importing m.home from europe

nichos

Guest
What are the implication of buying a used motorhome in Germany & importing in the Uk.

I have a few Euros left in europe to use so no exchange rates are involved.

But what will be required here to own it registered.

Where will it be registered when I drive it here.

Has anybody experienced these seller below?

Second-Hand vehicles
 
Some of the German motorhome dealers will prepare all your documentation for you. Like these people LINK and no, I have not used this firm, just like looking at the bargains when I want to make myself depressed

Can't help with the dealer that you have mentioned
 
importing

i have imported two vw from germany in the past two years its very easy you will need transfer plates to allow you to drive home. when back in the uk you will need to mot the van you can then register it with the dvla very easy to do and only about sixty pounds if i remember. good luck
 
If you buy from a dealer in Germany. They will do all that is required. That is: fix export plates with MOT & Insurance for a 15 or 30 day period. 15 day is better is cheaper. Hand in your Passport to the dealer and pay for the MH in full. Make sure you get a reciept for your passport. This should take a max: of 2 days, one day is possible also. When it is done you pay for the paperwork. It shouldn't cost no more than €200. Make sure you get your passport back. Also the Eport Reg: papers and your Bill of Sale. You will need these when Re-registering in the UK.
Get him to book your Ferry for you if you wish. He will do it for nothing but you pay for it with your credit card.

Once you get home:
1) Get your MOT and Insurance cover note. Tell the Insurance company you will give them the UK Registration plate number when you get it from the DVLA. 2) Go to your local DVLA, fill in the V5 (or whatever) form, hand them in with all the papers from Germany and your MOT & Cover note for Insurance. Also fill in the Tax disc form and have the money up front to pay for it. Also, any other money the DVLA may want for Registering, (I think that part is free, but not sure)
That's it, I think. Hope this helps.

If you buy from a private person, stick a post on here and I will reply.
 
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What are the implication of buying a used motorhome in Germany & importing in the Uk.

I have a few Euros left in europe to use so no exchange rates are involved.

But what will be required here to own it registered.

Where will it be registered when I drive it here.

Has anybody experienced these seller below?

Second-Hand vehicles

Hi Nichos,

We bought a James Cook from a private guy in Germany five years ago and he was very helpful: He took us to TUV centre where they checked the chassis number, then to the registration office where they carried out the actual export part of the paperwork (stamping the Shein, etc) from there to the machine for making the temp. export number plates and then to the ADAC office where we bought the insurance for the drive home. The insurance will only be for the equivalent of third party cover so bear this in mind while you drive home! My full comp cover with Comfort, arranged on the chassis number which the seller faxed to Comfort, kicked in as we drove off the ferry at Dover.

The procedure for registration in UK is as David and Ann have written above.

All in all it is very easy but the savings don't look so good now the rate against the £ has fallen but hey you do get a better choice and normally they have all the accessories as the Germans do love their toys on their motorhomes.

Good luck with importing, if I can help you anymore just ask.

Regards, Ian
 
Thank you very much, pasted all & printed it.

Regards,

Nick
 
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Durrwang have been dealing with buyers from the UK for quite a while & should be experienced in all you need to do. As said it is reasonably straight forward, they used to offer a service that for a price would deliver the vehicle to the UK complete with a UK registration. I know that Bundersvan deals a bit with them, at the time we bought they didn't have anything we fancied & we bought from Mobilpartner in Gutersloh, also excellent service & he knew what was required. You have to register your vehicle with German export plates & these include third party only insurance, getting comprehensive cover used to be difficult until you got back on UK soil (don't know if the situation has changed) we got around it by the dealer lending us his trade plates which gave us full comprehensive cover.
 
oldosc
Hi I have posted an appeal on the orig thread"importing hymer 534"
has my entire life history,or will seem like it if you read it.
Query is... considering going to Belgum, Germany to buy used Hymer exsis
thought is there will be a bigger choise there.
We are 73 live in Cornwall so every where in England is nearly a 600 700 mile trip.
We will go in our Chausson spend a bit of time looking for what we want
Actuall we know which one
but 67ooo euros is a bit too much
We recon about 34000 will see us out
 
Hi Oldosc, Welcome to Wildcamping. We also live at the bottom end of Cornwall. 650Kms to Dover is some ride to get a boat (Don't like the Santander trip.) Regards your need to purchase an MH, €34000=£29500 should get you a good buy in Germany for that money. Best of luck anyway.
 
Thanx all,

answered a lot of question & we are browsing arownd.
 
BUT....,

can I import from europe an old 1980 m.home which is in a good working order?
 
I don't see any reason why not, you would have to get it MOT'd before you could tax it. I believe the German equivalent of our MOT is stricter so if it has a current TUV it should be ok. With any imported vehicles getting the MOT can sometimes be a bit more complicated (depending on who does the MOT :rolleyes:) some insist on having the headlights changed to UK right hand drive spec where some allow them to be masked (similar to when we travel in Europe) I have heard of people having to get a speedo to show MPH (again the interpretation on what is or isn't acceptable varies at different testing stations)
 
Yes you can. If the MH is over 2 years old you do not pay import duty.
You must have a TÜV (German MOT) Transfer Insurance with plate (Reg: No) for you to drive it on German soil to the Border crossing. You must then have it retested; MOT'd in England.
You do not have to change the headlights, as long as you have blenders fixed to the lamps before you take it in for an MOT.
You do not have to have your speedometer changed.
You will have to fit an extra fog lamp to your near side of the MH. German MH's have it on THEIR nearside. So you will have two fog lamps, one on each side. That is exceptable.
I hope this helps.
 
