Guest greenvanman Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 There was a thread on the Honest John forum about the new craze of Poles purchasing 7-10yr old Vauxhall, Ford and Peugeot midsize diesels for £500 or thereabouts, driving them back to Poland, converting them to LHD (hopefully using the kind of shite ingenuity that US car importers utilised in the late 70s, chains across the steering column etc) and then banging them out on the local market for a profit.Makes you think, doesn't it?When I was in Romania about 18 months ago I was gobsmacked by the price of secondhand cars, one I always remember was the Opel equivalent of a mid-80s Astra, frilly arches, stuffed with filler and the asking was 1200 euro I would have estimated that in the UK it would have been worth no more than £200. Even shagged out 30 year-old Dacia 1300s were going for 500-1000 euro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binhoker668 Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Autoshite from freecycle so far - 2 fiesta MK3s, 1 P-reg Mondeo estate, 1 M reg Rover 414sxi, 1 long wheelbase hightop trannie, 1 j reg 205 Pug (the longest lasting of them all and it was petrol with 110,000miles on it!), 1 H reg 740 estate.So that's where all the Leeds group freecycle cars go!Hey - I'm a skint lad with kids to pick up - gotta be free cars for me! Drive til they die!Guess ye gotta be quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason A Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 The UK apparently has the highest new car prices in Europe (pre-tax anyway) but the lowest second-hand. Certainly browsing the French and German eBays shows that the equivalents of my cars (which cost £50 and £375 respectively) would be €2000+.There was a thread on the Honest John forum about the new craze of Poles purchasing 7-10yr old Vauxhall, Ford and Peugeot midsize diesels for £500 or thereabouts, driving them back to Poland, converting them to LHD (hopefully using the kind of shite ingenuity that US car importers utilised in the late 70s, chains across the steering column etc) and then banging them out on the local market for a profit.Makes you think, doesn't it?You're right there RW when I see what some of the chaps on here are picking up for a monkey it makes me wanna weep! 2nd hand prices are double sometimes triple over here in Spain compared to the UKThere a law now here that you can only import RHD if you owned the car at least 6 months prior to arriving and you include the vehicle as part of your personal belongings when you apply for residency. Otherwise I'd be popping back on shite-buying missions fairly regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 I seem to recall from chatting to a mate whose inlaws have retired to Italy that they can't actually buy a car there as they aren't Italian nationals. I assume that France may have similar laws judging by the number of RHD stuff I see here on French plates.Can you buy a LHD Spanish-reg'd motor out there then Jason, assuming you haven't got a Spanish passport?There's a LHD sales place in Basingstoke with prices to make you weep (e.g. £995 for a Citroen AX or Mk5 Scrote) that is obviously exploiting this captive market! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pogweasel Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Do LHD things actually make cash then?I was offered a LHD Golf the other day for pence, haven't done owt about it as I assumed it would be worthless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Bo11ox Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 LHD stuff seems to make absurd coin on the fuggin bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pogweasel Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Shag, I'd best FIX UP LOOK SHARP then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Buy it, drive it down to RegRit, Nigel Bickle or any other of our South Coast residents, bosh on Bay, easy ferry to the mainland, job done. SORTED RESPECT DUE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason A Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 I seem to recall from chatting to a mate whose inlaws have retired to Italy that they can't actually buy a car there as they aren't Italian nationals. I assume that France may have similar laws judging by the number of RHD stuff I see here on French plates.Can you buy a LHD Spanish-reg'd motor out there then Jason, assuming you haven't got a Spanish passport?There's a LHD sales place in Basingstoke with prices to make you weep (e.g. £995 for a Citroen AX or Mk5 Scrote) that is obviously exploiting this captive market!Yeah RW I bought my Spanish plated LHD zx td Estate shortly after I arrived here, no probs.Funny old system buying cars here though. After the purchase you have to go to a dept & pay 4% of the price you paid for the vehicle in tax. Changing ownership isn't just a case of sending off the logbook like in the UK. Need to go to the Trafico offices and cough up a hundred plus euros & all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Blimey! What a rigmarole.Must be worth it if you unearth a Chrysler 180 Diesel though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRegieRitmo Posted March 12, 2008 Share Posted March 12, 2008 Or a Renault 14 GTS (Spain only) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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