Pitfalls Left Hand Drive

mark e

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A mate is buying a left hand drive, £24500 peguot/eldiss 5 berth motorhome. £300 a month for 10 years. I think thats a really good deal.

What are the pitfalls of buying new left hand vehicles ( pros and cons ) ?

He plans to keep the vehicle 15 years at least. Gutted as i have done a deal on a 16 yerar old motorhome and payiong £200 for 5 years.

I wished i done what he's doing......:( :(
 
Left hand drive vans

My first Motorhome (a long time ago) was a left hand drive Mark 1 Transit Travelhome.
I found it brilliant, you were on the "right side" on the continent and over here it was much easier to get close to walls and hedges on narrow roads with no footpaths when meeting oncoming traffic.
The only downside I found was the visibility to the right on angled junctions if you were on your own(or didn't trust the passenger). This was effectively solved with a wide angle mirror (sold as cargo mirror or baby watch mirror) which clipped to the right hand sunvisor so that when required the visor could be flipped down and the mirror used to get a view of the road to the right.
I did not find overtaking a big problem as I could see over most cars or relied on the passenger (otherwise be patient and wait for the right oportunity.

Hope this is of some help.

Peter
 
The first thing I found when I bought a Winnebago was that 'in those days' every insurance quote had a 25% surcharge for being LHD.

However others on here have since said that no longer applies?
 
Insurance for LHD in UK?

Been searching for info and advice on whether a LHD is a problem to get used to in the UK...been looking at some Hymer 544's and am very tempted, but the best buys at the moment are all left hookers.
This thread was very useful but just wondering whether anyone had more up to date info on insurance for LHD in the UK? We'd be using it in France a few weeks of the year but mostly on Scottish rural roads. Any advice gratefully received!:)

Bodger
 
***** said:
When I first drove left hand drive trucks, it was a little bit scary for the first trip.
I was advised to put some kind of sticker in the windscreen in such a position as when you look at it, it is in a direct line with the white line on the road!!!!
Well, when I got down to Bordeaux, it was rush hour, at night, raining hard and the road was narrowed with cones due to road works.
At that time I was glad I had followed the advise as I then used the stickers to help judge the width of the truck.
When driving a big truck you only have a couple of inches to play with and no room for mistakes in those sort of conditions.
You will get used to left hand drive, but it will take about 4 to 6 weeks before you are completely at home with it!
Good luck with any decision!!:D
Click to expand...

Like ***** I use points of reference in my Hymer as I am so far back from the windcreeen.

My problem was not the white line but staying too far over from the edge of the road. I then realised that a speaker was at the right point on the edge of the road when I was driving so I now use that. My co-pilot also is invaluable when wanting to overtake or if I stray too far to the right in the UK. Also at junctions.

If you use two mirrors on each side you can have one set set to see along the side of your vehicle and the road markings. The other is your normal mirror for driving.
 
Just to add my voice to those who have a left-hand drive vehicle and find it no problem at all to deal with. We got it because we spend most of our time motoring around mainland Europe (so for part of any year we would be on the "wrong" side of the road anyway). I agree with the points about visibility but that would be true for a RHD looking left and is solved in my case by having a wife in the passenger seat! Apart from that, there are no disadvantages at all as far as I can see - and it is fun to see the expressions on the faces of approaching drivers when they see the "driver" sitting with her feet up on the dashboard!
 
one problem I found was when moving to the right on motorways, there is a massive blind spot where a car could be hiding at the side of you. Solved by fitting a good extra mirror.
Other than that 100miles and you will reajusted, just watch it when you get into a right hand drive again and start trying to use the door handle to change gear:eek:
 
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