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In 2007 I bought a Merc in Germany privately. The owner was very helpful with the German export plates and helped me through the process of getting new plates and a green card - took about 2 hours and a lot of handshakes from the rego staff who had never filled out transfer docs for an Australian.

I was toying with the idea of registering the vehicle in the UK (so that I could sell it later) and had an MOT done. The vehicle was refused by local garages (I think height restrictions were the issue on ramps - the campervan is 3.1metres high or it may have been weight at 3.2 tonnes GVM) and I was directed to go to an HGV testing station where it could be inspected by driving over a pit.

The test was pretty painless - I knew about the beam benders so they were already fitted but needed a tweek to focus both correctly, the proper headlamp lenses are generally available in the UK you need ones where the arrows in the glass point to the left. I did nt know about the rear foglamp and had to fit one on the offside rear, with switch and telltale light on the dash - trip to Halfords and it took about 3 hours from memory. No issues about the kph speedo as I think the Tachograph laws in the UK have been kph for donkeys years and the HGV tester just ticked the box. I went back within the week with the foglamp fitted and was issued the test certificate.

My only comment about TUV inspections is that they allow a fair bit of body rust so dont be surprised that there is a lot of rust in German vehicles once over about 10 years old.
 
If you buy from a dealer in Germany. They will do all that is required. That is: fix export plates with MOT & Insurance for a 15 or 30 day period. 15 day is better is cheaper. Hand in your Passport to the dealer and pay for the MH in full. Make sure you get a reciept for your passport. This should take a max: of 2 days, one day is possible also. When it is done you pay for the paperwork. It shouldn't cost no more than €200. Make sure you get your passport back. Also the Eport Reg: papers and your Bill of Sale. You will need these when Re-registering in the UK.
Get him to book your Ferry for you if you wish. He will do it for nothing but you pay for it with your credit card.

Once you get home:
1) Get your MOT and Insurance cover note. Tell the Insurance company you will give them the UK Registration plate number when you get it from the DVLA. 2) Go to your local DVLA, fill in the V5 (or whatever) form, hand them in with all the papers from Germany and your MOT & Cover note for Insurance. Also fill in the Tax disc form and have the money up front to pay for it. Also, any other money the DVLA may want for Registering, (I think that part is free, but not sure)
That's it, I think. Hope this helps.

If you buy from a private person, stick a post on here and I will reply.

Hi peeps
have looked at lots of Hymers, have a quote from Germany (dealer) new Hymer exsis, 2009 model list 63000 euros at 2010, can buy for 38000 pounds is new no miles..presumably not mot necessary in uk yet looks ok is on a Ford but that should not be too terrible I'm 75 recon 45 mph is a good speed on the back roads....comments from the forum please
 
Hi peeps
have looked at lots of Hymers, have a quote from Germany (dealer) new Hymer exsis, 2009 model list 63000 euros at 2010, can buy for 38000 pounds is new no miles..presumably not mot necessary in uk yet looks ok is on a Ford but that should not be too terrible I'm 75 recon 45 mph is a good speed on the back roads....comments from the forum please

I personally would not buy it. As I said in an earlier post, you will be liable for import duty if the MH is less than 24 months old. You will be liable for Import duty of approximately £7600 if you pay £38000 for it. If you still want to buy, you can still knock the dealer down if the price on the forecourt was £38000. Just remember that £38000 @€1.15 to a £ equals €43700. And if you pay a duty of 7600, your total purchase price in €'s will be €52440. I think the price is too high for a 2009 model. Don't forget you will be incurring cost to get it to England and further costs for re-registering it here.
 
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I personally would not buy it. As I said in an earlier post, you will be liable for import duty if the MH is less than 24 months old. You will be liable for Import duty of approximately £7600 if you pay £38000 for it. If you still want to buy, you can still knock the dealer down if the price on the forecourt was £38000. Just remember that £38000 @€1.15 to a £ equals €43700. And if you pay a duty of 7600, your total purchase price in €'s will be €52440. I think the price is too high for a 2009 model. Don't forget you will be incurring cost to get it to England and further costs for re-registering it here.
Hi peeps,
have posted a reply on thread "importing a hymer 534"
By the way, be careful opening a forex account..I made a difference between my bank quote and my dealing of 1400 quid.. this could become verrr addictive.
"das gelt ich haben, est das besser gelt" very very new german proverb.(qv)
again. I say...thank to alll on these forums, for all the hints and tips that enabled my acquisition of this paticular machine so easy, saveing me hours of research and a fair bit of angxt..I'm a pretty good hunter, but if your out the front, you'r the one the bear gets.
 

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