roll-on, roll-off) will cost you in the region of $1500-2000 and if there is any gas in the tank when it's put on board expect the tank to be empty on the other side. You can container ship it for between $5-8000 which will ensure it's sealed from the elements etc. Gas in the UK is generally higher quality (and extraordinarily expensive) in comparison to the US. If it is to be driven in the UK it will also need to have several modifications (fog light, rear lights etc.) and pass a battery of tests before being allowed on the road. These tests will generally run to about £200-300 (that's about $375-570).

Here's some links for you - shipping.

UK Government website for importing cars.

This second link should have all the tedious Customs and Excise information on it. Insurance will run higher as an import because UK insurance companies will assume you must source replacement parts from overseas, decreasing the massive profits they will be making from you.
posted by longbaugh at 6:28 AM on May 23, 2006