my gf wants to bring our cheesy but beloved ford escort cabrio with us when we move over from cornwall to hamburg in a couple of weeks. it's worth about 2,000 quid.
1. do you get 'punished' financially for driving a right-hand drive car insurance-wise etc? could you come off the loser even if you were innocent in an accident because the steering wheel is on the 'wrong' side?
2. is driving a right-hand drive car significantly more difficult in germany (she's concerned about overtaking etc)?
3. should we just use public transport, trouser the cash from selling the car, and buy a german banger later if/when we need one?
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Bringing a British car when moving to Germany
Is it worth it? Experiences with a RHD here, etc.
Assuming the car will be here for a while:
1) Don't know about cost, but you'd need to get the car through the local MOT. Search for 'TUV' on this board for enlightenment.
2) Not really, but obviously it doesn't make life easier. You get comic stares at traffic lights too.
3) 3000 euro gets you a decent old car here, selling would be my suggestion.
Good luck.
1) Don't know about cost, but you'd need to get the car through the local MOT. Search for 'TUV' on this board for enlightenment.
2) Not really, but obviously it doesn't make life easier. You get comic stares at traffic lights too.
3) 3000 euro gets you a decent old car here, selling would be my suggestion.
Good luck.
I would sell it ,you will never (probably) be able to sell it or get rid of it over here if you ever had to, which means you’d end up driving it back to the UK and “wrecking� it cost a few bob here too 50 euros or so ,the public transport is very good here much better than the UK you wont have a problem getting around .
points 1 and 2 yes
point 3 do this
points 1 and 2 yes
point 3 do this
big thanks for your prompt and informed replies. i'll act on your 'advices' (to coin a typical 'deutschlish' error!), and break the news to the frau when she gets home!
i'll be glad when all of this is over and we finally close the door in our flat in hamburg. what a bloody palava!
i'll be glad when all of this is over and we finally close the door in our flat in hamburg. what a bloody palava!
i'll be glad when all of this is over and we finally close the door in our flat in hamburg. what a bloody palava!
QUOTE (slateberry @ Sep 10 2007, 2:25 pm) 
you will never (probably) be able to sell it or get rid of it over here if you ever had to
While it will be more difficult to sell a Ford here than in the UK even as scrap cars have some value these days - because the Chinese are using so much steel the price of even scrap has risen to a level that 'recycling' old cars is worth the trouble again. Not an option for a car worth 3000 euro but my old valueless accident wreck went for 50 euro, with the buyer paying all deregistration & transport costs. Better than paying someone to take it away...
I did it to Hamburg and just the cost of changing the headlights which you need to do for the TUV (MOT) was €500. Sell it if I was you and check out car prices on www.mobile.de.
QUOTE (Lee Boyd @ Sep 10 2007, 12:30 pm)
my gf wants to bring our cheesy but beloved ford escort cabrio with us when we move over from cornwall to hamburg in a couple of weeks. it's worth about 2,000 quid.
1. do you get 'punished' financially for driving a right-hand drive car insurance-wise etc? could you come off the loser even if you were innocent in an accident because the steering wheel is on the 'wrong' side?
no idea, but when i asked about my English bimmer they asked for info i didnt have, here its reg number, colour, spec level etc, but the germins, wants more info
2. is driving a right-hand drive car significantly more difficult in germany (she's concerned about overtaking etc)?
i have driven in the past year about 9k in Germany, daily not a problem, only trouble is overtaking, esp trucks and vans, but i have a powerful bimmer, in a escort i cant see that being a problem
3. should we just use public transport, trouser the cash from selling the car, and buy a german banger later if/when we need one?
1. do you get 'punished' financially for driving a right-hand drive car insurance-wise etc? could you come off the loser even if you were innocent in an accident because the steering wheel is on the 'wrong' side?
no idea, but when i asked about my English bimmer they asked for info i didnt have, here its reg number, colour, spec level etc, but the germins, wants more info
2. is driving a right-hand drive car significantly more difficult in germany (she's concerned about overtaking etc)?
i have driven in the past year about 9k in Germany, daily not a problem, only trouble is overtaking, esp trucks and vans, but i have a powerful bimmer, in a escort i cant see that being a problem
3. should we just use public transport, trouser the cash from selling the car, and buy a german banger later if/when we need one?
um no idea, i always drive in Germany, used public transport if drinking thats it, but some germins have seen both my bimmers, that cost lest that 600quid off ebay and they told me, to get one in germany would be 2-3 times as much
If you can sort summat out, where you can take it back each year for a MOT , thats what im thinking of doing...if possible.
Im disabled, so get free road tax, i need a car if i move to Germany but its differant there...
I brought my right hand drive SAAB 9-5 Aero estate with me & registered it here, so it can be done although it is a total bureaucratic nightmare. (my TUV & new headlamps were a bit more at over €600, but then thats the cost of SAAB parts for you). Insurance I found pretty reasonable (although I'm used to paying through the nose as its a scarily high insurance group & I used to live in South London) and I even found an insurer who would insure it on English plates for a while until we got our paperwork in order for the amt.
I would suggest that unless you are totally devoted to your car and cannot bear to be without it (my feelings towards mine..) then sell it in the UK before you move & see whether you will actually need a car here. Despite loving mine to bits I'm lucky if I drive it more than twice a week & even that's just the airport run...
I would suggest that unless you are totally devoted to your car and cannot bear to be without it (my feelings towards mine..) then sell it in the UK before you move & see whether you will actually need a car here. Despite loving mine to bits I'm lucky if I drive it more than twice a week & even that's just the airport run...
Forgot to mention that a great game when bored on the supermarket run is to stop the car in the middle of the car park to let the other half out and then drive off - the passing Germans assume the car is moving without a driver until they twig the wheel is on the other side - Oh how we laugh...
Sell it and buy a new one. For the money you'll get for it in the UK, you could buy the next model over here with no extra costs. You don't want a RHD here.
There's a few variations of that game I used to play, passenger falls asleep and passenger reads newspaper were my favourites.
The biggest hassle with a RHD car is using car parks without a passenger as you have to reach across to pull the ticket out.
If you use the search function you will find a few threads have discussed the dilemma of whether or not to bring the car with you when you move. I'm not sure there will be as much cabrio weather in Hamburg as you are used to in Cornwall.
The biggest hassle with a RHD car is using car parks without a passenger as you have to reach across to pull the ticket out.
If you use the search function you will find a few threads have discussed the dilemma of whether or not to bring the car with you when you move. I'm not sure there will be as much cabrio weather in Hamburg as you are used to in Cornwall.
QUOTE (Rebecca @ Sep 10 2007, 4:45 pm)
There's a few variations of that game I used to play, passenger falls asleep and passenger reads newspaper were my favourites.
thanks everyone: we're going to sell it.
Also hilarious is getting a photo from a speed camera sent through the post with the photo of the "driver" looking out of the side window & slumped really low in his chair!!
(not so funny still having to own up to the fact that actually it wasn't them driving at all but me & still having to pay the fine - but 30kph I ask you - my car doesn't even go that slowly...)
Anyway - I think you made the right decision...
(not so funny still having to own up to the fact that actually it wasn't them driving at all but me & still having to pay the fine - but 30kph I ask you - my car doesn't even go that slowly...)
Anyway - I think you made the right decision...
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